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Letter from Amos Ladd, 15 June 1844

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Letter from Amos Ladd, 15 June 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , Lee Co., Iowa Territory, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 15 June 1844; handwriting and signature presumably of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes use mark.
Single leaf measuring 12⅛ × 7⅞–8 inches (31 × 20 cm). Both pages are ruled with thirty-five printed horizontal lines. It was later folded, probably for transmission or filing.
Jonathan Grimshaw, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1856, copied the letter into JS’s history sometime in 1856. By 1973 this letter had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early inclusion in JS’s history and its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. JS History, vol. F-1, 101; Source Note for and Historical Introduction to History, 1838–1856, vol. F-1; see also Historian’s Office, Journal, 7 June 1853; and Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 30 Aug. 1856, in Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 364.

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

    Historian’s Office. Letterpress Copybooks, 1854–1879, 1885–1886. CHL. CR 100 38.

  2. See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 15 June 1844, , the captain of the steam ferry New Purchase, wrote a letter from , Iowa Territory, to JS at , Illinois, requesting information about wharf fees in Nauvoo and denying a rumor that his boat was involved in hostilities against the city. Ladd apparently failed to pay the required wharfage of one dollar during a visit to Nauvoo, and on 11 June the New Purchase reportedly had a writ issued against it. The following day, the New Purchase traveled back to Nauvoo from Fort Madison to transport some of the owners of the Nauvoo Expositor away from Nauvoo. After a posse acting on JS’s order as mayor of Nauvoo destroyed the newspaper’s press on 10 June, some of the Expositor’s proprietors feared that their lives were in danger and sought to leave the city. One of them, , apparently sent a messenger to Fort Madison to secure transportation, and in response to this request, the New Purchase returned to Nauvoo on 12 June with about fifty men from Fort Madison on board to help evacuate JS’s opponents from the city. According to the Lee County Democrat, the steamboat retrieved “a large number of the dissenters with their families and goods” and transported them to , Iowa Territory. reported that this group included him, his wife, , and their three children; his brother Wilson Law; and Sarah Phinney Foster and their child; and two other families, who were unnamed.
In his 15 June letter, featured here, inquired whether a writ had been issued against his ferry for not paying a landing fee in . Ladd also asked JS to apprise him of Nauvoo’s ordinances “regulating wharfage,” as his boat intended to visit the city frequently. After addressing these issues, Ladd denied a rumor that the New Purchase had brought armed men to attack Nauvoo and assured JS that his boat would not participate in any illegal activities.
Although the letter featured here is signed only “A Ladd,” other sources confirm that an lived in , Iowa Territory, and captained a steamboat. In particular, an obituary notes that Ladd “took an excursion on his boat to see the mormon riots and witnessed the shooting of and Joe Smith,” all of which indicates that he is the letter’s author. There are no postal stamps or notations on the letter, which suggests that it was sent to JS by courier. The letter was presumably received in , although there is no known response.

Footnotes

  1. See Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 16 Dec. 1843, 196–197. It is unclear when the New Purchase visited Nauvoo. JS’s journal noted that a ferry from Burlington, Iowa Territory, arrived at the Nauvoo House Landing on 8 June carrying “a pleasure party.” This may refer to the New Purchase. It is also possible that the boat visited Nauvoo on 11 June, the day the writ was reportedly issued. (JS, Journal, 8 June 1844.)

  2. Hallwas and Launius, Cultures in Conflict, 161–162; JS, Journal, 10 June 1844; Law, Diary, 10–12 June 1844, in Cook, William Law, 56; Barnett, “Wilson Law: A Sidelight on the Expositor Incident,” 245; “Outrage at Nauvoo,” Lee County Democrat (Fort Madison, Iowa Territory), 15 June 1844, [2].

    Hallwas, John E., and Roger D. Launius. Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1995.

    Cook, Lyndon W. William Law: Biographical Essay, Nauvoo Diary, Correspondence, Interview. Orem, UT: Grandin Book, 1994.

    Barnett, Steven G. “Wilson Law: A Sidelight on the Expositor Incident.” BYU Studies 19, no. 2 (Winter 1979): 244–246.

    Lee County Democrat. Fort Madison, Iowa Territory. 1841–1847.

