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Letter to Henry T. Hugins, 18 June 1844

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Letter to Henry T. Hugins, 18 June 1844

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , [, Des Moines Co., Iowa Territory], 18 June 1844. Featured version copied [ca. 18 June 1844]; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket, use marks, notations, and archival marking.
Single leaf measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). Embossed in the upper left corner of the recto is a decorative rectangle (now faded). The top, right, and bottom edges of the recto have the square cut of manufactured paper, whereas the left edge is rough, which suggests it was torn or hand cut from a book or larger sheet. The leaf was trifolded for filing. It has undergone conservation.
The letter was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. The graphite notation “A. J” was added to the document by 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 (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 it had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The letter’s early docket, its notation, its listing in the circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. 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.

  3. “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.

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

Historical Introduction

On 18 June 1844, JS composed a letter from , Illinois, to attorney in , Iowa Territory, thanking him for his recent letter and asking him to help curb mob activity that was threatening the . Hugins had written to JS the day before to report that Hugins’s client , who had previously been in , Illinois, for a hearing, had arrived in Iowa and been released from custody. Hugins also reported that he and , who conveyed Smith to Springfield, had prevented former marshal from obtaining an indictment from a federal grand jury against members of the Nauvoo Municipal Court for participating in Smith’s recent proceedings.
JS’s 18 June letter of reply was written at 8:00 p.m., likely by his clerk . It is not known if JS dictated this letter to Richards or assigned Richards to write it on his behalf. In the letter, JS congratulated both and on the latter’s freedom. He also requested that Hugins, whom JS considered to be a man of integrity and a friend, help suppress the mob spirit that was directed against the Latter-day Saints. JS explained that the Saints needed allies to come to their aid. On 16 June, attempting to de-escalate mob activity, JS called for delegates to travel “to all the surroudig [surrounding] tow[n]s and villages” to explain the city council’s motives in destroying the Nauvoo Expositor’s press. JS’s request for Hugins’s assistance was part of this broader diplomatic attempt to pacify members of the mob. Additionally, JS asked Hugins to share this letter with , who lived in , and other trusted associates.
JS sent the letter to via , a traveling dentist who had been in since early June. Wakefield was likely asked to deliver this letter because, in addition to living in , he had quickly gained the trust of JS while in Nauvoo. There is no known response to JS’s letter.
Before the letter was sent, made a copy, explicitly designating it as such. The original letter is apparently not extant. The copy made by Richards is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. Letter from Henry T. Hugins, 17 June 1844.

  2. JS, Journal, 18 June 1844; Richards, Journal, 18 June 1844.

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

  3. See Letter of Introduction to Nathaniel Pope for Jeremiah Smith and Henry T. Hugins, 30 May 1844; “Joseph Smith Documents from 16 May through 28 June 1844”; Discourse, 18 June 1844; and Rogers, “Federalism, Interstate Affairs, and Joseph Smith’s Final Attempt to Secure Federal Intervention in Nauvoo,” 162–165.

    Rogers, Brent M. “‘Armed Men Are Coming from the State of Missouri’: Federalism, Interstate Affairs, and Joseph Smith’s Final Attempt to Secure Federal Intervention in Nauvoo.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 109, no. 2 (Summer 2016): 148–179.

  4. Discourse, 16 June 1844–B.

  5. See JS, Journal, 18 June 1844; Historical Introduction to Letter to John R. Wakefield, 23 June 1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to Henry T. Hugins, 18 June 1844 History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Henry T. Hugins, 18 June 1844
ID #
1422
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
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