Skip to main content

Letter from Orson Hyde, 11 June 1844

  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter from Orson Hyde, 11 June 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , to “Dear Brethren” [the (including JS)], , Hancock Co., IL, 11 June 1844; handwriting and signature of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamp, postal notation, docket, and notations.
Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). A blank rectangular embossment appears in the top left corner of the recto of the first leaf, with a faint impression on the second leaf. Both sides of the first leaf and the recto of the second leaf are ruled with twenty-eight horizontal lines printed in blue ink (now faded). The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, which remains on the verso of the second leaf, and postmarked. When the letter was opened, a hole was torn in the second leaf, resulting in the loss of text on the third page. The letter was later trifolded for storage and underwent some conservation.
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. This may be one of two 1844 documents from listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 it had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket, its possible listing in the circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. 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.

  2. “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

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

Historical Introduction

On 11 June 1844, wrote from to the , including JS, in , Illinois, to report on his meeting that day with president . Hyde had been in Washington since April, attempting to secure either congressional or executive approval of JS’s March 1844 memorial, copies of which petitioned Congress and the president, respectively, to grant JS membership in the United States Army and authority to raise one hundred thousand volunteers to protect American citizens emigrating to and . After learning that Congress was not authorized to appoint JS to the army, Hyde decided to first submit the memorial to Congress without the appointment clause and then appeal to the president with the unaltered memorial. He reasoned that this approach would offer him the best chance of having the entire memorial approved. On 9 June, Hyde wrote to the Council of Fifty reporting that the memorial had been rejected by both the House of Representatives and the Senate and that he had therefore resolved to petition the president, whom he had previously met.
On 11 June, met with around midday. During their meeting, Tyler read JS’s memorial and commended its objective to help settle . JS’s intentions would have likely interested Tyler, who aspired to annex the and, to a lesser extent, lay claim to the Oregon territory. However, Tyler claimed that the Constitution prevented him from fully endorsing the memorial, likely because of its request for the president to make JS a member of the army. Article 2, section 2, of the Constitution, which named the United States president the “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States,” allowed him to appoint “all other Officers of the United States,” but only “with the Advice and Consent of the Senate.” JS’s memorial to the president specifically requested Tyler to “constitute the said Joseph Smith, a member of the Army of the United States.” Even though the Constitution permitted Tyler to work with the Senate to appoint JS, the president chose not to pursue this option.
In his 11 June letter, written immediately after this meeting, provided a summary of his exchange with the president, highlighting his efforts to secure executive support for the memorial and reporting on ’s refusal to provide JS with special treatment or protection. Hyde closed by advising members of the Council of Fifty against seeking further assistance from the government.
addressed the letter to , who was a member of the and ’s postmaster, with franking privilege, or the privilege of free mail delivery. It was postmarked 11 June from Washington DC. Given that Hyde’s previous letters from to Nauvoo took approximately two to three weeks to reach Nauvoo, the letter probably arrived, at the earliest, sometime in late June or early July. It is unlikely JS saw this letter before leaving Nauvoo for , Illinois, on 24 June or before his death there on 27 June 1844.

Footnotes

  1. Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 24–26 Mar. 1844; JS, Memorial to the President of the United States of America, 30 Mar. 1844, draft, JS Collection, CHL. Hyde left Nauvoo on 4 April and arrived in Washington DC on 23 April. (JS, Journal, 4 Apr. 1844; Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844.)

  2. Letter from Orson Hyde, 9 June 1844. On 25 April, Illinois senator James Semple introduced Hyde to Tyler at the White House; Hyde and the president discussed the Latter-day Saints’ experience in Missouri as well as their transition to life in Nauvoo. Senator Semple represented Illinois as a Democrat in the Twenty-Eighth Congress. (Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 Apr. 1844; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 127, 1887.)

    Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1989: The Continental Congress September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788, and the Congress of the United States from the First through the One Hundredth Congresses March 4, 1789, to January 3, 1989, Inclusive. Edited by Kathryn Allamong Jacob and Bruce A. Ragsdale. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989.

  3. Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 590, 658–680, 717–718; Crapol, John Tyler, 56, 118–121, 176–222.

    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.

    Crapol, Edward P. John Tyler: The Accidental President. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.

  4. U.S. Constitution, art. 2, sec. 2.

  5. JS, Memorial to the President of the United States of America, 30 Mar. 1844, [2], draft, JS Collection, CHL.

  6. An Act to Reduce into One the Several Acts for Establishing and Regulating the Post Office Department [3 Mar. 1825], Laws and Regulations for the Government of the Post Office Department, p. 16, sec. 27. Rigdon was appointed postmaster in 1841.

