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Letter from Hiram Barney, 24 January 1842

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Letter from Hiram Barney, 24 January 1842

Source Note

, Letter, , New York Co., NY, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 24 Jan. 1842; handwriting presumably of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamps, postal notations, endorsement, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 8 inches (25 × 20 cm). The letter is inscribed on the first three pages. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and then postmarked. The wafer is on the recto of the second leaf, and wafer residue is on the verso of that same leaf. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The document was contemporaneously docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. It was then endorsed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as temple recorder from 1842 to 1846. The document was also docketed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. 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 dockets and endorsement 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, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 18, 30–31.

    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.

    Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

  3. [3]

    “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.

  4. [4]

    “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. [5]

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

Historical Introduction

On 24 January 1842 attorney composed a letter to JS concerning the proposed sale of a twenty-acre plot of land in , Illinois. The letter continued negotiations begun in an earlier, face-to-face conversation between the two men in Nauvoo. According to the letter, Barney was negotiating the sale on behalf of the land owner, a prominent New York City merchant named Abijah Fisher. In addition to owning property in , Fisher had acquired land in Peoria and Macoupin counties, Illinois, and in , Iowa Territory. Fisher’s land purchases may have been undertaken as private ventures, but they were more likely made on behalf of the New York Land Company, a firm that speculated on western land.
Located near the eastern bank of the on the peninsula, the property named in ’s letter reportedly included a portion of the platted town of and, according to a later JS history, lay “some where between the Hotchkiss Purchase on the North and Galland Purchase on the South.” The land originally belonged to Joseph Teas, one of ’s earliest settlers. In 1835 Teas sold land that included this property to Charles Munson for $1,000. According to land , the value of the Munson lands increased dramatically in the years following its purchase, in large part because of the prospect of building a city on the lands. In 1836 a partnership that included Fisher, Benjamin Lee, and Joshua Aiken purchased half of Munson’s property for $6,000. The twenty-acre property that Barney offered to JS was likely Fisher’s portion of the partnership’s former land holdings.
In his letter to JS, described the land Fisher hoped to sell to JS, his estimate of what it was worth, and his client’s indication that the property could be paid for largely by exchanging parcels of land located in the eastern . The letter was mailed from to on 25 January 1842. An endorsement written by indicates the letter was received by JS in Nauvoo. JS responded to Barney’s proposal in a 3 March 1842 letter.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    After settling in New York City in 1840, Barney established a commercial law practice with partner William Mitchell. (Obituary for Hiram Barney, New York Times [New York City], 20 May 1895, 2; Holley, New-York State Register, for 1843, 391, 396.)

    New York Times. New York City. 1857–.

    Holley, O. L., ed. The New-York State Register, for 1843. Containing an Almanac, Civil Divisions, and Census of the State; with Political, Statistical and Other Information, Relating to the State of New-York and the United States. Also, a Full List of County Officers, Attorneys, &c. Albany: J. Disturnell, 1843.

  2. [2]

    Barney traveled to Lee County, Iowa Territory, in October 1841; it is likely then that he met with JS in Nauvoo, which was located on the other side of the Mississippi River. (Hiram Barney, New York City, NY, to David Kilbourne, Montrose, Iowa Territory, 13 Dec. 1841; David Kilbourne, Montrose, Iowa Territory, to Hiram Barney, New York City, NY, 28 Aug. and 15 Nov. 1841, Hiram Barney Papers, Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.)

    Barney, Hiram. Papers, 1772–1924. The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

  3. [3]

    In 1839 Fisher was a partner in the firm Goodwin, Fisher & Spencer; he was also on the board of directors for several New York institutions, including the Mechanics’ and Traders’ Bank and the Union Theological Seminary. (Longworth’s American Almanac [1839], 286; “Dissolution,” New-York Commercial Advertiser [New York City], 11 Jan. 1841, [4]; Williams, New-York Annual Register, 243; An Act to Incorporate the Union Theological Seminary, in the City of New-York [27 Mar. 1839], Laws of the State of New-York [1839], chap. 99, pp. 83–84, secs. 1, 3.)

