JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , [, Allegheny Co., PA], 16 July 1842; handwriting of ; one page; Manuscript and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, New York City, NY.
Single leaf measuring 8 × 9⅞ inches (20 × 25 cm). Embossed in the upper left corner of the recto is the round insignia of a paper mill. The design has an illegible word at the top, the word “LEE” in the middle, and the word “MASS” along the bottom. The leaf is ruled with twenty-seven horizontal lines. All edges of the leaf are unevenly cut. The verso of the leaf is blank. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style.
The letter’s custodial history is uncertain prior to its acquisition by Charles L. Woodward, a well-known bookseller and document collector, sometime before 1880. Woodward inserted the letter into the first volume of “The First Half Century of Mormonism,” a scrapbook he compiled and edited. New York City merchant William Berrian acquired a majority of Woodward’s collection, including the scrapbook, when it was sold at auction in 1880. Berrian expanded the collection over the next sixteen years. Helen M. Gould obtained the collection sometime between 1896 and the end of 1899 and then gave it to the New York Public Library in January 1900. The letter was removed from Woodward’s scrapbook and sent to the Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library on 3 March 1938.
Bibliothica—Scallawagiana: Catalogue of a Matchless Collection of Books, Pamphlets, Autographs, Pictures, &c., Relating to Mormonism and the Mormons. . . . [New York City]: no publisher, [1880].
Woodward, Charles L., comp. “The First Half Century of Mormonism. Papers, Engravings, Photographs, and Autograph Letters,” ca. 1880. Scrapbook. New York Public Library, New York City.
Historical Introduction
On 16 July 1842, while in , Illinois, JS composed a letter addressed to , who was in , asking him to purchase building materials for the Nauvoo . According to an article in the 2 May 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons, construction on the temple was “progressing with great rapidity; strenuous exertions are being made on every hand to facilitate its erection, and materials of all kinds are in a great state of forward[n]ess.” Progress on the temple required additional building materials that JS hoped Page could procure in the eastern , where such goods were more readily available. In addition to the request for nails, brads, and blasting powder, the letter provided a general update on the health of the Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo and mentioned ’s conduct there.
JS’s letter was a reply to a nonextant letter from dated 3 June 1842. JS apparently dictated the letter to his clerk , although it is possible that Clayton composed the letter himself on behalf of JS. Page received it, likely two to three weeks after it was sent, and replied on 8 August 1842.