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Letter from John E. Page, 1–2 March 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , to JS and the , , Hancock Co., IL, 1–2 Mar. 1844; handwriting and signature of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamp, dockets, and notations.
Bifolium measuring 11⅝ × 7½ inches (30 × 19 cm). The letter was written on all four pages. It was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a wafer. There is a remnant of the wafer and a small tear on the fourth page where the letter was opened, resulting in a loss of text on the third page. The document was later refolded for filing.
The document was inscribed with a filing notation in unidentified handwriting that was revised by , who served as the church recorder from October 1841 to July 1843. The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. Another docket was inscribed by Jonathan Grimshaw, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1856. The document may have been 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 filing notation and dockets, its possible listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841; JS, Journal, 30 July 1843.

  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]

    Historian’s Office, Journal, 7 June 1853; Wilford Woodruff, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 30 Aug. 1856, in Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 364.

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

    Historian’s Office. Letterpress Copybooks, 1854–1879, 1885–1886. CHL. CR 100 38.

  4. [4]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL. There are two extant 1844 letters from Page but this inventory lists only one.

    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 1 and 2 March 1844, apostle wrote a letter from to JS and the in , Illinois, reporting on his activity in the nation’s capital. A few months earlier, in November 1843, —who was the president of the Quorum of the Twelve—had instructed Page to leave , where he had been proselytizing, and “build up a church in the city of Washington for it is expedient and absolutely necessary that we have a foot hold in that popular city.” Page arrived in Washington DC on 17 February 1844 and began preaching.
On 1 March, started a letter to inform JS and the Quorum of the Twelve of his boarding arrangements, proselytizing efforts, and meetings with politicians and newspaper editors in the capital. He also commented on the presence of in the city, where he and some of his disciples were preaching that the second coming of Jesus Christ was imminent. The next day, Page added a few more paragraphs to his letter. In this addition, he asked JS and to reply with advice on strengthening the in , mentioned speeches given in the Senate about the nation’s policy concerning the , and reflected on his efforts to soften his preaching style.
addressed the letter to . According to the postmark, he mailed the letter from on 2 March. JS and the Quorum of the Twelve presumably received Page’s letter in mid- or late March. It is unknown if either JS or Young replied to this letter.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, to John E. Page, [Boston, MA], 25 Nov. 1843, copy, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; see also Revelation, ca. 25 Nov. 1843.

    Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

  2. [2]

    In 1844 mail sent from Washington DC often arrived in Nauvoo within three weeks. (See, for example, Historical Introduction to Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844.)

Page [3]

I wish you to send me the “Times & Seasons—” and the “Neighbour” Please Direct them to me at — I have one subscriber by the name of Little who wishes to take the “Neighbour” he is a clerk in the “Globe” office I saw the of the Globe today he says he would be Glad to exchange with the “Neighbour” There is a great <​Little​> excitement now in this concerning the prospects of annother difficulty <​with the Mormons​> the News is here copyed from the Papers that there was four wagons sent to for Arms to be used against the Mormons” the Mormons haveing done something it <​is​> not said what I supose however they are such an odd ass[o]ciation of men differing from the most or many of those anamils called men that they “mind their own busyness and let others do so too” and that is to this age the hight of outrage to this sectarian Campbellitish Millenium age if there is any if there is any such an other Millunium fuss starting up in as we found in — pray send us the back numbers of the paper containing the account— I will here say least there [mig]ht be a miss conveyance I sent a letter to and containing the names of subscribers <​for the Papers​> to the amount of eleven dollars I think; and money subscribers in all to the amount of more than thirty dollars I left the money in the hands of Elder Grant of — and took his receipt— I have <​Just​> been into the East room of the Presidents House of which there is so much talk concerning it[s] costly furniture there I have gazied on the mangled remains of five gentlemen of the cabinet and others; and one colored man the s Servant six in all who were killed on the steam ship of war Princeton by the bursting of the big gun of 225 pound ball and 50 pounds of powder from the best account I can gather there was four hundred on board 200 of each sex not a feamale hurt Babylon of old was not in higher glee than that company was the moment before the disaster; in the twinkling of an eye their luxuery and banquiting was turned <​to​> mourning while six went in an instant to the world of spirits where it is hopefull they will <​hear​> the fullness of the gospel which they would not hear on earth.
Your brother in Christ
March the 2 I have mailed two papers for & containing the acount of the disaster and the funeral [p. [3]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John E. Page, 1–2 March 1844
ID #
1656
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • John E. Page

Footnotes

  1. [8]

    The Times and Seasons had been published in Nauvoo since 1839. The Wasp was published in Nauvoo starting in 1842 and changed its name to the Nauvoo Neighbor in 1843. (“Address,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:1; “Introductory,” Wasp, 16 Apr. 1842, [2]; “Prospectus of a Weekly Newspaper, Called the Nauvoo Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 3 May 1843, [3].)

