Letter to George W. Robinson, 6 November 1842
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Source Note
JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , [, Hancock Co., IL], 6 Nov. 1842. Featured version published in Sangamo Journal (Springfield, Sangamon Co., IL), 18 Nov. 1842, vol. 11/12, no. 13, [2]; edited by Simeon Francis. Transcription from a digital color image obtained from the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in 2017, idnc.library.illinois.edu.The Sangamo Journal was a weekly newspaper printed in , Illinois, from November 1831 to September 1847. Each issue of the paper consisted of four pages with each page containing seven columns. In issue 11 of volume 11, a typesetter mistakenly added an Arabic numeral 1 to the Roman numeral volume number (XI), changing the volume number to “XI1”. The error was never corrected, and at the close of what began as volume 11, the newspaper moved to volume 13. The volume used for transcription is held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign newspaper library and was digitized in 2013 by the university’s project, the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections.
Footnotes
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1
Nameplate, Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 4 Nov. 1842, [1].
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
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Historical Introduction
On 6 November 1842, JS wrote a letter from , Illinois, to accusing Robinson and others of tampering with his mail in the Nauvoo . Robinson was a son-in-law to , JS’s first counselor in the ’s , and had enjoyed a close relationship with JS while serving as the First Presidency’s scribe and the general church clerk and recorder from 1837 to 1840. He also served as the first postmaster for Nauvoo from April 1840 until February 1841, when Rigdon took over the office. Robinson relinquished these church and civic responsibilities because he planned to move to in 1841. It is unclear, however, if he ever left Nauvoo; in spring 1842 he was living in the city with Rigdon. Though Robinson had withdrawn from his position in church leadership in 1840, he appears to have retained a close association with JS until summer 1842.’s estrangement from JS in summer 1842 grew out of JS’s alleged marriage proposal to , ’s daughter and Robinson’s sister-in-law, earlier that year. JS met with Sidney Rigdon on 13 May and with the Rigdon family on 28 June 1842, presumably to resolve concerns regarding the alleged proposal. Robinson was present at the meeting with Rigdon’s family, and he later claimed that at that meeting JS acknowledged the proposal but insisted that he had only been testing Nancy’s virtue. Robinson also claimed that shortly after this meeting, JS publicly condemned Robinson and Rigdon for being allied with in his efforts to discredit the church.The extent to which colluded with is unclear. He had closely associated with Bennett as his direct subordinate in the and as his landlord in . When Bennett began publishing his expository letters about JS and the church, he repeatedly called upon Robinson by name to reveal the “astounding facts” regarding JS’s proposal to as well as other alleged misdeeds of which Robinson supposedly had knowledge. Robinson and Bennett privately corresponded in the summer and fall of 1842, and if the published copies of his letters are accurate, Robinson promised that he would answer Bennett’s call and divulge information to discredit JS. Although Robinson wrote two public letters in summer 1842—one addressed to the Quincy Whig and the other to the Sangamo Journal—neither letter mentioned the specific allegations, though Robinson did announce that he would be withdrawing from the church because he had been “pretty roughly handled” by the Latter-day Saints. In the letters, Robinson also denied any involvement with Bennett. Shortly after he renounced the church, Robinson left Nauvoo and moved to , a town in northeastern , Illinois.As the controversies surrounding ’s allegations intensified, JS began accusing and of collaborating with Bennett to steal money and letters from the . On 8 August 1842, JS reported receiving “a letter from Post Office which had been broke open.” The next month, JS and privately and publicly accused Rigdon of mishandling mail belonging to JS and the . Robinson later claimed that the origin of JS’s complaint was a single letter with a repaired seal from an unidentified woman, and, according to Robinson, the seal had been broken prior to the author’s sending it, a fact that the author explained in the letter’s postscript. Robinson alleged that JS’s accusations were simply a ruse to gain support for JS as postmaster in Rigdon’s place.JS and many other residents were indeed seeking to remove as the city’s postmaster. Two days after writing this letter, they gathered affidavits “concerning the frauds and irregularities practised in the ” and sent them to along with a petition to the postmaster general of the requesting he remove Rigdon from the office and appoint JS in his stead.JS wrote the 6 November 1842 letter in the morning, likely from his home or office. was visiting , so the letter was delivered to him that day, presumably by hand. Robinson wrote that he received the letter that morning and that he responded to JS the same day. On 7 November, after he returned home to , Robinson sent to the Sangamo Journal JS’s letter (or a copy) and a copy of his response within a letter explaining the background of this correspondence. The newspaper published the letters on 18 November 1842. The published version of Robinson’s letter includes several words italicized for emphasis. It is unknown whether these are representations of underlining by Robinson in the manuscript copy he sent to the editor or editorial embellishments made in the newspaper office. Because the original copy of JS’s 6 November letter is not extant, the version printed by the Sangamo Journal is featured here.
