, Letter, , New Haven Co., CT, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 19 Dec. 1842; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamps, docket, redactions, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 7⅞ inches (25 × 20 cm) when folded. The upper left corner of the recto of the first leaf contains a circular embossment, now illegible. The first page is inscribed, whereas the second and third pages are blank. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer.
, who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854, made a graphite notation regarding the reception of the letter on the first page. Richards also inscribed a docket in black ink: “ | Jany 19— 1842”. At some later point, possibly in 1845 while reviewing the letter for inclusion in JS’s history, Richards canceled “Jany” and replaced it with “Decr” using graphite. Richards’s docket and redactions suggest that the letter was retained with JS’s personal correspondence. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The letter’s early docket, redactions, and its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Historical Introduction
On 19 December 1842, wrote a letter from , Connecticut, to JS in , Illinois, stating his intention to visit the following spring to renegotiate the terms of their financial agreement and asking JS to send more frequent reports on affairs at Nauvoo. As one of JS’s major creditors, Hotchkiss was alarmed in spring 1842 when JS announced that he had filed for bankruptcy, and Hotchkiss’s concern had since increased because he believed that JS was ignoring his letters. On 26 November 1842, JS wrote to Hotchkiss explaining that he had not received his letters for a few months, claiming that they may have been stolen by the Nauvoo . JS also discussed his latest understanding of how his bankruptcy petition would affect his debt with Hotchkiss, though he emphasized his intentions to pay for the purchased land. In a postscript, JS suggested they renew their agreement, presumably with an altered schedule of payments. Hotchkiss responded to JS on 19 December with this brief letter stating his intentions to visit Nauvoo in the spring to meet JS and “make some arrangement relative to the property.” Hotchkiss also acknowledged the difficult circumstances JS was in but nevertheless admonished him to keep him more frequently informed of conditions in Nauvoo. Hotchkiss mailed his letter to JS on 20 December 1842, and it likely arrived in Nauvoo on 25 January 1843. JS apparently did not respond to this letter.
Beneath the date of the letter Willard Richards noted, “recd. 25th. Decr 1842.” Because it would have been impossible for a letter to travel from Connecticut to Illinois in just five days, he presumably wrote the wrong month and year in this notation. Richards’s docket for this letter evidences similar confusion, as it states the letter was written “Jany 19— 1842.”