Skip to main content

Letter from Wall Southwick, 1 June 1844

  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter from Wall Southwick, 1 June 1844

Source Note

Wall Southwick, Letter, , Bourbon Co., KY, to [JS, , Hancock Co., IL], 1 June [1844]. Featured version published in “A Curiosity,” Warsaw Signal (Warsaw, Hancock Co., IL), 31 July 1844, vol. 1, no. 24, [1].
The featured version of the letter was published in the 31 July 1844 issue of the Warsaw Signal, a bifolium measuring 22⅛ × 16¼ inches (56 × 41 cm). Each of the four pages has six columns. The copy of the issue held at the Church History Library has holes and tears in both leaves. There is also some wear along the document’s edges. A piece of the bottom corner of the first leaf is missing. Some conservation work has been done, and the document is now housed in mylar.
In May 1840 , Illinois, resident inaugurated a weekly newspaper named the Western World. The paper subsequently underwent several name and editor changes. In February 1844 became the editor and the paper’s name was changed to the Warsaw Signal.

Footnotes

  1. Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 748–750.

    Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

Historical Introduction

On 1 June 1844, Wall Southwick wrote a letter from , Kentucky, to JS in , Illinois, requesting that JS fund his travel to Nauvoo. Southwick had apparently become aware of JS years earlier in connection with the Bank of Monroe (located in Monroe, Michigan), where Southwick had been a clerk. According to his letter, Southwick was en route to Nauvoo when he lost most of his funds in a steamboat accident in Louisiana. From there he made his way to Kentucky, where he penned this letter.
While Southwick never openly stated his objective in contacting JS, he may have known of JS’s interest in . He hinted at his own political and financial connections there, making it clear that he was eager to speak with JS about them. Because he was experiencing financial difficulties, Southwick asked JS to send him money so that he might complete his journey to . At some point Southwick left Kentucky and made his way to LaSalle County, Illinois, where he mailed his letter to JS. It is unclear when or if JS received Southwick’s letter. No response has been located.
Ultimately, Southwick did make his way to , arriving on 20 June, and was soon involved in the growing conflict between the Saints and others in , Illinois. Following the murder of JS and his brother on 27 June 1844, Southwick spent portions of July and August in , Illinois, where he advocated for the Latter-day Saints and communicated with about his activities in the Saints’ behalf.
In its 31 July 1844 issue, the Warsaw Signal, a newspaper hostile to the Latter-day Saints, published Southwick’s 1 June letter to JS accompanied by a preface that described Southwick as one of those “land pirates, who having failed in their own selfish schemes for plunder, are content to become the tools of a more fortunate knave.” The preface also stated that “we doubt not, but that Joe Smith had a large number of just such applications,” referring to Southwick’s letter, “and that the majority of those about his person, were men of precisely such characters as is described below.”
There is some question about how the Warsaw Signal obtained the letter. The Signal claimed that it was “found in the bar-room of one of the Taverns.” Southwick, however, complained on 14 August, “My pockets have been fingered and letters taken from them while my coat was hanging in my room.” His report raises the possibility that the featured letter was stolen, although it is unclear why Southwick would have had possession of the letter, which supposedly had been sent to JS.
The original letter is apparently not extant. The Warsaw Signal’s preface to Southwick’s letter states that the letter was addressed to “Hon. Joseph Smith, Illinois” and postmarked, suggesting that the published text was based on the original letter that Southwick sent to JS rather than a retained copy. No copies have been located other than the version published in the Warsaw Signal, which is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. See “Part 5: 5 October 1836–10 April 1837.”

  2. In an 1856 letter, Stephen Markham explained that Southwick’s reason for coming to Nauvoo was “to get Joseph to go to Texas with the church.” Months before Southwick’s arrival, the Council of Fifty began discussing the possibility of a Latter-day Saint settlement in the Republic of Texas. It is unclear, though, how Southwick could have learned of the Saints’ interest in Texas before starting for Nauvoo. The accident Southwick referred to in his letter occurred on 1 March 1844, before the organization of the Council of Fifty. It is also feasible that Nauvoo was not Southwick’s original destination, given that he traveled to Kentucky after the steamboat accident, which would have been hundreds of miles out of his way if he were heading to Nauvoo. (Stephen Markham, Fort Supply, Utah Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 20 June 1856, [4], Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 10–11 Mar. and 3 May 1844; JS, Journal, 10 and 14 Mar. 1844; Clayton, Journal, 10–11 Mar. 1844; “Loss of the Steamer Buckeye and Sixty to Seventy Passengers,” Mississippi Free Trader and Natchez Gazette, 6 Mar. 1844, [3].)

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

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

    Mississippi Free Trader and Natchez Gazette. Natchez, MS. 1843–1851.

  3. The Warsaw Signal reported that Southwick’s letter was postmarked LaSalle, Illinois, but did not record the postmark’s date. Whether the postmark referred to the town of LaSalle or the county of the same name is unclear. (“A Curiosity,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, 31 July 1844, [1].)

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

  4. JS, Journal, 20 June 1844. On 20 June, Southwick reported to JS that there was “no excitemnt” at St. Louis but that a cannon had arrived at Warsaw, Illinois, from Quincy, Illinois. Southwick’s knowledge of events in Warsaw and St. Louis suggests that he traveled down the Illinois River from LaSalle County to St. Louis and then turned north to Nauvoo. On the night of 25 June, Southwick was in Carthage, Illinois, accompanying JS and his brother Hyrum to the county jail. The next morning, Southwick left the jail, reportedly to meet with Governor Thomas Ford. In a reminiscent account, Stephen Markham recounted that Southwick attended a meeting held on the afternoon of 26 June at Artois Hamilton’s hotel in Carthage. The purported reason for this meeting was to “take into consideration the best way to stop” JS’s and Hyrum’s careers. Some attendees apparently advocated killing the brothers as “they would not be brought to justice for it.” The meeting ended abruptly when the attendees received a report that Markham was on his way to their location. In the confusion, the meeting’s minutes were left, and Southwick took them and later read them to Markham. Then, on 27 June, Southwick “called at the gate” of the jail and was given a letter so he could obtain a pass that presumably allowed him to go in and out of the jail. (Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844; Stephen Markham, Fort Supply, Utah Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 20 June 1856, [4], Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL.)

