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Letter from Reuben McBride, 1 January 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , Lake Co., OH, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 1 Jan. 1844; handwriting of ; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notations, endorsement, docket, and notations.
Bifolium measuring 12¼ × 7⅞ inches (31 × 20 cm). Each page is ruled with thirty-six lines printed in blue ink. The letter was written in blue ink on the first two pages. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer that obscures some text. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The document was endorsed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844, and docketed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The document also features a notation in the handwriting of Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. 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 and notation, 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]

    Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

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

  4. [4]

    “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.

  5. [5]

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

Historical Introduction

On 1 January 1844, wrote a letter from , Ohio, to JS in , Illinois, to apprise him of the financial state of JS’s farm in Kirtland and his suspicions that former member was plotting to take ownership of it. McBride joined the church in in 1834 and received a power of attorney from JS as his authorized in 1841, replacing , who had died shortly before, and , who had been disfellowshipped. As agent, McBride was responsible for managing church property in Kirtland, elsewhere in , and in neighboring states and took care of paying taxes the church owed and handling church debts.
had written to JS earlier on 1 January. Though did not know the precise content of Coe’s letter, he suspected that it pertained to land JS and the church owned in . According to McBride, Coe began renting JS’s farm in Kirtland in 1842. Coe agreed to pay ninety dollars per year in rent and half of the tax on the land. In his letter, McBride informed JS that Coe paid less than half of the rent in 1842 and, despite promising to settle the account, did not pay the full rent in 1843 either. McBride also stated that Coe had not paid his portion of the taxes on the land and that without timely payment, McBride would not be able to pay the forty-five dollars of taxes owed to the county. A reliable source had informed McBride that Coe would not pay the rent and instead planned to write to JS to try to get ownership of the farm. McBride suspected Coe would intentionally not pay his portion of the taxes owed on the property so that the government would seize the farm, thereby allowing Coe to purchase it at auction for less money.
sent the letter to JS by post on 2 January. JS received the letter in on the night of 17 January. On the morning of 18 January, JS wrote separate replies to McBride and .

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841; Power of Attorney to Reuben McBride, 28 Oct. 1841; Revocation of Letter of Attorney, 2 Nov. 1841, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 213.

    JS Letterbook 2 / Smith, Joseph. “Copies of Letters, &c. &c.,” 1839–1843. Joseph Smith Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 2.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Joseph Coe, 1 Jan. 1844.

  3. [3]

    See Letter from Joseph Coe, 1 Jan. 1844. In January 1842, Coe was seeking a house to rent in Kirtland in which he could live and board students of a local seminary. (Letter from Reuben McBride, 3 Jan. 1842.)

  4. [4]

    Letter to Reuben McBride, 18 Jan. 1844; Letter to Joseph Coe, 18 Jan. 1844.

Page [1]

Jan 1st 1844
Joseph Smith
Dear Brother the reason of my writing to you is on a count of writing to you respecting takeing your farm here he has written without my council and unbeknown to me but I was informed of it too day what he has written I do not know I thought it right you should know how he has managed and then you could act acordingly I let have the place last season he was to pay $90— for it and half the Land tax to be paid in Grain wheat at $1,00 Corn 3/— oats 2/— a bushell I told him if he would go on do the best he could he should not loos anny thing I have allways been liberal with him last year he paid about 120 130 bu[shels] oats oats being only 1/— per bu. and hard at that I Let have considerable part o some of them and he was to pay to you I placed a good deal of confidence in what he said I did not require Security of him he did not pay the tax last year grain was so low he did not pay half of the rent last year I think this year that is 1843 he was to pay the same he did the year before and this year he said he would Settle up the whole but as yet a I cannot get it and I fear (I shall not be able too he is very much in debt he mortgaged some of the crops on the ground and this week there has got to be $45) raised for the tax last year and this and it will be as much as I can do to raise the money to keep the farm from being sold as I have depended on to pay the tax as he agreed too he thought we had better let a piece of it be sold than to try to raise the money I am told by persons whom I can rely on that he said he did not calculate to pay the rent nor tax and and calculated to stay on the place and he would wright and get the place of you [p. [1]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Reuben McBride, 1 January 1844
ID #
1239
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
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  • Reuben McBride

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