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Letter from B. G. Weedgil, 29 May 1844

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Letter from B. G. Weedgil, 29 May 1844

Source Note

[B. G. Weedgil?], Letter, , Mobile Co., AL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 29 May 1844; handwriting and signature presumably of B. G. Weedgil; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamp, postal notation, docket, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The letter was written in blue ink on the recto of the first leaf. The document was then trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. Remnants of the wafer are located on the recto of the first leaf and the verso of the second. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The docket “Letter from B. G. Weedgil” was added by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 the letter had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket, its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  2. “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

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

Historical Introduction

On 29 May 1844, a person later identified as B. G. Weedgil wrote a letter from , Alabama, to JS in , Illinois, asking about JS and the ’s history. Apparently, Weedgil, who was not personally acquainted with JS, was often involved in religious debates in which others disparaged JS. In his letter, Weedgil asked JS to provide him with information about JS’s mission, the foundation of the church, and the Latter-day Saints’ difficulties in . He also requested a copy of the church’s periodical Times and Seasons and expressed his satisfaction with JS’s political correspondence with .
Weedgil’s letter was postmarked on 30 May 1844. It is unclear when it arrived in or whether JS received it before his death on 27 June. There is no known response.

Footnotes

  1. The signature of the letter’s author is illegible, but Thomas Bullock docketed the back of the document as a “Letter from B. G. Weedgil.” The letter does not indicate what state Weedgil was writing from. However, the city in Alabama is the only known municipality of this name in the United States that existed at the time.

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May 29th 1844
Sir, you must excuse me for takeing the liberty of writeing to you, and I have no doubt but that you will when I give you my reasons, I have frequent controversies about religion wherein your name has been brought in, and you have had heaped upon your respected person all manner of vile abuse, which I not haveing the facts could not deny, you must have seen many newspapers wherein you have been shamefully abbused, that would not ammount to any thing if it was not believed, and reiterated, I wish you would condescend to inform me as regards the facts of your mission, the establishment of your religion, your troubles with &c. &c. also send me one number of the Times and Seasons, a paper which I have never seen, and if I agree with Yer <​its​> views of it I shall subscribe to it, I read your corrispondence with and was well pleased with it, it would do your cause much good, weather correct or otherwise, by being circulated in the If one of your desciples was to visit I think he would get many converts to your religion, I am not connected with any sect, and If your faith goes to make man more happy here, I will, be one of the number, but few systims of faith elivate the morrals of a people, a spedy answer to this would be gratefully recieved,
Your very obedient and humble servant
B [illegible] [p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from B. G. Weedgil, 29 May 1844
ID #
1373
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • B. G. WeedgilName could be Weedgil, Wedgie, Wedgil

Footnotes

  1. The Latter-day Saints were expelled from Missouri in 1838–1839 and unsuccessfully sought redress from the federal government in the early 1840s. Missouri authorities had attempted to extradite JS to Missouri on three occasions, most recently in June 1843. (See Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; “The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447; JS, Journal, 18, 23, 25, and 29–30 June 1843; 1 July 1843; “Missouri vs Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1843, 4:241–243; and “Part 4: June–July 1843.”)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  2. The Times and Seasons published JS’s correspondence with Calhoun in its 1 January 1844 issue, and other newspapers reprinted these letters. (Letter to John C. Calhoun, 4 Nov. 1843; Letter from John C. Calhoun, 2 Dec. 1843; Letter to John C. Calhoun, 2 Jan. 1844; “Correspondence of Gen. Joseph Smith and Hon. J. C. Calhoun,” Times and Seasons, 1 Jan. 1844, 5:393–396; see also, for example, “Very Important and Curious from the Mormon Empire on the Mississippi,” New York Herald [New York City], 26 Jan. 1844, [2]; “Correspondence of Gen. Jos. Smith and Hon. J. C. Calhoun,” Niles’ National Register [Baltimore], 3 Feb. 1844, 357–358; and “Correspondence of Gen. Jos. Smith and Hon. J. C. Calhoun,” Sumter County Whig [Livingston, AL], 27 Feb. 1844, [1].)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

    Niles’ National Register. Washington DC, 1837–1839; Baltimore, 1839–1848; Philadelphia, 1848–1849.

    Sumter County Whig. Livingston, AL. 1841–1856.

  3. At the time Weedgil wrote to JS, there were three branches of the church in Alabama. The Sipsey branch was in Tuscaloosa County, and the Bogue Chitto and Five Mile branches were in Perry County—all in west Alabama. At a 12 April 1844 conference, the three branches reported eighty-nine members total. There is, however, no record of Latter-day Saint missionaries preaching in Mobile, in south Alabama, in the 1840s. (Brown, Reminiscences and Journal, bk. A, 18, 20–24; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:573.)

    Brown, John. Reminiscences and Journals, 1843–1896. CHL. MS 1636.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  4. TEXT: Possibly “B. G. Weedgil”, based on Thomas Bullock’s docket.

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