Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841

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Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841
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....
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, Hancock Co., IL, to
Oliver Granger
7 Feb. 1794–23/25 Aug. 1841. Sheriff, church agent. Born at Phelps, Ontario Co., New York. Son of Pierce Granger and Clarissa Trumble. Married Lydia Dibble, 8 Sept. 1813, at Phelps. Member of Methodist church and licensed exhorter. Sheriff of Ontario Co. ...
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,
Kirtland Township
Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...
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, Lake Co., OH, 4 May 1841; handwriting of
Robert B. Thompson
1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...
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; three pages; Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, Springfield, IL. Includes address, postal notations, and docket.

Bifolium measuring 12¼ × 7½ inches (31 × 19 cm). The letter was written on the first three pages and then trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with an adhesive wafer. The document was later folded for filing.

The Illinois State Historical Library (now the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum) purchased the letter from Morris H. Briggs in 1946.
1
Monaghan, “New Mormon Letter,” 85–86.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Monaghan, Jay. “A New Mormon Letter.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 40, no. 1 (Mar. 1947): 85–86.
Footnotes
[1]
Monaghan, “New Mormon Letter,” 85–86.
Monaghan, Jay. “A New Mormon Letter.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 40, no. 1 (Mar. 1947): 85–86.
Historical Introduction
JS dictated this letter to his scribe
Robert B. Thompson
1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...
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on 4 May 1841 in
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....
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, Illinois. The letter, addressed to
Oliver Granger
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, pertains to the
church
The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
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’s debts, which Granger was working to eliminate. In May 1839 the
presiding elders
A leader over a local ecclesiastical unit of the church; also a title indicating the leading officers of the church. When the church was organized, JS and Oliver Cowdery were ordained as first and second elders, respectively, distinguishing them as the church...
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of the church entrusted “vast business concerns” to Granger and sent him to the eastern
United States
North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...
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to resolve outstanding debts, primarily in
Kirtland
Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...
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, Ohio, and
New York
Located in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
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.
1
Authorization for Oliver Granger, 13 May 1839; see also Agreement with Oliver Granger, 29 Apr. 1840.
By 1841, Granger was so immersed in the financial affairs of the church that his role as
agent
A specific church office and, more generally, someone “entrusted with the business of another.” Agents in the church assisted other ecclesiastical officers, especially the bishop in his oversight of the church’s temporal affairs. A May 1831 revelation instructed...
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had become indispensable, but his health was waning.
2
By July, Don Carlos Smith wrote Granger and mentioned he had heard Granger’s health was finally improving, but Granger died the next month. (Don Carlos Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to Oliver Granger, Kirtland, OH, 11 July 1841, Don Carlos Smith, Letters to Oliver Granger, 1841, CHL; Obituary for Oliver Granger, Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1841, 2:550.)
Comprehensive Works Cited
Smith, Don Carlos. Letters to Oliver Granger, 1841. CHL.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
JS thus determined to send additional agents—including
Isaac Galland
15 May 1791–27 Sept. 1858. Merchant, postmaster, land speculator, doctor. Born at Somerset Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Matthew Galland and Hannah Fenno. Married first Nancy Harris, 22 Mar. 1811, in Madison Co., Ohio. Married second Margaret Knight, by 1816....
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and
Hyrum Smith
9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co., by...
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—to the eastern states “on business for the church.”
3
Letter to Oliver Granger, 26 Jan. 1841; see also Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 Feb. 1841.

