, Letter, , MO, to “My dearly beloved brethren & sisters in the Lord” [ and other church members, including JS], [, OH], 8 Apr. 1831. Featured version copied [between ca. 27 Nov. 1832 and ca. Jan. 1833] in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 10–12; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 1.
Historical Introduction
This document is the second extant letter wrote to his associates from . Cowdery had been unaware of the pending move of both JS and the church from to Ohio when he wrote an earlier letter to newly members in Ohio in January 1831. At the time he wrote this second letter, however, he knew that the church had relocated and that JS resided in , Ohio. According to the letter presented here, Cowdery had received a letter a few days earlier informing him of the recent events in Ohio.
Though ’s letter opens with a general salutation to the “beloved brethren & sisters in the Lord,” it was evidently addressed to specifically. , one of Cowdery’s missionary companions in , listed Whitney as the recipient when he drafted the table of contents for JS’s Letterbook 1, and the letter itself states the intent to send the missionaries’ letters to “brothren Whitney.” Cowdery’s comment in the letter that the group felt entitled to free postage strongly suggests that their letters were routed through Whitney even though they were intended for a larger audience, including JS. Whitney was the postmaster of , and his franking privilege allowed him to send and receive an unlimited number of letters weighing less than half an ounce without charge. Because postal rates were calculated according to the distance the letter traveled, the missionaries in Missouri would have been charged twenty-five cents for every letter they received from the Kirtland area, a sum roughly equivalent to one-third of the average daily wages of an agricultural laborer.
Since ’s letter of 29 January, the missionaries had encountered difficulties with government officials in their attempts to preach to the American Indians. Federal Indian agent Richard W. Cummins sent a letter on 15 February to his superior, General , who was serving as superintendent of Indian affairs in , alerting him to the presence of the Mormon missionaries. Cummins told Clark that the men “act very strange” and claim “they are sent by God and must preach.” Cummins explained further: “They have a new Revelation with them, as there Guide in teaching the Indians, which they say was shown to one of their Sects in a miraculous way, and that an from Heaven appeared to one of their Men and two others of their Sect. . . . I have refused to let them stay or, go among the Indians unless they first obtain permission from you or, some of the officers of the Genl Government.” Cummins threatened the missionaries with imprisonment if they continued their preaching, according to , a member of the missionary party. In his summary of the confrontation with the Indian agent, Whitmer wrote that after the missionaries had commenced their preaching to the “delewares, and the tribe of Shawneyes . . . to our sorow there came a man whose name was Cumons and told us the he was a man under authorithy he told us that he would aprehend us up to the garoson.”
In an effort to obtain a permit to preach to the Indians, wrote to on 14 February 1831, a letter that presumably took to deliver in person on a journey to the East, which included a stop in . However, Clark was absent from his St. Louis post at the time Pratt arrived, and there is no indication that Clark responded to Cowdery’s letter. Nevertheless, Cowdery’s 8 April letter suggests that the missionaries expected a favorable resolution to their conflict with Cummins through Pratt’s efforts to obtain a permit from Clark.
Whitney had held the office of postmaster since 29 December 1826. The Kirtland Mills post office was located in his store. (U.S. Post Office Department, Records of Appointment of Postmasters, reel 4, vol. 6, p. 176; List of Post-Offices in the United States, 59; Table of the Post Offices in the United States, 216.)
U.S. Post Office Department. Records of Appointment of Postmasters, Oct. 1789–1832. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M1131, reel 4. Washington DC: National Archives, 1980.
List of Post-offices in the United States with the Names of the Post-masters of the Counties and States. . . . Washington DC: Way and Gideon, 1828.
Table of the Post Offices in the United States, Arranged by States and Counties; as They Were October 1, 1830; with a Supplement, Stating the Offices Established between the 1st October, 1830, and the First of April, 1831. Washington DC: Duff Green, 1831.
While postage could be paid by the sender, the payment of postage was often the responsibility of the recipient of a letter, and thus many pieces of mail went unclaimed because the recipient either did not or could not pay the postage. (An Act to Reduce into One the Several Acts Establishing and Regulating the Post-Office Department [3 Mar. 1825], in Post-Office Laws, Instructions and Forms, pp. 15–16, sec. 27; John, Spreading the News, 121–124.)
Post-Office Laws, Instructions and Forms, Published for the Regulation of the Post-Office. Washington DC: Way and Gideon, 1828.
John, Richard R. Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995.
