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Letter from Joseph L. Heywood, 7 February 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , Adams Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 7 Feb. 1844; handwriting and signature of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notations, postal stamp, dockets, notations, and redactions.
Bifolium measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). The pages are ruled with twenty-seven printed horizontal lines, now faded. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer, remnants of which are present on the recto and verso of the second leaf. There is a hole in the second leaf, presumably made when the letter was opened. The document was later refolded for filing.
The document was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844. It was also docketed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The letter was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 it 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, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.

    Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

  2. [2]

    “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.

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

  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 7 February 1844, member wrote a letter from , Illinois, to JS in , Illinois, inviting him and his family to visit. Heywood first met JS in Nauvoo on 17 December 1842. That same day, after listening to JS preach for the first time, Heywood was by in the after JS helped cut through the ice covering the water. Hyde, JS, and then Heywood a member of the church. Later, when JS traveled to Quincy in June 1843, Heywood accompanied him through the city. That same year, Heywood introduced JS to surveyor Colonel , a resident of Quincy who was willing to use his influence in to help the Latter-day Saints petition the federal government for redress for the losses they had sustained in in the 1830s.
In his 7 February 1844 letter, encouraged JS to visit . While acknowledging the dangers that JS faced while outside of , Heywood assured him of the goodwill Quincy’s citizens felt toward him. Moreover, the local was prospering, and Heywood suggested that the Saints in Quincy would benefit from JS visiting on a Sunday. He concluded by rejoicing in the church’s progress and in his own involvement with the Saints.
sent this letter through the postal service. It is unclear when Heywood sent the letter, but JS received it by 13 February, when he wrote a reply.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Joseph L. Heywood, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, [Salt Lake City, Utah Territory], 26 Jan. 1855, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL; “Heywood, Joseph Leland,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:646.

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

    Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 3 June 1843; Clayton, Journal, 3 June 1843; Joseph L. Heywood, to George A. Smith, ca. 1854, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

  3. [3]

    Letter from Joseph L. Heywood, 23 Oct. 1843; Letter to Joseph L. Heywood, 2 Nov. 1843.

  4. [4]

    See Letter to Joseph L. Heywood, 13 Feb. 1844.

Page [1]

Feby 7th 1844
Dear Brother Joseph Smith
It has been for some time my desire to write you; not only to keep up an acquaintance which was commenced under peculiarly interesting circumstances; but for the purpose of soliciting you to make me & my family a visit bringing with you your dear (for Whom I entertain feelings of the highest esteem) & as many of your children as you conveniently can bring.
My regard for your personal welfare would not admit of my influenc[in]g you to come if I supposed you could not do so safely; but I do not know of a citizen in our vicinity who would be in the least disposed to offer you harm. Many of our citizens & particular friends visited your last summer & have often expressed their delight at the reception they met with from yourself & others.
It is with great pleasure I am able to anounce to you the prosperity of our in ; both Temporal [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Joseph L. Heywood, 7 February 1844
ID #
1264
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Joseph L. Heywood

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Missouri officials made three attempts to extradite JS between 1840 and 1843. In two of these cases, JS was arrested while outside of Nauvoo. In June 1841, he was detained while returning to Nauvoo from Quincy, and in June 1843, he was taken while he and his family were visiting relatives near Dixon, Illinois. More recently, in November and December 1843, church member Daniel Avery and his son Philander were kidnapped in the area between Quincy and Nauvoo. Both were taken to Missouri and imprisoned, raising fears that a similar fate could befall JS. (See “The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447; JS, Journal, 18, 23, 25, and 29–30 June 1843; “Missouri vs Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1843, 4:241–243; “Part 4: June–July 1843”; “Part 5: December 1843”; “Kidnapping,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1843, 4:375; Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 Dec. 1843; Philander Avery, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; Affidavit from Daniel Avery, 28 Dec. 1843; and Andrew Hamilton and James Hamilton, Affidavit, Hancock Co., IL, 20 Dec. 1843, copy, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

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

  2. [2]

    On 4 July 1843, American Independence Day celebrations attracted throngs of visitors to Nauvoo. Between eight hundred and one thousand people disembarked from three steamboats that came from St. Louis; Burlington, Iowa Territory; and Quincy, respectively. An unnamed correspondent for the Quincy Whig was among those visiting. He reported that “a large number of ladies and gentlemen” from Quincy went to Nauvoo for “a pleasure excursion.” Upon their arrival, they were invited by JS “to attend the delivering of an oration,” and “two companies of the [Nauvoo] legion were sent to escort” them to a “grove (on the hill near the temple) where the oration was to be delivered.” The correspondent recounted that the “prophet and his people” greeted the visitors “in a cordial and happy manner.” After the oration, which the correspondent described as “an elegant, eloquent and pathetic one,” the group left for Quincy, “all evidently much pleased with Nauvoo, and gratified by their kind reception by her citizens.” (Woodruff, Journal, 4 July 1843; JS, Journal, 4 July 1843; “Trip to Nauvoo on the 4th,” Quincy [IL] Whig, 12 July 1843, [3]; see also “Trip to Nauvoo on the Fourth,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 19 July 1843, [2]–[3].)

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

    Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

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