  3. “Suicide. Death of Ex-Mayor Ladd,” Mexico (MO) Weekly Ledger, 13 Sept. 1877, [3]; Amos Ladd to M. B. Cox & Co., Promissory Note, 14 Jan. 1842, in Plea of Assumpsit, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, ca. 7 Apr. 1842, M. B. Cox & Co. v. Ladd (1st D. Iowa Terr., Lee Co. 1842), Lee Co., IA, Probate Records, 1838–1950, Probate Packets [North, Ft. Madison], 1837–1850, box C4, case no. 35, microfilm 1,928,358, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; 1840 U.S. Census, Fort Madison, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, 190.

    Mexico Weekly Ledger. Mexico, MO. 1855–1956.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Amos Ladd, 15 June 1844
History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

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Jun 15th. 1844
Gen Joseph Smith
Dear Sir
I have been informed that a writte was issued— against the Steam Ferry New Purchase for wharfage on Tuesday last but no such writte has been served or shown to me and I am anxious to learn of the facts of the case if it is required I will Pay wharfage with the greatest of pleasure but I would dislike to have cost to Pay in addition I expect to visit this place with my boat at least once a weeke during the season you will confer a favor on me by informing me in relation to the ordinances regulating wharfage &c It has been rumrd [rumored] that the New Purchase was employed to conv[e]y to an armed force to attack the citizens in connexion with other companies on a/c [account] of the late difficulties at your place but it is not true I assure you that the Boat will not be employed in any unlawful Enternprise & I further assur[e] you that there is no unkoind feeling existing in our place against the people of your place
I remain yours with respect
Capt of the New Purchase
Gen Joseph Smith
Ills— [p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Amos Ladd, 15 June 1844
ID #
1397
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Amos Ladd

Footnotes

  1. Sources contain two potential references to the New Purchase visiting Nauvoo after Ladd wrote the featured letter. On 16 June about forty men from Fort Madison came to Nauvoo onboard an unnamed steamer. Nearly a week later, on 22 June, William Clayton recorded that the “Madison Ferry” arrived in Nauvoo. (JS, Journal, 16 June 1844; William Clayton, Daily Account of JS’s Activities, 14–22 June 1844.)

  2. During the winter months, steamboats did not travel on the upper Mississippi River, because it tended to freeze over. For example, in winter 1843–1844, the ice did not begin to clear up until mid-February and it was not until the end of February that boats could again operate. (JS, Journal, 18, 20–22, and 27–28 Feb. 1844; “Nauvoo Ferry,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 18 Oct. 1843, [4]; “Nauvoo,” Burlington [VT] Sentinel, 26 Jan. 1844, [2]; Weather Notice, Nauvoo Neighbor, 7 Feb. 1844, [2]; Notice, Nauvoo Neighbor, 28 Feb. 1844, [2].)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

    Burlington Sentinel. Burlington, VT. 1830–1844.

  3. The Nauvoo City Council passed an ordinance in December 1843 requiring all steamboats embarking or disembarking cargo or passengers in Nauvoo to pay a wharf fee of one dollar. If the fee was not paid, the wharf master could seize the steamboat “or a sufficient quantity of her furniture or tackle and expose it for sale within five days after to pay said charge and costs.” (Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 16 Dec. 1843, 196–197; JS, Journal, 16 Dec. 1843.)

  4. The presence of a company of men from Fort Madison on the New Purchase during its 12 June trip to Nauvoo may have been the cause of the rumor that Ladd mentioned in this passage, although it is unclear whether these men were armed. News of the growing conflict in Hancock County had reached Iowa by this point. The 15 June 1844 issue of the Lee County Democrat, which was published in Fort Madison, featured an article that criticized the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor’s press and reported that “great fears are entertained in the city [Nauvoo] of a general rupture.” It also conveyed rumors that “a meeting was [to] be held at Carthage, Ill. for the purpose of raising an armed force to proceed to Nauvoo for the purpose of taking the Prophet” and “that hundreds more hold themselves in readiness to march over from Missouri at a moments notice.” (Hallwas and Launius, Cultures in Conflict, 162; “Outrage at Nauvoo,” Lee County Democrat [Fort Madison, Iowa Territory], 15 June 1844, [2].)

    Hallwas, John E., and Roger D. Launius. Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1995.

    Lee County Democrat. Fort Madison, Iowa Territory. 1841–1847.

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