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Letter from Hyrum Smith, 2 January 1840

Source Note

, Letter, [], Hancock Co., IL, to JS and , , 2 Jan. 1840. Featured version copied [between Apr. and June 1840] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 91–94; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction

On 2 January 1840, wrote a letter to JS and , who were in , in response to a number of letters he had received from the two men. With and JS out of town, Smith was the only member of the in , Illinois, which made him responsible for managing affairs there and responding to inquiries from church spread throughout the country.
In his letter, updated JS and on his efforts to gather duplicates of land records that JS and Higbee apparently planned to submit to Congress as support for the church’s petition for redress. He also reported on his work to secure more financing for their trip, as JS had directed, especially since the delegation was already running short on funds. Smith apprised JS and Higbee of ’s request to publish editions of the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the church’s hymnbook in . In addition, Smith informed them of ’s delay in traveling to to help settle some of the church’s debts. Finally, Smith asked JS for advice on several other matters, including whether their parents should accompany Granger to , Ohio.
likely sent the letter by post, the primary method by which the church’s delegation to the federal government communicated with church leaders in . No response from JS has been located. The original letter from Smith is apparently not extant, but copied it into JS Letterbook 2 sometime between April and June 1840.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Two prior letters JS and Higbee wrote to church leaders in Commerce were recorded in JS Letterbook 2. It is likely that these are the letters to which Smith referred in this letter, though there may have been other letters that did not survive. (See Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 Dec. 1839; and Letter to Seymour Brunson and Nauvoo High Council, 7 Dec. 1839.)

  2. [2]

    See Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 Dec. 1839.

  3. [3]

    Pratt’s publication request and Hyrum Smith’s rationale for denying it are recorded in several pieces of correspondence between Smith, Pratt, and Lucian R. Foster. A certificate created in May 1839 documents Granger’s role as an agent for the church. As agent he was responsible for arranging the discharge of the church’s debts to New York merchants. (Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 22 Nov. 1839; Hyrum Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to Parley P. Pratt, New York City, NY, 22 Dec. 1839, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 80–81; Hyrum Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to Lucian R. Foster, New York City, NY, Jan. 1840, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 82–84; Authorization for Oliver Granger, 13 May 1839.)

  4. [4]

    See Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 Dec. 1839.

  5. [5]

    Coray, Autobiographical Sketch, 17, 19.

    Coray, Howard. Autobiographical Sketch, after 1883. Howard Coray, Papers, ca. 1840–1941. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2043, fd. 1.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from Hyrum Smith, 2 January 1840 Letterbook 2 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 92

having the approval of Heaven, I would say, go on dear Bretheren in the name of the Lord, and while you are pleading the cause of the Widdow and the Fatherless, may He who has promised to be a Father to the Fatherless and a husband to the Widdow bless you in your undertaking and arm you with sufficient streng[t]h for the herculean task in which you are engaged: Your exertions will be seconded by the Bretheren in this region, who are desposed to do all they possibly can.
I had just got ready to start for when I received your letter, I no sooner read it than I abandoned the idea of going there. I then made exertions to obtain funds for you in this place; but not being able to get any, and hearing there were bretheren in lately from ; I started off the following day and succeeded in obtaining from Bro. Herringshaw three hundred Dollars which I deposited with Messrs Holems & co Merchants in , subject to the order of , the reason why I deposited it with them was in consequence of the Banks not doing any business and refusing to take deposits &c—
I hope that we shall be able to raise you some more soon: Bro has promised to let us have one hundred Dollars as soon as he gets a remittance from the East, which he expects daily. We have not been able to get much on the City lots since you left, not more than enough to pay some wages for surveying and a few debts. Bro. returned the subscription paper a few days ago, stating that he had not collected any thing on the same since you left, In consequence of my health which has been poor and the coldness of the weather I have not been able to attend to it myself. I hardly think we shall be able to raise the one thousand dollars for Mr by the time he will expect it. is yet in ; not being able to move in consequence of the low stages of water in the ohio river. I received a letter lately from , stating that he was in City of had published [p. 92]
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Source Note

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Page 92

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Hyrum Smith, 2 January 1840
ID #
505
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:96–100
Handwriting on This Page
  • Howard Coray

Footnotes

  1. [5]

    An 1833 revelation directed church leaders to appeal to the federal government for redress if government officials in Missouri refused to provide reparations. (Revelation, 16–17 Dec. 1833 [D&C 101:86–92].)

  2. [6]

    See Psalm 68:5.

  3. [7]

    Likely Hugh Herringshaw. The minutes of a 29 December 1839 meeting of the Nauvoo high council record that Oliver Granger had recently obtained “four hundred dollars” from “Brother Herringshaw for the use of our breth[r]en who are delegated to Washington.” (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 29 Dec. 1839, 38, underlining in original.)

    Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.

  4. [8]

    Likely either Joseph T. Holmes or his brother Samuel Holmes, and their respective business partners. Joseph Holmes also functioned as president of the Quincy branch of the Illinois State Bank at this time, although the bank had transacted limited business since halting specie payments in May 1837. (History of Adams County, Illinois, 952; Collins and Perry, Past and Present of the City of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, 46–47, 60, 110–111, 222, 534; Portrait and Biographical Record of Adams County, Illinois, 452.)

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

    Collins, William H., and Cicero F. Perry. Past and Present of the City of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing, 1905.

    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.

  5. [9]

    Senator Richard M. Young, part of the Illinois congressional delegation, had agreed to facilitate the financing of the delegation’s trip to Washington DC. (Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 Dec. 1839.)

  6. [10]

    During the nationwide financial depression that followed the Panic of 1837 and that particularly affected Illinois and other western states, the Illinois State Bank suspended payments and stopped receiving deposits. This suspension started a chain reaction that halted the business of most other banks in the state, which was likely the reason Hyrum Smith could not deposit money with a bank and had to work through local merchants instead. (“State Bank Suspension,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 1 Nov. 1839, [2].)

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

  7. [11]

    Henry G. Sherwood was likely one of the surveyors for the planned town of Nauvoo at this time. (See Memorial to Nauvoo High Council, 18 June 1840.)

  8. [12]

    The subscription referred to here was apparently for the Times and Seasons, the church newspaper recently started in the Commerce area. (See Source Note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.)

  9. [13]

    In August 1839, the church purchased on credit 89½ acres of land in the planned town of Nauvoo from William White and Horace Hotchkiss. No specific date was set to pay White, but payment was made in full by April 1840. (Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–B; Receipt from William White, 23 Apr. 1840.)

  10. [14]

    News Item, Newark (NJ) Daily Advertiser, 3 Dec. 1839, [2]; Roberts, Practical Views on the Proposed Improvement of the Ohio River, 48.

    Newark Daily Advertiser. Newark, NJ. 1832–1904.

    Roberts, W. Milnor. Practical Views on the Proposed Improvement of the Ohio River. Philadelphia: Journal of the Franklin Institute, 1857.

  11. [15]

    Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 22 Nov. 1839.

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