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Letter from John R. Wakefield, circa 24 June 1844

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Letter from John R. Wakefield, circa 24 June 1844

Source Note

, Letter, [, Henry Co., Iowa Territory?], to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, [ca. 24 June 1844]; handwriting and signature of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, dockets, and notation.
Single leaf measuring 4⅛–4½ × 7⅞ inches (10–11 × 20 cm). The recto is ruled with approximately thirteen horizontal lines printed in blue ink. The top and right edges of the recto have the square cut of manufactured paper. The left edge is rough, and the bottom edge is rough and uneven, which suggests that the leaf was torn from a book or larger sheet. The letter and its addressing were inscribed in graphite. The document was folded to pocket size for transmission.
The document 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. It was docketed again by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets and its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

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

Historical Introduction

On or around 24 June 1844, wrote to JS in , Illinois, declining JS’s request for legal assistance. JS had been charged with in connection with the 10 June destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor’s press. governor demanded that JS answer the charge in , Illinois. JS wrote to Wakefield on 23 June and asked him to serve as a defense witness at his riot hearing scheduled to take place on 24 June.
In his response, probably written from , Henry County, Iowa Territory, informed JS that he would be unable to testify at the hearing but would be willing to provide evidence later, if called upon. While this letter is undated, Wakefield probably wrote it sometime around 24 June in conjunction with an affidavit he made that day in Henry County detailing the events of the destruction of the Expositor’s press. It is unknown why Wakefield swore out this affidavit, but it could relate to his promise in this letter to provide JS with evidence.
It is unclear how ’s letter of reply was transmitted to JS. If delivered JS’s 23 June letter to Wakefield, he could have carried the response back to , the address on the letter. A docket by indicates that the letter was received at some point in Nauvoo. However, it likely arrived after JS’s departure from Nauvoo to on 24 June, making it unlikely that JS saw this letter before his death in Carthage on 27 June 1844.

Footnotes

  1. Historical Introduction to Letter to Edward Johnstone, 23 June 1844; Letter to John R. Wakefield, 23 June 1844.

  2. Mount Pleasant was approximately a twenty-five-mile journey northwest from Burlington. (Mitchell, Iowa, map; History of Henry County, Iowa, 333, 504.)

    Mitchell, Samuel Augustus. Iowa. 1846. In A New Universal Atlas, Containing Maps of the Various Empires, Kingdoms, States and Republics of the World. Philadelphia: By the author, 1846. Digital image at David Rumsey Map Collection, accessed 17 June 2022, https://www.davidrumsey.com.

    The History of Henry County, Illinois, Its Tax-Payers and Voters; containing also a Biographical Directory. . . . Chicago: H. F. Kett, 1877.

  3. John R. Wakefield, Affidavit, Henry Co., Iowa Territory, 24 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.

  4. See Letter to John R. Wakefield, 23 June 1844.

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Dear Sir
I am truely sorry that I cannot come to give testimony in this cace but [my?] wife is too sick to leave. She is on a visit to her Sisters in which was the reason your messenger did not meet with me in .— If you need my evidence at Court at a future day give me do do notice by legal suppoena and I will come with out fail
Yours Most Respectfully
[p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John R. Wakefield, circa 24 June 1844
ID #
1439
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • John R. Wakefield

Footnotes

  1. See Historical Introduction to Letter to John R. Wakefield, 23 June 1844.

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