    Laws and Regulations for the Government of the Post Office Department. Washington DC: Alexander and Barnard, 1843.

  7. See Historical Introduction to Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 Apr. 1844; and Historical Introduction to Letter from Orson Hyde, 30 Apr. 1844. In a 30 June 1844 letter to Brigham Young, Mary Ann Angell Young reported that, due to mob interference, incoming mail to Nauvoo had “not been in but once for three or four weeks.” (Mary Ann Angell Young, Nauvoo, IL, to Brigham Young, 30 June 1844, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL.)

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

the States Government was in the fault, not the general government. He says further, the laws of the respective States will afford you protection in raising the emigrants or volunteers; and the general government cannot interfere with the laws and regulations of the States: but, says he, the moment you get beyond the States into the territories, then you come under the immediate protection of the general government; but also on the high seas, but when you are within the territory of a State, you must look to that State government for all the protection you can have. I wish, he says, you to distinctly understand this distinction difference. This memorial asks me to do that which the constitution does not authorize me to do. It is very complex, and would require a joint action of the Executive and Congress. The general government have it already in contemplation to adopt measures for the protection of all its subjects emigrating to that country; but to limit its protection to only one part, and to confer any particular privilege upon one, more than on another is not the business of the General Government, neither can they do it. I will extend all constitutional protection to Mr. Smith with the greatest pleasure, and will pledge myself that he shall have equal protection with <​any and​> every other American Citizen. This is all the Executive can do in this case. but Equal rights, is our nation’s motto. But now distinctly and pointedly, “I cannot comply with the wishes of the memorialist, because he asks me <​by the memorial​> to exceed my constitutional limits” [p. [2]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Orson Hyde, 11 June 1844
ID #
1390
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Orson Hyde

Footnotes

  1. This refers to the Saints’ inability to secure redress for losses from mob activity in Missouri. John Tyler apparently initiated discussion about their “troubles in Mo.” during his first meeting with Orson Hyde. Tyler’s reply echoed the responses from previous administrations for why the president could not assist the Saints, which emphasized that federal powers were unable to interfere in states’ issues. (Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 Apr. 1844; Lewis Cass, Washington DC, to Sidney Gilbert et al., Liberty, MO, 2 May 1834, William W. Phelps, Collection of Missouri Documents, CHL; Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 Dec. 1839; Rogers, “Mormon Appeals for Redress and Social Justice, 1843–44,” 40–41; for an overview of the Saints’ experience in Missouri, see also “Joseph Smith Documents from February 1838 through August 1839”; and Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840.)

    Phelps, William W. Collection of Missouri Documents, 1833–1837. CHL. MS 657.

    Robers, Brent M. “To the ‘Honest and Patriotic Sons of Liberty’: Mormon Appeals for Redress and Social Justice, 1843–44.” Journal of Mormon History 39, no. 1 (Winter 2013): 36–67.

  2. Tyler’s high regard for states’ rights was part of a broader political ideology in the antebellum era that subordinated federal powers to those of the individual states. (Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 441–445, 590; Silbey, Martin Van Buren and the Emergence of American Popular Politics, chaps. 3–4.)

    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.

    Silbey, Joel H. Martin Van Buren and the Emergence of American Popular Politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2002.

  3. Article 4, section 3, of the Constitution authorized Congress “to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States.” Article 1, section 8, granted Congress power “to define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas.” (U.S. Constitution, art. 4, sec. 3; art. 1, sec. 8.)

  4. See, for example, A Bill to Facilitate and Encourage the Settlement of the Territory of Oregon, S. no. 23, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 1, secs. 1–2 (1844); A Bill to Organize a Territorial Government in the Oregon Territory, and for Other Purposes, H.R. no. 21, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 8, secs. 37–38 (1844); and A Bill to Extend the Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction of the Several Courts of the Territory of Iowa over the Territory of Oregon, and for Other Purposes, H.R. no. 21, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 1 (1844). These bills proposed that fortifications be built near the Missouri, Arkansas, and Columbia rivers.

    A Bill to Facilitate and Encourage the Settlement of the Territory of Oregon. S. no. 23, 28th Cong., 1st Sess. (1844).

  5. Antebellum Americans disagreed over who should benefit from equal rights: some believed it pertained only to white men, while others argued that it should apply more broadly to include women and enslaved persons. (Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 582–583, 586–587, 648; see also Wilentz, Rise of American Democracy.)

    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.

    Wilentz, Sean. The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005.

Go to page