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

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

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  2. [9]

    Francis P. Blair was the editor of the Daily Globe, the Democratic Party newspaper published in Washington DC. (See Historical Introduction to Letter to Editor, 15 Apr. 1844.)

  3. [10]

    In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, newspaper editors exchanged issues of their papers with one another for free through the postal service. They also reprinted news from one another’s newspapers. (Pasley, Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic, 8–9.)

    Pasley, Jeffrey L. “The Tyranny of Printers”: Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2001.

  4. [11]

    This event was reported in the 9 February 1844 issue of the Quincy Herald, which stated that “four wagons passed through this city on Tuesday morning last, on their way to the State Arsenal at Alton, for the purpose of procuring arms and munitions of war, to be used against the Mormons.” At least one Washington DC newspaper reprinted the article from the Quincy Herald. (“War and Rumors of War,” Quincy [IL] Herald, 9 Feb. 1844, [2]; “The Mormons,” Whig Standard [Washington DC], 28 Feb. 1844, [2]; see also Letter from Joseph L. Heywood, 7 Feb. 1844.)

    Quincy Herald. Quincy, IL. 1841–before 1851.

    Whig Standard. Washington DC. 1843–1844.

  5. [12]

    “Campbellite” was a nickname for those who followed the religious movement led by Alexander Campbell. The movement focused on restoring the primitive Christian church by a close adherence to the Bible. (Campbell, Christian System, 8, 13–18.)

    Campbell, Alexander. The Christian System, in Reference to the Union of Christians, and a Restoration of Primitive Christianity, as Plead in the Current Reformation. Pittsburgh: Forrester and Campbell, 1839.

  6. [13]

    TEXT: Possibly “papers”. The page is torn, with a partial stroke of inscription on the remaining paper.

  7. [14]

    TEXT: “[page torn]ht”. Missing characters supplied from context.

  8. [15]

    Woodruff and Taylor were the printers of the Times and Seasons and the Nauvoo Neighbor, although Taylor was listed as the sole editor of the two newspapers. (Lease to John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, between 8 and 10 Dec. 1842; Masthead, Times and Seasons, 1 May 1844, 5:527; Masthead, Nauvoo Neighbor, 1 May 1844, [1].)

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

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  9. [16]

    “Elder Grant” was almost certainly Jedediah M. Grant, who presided over the Philadelphia branch of the church from June 1843 to March 1844. (JS, Journal, 7 Apr. 1843; Obituary for Jedediah M. Grant, Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 10 Dec. 1856, 317.)

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  10. [17]

    Many contemporaries noted that the President’s House—known today as the White House—desperately needed updates, including new furniture. Following the expulsion of President John Tyler from the Whig Party in 1841, Congress refused to provide funding to renovate the President’s House, so Tyler and his wife, Julia Gardiner Tyler, used their own money to purchase new furniture to replace the more worn-out pieces. (Greenberg, Lady First, 119–120; Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 594.)

    Greenberg, Amy S. Lady First: The World of First Lady Sarah Polk. New York: Knopf, 2019.

    Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

  11. [18]

    On 28 February 1844, six men, including Secretary of State Abel Upshur, were killed on the USS Princeton when one of the ship’s guns exploded during a demonstration. The bodies of the deceased were transported in coffins to the East Room of the White House for a public viewing. (Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 679; George Sykes, Washington DC, to Ann Sykes, 5–20 [Mar.] 1844, in Sioussat, “Accident on Board the U. S. S. ‘Princeton,’” 176–186.)

    Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

    Sioussat, George L., ed. “The Accident on Board the U. S. S. ‘Princeton’, February 28, 1844: A Contemporary News-Letter.” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid­Atlantic Studies 4, no. 3 (July 1937): 161–189.

  12. [19]

    In a March 1844 letter, George Sykes, who witnessed the explosion, wrote that four hundred individuals, including two hundred women, were invited to watch the demonstration of the USS Princeton’s guns aboard the ship. (George Sykes, Washington DC, to Amy Sykes, 5–20 [Mar.] 1844, in Sioussat, “Accident on Board the U. S. S. ‘Princeton,’” 168.)

    Sioussat, George L., ed. “The Accident on Board the U. S. S. ‘Princeton’, February 28, 1844: A Contemporary News-Letter.” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid­Atlantic Studies 4, no. 3 (July 1937): 161–189.

  13. [20]

    TEXT: This line was written vertically in the left margin.

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