Skip to main content

Letter from Edward Hobart, 29 January 1844

  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter from Edward Hobart, 29 January 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , Philadelphia Co., PA, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 29 Jan. 1844; handwriting and signature presumably of ; one page; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Includes address, postal notations, postal stamps, and archival marking.
Bifolium measuring 9⅜ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). The top edge of the bifolium is ragged and torn. The letter was inscribed on the recto of the first leaf. The second and third pages are blank. The bifolium was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The recto of the second leaf contains remnants of the wafer, and the left side of the bifolium was torn when the letter was opened. There is marked wear and separation along the folds.
In late 1844, following JS’s death, became one of the interim church trustees and was appointed “first bishop” among other bishops. It was presumably during this time that many of the church’s financial and other administrative records passed into his possession. This document, along with many other personal and institutional documents that Whitney kept, was inherited by Newel K. and ’s daughter Mary Jane Whitney, who was married to Isaac Groo. The documents were passed down within the Groo family. Between 1969 and 1974, the Groo family donated their collection of Newel K. Whitney’s papers to the J. Reuben Clark Library (renamed Harold B. Lee Library in 1973) at Brigham Young University.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Richards, Journal, 9 Aug. 1844; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:693; see also Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

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

  2. [2]

    Andrus and Fuller, Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 24; Wilkinson et al., Brigham Young University, 4:255.

    Andrus, Hyrum L., and Chris Fuller, comp. Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers. Provo, UT: Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, 1978.

    Wilkinson, Ernest L., Leonard J. Arrington, and Bruce C. Hafen, eds. Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years. Vol. 4. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1976.

Historical Introduction

On 29 January 1844, wrote a letter from to JS in , Illinois, inquiring about his brother Otis Hobart. Little is known about the Hobart brothers. Both were born in Leicester, Massachusetts, Otis in 1800 and Edward in 1812. Edward worked as a merchant and by 1842 had moved to Philadelphia. Otis joined the and had moved to , Ohio, by 1840, where he served as a counselor in the presidency of the .
According to his letter to JS, had not heard from his brother since Otis left for a year and a half to two years earlier. It does not appear that Edward was a member of the church or that he had ever met JS. However, he had reportedly read a notice of his brother’s death in a newspaper and was seeking confirmation of this event from JS. He also inquired about the location of an acquaintance,
Sometime after moving to , Otis Hobart apparently moved to to work in the with , , and other church members tasked with obtaining lumber for the and the . The name of the newspaper in which read a notice of his brother’s death is unknown, but the report was unfounded. At the time this letter was written, Otis was still living in Wisconsin Territory and working in the church pineries.
Like the Hobarts, was born in . In 1834 he joined the church in New Rowley, Massachusetts, and in 1835 he moved to , where later he and were married by JS. He later moved to with the Latter-day Saints before settling in in early 1842. At the time wrote to JS, Carrico was still living in the city, likely working as a shoemaker. The nature of Carrico’s relationship to either of the Hobart brothers is unknown.
sent his letter to JS by post on 30 January 1844. JS likely received it within three weeks, in mid- to late February. There is no known reply from JS.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    In this letter, Edward Hobart spelled his brother’s surname “Hobart” and his own “Hobard.” In the brothers’ birth records, both surnames are spelled “Hobart.” That same spelling is used on Edward’s death certificate. Accordingly, “Hobart” is the spelling used throughout the annotation of this letter. (Leicester, MA, Vital Records, 1706–1905, pp. 52, 60, microfilm 721,192; Death Certificate for Edward Hobart, 16 Mar. 1892, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA, certificate 20748, Philadelphia, PA, Registration of Deaths, 1803–1903, microfilm 1,889,224, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  2. [2]

    Leicester, MA, Vital Records, 1706–1905, pp. 52, 60, microfilm 721,192, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. Edward Hobart had apparently been a partner in two mercantile firms, one in Massachusetts and the other in Pennsylvania. (“United States Court. Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In Bankruptcy,” Pennsylvania Inquirer and National Gazette [Philadelphia], 17 Oct. 1842, [4].)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Pennsylvania Inquirer and National Gazette. Philadelphia. 1842–1859.

