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Letter from George Miller, 4 September 1842

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Letter from George Miller, 4 September 1842

Source Note

, Letter, , St. Louis Co., MO, to and JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 4 Sept. 1842; handwriting of ; two pages; JS Office Papers, CHL. Includes address, postal stamp, postal notation, and docket.
Bifolium measuring 12 × 7½ inches (30 × 19 cm) when folded. Embossed in the upper left corner of the first page is a paper mill insignia that reads “F.B. Howell | Lockport” in a rectangular border. Each page is ruled with thirty-four horizontal printed lines, now faded to gray. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. It was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (now CHL) circa 1904. The document’s early docket and the circa 1904 inventory indicate continuous institutional custody since at least 1865.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Francis Barber Howell began operating a paper mill in Lockport, Ohio, around 1830. (Bidwell, American Paper Mills, 290.)

    Bidwell, John. American Paper Mills, 1690–1832: A Directory of the Paper Trade with Notes on Products, Watermarks, Distribution Methods, and Manufacturing Techniques. Hanover, NH: Dartmouth College Press, 2013.

  2. [2]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  3. [3]

    “Index to Papers in the Historian’s Office,” ca. 1904, 7, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

Historical Introduction

On 4 September 1842, member wrote a letter from to and JS in , Illinois, informing them that officials in , , and planned to apprehend JS in the ongoing effort to extradite him and to Missouri. Although Miller addressed the letter to Clayton, his postscript indicated that the letter was intended for JS. JS was in hiding, and Miller presumably thought Clayton knew JS’s whereabouts. Sending the letter to Clayton may also have helped ensure it was not intercepted and reached JS safely.
had stopped in on what appears to be a second trip to , Missouri, to meet with Governor . In July 1842, Miller and had fulfilled a church assignment to meet in person with Reynolds to request that he cease all efforts to requisition JS. News of the government’s determination to requisition JS may have been the reason Miller made this additional trip to meet with Reynolds. On the same day that he wrote this letter to JS, however, he made his request of Reynolds by letter. It is unclear why Miller made his second appeal to Reynolds by letter instead of continuing his trip to the capital to meet in person.
reported to JS that the sheriff of , Illinois, had boarded the same steamboat that he had in , Iowa Territory. Miller speculated that the sheriff and a man accompanying him had been in in order to enlist the help of the territory’s governor, , in apprehending JS and . Furthermore, Miller expressed his concern that , , , and had not arrived in when expected, leading him to worry about the state of affairs in the city. The traveling party was headed east on a mission to the northeastern , where they intended to counter the negative claims was making about JS and the church in letters published in newspapers and on his public lecture tour. In addition, Miller relayed general information of other plans to apprehend JS as told to him by a fellow church member, , and a friend living in , Uriah Raplee. Lastly, he informed JS that the majority of St. Louis residents appeared to disregard the negative information that Bennett was spreading about JS and the church.
mailed the letter on 5 September. Unbeknownst to him, the day before he wrote this letter an and two other men arrived in to apprehend JS, causing JS to hide first in ’s home and then in ’s. apparently received the letter and passed it on to JS by 8 September, when JS referenced some of the information in a letter he wrote to .

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    During their July meeting, Reynolds assured Miller and Derby that the Missouri charges against JS, based on the 1838 conflict between Latter-day Saints and their neighbors, would not be revived. However, after Lilburn W. Boggs swore an affidavit on 20 July implicating JS in the assassination attempt on Boggs, Reynolds issued a requisition to Thomas Carlin for JS’s arrest and extradition. (JS, Journal, 12 and 24 July 1842; Letter from Calvin A. Warren, 13 July 1842; George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 26 June 1855, in Northern Islander, 16 Aug. 1855, [4]; Lilburn W. Boggs, Affidavit, 20 July 1842; Thomas Reynolds, Requisition, 22 July 1842.)

    Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.

  2. [2]

    In his letter to Reynolds, Miller insisted that JS could not have been an accessory before the fact to the attempted assassination of Lilburn W. Boggs because JS had not been in Missouri during the previous three years and was engaged in military drills with the Nauvoo Legion on the day of the attempted assassination. Miller further argued that such an act was contrary to his opinion of JS’s character. (George Miller, St. Louis, MO, to Thomas Reynolds, Jefferson City, MO, 4 Sept. 1842, Records of Governor Thomas Reynolds, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City.)

    Records of Governor Thomas Reynolds, 1840–1844. MSA.

  3. [3]

    In 1841 Chambers was appointed governor of Iowa Territory by President William Henry Harrison. Chambers’s predecessor in office, Robert Lucas, had been sympathetic to the plight of JS and the Saints after their expulsion from Missouri. Apparently, sometime after Reynolds sent Chambers a requisition dated 20 August 1842, Chambers issued a warrant for JS’s arrest. He later indicated, however, that the warrant was never served. (Parish, Autobiography of John Chambers, 38; Robert Lucas, Burlington, Iowa Territory, to Martin Van Buren, Washington DC, 22 Apr. 1839, microfilm, Martin Van Buren, Correspondence, 1839–1844, CHL; State of Missouri, Office of the Secretary of State, Commissions Division, Register of Civil Proceedings, vol. A, p. 175; John Chambers, Burlington, Iowa Territory, to John Cowan, [Bald Bluff, IL], 10 Mar. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

    Chambers, John. Autobiography of John Chambers. Edited by John Carl Parish. Iowa City, IA: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1908.

