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Letter from Dan Jones, 8 January 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , Orleans Parish, LA, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 8 Jan. 1844; handwriting of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamp, dockets, graphite redactions, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 10½ × 8¼ inches (27 × 21 cm) and ruled with thirty-two horizontal lines printed in blue ink. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer, the remnants of which are present on the recto and verso of the second leaf. The letter has one large hole in the second leaf, likely created when the letter was opened, that resulted in a loss of text. The letter was later folded for filing. There is separation along some of the folds. Tears are present on both leaves, and portions of the second leaf are missing due to repairs using adhesive tape that has since been removed. The document has undergone some conservation.
The letter was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844, and by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 the letter had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.

    Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

  2. [2]

    “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  3. [3]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

  4. [4]

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

Historical Introduction

On 8 January 1844, , the captain and co-owner of the steamboat Maid of Iowa, wrote a letter from to JS in , Illinois, providing an account of the vessel’s operations. In his letter, Jones reported having a disagreement with , who was on board “to regulate the [boat’s] Books,” when they settled their accounts on 5 October 1843. Jones also complained that , who was the steamboat’s clerk, was unwilling to keep him informed of the vessel’s finances and was gambling with the boat’s money. Finally, Jones claimed that was uncooperative in rescuing the Maid of Iowa from its troubling financial situation because Jones refused to let him take command of the ship.
The letter was postmarked from on 26 January. No response from JS has been located.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For more information on the circumstances surrounding the creation of this letter, see Historical Introduction to Letter from David S. Hollister, 8 Jan. 1844.

  2. [2]

    Clayton, Journal, 21 Sept. and 5 Oct. 1843.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  3. [3]

    See Jones, “Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith,” [22]; and Letter from Erastus Derby, 9 Oct. 1843.

    Dennis, Ronald D. “The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith and His Brother Hyrum.” BYU Studies 24 (Winter 1984): 78–109.

Page [2]

extreme to your loss as well as mine, nor is it to be wondered at that he has never given me any acount of what the Boat has been doing since she left I have never asked him for a divident, but to know what the Boat was making & from the comencement has obstinately refused to inform me of the profit or loss, or how he disposed of the proceeds, I have not yet found out what she made on , & when I w[oul]d. ask him who had possesion of what little property I had & the proceeds of years of hard Labor: his only answer was, twas not my buisness to Know, that I had nothing to do with him and he never wd. give me any satisfaction, under the existing circumstances I wrote to yrself for redress, he boasting that he represented much the larger interest, I am afraid that neither of us will ever find out how much the Boat has made this much however I know that of the proceeds of this trip from over a hundred Doll[ar]s. cash which he rec[eive]d. pr. freights here, he either will not or cannot account for up to this time, in short his conduct has been such throughout as wd. have merited yr. highest disaprobation, & Dear Sir I asure you that nothing short of the high regard which I had, & I pray ever will have for you has forbid my treating him, as I wd. any other person of the alike conduct, according to his demerit, but tis likely he will have his story to tell, then we have only to avert to proof, which is abundant on board here. or I shd. be pleased if you wd. apply for particulars to gentleman at , who was an eye witness to his conduct, address to E. H. Hubbard Boston house But to change the topic, (as tho’ twas impossible to do buisness amicably in these days) came here (report came ahead of him from &c) a facsimilie of his own statement that he had claims against the Boat to a Large Amt. that he was coming to take charge of her &c. the consequence was that a store Bill of $135. left unpaid at was sent here before came and attached the Boat. I had not a Dollr. nor could I effect a loan here, by adding some cost I put off the judgement, had over that amt in hand & refused to let me have it to pay that off. refused to do anything unless I would give him comand of the Boat. the Boat had been damaged by breaking the guards which had to be repaired, he wd. not assist unless I wd. give him comand &c I had at length offers of freights to various places by drawing on which would have enabled me to repair & pay the above. I consulted , but he emphatically declared that boat shd. not leave here unless he went Master of her. I insisted on [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Dan Jones, 8 January 1844
ID #
1244
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Dan Jones

