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Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 19 April 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , Cook Co., IL, to JS and the , , Hancock Co., IL, 19 Apr. 1844; handwriting and signature of ; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamps, postal notation, dockets, notation, and use mark.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The interior pages of the bifolium are ruled with thirty horizontal lines printed in blue ink. The upper left corner of the recto of the first leaf includes a circular embossed seal featuring a perched eagle circumscribed by the words “Hubbard Norwich”. The letter was inscribed on the recto and verso of the first leaf. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. The letter was torn when opened, and the wafer remains on the recto of the second leaf. The bifolium was later 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 served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. It was also docketed by Jonathan Grimshaw, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1856. The document was 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 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, 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]

    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.

  3. [3]

    “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.

  4. [4]

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

Historical Introduction

On 19 April 1844, apostle wrote a letter from to JS and Pratt’s fellow members of the in , Illinois, regarding the prospect of establishing more of the throughout . Pratt had left Nauvoo sometime after being admitted as a member of the at its organizational meeting on 11 March and prior to 4 April. Pratt, who was en route to on a proselytizing mission and on business, wrote this letter while awaiting a steamboat to convey him from Chicago to , New York.
In his letter, described some of the towns and cities he had passed through on his journey and commented on their great potential in terms of transportation and economy. He also discussed the growth of the church in the area and recommended that the church establish and additional branches throughout the state, between and .
It is unclear when JS received ’s letter, and no response has been located.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Council of Fifty, “Record,” 11 Mar. and 4 Apr. 1844.

  2. [2]

    Pratt, Autobiography, 367.

    Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.

Page [2]

I would earnestly sugjest the propriety of appointing those three towns as , or at Least some Location in the vicinity of each. and that we by enlightening the present inhabitants, and poring in a flood of Emigration from the East commence the Immediate ocupation of these and the surrounding country Extending all the way from to . There are already some of the finest Locations in the world Occupied by of the , Among which is George Town 55 m.s. from and 20 from , and also a Large Branch of Norwegians who have abundance of Lands 10 m s from and 65 from . In Short the Saints are scatered all through this wide Region, in every Town and Prairiee.
Brethren, Lets make a Long, Steady, Strong, and persevering exertion to save the State of , which, once saved may easily contain 2 millions of souls in within 15 years from this date, and wield more wealth and Influence than any other State in the .
These are some of my thoughts suggested for the Consideration of the most exalted Council with which our earth is at present Dignified.
In haste I Subscribe myself as ever your Br, and fellow Servant.
[p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 19 April 1844
ID #
1335
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Parley P. Pratt

Footnotes

  1. [4]

    On 8 April, JS announced that once the Nauvoo temple was completed, new converts would not need to gather to the Nauvoo area and that church elders could establish stakes in major cities anywhere in the Americas. (Discourse, 8 Apr. 1844.)

  2. [5]

    “A Large Branch of Norwegians” is a reference to the LaSalle branch, located at the Fox Creek settlement in LaSalle County, Illinois. The branch was established in early 1842 by missionary George P. Dykes. By May 1843, the branch numbered fifty-eight members. (George P. Dykes, Nauvoo, IL, 19 May 1843, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 15 May 1843, 4:195; see also Erekson and Newell, “Conversion, Retention, and Gathering in Norway, Illinois (1842–1849),” 21–26.)

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

    Erekson, Keith A., and Lloyd D. Newell. “The Conversion of Artemus Millet and His Call to Kirtland.” BYU Studies 41, no. 2 (2002): 77–115.

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