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Letter from John V. Curtis, 27 November 1843

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Letter from John V. Curtis, 27 November 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Gallia Co., OH, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 27 Nov. 1843; handwriting and signature presumably of ; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, wafer seal, postal stamp, postal notation, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The first three pages are ruled horizontally with twenty-nine blue lines, now faded; the fourth page is unlined. The first page contains an illegible circular embossment in the upper left corner. The letter was inscribed on the recto and verso of the first leaf; the recto of the second leaf is blank. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The letter was torn, most likely when opened, leaving a substantial hole in the second leaf. The second leaf contains wafer residue. Two dockets were later added, and the document was refolded for filing.
The letter was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and 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 the letter a second time. The document was 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 dockets and later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest 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, [2], 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 27 November 1843, wrote a letter from , Ohio, to JS in , Illinois, expressing his desire to move to Nauvoo, become a member of the , and obtain employment from JS. In his letter, Curtis lauded JS, his mettle, and the church he founded. He also mentioned hearing ’s lectures opposing JS and commented on their disgracefulness before requesting that JS employ him as a clerk or agent.
mailed the featured letter from the post office three days after writing it. The letter likely arrived in by mid-December 1843. There is no known response; it is unknown if Curtis migrated to Nauvoo.

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O[hio] November 27th 1843.
Genl. Joseph Smith
Dear Sir
You will I hope pardon me for thus presumptously intruding on your time and patience, my object in doing so is this, Having a high regard and Esteem for a person of so much forsight, understanding, wisdom and judgment, one who has Excited the Envy of the great, and the jeoulesy of all other denominations, a person who has raised up a which was small in the beginning but by its true, doctrins and Correct principles has attracted people from all Quarters of the globe, A Church and a Prophet which has passed through the fire and Come out unscathed Cannot but prosper, and it is destined Ere long to become the only Church triumphant.— I have heard that odious Man lecturing against you and Mormanism but what he Said only went to disgrace him and raise you in the Eyes of the people.
My writing to you is this, wishing to become a resident of and a member of that Church, I wish to Know of you if you Can give me Employment as a Clerk Agent or anything Else you see fit if these lines should meet with your approbation it will give me much [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John V. Curtis, 27 November 1843
ID #
1207
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:287–289
Handwriting on This Page
  • John V. Curtis

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    By November 1843, the church had converts from British North America and the British Isles and had sent missionaries to Jerusalem, Australia, and the Sandwich Islands. (See Historical Introduction to Revelation, 12 Oct. 1833 [D&C 100]; Historical Introduction to Letter from John Mills, 1 Sept. 1843; Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841; Map of Orson Hyde’s Mission Travels, June–Dec. 1841; Orson Hyde, “Interesting News from Alexandria and Jerusalem,” Millennial Star, Jan. 1842, 2:132–136; Hyde, Voice from Jerusalem, 27–33; Devitry-Smith, “William James Barratt,” 53–66; and Ellsworth, Journals of Addison Pratt, 114–122, 150–158, 169.)

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

    Hyde, Orson. A Voice from Jerusalem, or a Sketch of the Travels and Ministry of Elder Orson Hyde, Missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to Germany, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. Liverpool: P. P. Pratt, 1842.

    Devitry-Smith, John. “William James Barratt: The First Mormon ‘Down Under.’” BYU Studies 28 (Summer 1988): 53–66.

    Ellsworth, S. George, ed. The Journals of Addison Pratt, being a Narrative of Yankee Whaling in the Eighteen Twenties, a Mormon Mission to the Society Islands. . . . Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1990.

  2. [2]

    In 1842 and 1843, after being excommunicated from the church, Bennett toured parts of the eastern and midwestern United States lecturing against JS. This tour included stops in St. Louis; Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati and Cleveland; Buffalo, New York; New York City; and Boston. It is unknown if Bennett stopped in Gallipolis, though it is possible given its location on the Ohio River. Curtis possibly heard Bennett in one of these cities or simply read about Bennett’s lectures, which were widely published in regional newspapers. (See Notice, 11 May 1842; and Smith, Saintly Scoundrel, 105–109, 114–122, 129–134, 138–139.)

    Smith, Andrew F. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.

  3. [3]

    Some newspapers likewise portrayed Bennett as an unsavory person. (See, for example, “A Row among the Mormons,” New-York Spectator [New York City], 20 July 1842, [2]; and “From Nauvoo and the Mormons,” New York Herald [New York City], 9 Oct. 1842, [2].)

    New-York Spectator. New York City. 1804–1867.

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

  4. [4]

    Curtis was not the only individual seeking to join the church and gain employment. James Toner wrote to JS in December 1842, likely feigning interest in the church in order to obtain employment. In early August 1843, D. S. Perry wrote to JS of his intention to become a member of the church and his belief that he had “some quality or talent, that in some great crisis in the career of the saints, will be called forth unto their good, and unto his glory.” (Letter from James Toner, 4 Dec. 1842; Letter from D. S. Perry, ca. 8 Aug. 1843.)

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