Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 7 February 1842
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Source Note
, Letter, , New Haven Co., CT, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 7 Feb. 1842; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamps, postal notations, endorsement, and notation.Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The document was inscribed in blue ink on the recto of the first leaf. The verso of the first leaf and recto of the second leaf are blank. The bifolium was trifolded twice in letter style, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, addressed, and postmarked. The letter was torn when opened, and some wafer residue remains on the verso of the second page.The letter was endorsed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as temple recorder from 1842 to 1846. A notation was inscribed 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. The document may be one of the four 1842 letters from listed in an inventory 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 document’s early endorsement and notation as well as its possible inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and its inclusion in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.
Footnotes
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1
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.
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2
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–.
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3
“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [2], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL. “Index to Papers in the Historians Office,” ca. 1904, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL, and its draft cite a letter from Horace Hotchkiss, but it is unclear which of the several 1842 Hotchkiss letters it is.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
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4
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
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Historical Introduction
On 7 February 1842 wrote to JS from his home in regarding a pending land transaction with the . Hotchkiss met with church in in late September or early October 1841, and Ivins proposed selling Hotchkiss approximately 140 acres of church-owned land in New Jersey, including two pine-timber farms and a “.” Hotchkiss previously wrote to JS offering $3,000 for the land, provided the payment be applied to interest the church owed Hotchkiss and his business partners, and , for land the church purchased in , Illinois, in August 1839. In December 1841 JS wrote a letter countering Hotchkiss’s offer, stating the church would sell the land for $3,200. Hotchkiss agreed to the amount later that month. In February, Hotchkiss wrote the featured letter to request prompt completion of the arrangement. JS responded to this letter on 10 March, by which time Hotchkiss and Ivins had completed the transaction.
Footnotes
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1
Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 11 Oct. 1841; Receipt from Horace Hotchkiss et al., 28 Feb. 1842.
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2
Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 9 Nov. 1841; Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A.
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3
Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 10 Dec. 1841; Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 30 Dec. 1841.
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4
Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 10 Mar. 1842; Receipt from Horace Hotchkiss et al., 28 Feb. 1842.
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