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

  5. Richards, Journal, 6 July 1844; Wall Southwick to Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, ca. July 1844; Wall Southwick, Quincy, IL, to Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, 28 July 1844; Wall Southwick, Quincy, IL, to Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, 14 Aug. 1844, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

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

  6. “A Curiosity,” Warsaw (IL) Signal, 31 July 1844, [1].

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

  7. “A Curiosity,” Warsaw (IL) Signal, 31 July 1844, [1]; Wall Southwick, Quincy, IL, to Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, 14 Aug. 1844, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL. A 28 July 1844 letter from Southwick to Willard Richards indicates that Southwick was writing from the City Hotel in Quincy, Illinois. (Wall Southwick, Quincy, IL, to Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, 28 July 1844, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.)

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

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

  8. “A Curiosity,” Warsaw (IL) Signal, 31 July 1844, [1].

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

Page [1]

, Ky., June 1st.
Honored Sir:—A letter from one whom at first you consider an entire stranger, and of the character of this, may well excite surprise; but sir if it surprises you I assure you it is with feelings of utmost regret—that I am compelled to adopt this course of communication. I regret it because I feel I address you necessarily with a seeming degree of impertinance and because it is somewhat humiliating to myself. But sir I will be brief and state what I wish to communicate for your consideration. You may probably remember my name, when I mention the circumstances under which you first heard it, at the time you purchased the Bank of Monroe—while I was a Clerk in that institution. Since that time, I have been engaged in various operations, which the limits of this letter will not permit me to explain—suffice, to say the last, but not least in importance has been Financial and Political in , and in which I have become familliar with men, & measures in that country. A knowledge of which I am certain will be of service to you, and on which I am anxious to confer with you personally. I was on my way to your , when an accident deprived me of the means of doing so, the accident to which I refer, was the sinking of the Buckeye and loss of all my money, except a small sum which I had in my pocket at the time. One word more, and I will throw myself entirely upon your kind charity which I am compelled to do I am by profession a physician, and have been for some years prior to going to , in practice in Louisiania. That I am an ambitious person I will not deny; but sir, I am also one whose ambitious schemes have met with disappointments. is equally true, and I am now anxious and determined to make it subservient to some more fortunate man. (Will you avail yourself of it,) I am but a young man 29, and can long be service to you. I have a good classic education, which perhaps may be made available. But all these matters will and can be better understood when I shall have the pleasure of seeing you. And now my respected sir, if you will send me money enough to carry me to your place, I hope I shall be able to convince you that the small sum was not badly expended. Cast thy bread upon the waters, and thou shalt gather them after many days.
In the mean time I have the honor to be with feeling of the highest consideration.
Sincerely,
Your obt. servant,
WALL SOUTHWICK
P. S. Should you condescend to reply to this please address,
Dr. WALL SOUTHWICK. [p. [1]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [1]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Wall Southwick, 1 June 1844
ID #
1513
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Printed text

Footnotes

  1. In January 1837 JS and others associated with the Kirtland Safety Society appear to have purchased stock in the Bank of Monroe and agreed to partner with its officers, perhaps intending the Safety Society to become a branch of the bank and act under its charter. In his journal, church member Wilford Woodruff noted that they “bought the Monroe Charter.” In early February 1837, JS, Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, and Oliver Cowdery traveled to Michigan for a stockholders’ meeting of the Bank of Monroe, where they could have become acquainted with Southwick’s name. (Woodruff, Journal, 31 Jan. 1837; see also “Bank of Monroe,” Painesville [OH] Republican, 23 Feb. 1837, [2]; and “Monroe Bank,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 24 Feb. 1837, [3].)

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

    Painesville Republican. Painesville, OH. 1836–1841.

  2. On 1 March 1844, the steamboats Buckeye and De Soto collided on the Old River near Atchafalaya, Louisiana. The Buckeye, which was traveling to the Ouachita River, “was so much damaged, that she sunk to her hurricane roof in less than five minutes.” The Mississippi Free Trader and Natchez Gazette reported that some three hundred passengers were on board, “of whom from sixty to eighty white and black, perished.” The North American and Daily Advertiser added that “the passengers were all asleep at the time of the accident, and such as were saved only escaped in their night clothes,” and “many of the passengers lost every thing.” (“Loss of the Steamer Buckeye and Sixty to Seventy Passengers,” Mississippi Free Trader and Natchez Gazette, 6 Mar. 1844, [3]; “Dreadful Steamboat Accident,” North American and Daily Advertiser [Philadelphia], 11 Mar. 1844, [2].)

    Mississippi Free Trader and Natchez Gazette. Natchez, MS. 1843–1851.

    North American and Daily Advertiser. Philadelphia. 1839–1845.

  3. A classical education entailed studying the language, literature, and history of ancient Greece and Rome. (See Howe, “Classical Education in America,” 31.)

    Howe, Daniel Walker. “Classical Education in America.” Wilson Quarterly 35, no. 2 (Spring 2011): 31–36.

  4. See Ecclesiastes 11:1.