Footnotes
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1
Minutes, 17 Sept. 1837–A; Minutes, 6 Apr. 1838, in JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, 29; see also Minutes, 6 Apr. 1838; and Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840.
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2
U.S. Post Office Department, Record of Appointment of Postmasters, reel 28, vol. 12B, p. 514; Robert Johnston to Richard M. Young, 21 Apr. 1840, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 135. During both men’s tenures, the post office was in Rigdon’s home. (Leonard, Nauvoo, 59; Charlotte Haven, Nauvoo, IL, to “My Dear Brother and Sister,” 5 Mar. 1843, in “Girl’s Letters from Nauvoo,” 625.)
U.S. Post Office Department. Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832–September 30, 1971. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M841. 145 microfilm reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1977.
Leonard, Glen M. Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002.
Haven, Charlotte. “A Girl’s Letters from Nauvoo.” Overland Monthly 16, no. 96 (Dec. 1890): 616–638.
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4
See Platt, Nauvoo, 22.
Platt, Lyman De. Nauvoo: Early Mormon Records Series, 1839–1846. Vol. 1. Highland, UT, 1980.
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5
Robinson testified twice about his experiences in Missouri in behalf of JS, once in June 1841 during the first extradition attempt and again in April 1842 for a lawsuit against George M. Hinkle. (“The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447; George W. Robinson, Deposition, 22 Apr. 1842, JS v. George M. Hinkle [Lee Co. Dist. Ct. 1842], CHL.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
JS v. George M. Hinkle / Lee County, Iowa Territory, District Court. Joseph Smith v. George M. Hinkle, 1841–1842. CHL.
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George W. Robinson, Nauvoo, IL, to James Arlington Bennet, 27 July 1842, in Bennett, History of the Saints, 245–247.
Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.
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8
George W. Robinson, Nauvoo, IL, to John C. Bennett, 3 July 1842, in Bennett, History of the Saints, 44–45.
Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.
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9
George W. Robinson, Nauvoo, IL, to John C. Bennett, 20 June 1842, in Bennett, History of the Saints, 44; John C. Bennett, Affidavit, 7 July 1842, in Wasp, 23 July 1842, [2].
Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
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10
“Astounding Mormon Disclosures! Letter from Gen. Bennett,” Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 8 July 1842, [2]; “Further Mormon Developments!! 2d Letter from Gen. Bennett,” and “Gen. Bennett’s Third Letter,” Sangamo Journal, 15 July 1842, [2]; “Gen. Bennett’s 4th Letter,” Sangamo Journal, 22 July 1842, [2].
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
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11
George W. Robinson, Nauvoo, IL, to John C. Bennett, 3 July 1842; George W. Robinson, Nauvoo, IL, to John C. Bennett, 8 Aug. 1842; George W. Robinson, Nauvoo, IL, to John C. Bennett, 16 Sept. 1842, in Bennett, History of the Saints, 44–45, 247–249; see also Bennett, History of the Saints, 245.
Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.
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12
George W. Robinson, “Letter from Nauvoo,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 23 July 1842, [2]; “Letter from Col. Robinson,” Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 26 Aug. 1842, [2].
Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
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13
George W. Robinson, Nauvoo, IL, to John C. Bennett, 16 Sept. 1842, in Bennett, History of the Saints, 248–249.
Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.
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Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 8 Sept. 1842; Emma Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to Sidney Rigdon, Nauvoo, IL, 12 Sept. 1842, Emma Smith, Correspondence, CHL; George W. Robinson, Nauvoo, IL, to John C. Bennett, 16 Sept. 1842, in Bennett, History of the Saints, 248–249.
Smith, Emma. Correspondence, 1842 and 1844. CHL.
Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.
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16
George W. Robinson, La Harpe, IL, 7 Nov. 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 18 Nov. 1842, [2]. No letter matching Robinson’s description is extant.
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
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17
JS sent the affidavits and petition through his attorney Calvin A. Warren to Senator Richard M. Young. The affidavits and petition are not extant. (JS, Journal, 8 Nov. 1842.)
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George W. Robinson, La Harpe, IL, 7 Nov. 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 18 Nov. 1842, [2].
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
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