    Longworth’s American Almanac, New-York Register, and City Directory, of the Sixty-Fourth Year of American Independence. . . . New York: Thomas Longworth, 1839.

    Commercial Advertiser. New York City. 1820–1863.

    Williams, Edwin. New-York Annual Register for the Year of Our Lord 1836. Containing an Almanac, Civil and Judicial List; with Political, Statistical and Other Information, respecting the State of New-York and the United States. New York: Edwin Williams, 1836.

    Laws of the State of New-York, Passed at the Forty-Sixth Session of the Legislation. Begun at the City of Albany the First Day of January, and Continued Till April 24, 1823. Albany: Leake and Croswell, 1823.

  4. [4]

    Land Patents for Abijah Fisher and Joshua Aiken, Peoria Co., IL, nos. 2990–2997; Land Patent for Abijah Fisher, Joshua Aiken, and Mark Aiken, Peoria Co., IL, no. 3133; Land Patent for Abijah Fisher, Macoupin Co., IL, no. 15916, General Land Office Records, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior; Mason, “Decree in Partition of the Half Breed Tract in Lee County, Iowa, 1840,” 434.

    General Land Office Records. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior. Digital images of the land patents cited herein are available at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/.

    Mason, Charles. “Decree in Partition of the Half Breed Tract in Lee County, Iowa, 1840.” Annals of Iowa 14, no. 6 (Fall 1924): 424–460.

  5. [5]

    Fisher had business ties with many of the New York Land Company’s trustees—including Isaac Galland, Samuel Marsh, Edward Delavan, David Kilbourne, Benjamin Lee, and Joshua Aiken—and had reportedly become a company stockholder by 1842. (Kilbourne, Strictures, on Dr. I. Galland’s Pamphlet, Entitled, “Villainy Exposed,” 8; Mason, “Decree in Partition of the Half Breed Tract in Lee County, Iowa, 1840,” 434, 437–442; Doyle v. Teas, 4 Scammon 207, 224 [Ill. Sup. Ct. 1843]; Neu, Erastus Corning, 142.)

    Kilbourne, David W. Strictures, on Dr. I. Galland’s Pamphlet, Entitled, “Villainy Exposed,” with Some Account of His Transactions in Lands of the Sac and Fox Reservation, etc., in Lee County, Iowa. Fort Madison, IA: Statesman Office, 1850.

    Mason, Charles. “Decree in Partition of the Half Breed Tract in Lee County, Iowa, 1840.” Annals of Iowa 14, no. 6 (Fall 1924): 424–460.

    Neu, Irene D. Erastus Corning: Merchant and Financier, 1794–1872. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1960.

  6. [6]

    JS History, vol. C-1, 1286; Abijah Fisher and Oliver Granger, Tax Receipt, 25 May 1841, Hiram Kimball, Collection, CHL; Doyle v. Teas, 4 Scammon 223 (Ill. Sup. Ct. 1843).

    JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.

    Kimball, Hiram. Collection, 1830–1910. CHL.

    Scammon / Scammon, J. Young. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois. 4 vols. St. Louis: W. J. Gilbert, 1869–1870.

  7. [7]

    Hancock Co., IL, Plat Books, 1836–1938, vol. 1, pp. 10–11, Commerce Plat, 24 May 1834, microfilm 954,774, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 955.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

  8. [8]

    Doyle v. Teas, 4 Scammon 206–207, 223–224 (Ill. Sup. Ct. 1843). The property was described in a later suit as an “undivided half of the north west fractional quarter of section two (2), in township six (6) north, of range nine (9) west.”

    Scammon / Scammon, J. Young. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois. 4 vols. St. Louis: W. J. Gilbert, 1869–1870.

