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Letter from David S. Hollister, 9 May 1844

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Letter from David S. Hollister, 9 May 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , Baltimore Co., MD, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 9 May 1844; handwriting and signature of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamp, postal notation, docket, and use marks.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7⅞ inches (25 × 20 cm). The pages are ruled with twenty-six horizontal lines printed in black ink. The letter was inscribed on the first three pages. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed. Opening the letter resulted in some loss of text. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859, copied portions of the letter into the manuscript history of the church in 1856. It was also listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket, its reproduction in JS’s history, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [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. [2]

    “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497; JS History, vol. F-1, 62–63.

    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, [4], 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 9 May 1844, member wrote a letter from to JS in , Illinois, reporting on his mission to the eastern city. At a 23 April meeting in the room above , Nauvoo residents had selected Hollister as one of the city’s delegates to both the Whig and Democratic conventions, which were to be held in Baltimore in May. They also selected , , and to serve as delegates. Both Hyde and Pratt were already in presenting a petition to Congress and a memorial to Congress and President . Page had been in Washington earlier that year as a missionary but had returned to to attend to his wife, who was ill. The precise role the delegates were to play at the conventions is unclear. reported that they were to “make overtures” to those attending the convention, which may have included efforts to persuade one of the parties to nominate JS for president or to enlist support among individual delegates for his nomination. However, “making overtures” may also have meant that the delegates from Nauvoo were authorized to offer political endorsements to candidates or parties—thereby effectively pledging the votes of church members in the —in exchange for support of the ongoing efforts to obtain redress for church members’ lost property in . Hollister departed Nauvoo by 28 April and arrived in Baltimore on 4 May, two days after the Whig national nominating convention concluded.
’s 9 May letter to JS described his journey to , the aftermath of the Whig Party’s nominating convention, and the prospects of the Democratic Party’s national nominating convention. He also shared information in the letter regarding the steamboat Maid of Iowa. Hollister began by describing his interactions with fellow travelers, which included a discourse he gave aboard a steamboat, and his denunciation of a false rumor then circulating in newspapers that JS had abandoned his wife . Hollister also commented on the loss of items from the Maid of Iowa, which he had leased from JS and Emma in December 1843. Following that transaction, Hollister experienced difficulties with the boat’s co-owner and captain, , exacerbated by the fact that there were several outstanding debts on the boat. Finally, Hollister described to JS the atmosphere in Baltimore due to the conventions of the two major political parties.
Postal markings on the letter indicate that mailed it to JS from on 11 May. Mail from that part of the typically arrived in within three or four weeks. JS presumably received the letter sometime in late May or early June. There is no known reply from JS.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 23 Apr. 1844; Clayton, Journal, 23 Apr. 1844.

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

  2. [2]

    Historical Introduction to Authorization for Orson Pratt, 12 Mar. 1844; JS, Journal, 31 Mar. 1844.

  3. [3]

    Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844; Letter from John E. Page, 16 Apr. 1844.

  4. [4]

    “Public Meeting,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 24 Apr. 1844, [2].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  5. [5]

    Hollister stated in his letter to JS that he preached a sermon aboard a steamboat on a Sunday. Between his selection as a delegate in Nauvoo on 23 April and his arrival in Baltimore on 4 May, there was only one Sunday: 28 April.

  6. [6]

    On 23 April 1844, the St. Louis Republican falsely reported that JS “has turned his wife out of doors.” The claim appears to have been based on a 19 April steamboat trip to St. Louis that Emma Smith made without JS. The Boston Post reprinted the story on 6 May and then, on 16 May, published its own story refuting the rumor. (Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigma, 178.)

    Newell, Linda King and Valeen Tippetts Avery. Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet’s Wife, “Elect Lady,” Polygamy’s Foe, 1804–1879. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984.

  7. [7]

    Lease to David S. Hollister, 2 Dec. 1843.

  8. [8]

    Letter from David S. Hollister, 8 Jan. 1844; Letter from Dan Jones, 8 Jan. 1844. In January 1844, a sheriff in New Orleans detained the vessel until unpaid debts, previously contracted in St. Louis, were paid. (See Enders, “Steamboat Maid of Iowa,” 331–335; and Letter from John Cowan, 23 Jan. 1844.)

    Enders, Donald L. “The Steamboat Maid of Iowa: Mormon Mistress of the Mississippi.” BYU Studies 19, no. 3 (Spring 1979): 321–335.