  3. [3]

    Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 11 Nov. 1840.

    Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.

  4. [4]

    The date of Otis Hobart’s move is unclear. He was apparently still in Kirtland on 3 January 1842. (Letter from Reuben McBride, 3 Jan. 1842.)

  5. [5]

    Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 Feb. 1844–A; Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 Feb. 1844–B; Pinery Accounts, Apr.–Dec. 1842, Nauvoo House Association, Records, CHL. Two 15 February 1842 letters from church leaders in Wisconsin Territory to JS in Nauvoo were written in Hobart’s handwriting, indicating that he was in Wisconsin Territory at that time. The first companies of Latter-day Saint lumberjacks moved to Wisconsin Territory in fall 1841. Hobart does not appear in the pinery daybooks for 1842, which suggests that he arrived in Wisconsin Territory sometime after 1842. (See Rowley, “Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries,” 121.)

    Nauvoo House Association. Records, 1841–1846. CHL. MS 2375.

    Rowley, Dennis. “The Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries, 1841–1845.” BYU Studies 32, nos. 1 and 2 (1992): 119–148.

  6. [6]

    Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 Feb. 1844–A; Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 Feb. 1844–B.

  7. [7]

    Nauvoo Ninth Ward High Priests Quorum, Minutes, [14]; Temple Records Index Bureau, Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, 65.

    Nauvoo Ninth Ward. High Priests Minutes, Nov. 1844–Feb. 1845. CHL. LR 3501 21.

    Temple Records Index Bureau of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, 10 December 1845 to 8 February 1846. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1974.

  8. [8]

    Nauvoo Ninth Ward High Priests Quorum, Minutes, [14]; JS, Journal, 14 Jan. 1836; Geauga Co., OH, Probate Court, Marriage Records, 1806–1920, vol. C, p. 142, microfilm 873,461, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    Nauvoo Ninth Ward. High Priests Minutes, Nov. 1844–Feb. 1845. CHL. LR 3501 21.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  9. [9]

    Nauvoo Ninth Ward High Priests Quorum, Minutes, [14].

    Nauvoo Ninth Ward. High Priests Minutes, Nov. 1844–Feb. 1845. CHL. LR 3501 21.

  10. [10]

    According to census records, by 1850 Carrico was living in Galena, Illinois, and was still employed as a shoemaker. (1850 U.S. Census, Galena, Jo Daviess Co., IL, 250[B].)

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

  11. [11]

    Mail from Philadelphia typically arrived in Nauvoo within three weeks. (See Historical Introduction to Letter from Peter Hess, 16 Feb. 1843.)

Page [1]

Go to next page 2
, Jany 29th. 1844
Mr. Joseph Smith
Dear Sir Allow me to take the librty of addressing you a Letter at this time My object in doing so is to inquire after a Brother of mine, who left , Ohio abot 18 Months to 2 years a go to go to since then I hav not heard enny thing from him, Seeing a notice in the Noospaper Stating he di[e]d at that place I Theerfore wish you to wright me wethr you Know him or not and wethere him <​he​> is a living or not And who his family are and wher I can reach them by a Letter
I wish you all so to inform me where Mr. is he is all so One of your Members formerley of Beverly Massachusetts
Mr. Otis Hobart was formely of Leicester Massachetts
By doing So You will confer a heghley [highly] asteamed favour on the wrightr of this Letter
Sir I am Yours Vrry Respectfilly
No 5 Bank st
P.S. you will pleas answr this as Soon as convenately [conveniently]
[p. [1]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [1]

Go to next page 2

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Edward Hobart, 29 January 1844
ID #
1261
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Edward Hobart

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Beverly, Massachusetts, is approximately fifteen miles southeast of New Rowley, Massachusetts, where Carrico was baptized.

Go to page