  9. [9]

    Aiken reportedly sold his interest in the property to Lee after July 1837. On 2 March 1839 Lee sold 120 acres of land in the northwest fractional quarter of Section 2 in Township 6 North, Range 9 West. In January 1843 Fisher sold 120 acres in the same area, which likely included the lands offered to JS. (Doyle v. Teas, 4 Scammon 204, 207 [Ill. Sup. Ct. 1843]; Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. K, pp. 121–123, 2 Mar. 1839; vol. L, pp. 418–419, 20 Jan. 1843, microfilm 954,599, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    Scammon / Scammon, J. Young. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois. 4 vols. St. Louis: W. J. Gilbert, 1869–1870.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  10. [10]

    Letter to Hiram Barney, 3 Mar. 1842.

improving city of renders it immensely valuable— I suppose that building lots there are worth, at least, one hundred dollars each, and if you allow Twelve to the acre you have the value of $1,200 to the acre for the 20 acres or $24,000 for the property— I have no doubt but that the building lots would readily sell & be improved if the title could be given at one hundred dollars per lot— But there are some unpleasant questions connected with the title which serve to annoy Mr Fisher residing as he does 2,000 miles distant and depending almost entirely upon to conduct his business. These things make it for his interest to dispose of that property at a low rate to one who can make the utmost value from it.
It would be agreeable to Mr Fisher to receive Some money in payment for the lands but the bulk of the purchase money would be received in eastern property real and personal at a fair valuation
The law suit pending there (or which was pending but is abated by the death of Mr [James] Doyle) would not disturb you in the poss [p. [2]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Hiram Barney, 24 January 1842
ID #
752
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D9:109–114
Handwriting on This Page
  • Hiram Barney

Footnotes

  1. [2]

    In a deposition taken in 1842, Charles Munson’s agent Hiram Kimball indicated that “lots adjoining the Teas tract have, within the past year, been selling from $800 to $1000 per lot; each lot calculated to contain an acre, including half of the street.” No one had yet built on the land, however, perhaps because of the swampy nature of parts of the property or because ownership of a portion of the land was then being disputed in court. (Doyle v. Teas, 4 Scammon 224–225, 232–234 [Ill. Sup. Ct. 1843].)

    Scammon / Scammon, J. Young. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois. 4 vols. St. Louis: W. J. Gilbert, 1869–1870.

  2. [3]

    Contemporaneous records show that during the 1830s and early 1840s, Fisher lived and worked in New York City and Brooklyn. (Longworth’s American Almanac [1832], 292; Longworth’s American Almanac [1836], 250, 281; Longworth’s American Almanac [1841], 272; Leslie et al., Brooklyn Alphabetical and Street Directory, 69.)

    Longworth’s American Almanac, New-York Register, and City Directory, for the Fifty-Sixth Year of American Independence. . . . New York: Thomas Longworth, 1831.

    Longworth’s American Almanac, New-York Register, and City Directory, of the Sixty-First Year of American Independence. . . . New York: Thomas Longworth, 1836.

    Longworth’s American Almanac, New-York Register, and City Directory, for the Sixty-Sixth Year of American Independence. . . . New York: Thomas Longworth, 1841.

    Leslie, Thomas, Henry R. Hearne, and William J. Hearne. Brooklyn Alphabetical and Street Directory, and Yearly Advertiser, for 1843 and 4. Containing the Usual Arrangement of Names, Occupations and Residences; Also a Street Directory. . . . Brooklyn, NY: Stationer’s Hall Works, 1844.

  3. [4]

    Barney’s proposal to exchange Fisher’s land for land the church owned in the eastern United States had precedent, which JS may have mentioned when he began negotiations with Barney in Nauvoo. In October 1841 church leaders encouraged Saints living in the eastern states to exchange their lands for property in Nauvoo. (Brigham Young et al., “An Epistle of the Twelve,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1841, 2:568.)

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

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