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Letter to Justin Butterfield, 18 January 1844

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Letter to Justin Butterfield, 18 January 1844

Source Note

on behalf of JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , [, Cook Co., IL], 18 Jan. 1844. Featured version copied [ca. 18 Jan. 1844]; handwriting of ; one page; Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, CHL. Includes docket and notation.
Single leaf measuring 8¾ × 7½ inches (22 × 19 cm). The left side of the recto has the square cut of manufactured paper. The top, bottom, and right edges of the page were unevenly cut by hand. The letter was copied, trifolded, and docketed.
The letter was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844. In late 1844, following JS’s death, became one of the interim church trustees and was appointed “first bishop” among other bishops. It was presumably during this time that many of the church’s financial and other administrative records passed into his possession. This document, along with some other personal and institutional documents that may have been kept by Whitney, was inherited by Whitney’s great-granddaughter Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, who passed these and other family papers down to her daughter Helen Marian Fleming Petersen. In 1988, shortly after Petersen’s death, this collection was found in a box in her home, and later that year family members donated it to the Church Historical Department (now CHL).

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

  2. [2]

    Richards, Journal, 9 Aug. 1844; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:693; see also Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30.

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

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  3. [3]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, 1836–1963, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 18 January 1844, wrote a letter on behalf of JS in , Illinois, to attorney in regarding money that JS owed Butterfield. Butterfield had represented JS in a hearing in January 1843, for which JS gave him two promissory notes, each for $230. Butterfield was likely asking about these promissory notes when he wrote to JS on 11 June 1843 about the money that JS owed him. Three days later, Clayton responded on behalf of JS that if Butterfield could come to Nauvoo, JS could “have the money or a great part of it” for him. Even though Butterfield spent several days in Nauvoo in October 1843 discussing a different legal matter with JS, JS apparently did not pay his debt to Butterfield at that time. The debt was still outstanding on 18 January 1844, when JS instructed Clayton to write a letter to Butterfield apologizing for the delay in payment and explaining that he still did not have the necessary money.
In the letter, explained that JS’s poor financial state stemmed in part from his having incurred significant debt in purchasing the land on which was built. He added that despite the influx of members who had recently moved to the city, many of the immigrants were poor and therefore unable to purchase city lots. These circumstances limited JS’s ability to pay his debts as well as those of the church. Clayton stated, however, that JS anticipated paying once the next group of church members arrived in Nauvoo in the spring.
After scribe made a copy for JS’s records, sent the original letter to . It is unclear how the letter was transmitted, and there is no known response from Butterfield. Although the sent copy of the letter is apparently not extant, the copied version was preserved among church records and is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Writ of Habeas Corpus, 31 Dec. 1842; JS, Affidavit, 2 Jan. 1843; JS, Journal, 6 Jan. 1843.

  2. [2]

    Butterfield's 11 June 1843 letter is apparently not extant. However, Clayton mentioned the letter in the response he wrote on 14 June 1843. (William Clayton on behalf of JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Justin Butterfield, [Springfield, IL], 14 June 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.)

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 4–6 Oct. 1843.

  4. [4]

    See JS, Journal, 18 Jan. 1844.

Page [1]

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January 18. 1844
Dr.
I am instructed by General Joseph Smith to address a few lines to you at this time and apologize for not writing sooner. You would have heard from him some time ago had he been prepared to send you the money according to your request. I am sorry to say that he has met with a number of disappointments with regard to money this fall, and in fact has not been able to effect any sales as yet. He has used due diligence to accomplish it, but hitherto without success. The times are dull, and although we have had some little emigration during the fall and winter they have almost invariably been of the poorer class and not able to purchase. Agreeable to his request I have used every effort to raise the money to send to you, and he also has spent considerable effort, but as before stated we do not yet succeed, and according to present appearance there is no hopes that he can do any thing until the Spring opens and emigrants again begin to move in.
I hope Sir it will not be any disadvantage to you to wait a few months longer, for be assured it is not neglect, that has caused the disappointment, in the Spring I hope to be able to accommodate you.
Let me hear from you In the mean time I have the honor to remain as ever
for Joseph Smith [p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Justin Butterfield, 18 January 1844
ID #
1494
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Bullock

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    In fall 1843, JS, as trustee-in-trust for the church, issued approximately forty deeds in various land transactions in Nauvoo. It is unclear, however, how much cash he received as down payment for the land involved in these transactions and how many lots were sold on credit alone. (For a full list of known deeds issued by JS as trustee-in-trust, see the Calendar of Documents.)

  2. [2]

    In an April 1843 discourse, JS encouraged Latter-day Saints to purchase land in Nauvoo as opposed to land in other areas sold by speculators, acknowledging that prices in Nauvoo were often higher than in other places but that as trustee-in-trust for the church he used the money from land sales to help “the widow & the fatherless.” (Discourse, 13 Apr. 1843.)

  3. [3]

    It is unknown if JS ever paid Butterfield in full. On 10 April 1844, Clayton recorded in his journal that he had written another letter to Butterfield, but that letter is apparently not extant. Clayton arranged to pay Butterfield’s tavern account on 1 May 1844, possibly in relation to JS’s efforts to pay the outstanding legal fees. In May 1844, Nauvoo citizens staged a play, the proceeds of which were intended to help pay JS’s legal fees generally. In the months and years following JS’s death, there is no record of Butterfield filing a claim against JS’s estate for payment, suggesting that JS’s debt to Butterfield had been settled. (Clayton, Journal, 10 Apr. and 1 May 1844; Letter to the Editor, Warsaw [IL] Signal, 15 May 1844, [3].)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

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