Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841
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Source Note
JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , , Lake Co., OH, 4 May 1841; handwriting of ; 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.
Footnotes
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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.
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Historical Introduction
JS dictated this letter to his scribe on 4 May 1841 in , Illinois. The letter, addressed to , pertains to the ’s debts, which Granger was working to eliminate. In May 1839 the of the church entrusted “vast business concerns” to Granger and sent him to the eastern to resolve outstanding debts, primarily in , Ohio, and . By 1841, Granger was so immersed in the financial affairs of the church that his role as had become indispensable, but his health was waning. JS thus determined to send additional agents—including and —to the eastern states “on business for the church.”In this 4 May 1841 letter, JS urged to meet with 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.
Footnotes
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1
Authorization for Oliver Granger, 13 May 1839; see also Agreement with Oliver Granger, 29 Apr. 1840.
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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.
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3
Letter to Oliver Granger, 26 Jan. 1841; see also Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 Feb. 1841.
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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.)
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