  9. [9]

    Letters from Washington DC typically arrived in Nauvoo in three or four weeks. The trip from Baltimore to Washington DC could be made in one day. (See Letter from Orson Hyde, 30 Apr. 1844.)

After I had finished <​speaking​> and was standing on the guard of the Boat a Missourian steped up to me asking me if I wished to be understood that all who said Jo Smith had discarded his were liars! on my answering him in the affirmative he drew a Bow[i]e knife on me but some passengers who had had heard him threaten my life & <​were watching​> caught him as he was in the act of striking and I in the act of pi[t]ching him overbord but they saved him and I am glad of it; the whole affair turned mutch to my advantage it was an occular demonstration to the crowd of Missourians feeling toward the .
By this time the way was pretty well paved for introducing National matters and from this time onto our arival at Wheeling the time was principally occupied on that subject reading your views on political economy etc on ariving at Wheel[ing] a stranger might have imagined me to be a man of some consequence for it was will you take a seat in our coach? go with us in this stage, hold on and take a with us says the third in fact the mormon was quite a lion among the passengers But passing the minutia I arived in this two days after the great whig Convention, all in Joy and enthusiam among the whigs, while doubt and consternation is manifest among the democrats This convention has ben got up at an immence expence hundreds of thousands of Dollars have been expended— The Democratic convention comes off on the 27th inst in the mean time I shall do what is in my power for the promotion of the good Cause and endeavour to be well accourterd [accoutred] for that occasion I shall expect the co operation of [p. [2]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from David S. Hollister, 9 May 1844
ID #
1352
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • David S. Hollister

Footnotes

  1. [4]

    The “guards” were a continuation of a boat’s deck that extended past its hull. They served the dual purpose of protecting the ship and increasing its cargo capacity. (Gudmestad, “Steamboats and the Removal of the Red River Raft,” 391; see also Letter from David S. Hollister, 8 Jan. 1844; and Hunter, Steamboats on the Western Rivers, 91, 93.)

    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.

  2. [5]

    Wheeling, Virginia (now in West Virginia).

  3. [6]

    This line is likely a reference to the pamphlet published as part of JS’s presidential campaign that described his political views. (General Smith’s Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States, ca. 26 Jan.–7 Feb. 1844.)

  4. [7]

    TEXT: “Wheel[page torn]”. Text missing due to damage here and in the rest of the document has been supplied from context.

  5. [8]

    The Whig convention was held on 1 May in a rented space, the city’s Universalist Church. On 2 May, the delegates paraded through the streets of Baltimore. Hollister arrived in the city two days after the procession. (Haynes, First American Political Conventions, 71–77.)

    Haynes, Stan M. The First American Political Conventions: Transforming Presidential Nominations, 1832–1872. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012.

  6. [9]

    Ahead of the 1844 Democratic convention in Baltimore, the party’s nominee for the presidency was still in question. Former president Martin Van Buren was the frontrunner, but he faced a serious challenge from Lewis Cass and a less likely challenge from Richard M. Johnson. One delegate wrote that “there is so many rumors, so much excitement, that it seems impossible to come to any correct conclusions for the future. Every thing is in doubt.” (McBride, Joseph Smith for President, 117; Cave Johnson, Baltimore, MD, to James K. Polk, Columbia, TN, 27 May [1844], in Correspondence of James K. Polk, 7:157.)

    McBride, Spencer W. Joseph Smith for President: The Prophet, the Assassins, and the Fight for American Religious Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.

    Cutler, Wayne, and James P. Cooper Jr., eds. Correspondence of James K. Polk. Vol. 7, January–August 1844. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 1989.

  7. [10]

    It is unclear how Hollister reached this estimate of the cost of the convention. He may have been referring to the amount of money that delegates in Baltimore spent on food and lodging. During the Democratic convention later that month, one newspaper reported that “this city is swarming with politicians of all classes, and lucky is the man who can procure a bed whereon to repose his weary limbs.” The Whig convention presumably attracted a similar-sized crowd and led to a similar expenditure of money. (“The Tyler Convention,” New York Herald [New York City], 29 May 1844, [3]; see also Haynes, First American Political Conventions, 71.)

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

    Haynes, Stan M. The First American Political Conventions: Transforming Presidential Nominations, 1832–1872. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012.

  8. [11]

    The Democratic convention was to be held in the Odd Fellows Hall in Baltimore from 27 through 30 May. (Haynes, First American Political Conventions, 80–87.)

    Haynes, Stan M. The First American Political Conventions: Transforming Presidential Nominations, 1832–1872. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012.

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