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.