An Act to Reduce into One the Several Acts Establishing and Regulating the Post-Office Department [3 Mar. 1825], in Post-Office Laws, Instructions and Forms, pp. 8–9, sec. 12; Wright, Industrial Evolution of the United States, 217; Margo, Wages and Labor Markets in the United States, 67, table 3A.5.
Post-Office Laws, Instructions and Forms, Published for the Regulation of the Post-Office. Washington DC: Way and Gideon, 1828.
Wright, Carroll D. The Industrial Evolution of the United States. Meadville, PA: Flood and Vincent, Chautauqua-Century Press, 1895.
Margo, Robert A. Wages and Labor Markets in the United States,1820–1860. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Richard W. Cummins, Delaware and Shawnee Agency, to William Clark, [St. Louis, MO], 15 Feb. 1831, U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency, Records, vol. 6, pp. 113–114.
U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency. Records, 1807–1855. Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Also available at kansasmemory.org.
Oliver Cowdery, Independence, MO, to William Clark, [St. Louis, MO], 14 Feb. 1831, U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency, Records, vol. 6, p. 103. At the time Pratt left, he was still unaware of the church’s move to Ohio. Pratt later described his journey: “Elders Cowdery, Whitmer, Peterson, myself, and F. G. Williams, who accompanied us from Kirtland, now assembled in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, and came to the conclusion that one of our number had better return to the church in Ohio, and perhaps to head quarters in New York, in order to communicate with the Presidency, report ourselves, pay a visit to the numerous churches we had organized on our outward journey, and also to procure more books. For this laborious enterprise I was selected by the voice of my four brethren.” (Pratt, Autobiography, 61.)
U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency. Records, 1807–1855. Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Also available at kansasmemory.org.
Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.
See John Ruland, [St. Louis, MO], to John Henry Eaton, [Washington DC], 9 Jan. 1831, U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency, Records, vol. 4, p. 198; and William Clark, St. Louis, MO, to John Henry Eaton, [Washington DC], 31 Mar. 1831, U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency, Records, vol. 4, p. 207.
U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency. Records, 1807–1855. Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Also available at kansasmemory.org.
man he also says that we have put more into the during the short time we we were permited to be with them (which was but a few days[)] then all the devels in the infernal pit and and and all the men on earth can get out of them in four generations he tells me that, that evry Nation have now the name of Nephy who is the son of Nephi & handed down to this very generation, there is only a part of that Nation here now but the remainder are expected this spring the principle chief says he believes evry word of the Book & there are many <more> in the Nation who believe and we understand there are many among the Shawnees who also believe & we trust that when the Lord shall open the <our> way we shall have glorious times for truly my brethren my heart sorrows for them for they are cast out & dispised and know not the God in whom they should trust we have traveld about in this country considerable and proclaimed repentence and very <many> are very anxious serious & honest, & started this day to go to across the to preach by request and & are together and will hold a meeting next Sunday at the house we are teaching school for we concluded that we were able and also willing to Labour with our hands for our support but while we do this we do not forget the ministry and are thankful that our heavenly Father has endowed us with faculties to do this for our support <the agent for> The Lamanites is very strict with us and we think somewhat strenuous respecting our having liberty to visit our brethren the Lamanites but we trust that when our brother returns we shall have a permit from who is the Superintendent of Indian affairs west of the who must have a reccommend or security before he can give a permit for any [p. 11]
In fall 1830, an advance party of the Delaware migrated from southwest Missouri to their newly granted lands in what would become Kansas. The majority of the Delaware did not arrive until later in the spring, and Cowdery’s letter demonstrates that the larger group had not yet arrived by 8 April 1831. (Weslager, Delaware Indians, 369–371; Weslager, Delaware Indian Westward Migration, 217.)
Weslager, C. A. The Delaware Indians: A History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1972.
Weslager, C. A. The Delaware Indian Westward Migration: With the Texts of Two Manuscripts (1821– 22) Responding to General Lewis Cass’s Inquiries about Lenape Culture and Language. Wallingford, PA: Middle Atlantic, 1978.
Pratt departed for the East, traveling via St. Louis, on 14 February 1831, presumably carrying with him Cowdery’s letter of the same date to superintendent of Indian affairs William Clark in St. Louis. Nearly eight weeks later, at the time of this 8 April letter, Cowdery likely supposed that Pratt had arrived in Ohio and was either on his way back to Missouri or soon would be. In fact, Pratt had been delayed by illness on his way to Kirtland, and his 7 and 9 May 1831 assignments to serve a mission among the Shakers also extended his time in the East. He did not return to Missouri until September 1831. (Pratt, Autobiography, 61, 73.)
Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.