Footnotes

  1. [6]

    The Maid of Iowa was on the Illinois River from 28 September to 5 October 1843 and apparently returned there shortly thereafter. (See Clayton, Journal, 28 Sept.–5 Oct. 1843; and Letter from Erastus Derby, 9 Oct. 1843.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  2. [7]

    In his 8 January letter to JS, David S. Hollister stated that a man named Hubbard was owed fifty dollars because of “a foolish charter giv[e]n him of 1/3 in St Louis.” An 1845 St. Louis directory listed the location of Boston House as “30 n Second and 31 Chesnut.” Apparently, the house took in boarders, which might explain why there is no trace of an E. H. Hubbard in St. Louis associated with the Boston House. (Letter from David S. Hollister, 8 Jan. 1844; Green’s Saint Louis Directory, 138, 174.)

    Green, James. Green’s Saint Louis Directory (No. 1) for 1845: Containing the Names of the Inhabitants, Their Occupations, Places of Business, and Dwelling Houses; Also, a List of Streets and Avenues; Together With Other Useful Information, and an Advertisement Directory. Saint Louis: By the author, 1844.

  3. [8]

    On 2 December 1843, Hollister concluded a lease with JS and Emma Smith for their half interest in the Maid of Iowa for one year in return for $600. (Lease to David S. Hollister, 2 Dec. 1843; see also Letter from David S. Hollister, 8 Jan. 1844.)

  4. [9]

    Hollister identified this bill as being for about $160 owed to McAllister & Co. in St. Louis. An 1845 St. Louis directory indicated that this company was owned by an R. C. McAllister and classified as “wh. grocers and com. merchants.” A 12 May 1843 list of liabilities for the Maid of Iowa contains an entry for a forty-five-dollar debt to McAllister & Co. for “Stores &c.” Apparently, this bill grew over the ensuing months. When the boat visited St. Louis in September 1843, William Clayton observed that “almost as soon as we landed the creditors began to come on board with their claims, but in consequence of our dissappointment, we were compelled to ask them to wait longer. Some of them appeared very angry and we had to pay them.” (Letter from David S. Hollister, 8 Jan. 1844; Green’s Saint Louis Directory, 113; “Liabilities of the S. B. ‘Maid of Iowa,’” 12 May 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; Clayton, Journal, 26 Sept. 1843.)

    Green, James. Green’s Saint Louis Directory (No. 1) for 1845: Containing the Names of the Inhabitants, Their Occupations, Places of Business, and Dwelling Houses; Also, a List of Streets and Avenues; Together With Other Useful Information, and an Advertisement Directory. Saint Louis: By the author, 1844.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  5. [10]

    Hollister claimed Derby had sixty-four dollars. (Letter from David S. Hollister, 8 Jan. 1844.)

  6. [11]

    “The guards” were a continuation of a boat’s main deck that extended past its hull. They served the dual purpose of protecting the ship and increasing its cargo capacity. Hollister explained that the Maid of Iowa was damaged while the vessel was traveling on the upper Red River, specifically between the “Great Raft,” which was “a series of naturally occurring logjams that clogged” the river, and Fort Towson. Louis Hunter, a historian of steamboat navigation, noted that “to circumvent the raft it was necessary to follow narrow and tortuous channels through bayous, lakes, and sloughs, which compelled the use of steamboats of small tonnage.” (Gudmestad, “Steamboats and the Removal of the Red River Raft,” 391; Letter from David S. Hollister, 8 Jan. 1844; Hunter, Steamboats on the Western Rivers, 91, 93, 198.)

    Gudmestad, Robert. “Steamboats and the Removal of the Red River Raft.” Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 52, no. 4 (Fall 2011): 389–416.

    Hunter, Louis C. Steamboats on the Western Rivers: An Economic and Technological History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1949.

  7. [12]

    In his 8 January letter to JS, Hollister mentioned that the Maid of Iowa would operate in the bayous of southern Louisiana transporting sugar and molasses. (Letter from David S. Hollister, 8 Jan. 1844.)

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