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Letter from George Bratton, 24 March 1844

Source Note

, Letter, [LaSalle Co., IL], to “the Members of the General Conference and of the Church,” , Hancock Co., IL, 24 Mar. 1844; handwriting and signature presumably of ; two pages; JS Collection (Supplement), CHL. Includes address, docket, and notations.
Bifolium measuring 11⅞ × 7⅞ inches (30 × 20 cm). The leaves are ruled with thirty-three horizontal printed lines, now faded. The letter was written on the recto and verso of the first leaf and then trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer, the remnants of which are on the verso of the first leaf and the recto of the second. When the letter was opened, the wafer tore the top layer of paper off part of the verso of the first leaf. At some point after a docket was written, the letter was trimmed unevenly on the top and bottom edges, cutting off part of the docket. There is also some separation along the top horizontal fold on the second leaf.
The document was docketed by an unidentified individual. The docket includes the notation “filed July 5/45 | March/44”. It appears that “filed July 5/45” was inscribed by a member of JS’s office staff in and was then later corrected to reflect the letter’s date of original production. The Church Historical Department (now CHL) published a register of the JS Collection in 1973. However, the department’s staff continued to locate documents authored by or directed to JS in uncataloged church financial records and in name and subject files. The department also acquired additional JS documents from donors, collectors, and dealers. These newly located and acquired documents were kept together in a supplement to the JS Collection that was closed to further acquisitions in 1984 and was named the JS Collection (Supplement), 1833–1844. The document’s docket and the document’s later inclusion in the JS Collection Supplement suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection (Supplement), 1833–1844, in the CHL catalog. A preliminary inventory of the supplement was created in 1992 and its cataloging was finalized in 2017.

Historical Introduction

On 24 March 1844, wrote a letter to “the Members of the General and of the Church” in , Illinois, in which he announced the founding of a of the church. Although Bratton never specified the location of the branch, other sources place it in , LaSalle County, Illinois.
Several missionaries had labored in LaSalle County prior to the organization of the branch. In 1842 preached in the county and established a congregation called the LaSalle branch. Early in 1843, Dykes returned to LaSalle County, where he taught in the town of Ottawa for two weeks and seven individuals. By the end of Dykes’s mission, the LaSalle branch had fifty-eight members. and Harvey Green were also appointed to preach in LaSalle County in 1843. In December 1843, left and stopped in several towns, including Ottawa, on his way to . On 23 March 1844, while making his way home to Nauvoo to attend the April 1844 conference, he visited Ottawa again and organized a branch of the church there.
The next day, 24 March 1844, , the new branch’s leader, wrote to church headquarters in announcing the creation of the branch. In addition, he requested on behalf of the local members that be appointed to work in and preside over the Newark, Illinois, conference and that be assigned to teach in the branch. He expressed gratitude for the elders who had been sent to the area but asked that the branch members’ own choice of officers be acknowledged and approved.
The letter bears no postmark, suggesting that sent this letter by a private courier—possibly by , who returned to after organizing the branch. A docket and filing notation on the letter indicate that it was received in Nauvoo. No response from JS has been located.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 23 Mar. 1844; William O. Clark, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 1 May 1844, 5:521.

    Historical Department. Journal History of the Church, 1896–. CHL. CR 100 137.

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

  2. [2]

    George P. Dykes, Nauvoo, IL, Letter to the Editor, 19 May 1843, Times and Seasons, 15 May 1843, 4:195.

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

  3. [3]

    “Special Conferance,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1843, 4:240. Rich was appointed to serve a mission to Ottawa in April 1843. At a special conference on 3 July 1843, Rich and Green were assigned to labor in LaSalle County as part of a larger effort to “prea[c]h the gospel & disabuse the public mind” regarding JS’s release after the third attempt to extradite him to Missouri. JS was arrested in Dixon, Illinois, on 23 June 1843 and subsequently discharged on a writ of habeas corpus in Nauvoo on 1 July 1843, which proved controversial. (“Elder’s Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1843, 4:157; JS, Journal, 30 June 1843; 1 and 3 July 1843; Clayton, Journal, 23 June and 1 July 1843; see also “Missouri vs Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1843, 4:242–243; and “Part 4: June–July 1843.”)

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

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

  4. [4]

    William O. Clark, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 1 May 1844, 5:520–521.

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

  5. [5]

    The term conference was used to describe geographical areas defined for administrative purposes beginning in 1835. Conference could also refer to a meeting at which ecclesiastical officers and other church members conducted church business. By 1839 the term general conference usually referred to semiannual meetings at which business was transacted for the entire church. (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Record, 22–23 May 1835; 17–19 July 1835; 7 Aug. 1835; Minute Book 2, 25–26 Oct. 1831, 10–15; Minutes, 4–5 May 1839; Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30–31.)

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Record / Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “A Record of the Transactions of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of the Latter Day Saints from the Time of Their Call to the Apostleship Which Was on the 14th Day of Feby. AD 1835,” Feb.–Aug. 1835. In Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–, vol. 2. CHL. CR 500 2.

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

Page [1]

March 24th. 1844. to the members of the General and of the Greeting
Beloved brethern in the covenant A of the church was organized here on yesterday by calling. to preside when was chosen and Phillip H Buzzard we have hereunto been Conected with A branch about 8 miles out of town which yet Contains about 30 members— this branch is organised by admitting 12 members. there is some 6 or eight others Living at present amongst us but who are sojourners on their way to the City there is A branch at Newark 15 miles from this place Containing some 35 members and here and there one of our brethern scattered over the country also within our knowledge individuals seeking truth now brethern though strangers to you yet bound by the same Covenant we pray you if posible favour our Desires which has been made known in this branch by unanimous vote. as has Apointed A Conference at Newark we ask you to send him to preside over it and Labour within its bounds During whatever time wisdom may say good Can be done. With him we Carefully solicit to be Amongst us as A teacher in Righteousness to go into the Labours with the us in this part of the vineyard
My Reasons on the oposite side [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from George Bratton, 24 March 1844
ID #
1919
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • George Bratton

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    William Oglesby Clark was ordained an elder in 1836 and was appointed to serve a mission in Iowa Territory in 1843. (Elders License for William O. Clark, 22 Apr. 1836, in Kirtland Elders’ Certificates, 90; “Elder’s Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1843, 4:157.)

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

  2. [2]

    This was most likely the LaSalle branch, which George P. Dykes formed in 1842. (George P. Dykes, Nauvoo, IL, Letter to the Editor, 19 May 1843, Times and Seasons, 15 May 1843, 4:195.)

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

  3. [3]

    Possibly a reference to Nauvoo.

  4. [4]

    William O. Clark had organized the Newark branch in 1844, prior to establishing the Ottawa branch. (William O. Clark, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 1 May 1844, 5:521.)

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

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