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Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 24 October 1843

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Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 24 October 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , [New Utrecht, Kings Co., NY], to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 24 Oct. 1843; handwriting of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes addresses, wax seal, postal notations, postal stamp, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 7⅞ inches (25 × 20 cm) and ruled horizontally with twenty-nine blue lines, now faded. The letter was inscribed on the recto and verso of the first leaf and a postscript was inscribed on the recto of the second leaf. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, with one end folded twice diagonally to form a seal flap, addressed, sealed with red wax, and postmarked. The recto and verso of the second leaf contain wax residue.
The letter was 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. , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865, docketed it a second time. 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 document’s early dockets, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection 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]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  3. [3]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  4. [4]

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

Historical Introduction

On 24 October 1843, prominent author and educator wrote a letter from , New York, to JS in , Illinois, informing him of his eight weeks earlier and describing his political ambitions in . Bennet had become associated with the through the former Nauvoo mayor, who recommended appointing Bennet inspector general of the in April 1842. Following John C. Bennett’s excommunication in May 1842, JS began directly corresponding with Bennet, and a few months later sent to to meet with Bennet personally. Bennet surreptitiously defended the Latter-day Saints in the press, writing under the pseudonym “Cincinnatus,” and offered advice and support to JS during officials’ ongoing extradition attempts. In April 1843, Bennet offered legal advice related to church member ’s trial in Missouri on charges that he attempted to assassinate former Missouri governor . Bennet also apprised JS of John C. Bennett’s activities in New York. Though Bennet planned to visit Nauvoo in May 1843, an attack of “Rheumatic gout” prevented him from making the journey west. On 29 August 1843, and visited Bennet at his home in New Utrecht, and Young baptized Bennet at nearby Coney Island beach the following day.
In his October letter to JS, described his baptism as nothing more than a “glorious frolick in the clear blue ocean.” Bennet also informed JS of his attempt to commission a stone seal engraving for JS, as well as his intention to buy land in and run for governor of that state. The letter’s postmark is now illegible, but Bennet presumably mailed the letter from on the day it was written or shortly after. A docket in the handwriting of indicates that the letter arrived in by 9 November. JS’s journal entry for that day notes that someone, apparently Richards, “called at the office with a letter from Jas A. Bnenet” and that JS “gave instruction to have it answerd.” JS responded to Bennet on 13 November 1843.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Bennet was appointed to the Nauvoo Legion in absentia on 12 April. That same month, on 22 April, the University of Nauvoo awarded him an honorary doctorate of law. (“Military Appointment,” and “Honorary Degree,” Wasp, 30 Apr. 1842, [3].)

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

  2. [2]

    See Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 30 June 1842; Letter from Willard Richards, 9 Aug. 1842; and Richards, Journal, 7 Aug. 1842.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

  3. [3]

    Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 16 Aug. 1842; see also Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 1 Sept. 1842; Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 8 Sept. 1842; Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 20 Feb. 1843; and Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 17–18 Mar. 1843.

  4. [4]

    Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 10 Apr. 1843.

  5. [5]

    Young, Journal, 29–[30] Aug. 1843, 17. Young and other members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles left Nauvoo in July 1843 on a mission to the eastern United States, and in late August the quorum presided over a conference in New York City. (See Woodruff, Journal, 7 July 1843; 26 Aug. 1843; 4 Oct. 1843.)

    Young, Brigham. Journals, 1832–1877. Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1, boxes 71–73.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  6. [6]

    JS, Journal, 9 Nov. 1843.

  7. [7]

    Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 13 Nov. 1843.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 24 October 1843 Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 24 October 1843, as Published in Nauvoo Neighbor Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 24 October 1843, as Published in Times and Seasons Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 24 October 1843, as Published in New York Herald History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”
The celebrated Thomas Brown of is now engaged in cutting your head on a beautiful Cornelian Stone as your private seal which will be set in gold to your order & sent to you. It will be a gem & just what you want. His sister is a member of your . The expense of this Seal set in gold will be about $40 and Mr Brown assures me that if he were not so poor a man he would present it to you free. You can however accept it or not no as he can apply it to another use.
I am myself short for cash, for although I had some time since $2000 paid me by the Harpers, publishers, as the 1st instalment on the purchase of my Copy right, yet I had got so much behind during the hard times that it all went to clear up old scores. I expect $38,000 more however in semi anual payments from those gentlemen within the limits of 10 years a large portion of which I intend to use in the State of in the purchase & conduct of a large tract of land & therefore should I be compelled to announce in this quarter that I have no connections with the , you will of course remain silent as I shall do it in such a way as will make all things right.
I may yet run for a high Office in your , where you would be sure of my best services in your behalf, therefore a known connection with you would be against our mutual interest. It can be shown that a commission in the Legion was a Herald hoax carried, for the fun of it <​out​> by me, as it is not believed even now by the public. In short I expect to be yet through your influence Governor of the State of
My respects to , , & all fr[i]ends
Yours most respectfuly
L[i]eut Ge[n] Smith [p. [2]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 24 October 1843
ID #
1653
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:220–225
Handwriting on This Page
  • James Arlington Bennet

Footnotes

  1. [8]

    Brown was a respected stone seal engraver and jeweler who operated a business in downtown New York City, located at 233 Broadway, between Barclay Street and Park Place. (“Thomas Brown,” Evening Post [New York City], 11 Aug. 1814, [3]; Groce and Wallace, New-York Historical Society’s Dictionary of Artists in America, 1564–1860, 88; New York City Directory, for 1842 and 1843, 48; Doggett’s New-York City Directory, for 1845 and 1846, 55.)

    Evening Post. New York City. 1801–.

    Groce, George C., and David H. Wallace. The New-York Historical Society’s Dictionary of Artists in America, 1564–1860. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1957.

    New York City Directory, for 1842 and 1843. Containing Fifty-Five Thousand Names: Together with Other Valuable Information. New York: John Doggett Jr., 1842.

    Doggett’s New-York City Directory, for 1845 & 1846. New York: John Doggett Jr., [1845].

  2. [9]

    In 1843, Bennet sold the copyright to his popular textbook, The American System of Practical Book-Keeping, to the publishing firm Harper & Brothers for $40,000. (“Copy Right of Bennet’s Book-Keeping for Sale,” New York Herald [New York City], 14 Feb. 1843, [3]; “Literature Going Ahead,” Spirit of the Age [Woodstock, VT], 5 Oct. 1843, [3]; see also Edwards, History of Public Accounting in the United States, 57–58; and James Arlington Bennet, The American System of Practical Book-Keeping, Adapted to the Commerce of the United States in Its Domestic and Foreign Relations, Comprehending All the Modern Improvements in the Practice of the Art . . . [New York: Collins and Hannay, 1824].)

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

    Spirit of the Age. Woodstock, VT. 1840–1913.

    Edwards, James Don. History of Public Accounting in the United States. East Lansing: Bureau of Business and Economic Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, Michigan State University, 1960.

    Bennet, James Arlington. The American System of Practical Book-Keeping, Adapted to the Commerce of the United States, in it Domestic and Foreign Relations, Comprehending All the Modern Improvements in the Practice of the Art, and Exemplified in One Set of Books Kept By Double Entry, Embracing Five Different Methods of Keeping a Journal. New York: Collins & Hannay, 1831.

  3. [10]

    On 12 April 1842, JS appointed Bennet inspector general of the Nauvoo Legion and granted him the rank of major general. The appointment was announced in the Wasp on 30 April 1842. (“Military Appointment,” Wasp, 30 Apr. 1842, [3]; see also “Late and Interesting from the Mormon Empire on the Upper Mississippi,” New York Herald [New York City], 30 May 1843, [2].)

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

  4. [11]

    In August 1842, the New York Herald published a fabricated military order, ostensibly authorized by Nauvoo Legion adjutant general Hugh McFall and JS, that ordered Bennet to take command of the legion. McFall later stated that the order was a fraud. (JS, Journal, 14 Sept. 1842; “Great Hoax,” Wasp, 24 Sept. 1842, [2]; see also “Late and Important from the Mormon Country,” New York Herald [New York City], 30 Aug. 1842, [2]; and James Gordon Bennett, “Military Movements,” New York Herald, 1 Sept. 1842, [2].)

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

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

  5. [12]

    TEXT: JS’s title and surname are partially encircled.

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