on behalf of JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , , Hancock Co., IL, [ca. Aug. 1842]; handwriting of ; one page; Edward Hunter, Collection, 1816–1884, CHL. Includes address, docket, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 8 × 9¾ inches (20 × 25 cm). The first page is ruled with twenty-six blue lines below header space, the interior two pages are ruled with twenty-nine blue lines, and the final page is unlined. The letter was inscribed on the recto of the first leaf; the verso of the first leaf and recto of the second leaf are blank. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. Remnants of the wafer are on the verso of the second leaf. It was later folded in half and then trifolded and docketed for filing. The document has undergone conservation.
This document was docketed by , who served as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. Although it is unclear when ’s correspondence with JS came into the possession of the Church Historian’s Office, it likely occurred in the era shortly after JS’s death or soon after the Saints settled in Utah Territory. The docketing by Bullock suggests that Hunter’s correspondence was referenced in creating JS’s history and may have been considered for inclusion in that history. Later, the Church Historian’s Office included this letter in an Edward Hunter name file containing personal papers, personal business papers, and General Tithing Office records produced by Hunter when he was presiding bishop (1851–1883). By 1976 the document had been included in the Edward Hunter Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
See the full bibliographic entry for Edward Hunter, Collection, 1816–1884, in the CHL catalog.
Historical Introduction
, acting on behalf of JS, wrote an undated letter in , Illinois, to , also in Nauvoo, regarding a livestock purchase. Hunter was a successful merchant from who joined the in 1840. He began building a home in Nauvoo in 1841 but remained in Pennsylvania for a time. There he assisted JS and other Latter-day Saints with business in the eastern , including securing money promised to the church and purchasing goods for JS’s Nauvoo . With his house nearing completion and business obligations concluded, Hunter moved to Nauvoo by late June 1842.
In the letter, informed that a question of ownership had arisen about a cow the church had sold to Hunter at the end of July. The sale was likely completed by Clayton himself, who managed the on behalf of JS as trustee-in-trust for the church and who, as clerk, oversaw all and donations to the church. After the sale to Hunter, claimed that the cow belonged to him. Tubbs had been brought before Justice of the Peace on 27 July 1842 on a complaint from accusing him of stealing the cow from JS, who held it as trustee-in-trust. Robinson dropped the charge because of a lack of evidence; no one appeared against Tubbs in the court proceedings. After this dismissal of charges, Tubbs asked Robinson to give him a certificate of his discharge, which would likely have noted that Tubbs was found not guilty. In the featured letter, it is unclear whether Tubbs was using the judgment to reclaim a stolen cow or if the cow in question was his legitimate property. In the letter, Clayton, relying on Hunter’s business acumen, asked that he interview Tubbs and allow him to keep the cow if Hunter was convinced that he was the rightful owner. In return, Clayton promised to give Hunter another cow.
While noted that the letter was written on a Wednesday evening, he did not date it. It was addressed to in , indicating that it was written sometime after Hunter moved to Nauvoo in summer 1842. Further, Tubbs’s hearing on the complaint of larceny was held on 27 July 1842, so it seems likely that the letter was written after that date. Finally, the letter refers to the sale of a cow on 29 July, which was presumably recent, suggesting that the letter was written in August. These conjectures are further supported by Hunter’s actions that summer. After moving to Nauvoo, he probably obtained livestock in an effort to outfit his new property. He also reached a financial settlement with JS for the goods he had purchased and for other resources he had secured for JS in the eastern . Their financial settlement, which was finalized in mid-September 1842, may have included livestock, such as the cow and a calf Hunter received from Clayton in July. Hunter’s extant personal papers further support an 1842 creation date.
The letter contains minimal addressing and no postal markings, suggesting it was hand carried to in . No action on Hunter’s part or letter of reply is known.
See William Law, Account Statement for Edward Hunter, 24 June 1842, Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL. Hunter purchased a yoke of oxen from JS on 20 July 1842. (See JS, Daybook, June 1842–Nov. 1843, 20 July 1842, 37.)
Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.
Smith, Joseph. Daybook, 1842–1844. Iowa Masonic Library, Cedar Rapids. Microfilm copy at CHL.
Hunter’s extant papers for 1842 are far more complete than those for 1843 and include both correspondence and financial records for 1842. By contrast, his 1843 records are sparse and notably lack correspondence. (See Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL; Edward Hunter, Correspondence, BYU; and Edward Hunter, Papers, Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.)
Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.
Hunter, Edward. Correspondence, 1725–1965. BYU.
“A Few Items from a Discourse Delivered by the Prophet Joseph Smith July 11th 1840.” Edward Hunter, Papers. J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
Page [1]
Wednesday Eve—
Mr
D[ea]r Sir/— I am sorry to be obliged to trouble you at this time but I cannot help it. We sold you a Cow on the 29th. July viz a Black Cow and Calf. The cow had been taken from our pen webelieve and was fetched back as stolen property. The bearer says he can prove the cow is his property having bought her from the gentleman who accompany’s him. I have thought best to let him hire have the Cow if the other person will swear that she [he] sold her to who says he owns her. I have not time to say more at present. You will therefore let them see the Cow and if the person says he will swear to her you can let him have her and we will let you have another. You will ask of him the description before he sees her and you will know how to act—
William Walker brought a charge of petit larceny against Silas Tubbs on 26 July 1842, arguing that Tubbs had “stolen a cow from the yard of Joseph Smith, ‘Trustee in Trust for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.’” Although the charge against Tubbs was dismissed, the cow in question may have been returned to the trustee-in-trust’s office. The disappearance of livestock, through theft or defective fencing, was apparently a common occurrence in Nauvoo In May, June, and July 1842, the recorder’s office, which was responsible for keeping track of tithing, published notices in the Wasp about livestock donated as tithing that had strayed from the pen. (Docket Entry, between 26 and ca. 27 July 1842, State of Illinois v. Tubbs [J.P. Ct. 1842], Robinson and Johnson, Docket Book, 120; “Strayed,” Wasp, 21 May 1842, [3]; Notice, 9 July 1842.)
Clayton’s intention here is unclear. He may have intended that Hunter require the alleged owners simply to describe the cow in question, or he may have wanted Hunter to examine reference markings found on the cow. In order to distinguish livestock, distinctive branding or other markings were often used. Such marking could be recorded with the county, but extant records show that few residents in Hancock County and no Latter-day Saints went to the trouble and cost of having their livestock markings officially recorded. (See Hancock Co., IL, Marks and Brands, 1829–1973, microfilm 954,296, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)