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Letter from George J. Adams, 23 February 1843

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Letter from George J. Adams, 23 February 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Suffolk Co., MA, to JS and , , Hancock Co., IL, 23 Feb. 1843; handwriting of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamps, postal notation, endorsement, docket, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm) when folded. The letter is inscribed in blue ink. It was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed to , and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The second leaf tore when the letter was opened, resulting in a loss of text. The letter was later refolded and docketed for filing.
The document was endorsed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844. It was also docketed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The notation “copied by A.J” was added by Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. 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 endorsement, early dockets, and notation as well as its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.

    Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

  2. [4]

    “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.

  3. [5]

    Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  4. [6]

    “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.

  5. [7]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 23 February 1843, wrote a letter from to JS in , Illinois, refuting additional rumors of his marital infidelity, reporting on his successes as a missionary, and reaffirming his loyalty to JS. In September or October 1842, JS confronted Adams with charges of adultery while Adams was visiting Nauvoo. He confessed to the charges in an 11 October 1842 letter to JS, claiming to be guilty only of a one-time indiscretion. After preaching for some time in the Nauvoo area, he returned to his home in to continue his missionary work in the eastern .
Around the beginning of January 1843, Mary Connor gave birth to a son and subsequently arrived at ’s home with the child, claiming Adams was the father. Adams’s wife, , wrote to JS informing him of the situation and asking him to recall her husband to . Unaware of his wife’s letter, George Adams resumed his missionary work in , where he had enjoyed considerable success a year earlier. Between January and March 1843, he held numerous public lectures in Boston and surrounding towns expounding Latter-day Saint doctrines and refuting the claims of other religious denominations.
By late February, apparently began to fear that rumors of his child that were circulating among Latter-day Saints in would reach JS. On 23 February 1843, he wrote this letter asking JS to ignore any charges made against him and to publish a statement in the Times and Seasons in support of his character. Adams also described the interest in and growth of the in , inviting JS to come east and join in his missionary efforts. Because of the private nature of his letter, he addressed the letter to , just as his wife had done a month earlier, believing that a letter sent to Emma was less likely to be seized or read by others.
By the time sent this letter, JS had already received ’s letter and had instructed the to call George and his family to . Adams received a letter from and conveying this message on 10 March 1843.
JS received this 23 February letter by 15 March 1843. On that date, he dictated a response, no longer extant, with likely serving as scribe. Clayton then endorsed this 23 February letter, noting that it had been answered.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from George J. Adams and David Rogers, 11 Oct. 1842.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Caroline Youngs Adams, ca. 15 Jan. 1843.

  3. [3]

    “Review of the Mormon Lectures,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1843, 4:126. For sources reporting Adams’s earlier success, see, for example, “The Mormons in Salem,” Salem (MA) Register, 2 June 1842, [2]; “From Our Boston Correspondent,” Norfolk Democrat (Dedham, MA), 17 June 1842, [2]; “The Mormon Controversy at Marlboro’ Chapel,” Christian Freeman and Family Visiter, 1 July 1842, 34; “Mormonism,” New-London (CT) Gazette and Advertiser, 6 July 1842, [2]; and “Latter Day Saints, or Mormons,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842, 3:835–836.

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

    Salem Register. Salem, MA. 1841–1903.

    Norfolk Democrat. Dedham, MA. 1839–1854.

    Christian Freeman and Family Visiter. Boston. 1841–1843.

    New-London Gazette and Advertiser. New London, CT. 1840–1844.

  4. [4]

    See, for example, “Millerism,” Daily Bee (Boston), 20 Jan. 1843, [2]; Notice, Daily Bee, 26 Jan. 1843, [2]; and Notice, Daily Bee, 25 Feb. 1843, [2].

    Boston Daily Bee. Boston. 1842–1857.

  5. [5]

    In June 1843, after meeting with Adams, JS published a notice in the Times and Seasons stating that Adams had been appointed to serve a mission to Russia and had been “found worthy of the confidence of the saints.” After the Nauvoo high council tried Adams in September, William Marks also published a notice, stating that Adams had been “honorably acquitted by the High Council in Nauvoo, from all charges heretofore preferred against him from any and all sources.” (“Recommendatory,” Times and Seasons, 1 June 1843, 4:218; “To Whom It May Concern,” Times and Seasons, 15 Aug. 1843, 4:303.)

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

  6. [6]

    Letter from Caroline Youngs Adams, ca. 15 Jan. 1843.

  7. [7]

    George J. Adams, New York City, NY, to Brigham Young and Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, 10 Mar. 1843, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL.

    Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

  8. [8]

    Clayton spent at least part of the day on 15 March 1843 working in JS’s mayoral office. (JS, Journal, 15 Mar. 1843; Clayton, Journal, 15 Mar. 1843.)

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

I have preached and Boren testomony to more than ten thousand people in the east since My return, they are now about getting up a petition for me to have fanneull [Faneuil] Hall, to preach in if they Succeed it will hold ten thousand and poor will then have the privalage to Speak to ten thousand people at once, in behalf of the truth,
Dear Brother pregidice is giveing away on evry side you have more than ten thousand friends, here that would die, for you— if you dont believe it come and See, and if yo[u] will <​come​> we will Send you the money for yourselph and to come a cabin pasage all the way, and may be Brothers , and , or one or Both will come with you— do come if you can Spare time— if you will in the name of Jesus, we will revolutionise the East, if you will come and pay uss a visit Send word and we will send you the means to come the quickest way. there are Scores of young men her[e] coming in the in the varry prime of live and they stand as firm in the faith as the “everlasting Hills” in great haste I remain your poor unworthy Brother in the J Smith—
[p. [3]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from George J. Adams, 23 February 1843
ID #
997
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D11:468–474
Handwriting on This Page
  • George J. Adams

Footnotes

  1. [13]

    Faneuil Hall had been one of the primary public buildings in Boston since the late eighteenth century and was already a part of the city’s revolutionary heritage. The hall had been enlarged several times since its construction and by the 1840s contained five large meeting halls in the upper stories of the market. The minutes of Boston’s board of aldermen, which granted use of the halls based on submitted petitions, do not contain any record of a petition from the Saints to use Faneuil Hall in early 1843. (Brown, Faneuil Hall and Faneuil Hall Market, 183–184, 215; Boston, MA, Board of Aldermen, Summary Minutes, 1822–1909, vol. 21, in Boston, MA, City Council Proceedings, 1822–2015, City of Boston Archives, West Roxbury, MA.)

    Brown, Abram English. Faneuil Hall and Faneuil Hall Market; or, Peter Faneuil and His Gift. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1901.

    Boston, MA, City Council Proceedings, 1822–2015. City of Boston Archives, West Rox- bury, MA.

  2. [14]

    TEXT: “yo[page torn]”. Missing character supplied from context.

  3. [15]

    Those with cabin passage on steamboats or packet ships had a private room and paid meals. Had he taken Adams up on his offer, JS would have traveled down the Mississippi River on a steamboat before catching one of the regular packet ships that traveled between New Orleans and Boston. (Hunter, Steamboats on the Western Rivers, 390–418; see also, for example, “New Orleans and Boston Packets,” Daily Atlas [Boston], 1 Feb. 1843, [3].)

    Hunter, Louis C. Steamboats on the Western Rivers: An Economic and Technological History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1949.

    Boston Daily Atlas. Boston. 1844–1857.

  4. [16]

    See Genesis 49:26; and Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831 [D&C 133:31].

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