In this 4 May 1841 letter, JS urged
Granger
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to meet with
Galland
15 May 1791–27 Sept. 1858. Merchant, postmaster, land speculator, doctor. Born at Somerset Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Matthew Galland and Hannah Fenno. Married first Nancy Harris, 22 Mar. 1811, in Madison Co., Ohio. Married second Margaret Knight, by 1816....
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to give him information about his contacts, prior transactions, and efforts to resolve the church’s debts. However, no evidence exists that Granger ever met with Galland. Galland abandoned his assignment by July 1841, and Granger passed away in August 1841.
4
In July 1841, Horace Hotchkiss, a major creditor to the First Presidency for land purchased in Illinois, informed JS that Galland had never arrived in Connecticut to settle debts with Hotchkiss and his partners and that Galland had already left for the western United States. (Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 24 July 1841.)
Footnotes
[1]
Authorization for Oliver Granger, 13 May 1839; see also Agreement with Oliver Granger, 29 Apr. 1840.
[2]
By July, Don Carlos Smith wrote Granger and mentioned he had heard Granger’s health was finally improving, but Granger died the next month. (Don Carlos Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to Oliver Granger, Kirtland, OH, 11 July 1841, Don Carlos Smith, Letters to Oliver Granger, 1841, CHL; Obituary for Oliver Granger, Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1841, 2:550.)
Smith, Don Carlos. Letters to Oliver Granger, 1841. CHL.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
[3]
Letter to Oliver Granger, 26 Jan. 1841; see also Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 Feb. 1841.
[4]
In July 1841, Horace Hotchkiss, a major creditor to the First Presidency for land purchased in Illinois, informed JS that Galland had never arrived in Connecticut to settle debts with Hotchkiss and his partners and that Galland had already left for the western United States. (Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 24 July 1841.)
Page [3]
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I shall be anxous to hear from you, as soon as possible, relative to these matters &c

I am with great respect very respectfully

Joseph Smith

Mr
Oliver Granger
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The house and store encumbered by the debts for the “Plates” is are now at liberty,
Bro Babbit
Oct. 1812–Sept. 1856. Postmaster, editor, attorney. Born at Cheshire, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Ira Babbitt and Nancy Crosier. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ca. 1830. Located in Amherst, Lorain Co., Ohio, July 1831....
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6
Almon Babbitt.
<that debt> having <been> settled that debt You can therefore let
Bro. Babbit
Oct. 1812–Sept. 1856. Postmaster, editor, attorney. Born at Cheshire, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Ira Babbitt and Nancy Crosier. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ca. 1830. Located in Amherst, Lorain Co., Ohio, July 1831....
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t[ake] control over them untill I settle w[ith] him.
7
During their efforts to found a banking venture known as the Kirtland Safety Society, JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery commissioned banknote plates to be produced by the New York engraving firm Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty in late 1836. By June 1837 the founders of the Kirtland Safety Society had defaulted on their debt, and the engraving firm took legal action to obtain payment. (See Kirtland Safety Society Notes, 4 Jan.–9 Mar. 1837; and Transcript of Proceedings, 16 Apr. 1839, Underwood et al. v. Rigdon et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1839], Final Record Book X, pp. 34–36, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.)
You will also keep possession of the Keys of the
House of the Lord
JS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...
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. until you receive further instructions from me.—
8
See Letter to Oliver Granger, 26 Jan. 1841.

Joseph Smith

Bro Hyrum
9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co., by...
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sends his respects to you and family.— [p. [3]]
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Source Note
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Document Information
Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841
ID #
642
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:135–138
Handwriting on This Page
Robert B. Thompson
Footnotes
[6]
Almon Babbitt.
[7]
During their efforts to found a banking venture known as the Kirtland Safety Society, JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery commissioned banknote plates to be produced by the New York engraving firm Underwood, Bald, Spencer & Hufty in late 1836. By June 1837 the founders of the Kirtland Safety Society had defaulted on their debt, and the engraving firm took legal action to obtain payment. (See Kirtland Safety Society Notes, 4 Jan.–9 Mar. 1837; and Transcript of Proceedings, 16 Apr. 1839, Underwood et al. v. Rigdon et al. [Geauga Co. C.P. 1839], Final Record Book X, pp. 34–36, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.)
[8]
See Letter to Oliver Granger, 26 Jan. 1841.