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Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 April 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , to [the (including JS)], , Hancock Co., IL, 26 Apr. 1844; handwriting and signature of ; seven pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamp, dockets, and notations.
Two bifolia, each measuring 10 × 8 inches (25 × 20 cm). Each page is ruled with twenty-seven horizontal blue lines. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer, which remains on the recto of the last page. The document was later refolded for filing. At some point, the bifolia were attached by multiple staples. Those staples have since been removed.
The letter was docketed by Jonathan Grimshaw, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1856. Graphite notations were later added, apparently by a clerk or secretary for Andrew Jenson, who served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. The letter 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 docket, its possible listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    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.

  2. [2]

    Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 48–55.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  3. [3]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL. The JS Collection includes five letters that Orson Hyde wrote in 1844. The circa 1904 inventory does not specify whether the letter received from Orson Hyde is this one, dated 26 April 1844, or the one dated 25 April 1844. The letters were docketed and processed similarly, so the inventory may be referring to both letters. (See Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844.)

    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 26 April 1844, penned his second letter from to JS and the in , Illinois, to report on his conversations with politicians in Washington. Hyde and the officials had mostly conversed about a memorial from the council that would make JS a member of the Army and authorize him to gather one hundred thousand armed volunteers to protect American settlers migrating westward. On 24 April, Hyde and —who was also in Washington to present a petition on behalf of the Nauvoo City Council—met with several members of the congressional delegation to survey their opinions on westward expansion and how they would support the memorial that Hyde was there to submit. The pair met with President on 25 April and with Illinois representative on 26 April.
In this letter, recounted the visits with and . He informed the council that Tyler regretted the way the were treated in and that he had asked about how they were adjusting in . Hyde also reported that Douglas had expressed enthusiasm for westward migration to and the . Douglas told Hyde and that a congressional bill favoring any particular person’s interests in Oregon would not succeed but that there were no legal barriers preventing the Latter-day Saints from settling there. He also gave Hyde a map of Oregon, promised to send JS a copy of a report on Oregon created by and the Army’s Corps of Topographical Engineers, and said he would meet with JS when he returned to .
addressed his letter to JS, the standing chair of the , asking that he present it to the council. However, Hyde addressed the wrapper of the letter to , who was not only a council member but also the postmaster of , which meant that he could send and receive mail without charge. On 13 May, JS received this letter as well as Hyde’s 25 April 1844 letter, and the Council of Fifty discussed them at a meeting held that afternoon. A clerk, possibly , drafted a response on behalf of the council, which Hyde received on 8 June 1844.
’s original letter was kept and preserved among the church’s records. Sometime after JS received Hyde’s letter, copied it into the ’s record book. The original letter is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844; and Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 24–26 Mar. 1844; see also Letter from Orson Hyde, 30 Apr. 1844; Orson Hyde, Washington DC, to “Dear Brethren,” Nauvoo, IL, 9 June 1844; and Orson Hyde, Washington DC, to “Dear Brethren,” Nauvoo, IL, 11 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL.

  2. [2]

    Council of Fifty, “Record,” 11 and 19 Mar. 1844; “List of Letters,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 17 Jan. 1844, [3]. As a postmaster, Rigdon was entitled to franking privileges, meaning he could receive mail for free.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  3. [3]

    Council of Fifty, “Record,” 13 May 1844; JS, Journal, 13 May 1844.

  4. [4]

    Council of Fifty, “Record,” 13 May 1844; Orson Hyde, Washington DC, to “Dear Brethren,” Nauvoo, IL, 9 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL.

  5. [5]

    See Letters from Orson Hyde, 25 and 26 Apr. 1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 April 1844
Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846; Volume 1, 10 March 1844–1 March 1845 History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith” “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 1

Apl. 26th. 1844.
Dear Sir,
To day I trouble you with another communication, which you will please have the goodness to lay before our .
We were last evening introduced to the , at the white House by the politeness of where we spent an hour very agreeably. The is a very plain, homespun, familiar, farmer-like man. He spoke of our troubles in and regretted that we had met with such treatment. He asked how we were getting along in . I told him that we were contending with the difficulties of a new country, and labouring under the disadvantageous circumstances <​consequences​> of being driven from our property and homes in .
We have this day had a long converzation with . He is ripe for , and the . He said he would resign his seat in Congress, if he could command the force that Mr. Smith could, and would be on the march to that Country in a month.
I learn that the eyes of many aspiring politicians in this place are upon that country; and that there is so much jealousy between them that they will probably pass no bill in relation to it. Now all these politicians rely upon the arm of our government to protect them there, and if government were to pass an act establishing a territorial government it [p. 1]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 April 1844
ID #
1341
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Orson Hyde

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    In the letter he wrote the previous day, Hyde stated that he had written the letter to JS “to transmit, through you, to the council of our church.” (Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844.)

  2. [2]

    Semple was a senator representing Illinois. (Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 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. [3]

    Prior to his 1843 election to represent Illinois in the House of Representatives, Douglas served as a state supreme court justice from 1841 to 1842. (“Douglas, Stephen Arnold,” in Garraty and Carnes, American National Biography, 6:806.)

    Garraty, John A., and Mark C. Carnes. American National Biography. New York: American Council of Learned Societies, 1999.

  4. [4]

    In talking about JS’s force, Douglas was apparently referring to the plan in the memorial, for which Hyde was attempting to enlist his support, to make JS a member of the United States Army with authorization “to raise a Company of one hundred thousand armed volunteers.” Douglas could have also been referring to JS’s position as lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion. At the time, around two thousand men were likely enlisted in the legion. (Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 24–26 Mar. 1844; see also JS, Journal, 7 May 1842; and “Further Remarks—The Mormon Difficulties,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 26 Sept. 1844, [2].)

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

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