Skip to main content

Letter from William Pratt, 30 April 1844

  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter from William Pratt, 30 April 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to JS, Nauvoo, Hancock Co., IL, 30 Apr. 1844; handwriting and signature presumably of ; two pages; Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, CHL. Included enclosure; includes address and docket.
Bifolium measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). The recto of the first leaf is ruled with twenty-seven horizontal printed lines, now faded, and the verso of the first leaf and the recto of the second leaf are ruled with twenty-nine horizontal lines, now faded. The letter was inscribed in blue ink on the recto and verso of the first leaf; the recto of the second leaf is blank. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer, the remnants of which are on the recto and verso of the second leaf. There is a sizable tear in the second leaf, likely from when the letter was opened, as well as separation and several small holes along the folds of the second leaf. The letter has undergone conservation.
The document was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844. In late 1844, following JS’s death, became one of the interim church trustees and was appointed “first bishop” among other bishops. It was presumably during this time that many of the church’s financial and other administrative records passed into his possession. This document, along with some other personal and institutional documents that may have been kept by Whitney, was inherited by Whitney’s great-granddaughter Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, who passed these and other family papers down to her daughter Helen Marian Fleming Petersen. In 1988, shortly after Petersen’s death, this collection was found in a box in her home, and later that year family members donated it to the Church Historical Department (now CHL).

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]

    Richards, Journal, 9 Aug. 1844; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:693; see also Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30.

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

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

  3. [3]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, 1836–1963, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 30 April 1844, member wrote a letter from , Illinois, to JS in Nauvoo informing him of a discrepancy in a land transaction and requesting his assistance in rectifying it. In 1841 and his wife, , had agreed to sell their 232-acre farm to JS. The property, in northwest , Illinois, included the northwest quarter as well as the western half of the northeast quarter of Section 30 of Township 7 North, Range 8 West. The Wiggins farm was purchased in ’s name on 15 May 1841, although the first agreement, drawn up the day before, had been between JS and the Wigginses. The Hancock County records, however, documented the sale of only a portion of this property to Emma, specifically the western half of the northwest quarter and the western half of the northeast quarter—a noncontiguous pair of tracts that left out the eastern half of the northwest quarter between them. JS subsequently arranged to sell part of the Wiggins farm to in January 1843. When JS sold this property to Chase, however, he did so in his own name as the trustee-in-trust for the church. Chase and his wife, , then agreed to sell a portion of the land they had purchased in the northwest quarter to William Pratt in September 1843. When Pratt went to the county seat at , Illinois, on 25 or 26 April 1844 to have his deed recorded, he discovered the error in the Wigginses’ deed to Emma Smith. He then unsuccessfully attempted to contact JS on 27 April and again early in the morning on 30 April to inform him of what he had found.
Unable to meet with JS in person, he wrote to JS on the morning of 30 April with the relevant information and stated that he would call on JS again later that morning, at nine o’clock. After explaining his findings in his letter, concluded that still held title to the land, as she had never conveyed it to anyone else. With this in mind, Pratt requested that both JS and Emma give him a deed for the property that he had purchased from Chase, thereby confirming his title to the land. Pratt included with his letter a short summary of the different transactions relating to the property in question. Pratt presumably delivered the letter himself. It is unclear when JS received it, although the document’s content suggests that it would have been the same morning it was written. No response to Pratt’s letter has been located, and it is unclear whether JS took any action to address Pratt’s request.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Agreement with Ebenezer and Elender Moore Wiggins, 14 May 1841; Ebenezer Wiggins to Emma Smith, Agreement, Nauvoo, IL, 15 May 1841, JS Collection (Supplement), CHL; Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. I, pp. 329–330, 15 May 1841, microfilm 954,598, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; JS to Ebenezer Wiggins, Promissory Notes, Nauvoo, IL, 15 May 1841, JS Collection, CHL.

  2. [2]

    Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. L, pp. 173–174, 28 Jan. 1843, microfilm, 954,599, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

  3. [3]

    Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. M, pp. 263–264, 7 Sept. 1843, microfilm 954,600, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  4. [4]

    Although Pratt believed that Emma held the title to this property, as a married woman subject to coverture, Emma could not independently own property. Therefore, the land in question was considered the property of her husband, JS. The earlier deed that JS gave Chase therefore would have sufficiently conveyed the title of the land. (See “Coverture,” “Marriage,” and “Women,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:392; 2:127, 639.)

    Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; With References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Deacon and Peterson, 1854.

This I think must have been the intention of the parties at the time as I find on further examination that you have subsequently conveyed to and others the whole of the said quarter section.——
The next thing to which to call your attention is, that ’s title in the beforementioned property still remains good and strong, as there is nothing on record to shew that she has in any shape or form conveyed it to you or any other person. Consequently before my title can be valid it is necessary that you and she should give me a deed of it. This can be done for a mere nominal consideration say of one dollar which will make every thing straight and fair. I neither want nor ask any thing but what is just and upright between man and man, and I think I might say the same for you. I therefore anticipate no difficulty in adjusting the matter. I shall be in town this morning about nine oClock and will call upon you. I am most anxious to get on my journey to as there is a vessel lying there in which I have taken my passage to . I should have [been] off on last friday evening had it not been for the affair in question. If ’s deed to conveys to her the whole of the north west quarter it would be well to send it over to again and have the record made right. or if the And now my dear Sir believe me yours most respectfully &c
)
30th. Apl. 1844) [p. [2]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from William Pratt, 30 April 1844
ID #
1496
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Pratt

Footnotes

  1. [4]

    Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. L, pp. 173–174, 28 Jan. 1843, microfilm, 954,599, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

  2. [5]

    There is no evidence that Pratt traveled to Great Britain. On 9 April 1844, however, he was appointed to serve a political mission to New York. (Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 6–9 Apr. 1844, 38; “Special Conference,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1844, 5:505.)

    Historian’s Office. General Church Minutes, 1839–1877. CHL

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

Go to page