Letter to Orson Hyde, 7 April 1834
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Source Note
JS, , and , Letter, , Geauga Co., OH, to , , 7 Apr. 1834. Retained copy, [ca. 7 Apr. 1834], in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 82–84; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 1.
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Historical Introduction
On 7 April 1834, JS composed this letter to , who was on a mission for the church in the eastern . Hyde was assigned to recruit members to travel to to help the Saints who had been driven from . He was also assigned to raise money from church members for land purchases in Missouri and for a payment on the in , Ohio. The French farm had been designated by revelation as the place where the Lord’s “” would be built. In March 1833, a council of and appointed and to supervise the purchase of the farm, and on 10 April 1833, Coe concluded an agreement with French. Under the terms of the agreement, Coe apparently provided $2,000 of the $5,000 price up front, with two additional payments of $1,500 required, one of which was due on 10 April 1834. In June 1833, , in Kirtland and a member of the , purchased the farm from Coe, and the responsibility for the two $1,500 payments presumably fell to him. Facing the 10 April deadline on the first payment, church leaders needed funds “to redeem the farm.”On 17 March 1834, JS held a in , New York, at which was directed to remain in that area and preach while four local church members—, , , and —attempted to raise $2,000 by the first of April “for the relief of the brethren in .” Hyde was then to bring the money “immediately to Kirtland.” However, on 31 March, Hyde sent a letter explaining that the fund-raising efforts had not yet succeeded.JS received the discouraging news by 7 April. With the 10 April deadline looming, JS, , , , and went into the translating room in Whitney’s on 7 April and “bowed down befor[e] the Lord and prayed that he would furnish the means” to retire their debts. JS then replied to ’s letter, expressing disappointment in the lack of success with fund raising, chastising church members for not contributing their means more liberally, and wondering whether the gathering of Saints to from eastern branches should continue, given church members’ apparent lack of generosity. JS was especially concerned that he would not be able to go to Missouri to help those Saints who had been driven out of if monetary help was not forthcoming. He also expressed concern that if he could not go, the entire expedition would fail to materialize.Although the letter is written in JS’s voice, it also contains the signatures of , one of JS’s counselors in the and a member of the United Firm, and , another firm member. The original letter is not extant. Williams copied it into JS’s letterbook, probably soon after its composition. It is unclear if received the letter; no response from him has been located.
Footnotes
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1
Revelation, 24 Feb. 1834 [D&C 103:30–34, 40]; Minutes, 20 Feb. 1834; Revelation, 4 June 1833 [D&C 96:2].
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3
Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 17, pp. 38–39, 359–360, 10 Apr. 1833, microfilm 20,237, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
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4
Minutes, 26–27 Apr. 1832; Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:11–12]; Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 17, pp. 360–361, 17 June 1833, microfilm 20,237, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
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6
Minutes, 17 Mar. 1834. According to the 1830 census, Roger Orton lived in Geneseo, and Edmund Bosley lived in Livonia, both in Livingston County, New York. Freeman Nickerson lived in Perrysburg, Cattaraugus County, New York, and Isaac McWithy resided in Bennington, Genesee County, New York. (1830 U.S. Census, Geneseo, Livingston Co., NY, 14; 1830 U.S. Census, Livonia, Livingston Co., NY, 65[A]; 1830 U.S. Census, Perrysburg, Cattaraugus Co., NY, 224; 1830 U.S. Census, Bennington, Genesee Co., NY, 136.)
Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.
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7
The letter from Hyde is not extant.
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8
The store was so named to distinguish it from Whitney’s red store. (Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 214n32.)
Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.
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9
JS, Journal, 7–9 Apr. 1834. The “translating room,” located in the southeast corner on the second floor of Whitney’s store in Kirtland, was where JS had worked on his translation of the Bible and was also used for administrative purposes. (Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 251.)
Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.
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10
It is unclear what debts or other monetary obligations JS had that would have prevented him from going to Missouri. The indebtedness that concerned him was likely connected with the debts of other members of the United Firm. Since firm members apparently bonded themselves in accordance with instructions in an April 1832 revelation, they may have each held responsibility for the firm’s collective debts. (Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:15]; see also Minutes, 26–27 Apr. 1832; and Parkin, “Joseph Smith and the United Firm,” 37–39.)
Parkin, Max H. “Joseph Smith and the United Firm: The Growth and Decline of the Church’s First Master Plan of Business and Finance, Ohio and Missouri, 1832–1834.” BYU Studies 46, no. 3 (2007): 5–66.
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11
Minutes, 18 Mar. 1833; Note, 15 Mar. 1833; Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:11]. It is unclear why Sidney Rigdon, also a counselor in the presidency of the high priesthood and a member of the firm, did not sign.
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