Skip to main content

Letter from Henry A. Cyrus, 1 May 1843

  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter from Henry A. Cyrus, 1 May 1843

Source Note

, Letter, Houston Township, Adams Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 1 May 1843; handwriting and signature presumably of ; one page; Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, and docket.
Single leaf measuring 12¼ × 7½ inches (31 × 19 cm). The document was folded in half and then trifolded twice in letter style, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. Mathematical equations were written in graphite on the document’s verso at an unknown time and in unidentified handwriting. The letter has undergone archival conservation.
The letter was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844. The letter was in a collection of papers held by Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, a descendant of and . The collection was passed down to Fleming’s descendant Helen Marian Fleming Petersen. Shortly after Petersen’s death in February 1988, one of her children found this letter and other items in a box in Petersen’s home. By December 1988 the materials had been donated to the Church Historical Department (now CHL).

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. [2]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, 1836–1963, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 1 May 1843, wrote from Houston Township, Illinois, to JS in , Illinois, requesting his assistance in selling lands in Sonora Township, Illinois, approximately ten miles southeast of Nauvoo. Cyrus was one of the earliest settlers of Houston Township and served as a postmaster there by 1838. He helped lay out the town of Houston, located in , Illinois, but the attendant land sales met with little success. Nevertheless, Cyrus apparently remained engaged in selling land in western . He contacted JS because of JS’s land dealings in and the large number of immigrants settling in and around Nauvoo.
In this letter, included a notice of the location of three available tracts of land, some additional information for potential purchasers, and the names of people who could better describe the land. He then asked JS, the president, to post the sale notice where those immigrating to the area could see it and offered him an incentive of ten dollars per tract for his help.
The letter does not bear any postage; however, given that was a postmaster in and wrote “pm” following his name on the addressing, he presumably sent his inquiry to JS through the post office. If so, it likely arrived in within a week of its mailing. The letter from Cyrus was apparently received in Nauvoo, because it was passed down among descendants of Nauvoo resident and Latter-day Saint and his wife, . However, it does not appear that JS provided Cyrus with any assistance. JS and other church members were already struggling to sell all the land they had purchased for settlement in the Nauvoo area.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Portrait and Biographical Record of Adams County, Illinois, 308; U.S. Post Office Department, Record of Appointment of Postmasters, reel 27, vol. 12B, p. 472.

    Portrait and Biographical Record of Adams County, Illinois, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, together with Biographies and Portraits of All the Presidents of the United States. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1892.

    U.S. Post Office Department. Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832–September 30, 1971. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M841. 145 microfilm reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1977.

  2. [2]

    JS encouraged church members to gather to the Nauvoo area beginning in 1839. British converts to the church began migrating to Nauvoo in 1840, and their numbers increased in early 1843. (Letter to the Saints Abroad, 24 May 1841; “Emigration,” Wasp, 16 Apr. 1842, [2]; JS, Journal, 12 Apr. 1843.)

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

  3. [3]

    Federal law permitted postmasters to send letters via the post office free of charge. (An Act to Reduce into One the Several Acts Establishing and Regulating the Post-Office Department [3 Mar. 1825], Post-Office Laws, Instructions and Forms, pp. 15–16, sec. 27.)

    Post-Office Laws, Instructions and Forms, Published for the Regulation of the Post-Office. Washington DC: Way and Gideon, 1828.

  4. [4]

    For example, just days after Cyrus wrote this letter, Brigham Young published an advertisement in the Nauvoo Neighbor informing new immigrants that he had “a few lots on hand” to “sell very cheap.” (Brigham Young, “Look Here,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 3 May 1843, [3]; 10 May 1843, [4].)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Page [1]

Go to next page 2
Land for Sale.
N. E 28, 6 N. 8 W. 160 acres. Patent— Title perfect
N. W. 28, 6 N. 8 W. 160 "— "— "— "—
E 1/2 N. W. 33, 6 N. 8 W. 80 " Improved— Congress title
Terms— $5 per acre, Cash—
☞The above will be sold, in lots of any size, to suit purchasers; provided a company will take an entire lot.
For description, see , or Abraham Godden Golden, near the premises.
Address ,
P. M. at Houston, Ills–
Houston, May 1, 1843—
Houston, May 1, 1843—
J. Smith,
Sir, I have the above lands for sale. As many apply to you about land, I send you the above notice; which I hope you will do me the kindness to have posted up, in some conspicuous place.— If you will call attention to the above lands, so that a company, (or an individual) shall take any one or all of the lots; I will pay you $10 for each lot. I do not expect that your various avocations will permit you to pay much attention to matters of this kind. But when emigrants arrive, & inquire for lands, please point out the above lots, for they are desirable locations; and on their sale I will pay you $10 for each of them— It is small compensation; but these hard times, it is all I am authorized to give
Very respectfully
—
3X10= 30$ [p. [1]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [1]

Go to next page 2

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Henry A. Cyrus, 1 May 1843
ID #
1484
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:267–269
Handwriting on This Page
  • Henry A. Cyrus

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For information on the process of gaining a land patent, or deed of title, see Application for Land Patent, 22 June 1836.

  2. [2]

    This probably indicates that an individual or family previously built on this tract of land but that the federal government’s General Land Office still held the patent title to the land. (See Letter to Stephen Post, 17 Sept. 1838; and Land Patent, 7 Sept. 1838.)

  3. [3]

    Ewell was a church member who was ordained an elder by JS in 1840 and who bought land from JS in that same year; Ewell owned land located diagonally from some of the land listed by Cyrus for sale. (License for Pleasant Ewell, 20 Apr. 1840, in General Church Recorder, License Record Book, 35; Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. L, p. 246, 24 July 1841, microfilm 954,599, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; JS, Sidney Rigdon, [and Hyrum Smith] to Pleasant Ewell, Bond, [31 Mar. 1840]; Pleasant Ewell to JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith, Promissory Note, 31 Mar. 1840–A, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  4. [4]

    Golden owned land adjacent to some of the land listed by Cyrus for sale. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. C, pp. 316–317, 7 Apr. 1837, microfilm 954,193, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  5. [5]

    Cyrus was likely referring to the economic downturn that grew out of the nationwide financial panic of 1837. The economic recession that followed the panic continued to impact western Illinois in 1843. Many Illinois banks failed in 1842, and by February 1843, legislative enactments ordered the state-sponsored banks to cease operations because of the dismal economic climate. (JS, Journal, 21 Feb. 1843; “Gov. Ford’s Inaugural Address,” Wasp, 24 Dec. 1842, [1]–[2]; An Act to Diminish the State Debt, and Put the State Bank into Liquidation [24 Jan. 1843], Laws of the State of Illinois [1842–1843], pp. 21–26; An Act to Put the Bank of Illinois into Liquidation, [25 Feb. 1843], Laws of the State of Illinois [1842–1843], pp. 27–30.)

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

    Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835. Vandalia, IL: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835.

Go to page