Letter from Eli Maginn, 1 and 3 May 1842
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Source Note
, Letter, , Hillsborough Co., NH, and , Middlesex Co., MA, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 1 and 3 May 1842; handwriting of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, notations, and dockets.Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 7⅜ inches (25 × 19 cm). The recto and verso of the first leaf and the recto of the second leaf are ruled with twenty-eight blue lines; the verso of the second leaf is unlined. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer, remnants of which are present on the verso of the second leaf. The letter was later folded for filing.The verso of the second leaf contains a docket by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. The document was also docketed by , a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office 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 document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, the circa 1904 inventory, and inclusion in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.
Footnotes
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1
JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
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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.
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3
“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [2], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
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4
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
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Historical Introduction
In early May 1842, wrote a letter from , New Hampshire, to JS in , Illinois, which discussed Maginn’s missionary efforts in New England. Maginn, who had joined the in , Upper Canada, had been proselytizing in the northeastern since 1840. Maginn attracted attention for his “commanding appearance,” knowledge of scripture, and “magnetic personality.” He was especially influential in Peterborough, where he preached intermittently for two years.wrote the majority of the letter featured here in on 1 May 1842 but added further information on 3 May after arriving in , Massachusetts. The letter relates his proselytizing efforts in both New Hampshire and and asks church leaders to send other to proselytize in the area. Maginn’s biblical language and allusions, particularly in the portion of the letter about his efforts to establish the church in New Hampshire, are notably populist and anti-creedal. He described the local Christian religions as engaging in “” and being in error. Maginn used this rhetoric to show how his growing Latter-day Saint congregation was different from the other Christian denominations.’s letter included an enclosure of money, consisting of his donation to the construction fund and payments from subscribers to the Times and Seasons newspaper, for which Maginn acted as an agent. In March 1842, Maginn sent forty-five dollars in subscription money to Nauvoo through the secure means of a bank draft, or check. He was unable to forward additional funds because there were no banks in the New Hampshire area where he had collected the funds, and he was unwilling to mail the money with his letters for fear it might be stolen. Rather than sending another bank draft when he arrived in , Maginn found a courier, Latter-day Saint Bingham Bement, who was apparently heading to Nauvoo, to carry the letter and enclosed money for Maginn.The letter arrived in by 31 May, when the enclosed money was recorded in the Book of the Law of the Lord. Notations on the letter from and indicate that it was retained in JS’s office. Unlike ’s 22 March 1842 letter, this letter was not printed in the Times and Seasons. Maginn requested a letter of reply from one of JS’s counselors in the or from one of the . No reply has been located.
Footnotes
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1
“Statement of Sister Smith respecting the History of Eli P. Magin,” Obituary Notices and Biographies, CHL; Benjamin Ellsworth, Palermo, NY, 18 Oct. 1840, Letter to the Editors, Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1840, 2:219.
Obituary Notices and Biographies, 1854–1877. CHL.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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2
“Mormonism,” Times and Seasons, 15 May 1843, 4:206; Morison and Smith, History of Peterborough, New Hampshire, 1:187.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Morison, George Abbot. History of Peterborough, New Hampshire. Vol. 1, Narrative. Rindge, NH: Richard R. Smith, 1954.
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3
Morison and Smith, History of Peterborough, New Hampshire, 1:187–190; Barney, “Joseph Smith and Nauvoo Portrayed,” 165–169. In a March 1842 letter to JS, Maginn described his recent visit to Massachusetts and noted the growth of the church in New England, including the Peterborough congregation, which had thirty-six members at the time. (Letter from Eli Maginn, 22 Mar. 1842.)
Morison, George Abbot. History of Peterborough, New Hampshire. Vol. 1, Narrative. Rindge, NH: Richard R. Smith, 1954.
Barney, Ronald O. “‘A Man That You Could Not Help Likeing’: Joseph Smith and Nauvoo Portrayed in a Letter by Susannah and George W. Taggart.” BYU Studies 40, no. 2 (2001): 165–179.
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4
See Hatch, Democratization of American Christianity, 113–122.
Hatch, Nathan O. The Democratization of American Christianity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989.
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5
“List of Agents,” Times and Seasons, 15 Feb. 1842, 3:702. Maginn’s surname is misspelled “Maginy” in the list.
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