Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 30 June 1842

Home >
The Papers >

Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 30 June 1842
Source Note

JS, Letter,
Nauvoo
Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....
More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, to
Horace Hotchkiss
15 Apr. 1799–21 Apr. 1849. Merchant, land speculator. Born in East Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Heman Hotchkiss and Elizabeth Rowe. Moved to New Haven, New Haven Co., by 1815. Married Charlotte Austin Street, 22 Feb. 1824, in East Haven. Purchased...
View Full Bio
, [
Fair Haven
Village in south-central Connecticut, located on Quinnipiac River. Population in 1853 about 3,000.
More Info
, New Haven Co., CT], 30 June 1842. Featured version copied [ca. 30 June 1842] in JS Letterbook 2, p. 237; handwriting of
William Clayton
17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...
View Full Bio
; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction
On 30 June 1842 in
Nauvoo
More Info
, Illinois,
William Clayton
View Full Bio
inscribed a letter on behalf of JS to
Horace Hotchkiss
View Full Bio
in
Connecticut
Originally inhabited by native Algonquin tribes. Among first thirteen colonies that formed U.S., southernmost state in New England. First permanent European settlements established by members of Massachusetts Bay Colony, ca. 1635. Population in 1820 about...
More Info
. The letter was written in response to a 27 May 1842 letter from Hotchkiss, one of JS’s largest creditors, in which he expressed concern about JS’s decision to petition for bankruptcy. In that letter, Hotchkiss worried that this action would “have a most disastrous influence upon your society both commercially and religiously.”
1
See Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 27 May 1842.
In JS’s response, he reiterated the argument he had made in a 13 May 1842 letter to Hotchkiss—that he had no other options and no other means of meeting his debts.
2
See Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 13 May 1842.

In his 27 May letter,
Hotchkiss
View Full Bio
asked JS to clarify how he had represented, in his bankruptcy application, the land and promissory notes that were part of his 1839 agreement with Hotchkiss and his partners.
3
In August 1839, JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith purchased land from Hotchkiss and his partners in land speculating, John Gillet and Smith Tuttle. (See Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A.)
In the letter featured here, JS noted that they had been included in his bankruptcy schedules, but he did not provide Hotchkiss with any additional details. JS had included the land in question among his assets, which Hotchkiss had warned him not to do, since JS had not finished paying for the land and therefore Hotchkiss and his partners still held title to it.
4
Hotchkiss had also asked JS to explain how he intended to repay his creditors, but JS only reiterated that all his creditors would “fare alike.” JS did not respond to Hotchkiss’s offer for a new arrangement to repay the 1839 bond. Desperate for news after hearing nothing more from JS, Hotchkiss wrote to
Sidney Rigdon
19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full Bio
in November 1842 making further inquiries about payment and JS’s bankruptcy proceedings.
5
See Horace Hotchkiss, Fair Haven, CT, to Sidney Rigdon, Nauvoo, IL, 8 Nov. 1842, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Whitney, Newel K. Papers, 1825–1906. BYU.

The letter JS sent to
Hotchkiss
View Full Bio
is apparently not extant, but a copy was made by
William Clayton
View Full Bio
in JS Letterbook 2. Clayton presumably made the copy about 30 June 1842, the date the original letter was written.
Footnotes
[1]
[2]
See Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 13 May 1842.
[3]
In August 1839, JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith purchased land from Hotchkiss and his partners in land speculating, John Gillet and Smith Tuttle. (See Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A.)
[4]
[5]
See Horace Hotchkiss, Fair Haven, CT, to Sidney Rigdon, Nauvoo, IL, 8 Nov. 1842, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.
Whitney, Newel K. Papers, 1825–1906. BYU.
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 30 June 1842 Letterbook 2 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”
Page 237
Hide editing marks

Nauvoo
More Info
June 30th. 1842

H[orace] R. Hotchkiss
View Full Bio
Esqr.

Dr Sir— Yours of the 27th. May, has been received which I shall now briefly answer.

In regard to my application for the benefit of the Bankrupt act,
1
See Application for Bankruptcy, ca. 14–16 Apr. 1842.
there was no other course for me to pursue than the one I have already taken and as I have said before all my creditors will have to fare alike
2
JS’s insistence that all his creditors would “fare alike” most likely meant that he intended to leave repayment of his debts to the bankruptcy court, rather than make new arrangements for repayment with Hotchkiss. (See Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 27 May 1842.)
Your papers are inventory’d along with all the other property.

The influence this step may have upon our society either commercially or religiously is a matter we cannot stop to consult, as we had no alternative left. We have been compelled to pursue this course on account of the extreme pressure of the times, which continued to bear harder upon us untill we took the step we have.
3
The “extreme pressure of the times” included the nationwide depression that followed the Panic of 1837. In his 13 May letter to Hotchkiss, JS had explained further difficulties that had forced him to petition for bankruptcy, most of which related to financial losses incurred by the church “through the influence of Mobs & designi[n]g men.” Specific challenges included significant property losses in Missouri, the debts the church contracted after the expulsion as leaders sought to provide land for the Latter-day Saint refugees in Illinois and Iowa Territory, and other unspecified debts, which may have included a debt to the federal government for the purchase of the steamboat Des Moines. (Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 13 May 1842.)

A great pressure of buisness prevents my writing more at the present, your therefore excuse a short communication
4
In June 1842, Wilford Woodruff noted in a letter to Parley P. Pratt that he had “never seen Joseph as full of business as of late he hardly gets time to sign his name.” (Wilford Woodruff, Nauvoo, IL, to Parley P. Pratt, Liverpool, England, 18 June 1842, Parley P. Pratt, Correspondence, CHL.)
Comprehensive Works Cited
Pratt, Parley P. Correspondence, 1842–1855. CHL. MS 897.

I remain Yours resp[ectfull]y

Joseph Smith

by
William Clayton
View Full Bio
Clerk [p. 237]
View entire transcript
|
Cite this page
Source Note
Document Transcript
Page 237
Document Information
Footnotes
[1]
See Application for Bankruptcy, ca. 14–16 Apr. 1842.
[2]
JS’s insistence that all his creditors would “fare alike” most likely meant that he intended to leave repayment of his debts to the bankruptcy court, rather than make new arrangements for repayment with Hotchkiss. (See Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 27 May 1842.)
[3]
The “extreme pressure of the times” included the nationwide depression that followed the Panic of 1837. In his 13 May letter to Hotchkiss, JS had explained further difficulties that had forced him to petition for bankruptcy, most of which related to financial losses incurred by the church “through the influence of Mobs & designi[n]g men.” Specific challenges included significant property losses in Missouri, the debts the church contracted after the expulsion as leaders sought to provide land for the Latter-day Saint refugees in Illinois and Iowa Territory, and other unspecified debts, which may have included a debt to the federal government for the purchase of the steamboat Des Moines. (Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 13 May 1842.)
[4]
In June 1842, Wilford Woodruff noted in a letter to Parley P. Pratt that he had “never seen Joseph as full of business as of late he hardly gets time to sign his name.” (Wilford Woodruff, Nauvoo, IL, to Parley P. Pratt, Liverpool, England, 18 June 1842, Parley P. Pratt, Correspondence, CHL.)
Pratt, Parley P. Correspondence, 1842–1855. CHL. MS 897.