    Van Buren, Martin. Correspondence, 1839–1844. Photocopies. CHL. MS 12809. Original at Library of Congress, Washington DC.

    JS Office Papers / Joseph Smith Office Papers, ca. 1835–1845. CHL. MS 21600.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 4 Sept. 1842.

  5. [5]

    Hollister was in Quincy, Illinois, at this time, dispatched there by JS to notify him of any movement by officials to travel to Nauvoo in order to arrest him. In this capacity, Hollister sent a letter dated 1 September 1842 to Clayton informing him of plans to apprehend and extradite JS. (Letter to Emma Smith, 16 Aug. 1842; David S. Hollister, Quincy, IL, to Hyrum Smith, Nauvoo, IL, 12 Aug. 1842; David S. Hollister, Quincy, IL, to William Clayton, Nauvoo, IL, 1 Sept. 1842, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

  6. [6]

    According to a St. Louis directory published in 1842, Raplee was associated with the St. Louis Exchange at the corner of Second and Prune streets. (Saint Louis Directory, for the Year 1842, 112.)

    The Saint Louis Directory, for the Year 1842; Containing the Names of the Inhabitants, and the Numbers of Their Places of Business and Dwellings; with a Sketch of the City of Saint Louis. . . . St. Louis: Chambers & Knapp, 1842.

  7. [7]

    JS, Journal, 3 Sept. 1842.

  8. [8]

    Letter to James Arlington Bennett, 8 Sept. 1842.

Page [1]

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Mo. Septr. 4th 1842
Dear friend & Brother
I did not get off from until Thursday morning 2 oclock on the Steamer Leander. The Sheriff [Thomas] Jasper & a man that I supposed to be from also got on the boat at the same time that I did, having arrived there from [Iowa Territory] just immediately before the boat left; Having as I supposed, been to the of to make a demand of him for our friends which conjecture I found corroborated by he having informed me that the Messengers from had returned some day’s ago. And since my arrival in this Mr. Raplie [Uriah Raplee] the proprietor of the St. Louis Hotel informed me that the Messengers from were here 8 or 10 days ago Making thus boast that they were on their way to our place to make the second effort to get Br Jos. S— swearing that they would have him living or dead. I take this method of giving you this information just as I have learned it. promised he would write from touching the matter if he did, the story twice told will do no harm. I have been detained here since friday noon waiting for a boat, since which time time the S Bts. [steamboats] Borias, Rosalle, Amaranth & Ohio, have severally arrived at this port on one of which I expected to have met with his not coming has given me much uneasiness lest all should not or has not been right with you all— I am almost tempted to return home; but it being a maxim with me when I put my hand to [p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from George Miller, 4 September 1842
ID #
3427
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D11:45–49
Handwriting on This Page
  • George Miller

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    1 September 1842.

  2. [2]

    In January 1841, the steamboat Leander started traveling on the Mississippi River between Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Natchez, Mississippi. It is unclear when it expanded its route, but it appears that it had made at least one trip on the Illinois River in June 1841. (“Vicksburg and Natchez Tri Weekly Packet,” Mississippian [Jackson, MS], 15 Jan. 1841, [3]; “Navigation on the Illinois River,” Peoria [IL] Register and North-Western Gazetteer, 29 Apr. 1842, [1].)

    Mississippian. Jackson, MS. 1841–1842.

    Peoria Register and North-Western Gazetteer. Peoria, IL. 1837–1843.

  3. [3]

    Jasper was the former sheriff of Adams County, of which Quincy was the county seat. (History of Adams County, Illinois, 420.)

    The History of Adams County, Illinois. Containing a History of the County—Its Cities, Towns, Etc. . . . Chicago: Murray, Williamson, and Phelps, 1879.

  4. [4]

    Hollister’s letter arrived in Nauvoo on 3 September, the same day that an undersheriff and two other men arrived at JS’s home to arrest him. (David S. Hollister, Quincy, IL, to William Clayton, Nauvoo, IL, 1 Sept. 1842, JS Office Papers, CHL; JS, Journal, 3 Sept. 1842.)

  5. [5]

    2 September 1842.

  6. [6]

    In September 1842, the steamboat Boreas traveled a route between St. Louis and Keokuk. It departed St. Louis every Tuesday and Saturday. (“For Hannibal, Quincy and Warsaw, Regular Packet,” Daily Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 1 Sept. 1842, [1].)

    Daily Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1869.

  7. [7]

    In September 1842, the steamboat Rosale traveled a route between St. Louis and Keokuk. It departed St. Louis every Tuesday and Saturday. (“Regular Packets Four Times a Week,” Daily Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 1 Sept. 1842, [1].)

    Daily Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1869.

  8. [8]

    The steamboat Amaranth apparently traveled routes on both the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. (“For Louisville, Cincinnati & Pittsburg,” Daily Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 13 July 1841, [3]; “Steamboat Disasters,” Sun [Baltimore], 6 Dec. 1842, [2].)

    Daily Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1869.

    Sun. Baltimore. 1837–2008.

  9. [9]

    The steamboat Ohio apparently traveled on the Mississippi River between Galena, Illinois, and St. Louis and possibly to points farther south. (“Collision,” Daily Picayune [New Orleans], 7 June 1843, [2].)

    Daily Picayune. New Orleans, LA. 1837–1914.

  10. [10]

    Hyrum Smith departed from Nauvoo on his mission on the same day that Miller wrote this letter. (JS, Journal, 4 Sept. 1842.)

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