Letter from Emma Smith, 7 March 1839
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Source Note
, Letter, , Adams Co., IL, to JS, , Clay Co., MO, 7 Mar. [1839]. Featured version copied [between 29 May and 30 Oct. 1839] in JS Letterbook 2, p. 37; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.
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Historical Introduction
On 7 March 1839, wrote the following letter to JS, who remained imprisoned in , updating him on her situation since her departure from , Missouri, the previous month. Accompanied by , Emma and her children left Far West on 7 February 1839 and arrived in in mid-February. She and her children found lodging in the home of and , about four miles east of , Illinois. In late February or early March 1839, church leaders in Quincy decided to send important documents to JS, and family members of the prisoners were invited to send letters with the courier. In this 7 March letter, which Emma likely wrote in the Clevelands’ residence, she expressed her feelings upon leaving her imprisoned husband and described the sufferings of the Latter-day Saint refugees during their winter migration to Illinois.Church leaders in chose Latter-day Saint to deliver the letters and other documents to the prisoners. Rogers left Quincy on 10 March and arrived in on the evening of 19 March. JS acknowledged receipt of his ’s letter and expressed profound gratitude for it in his 20 March 1839 general epistle to the church. The following day, he wrote a personal response to her letter. Emma Smith’s original letter, which is apparently not extant, was copied into JS Letterbook 2 by between 29 May and 30 October 1839.
Footnotes
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1
Far West Committee, Minutes, 7 Feb. 1839; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 6–7 and 15 Feb. 1839.
Far West Committee. Minutes, Jan.–Apr. 1839. CHL. MS 2564.
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2
See Historical Introduction to Letter from Edward Partridge, 5 Mar. 1839.
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3
Rogers, Statement, [1], CHL; Historical Introduction to Letter from Edward Partridge, 5 Mar. 1839.
Rogers, David W. Statement, [not before 1846]. CHL.
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6
Mulholland copied his own 29 May 1839 letter to Edward Partridge on page 15 of JS Letterbook 2, making that the earliest likely copying date for documents he subsequently copied but that had dates preceding 29 May.
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