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Letter to Richard Blennerhassett, 17 March 1843

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....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, to
Richard Blennerhassett

9 May 1811–25 Dec. 1857. Teacher, lawyer. Born at Conway Castle, Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland. Son of Edward Blennerhassett and Alicia Spotswood. Member of Church of England. Married Theresa M. Byron. Migrated to Upper Canada, May 1831. Moved to Attica...

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, [
St. Louis

Located on west side of Mississippi River about fifteen miles south of confluence with Missouri River. Founded as fur-trading post by French settlers, 1764. Incorporated as town, 1809. First Mississippi steamboat docked by town, 1817. Incorporated as city...

More Info
, St. Louis Co., MO], 17 Mar. 1843. Featured version drafted 17 Mar. 1843; handwriting of
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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; one page; Truthiana, 1843, CHL. Includes dockets.
Single leaf measuring 13 × 8½ inches (33 × 22 cm). Before inscribing the letter to
Blennerhassett

9 May 1811–25 Dec. 1857. Teacher, lawyer. Born at Conway Castle, Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland. Son of Edward Blennerhassett and Alicia Spotswood. Member of Church of England. Married Theresa M. Byron. Migrated to Upper Canada, May 1831. Moved to Attica...

View Full Bio
featured here,
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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—using the pseudonym of “Viator”—wrote the final page of a draft of a 17 March 1843 letter to the Boston Bee on this leaf. Richards used the verso of the draft letter to the Bee to draft the letter to Blennerhassett. The document was folded for filing. The document has undergone conservation.
Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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added dockets for the two letters on both sides of the leaf. The document was presumably retained among the church’s records. In 1983 it was processed as part of the holdings of the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
1

See the full bibliographic entry for Truthiana, 1843, in the CHL catalog.


The early dockets and later processing suggest that it has remained in continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Truthiana, 1843, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 17 March 1843, JS composed a letter 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....

More Info
, Illinois, for
Richard Blennerhassett

9 May 1811–25 Dec. 1857. Teacher, lawyer. Born at Conway Castle, Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland. Son of Edward Blennerhassett and Alicia Spotswood. Member of Church of England. Married Theresa M. Byron. Migrated to Upper Canada, May 1831. Moved to Attica...

View Full Bio
, an attorney in
St. Louis

Located on west side of Mississippi River about fifteen miles south of confluence with Missouri River. Founded as fur-trading post by French settlers, 1764. Incorporated as town, 1809. First Mississippi steamboat docked by town, 1817. Incorporated as city...

More Info
, regarding the arrest, incarceration, and forthcoming trial of
Orrin Porter Rockwell

June 1814–9 June 1878. Ferry operator, herdsman, farmer. Born in Belchertown, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Orin Rockwell and Sarah Witt. Moved to Farmington (later in Manchester), Ontario Co., New York, 1817. Neighbor to JS. Baptized into Church of...

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. Blennerhassett had written to
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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leader
Newel K. Whitney

3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...

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on 7 March offering to defend Rockwell, who was being held in
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
state custody on the charge of having attempted to assassinate former governor
Lilburn W. Boggs

14 Dec. 1796–14 Mar. 1860. Bookkeeper, bank cashier, merchant, Indian agent and trader, lawyer, doctor, postmaster, politician. Born at Lexington, Fayette Co., Kentucky. Son of John M. Boggs and Martha Oliver. Served in War of 1812. Moved to St. Louis, ca...

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in May 1842.
1

Richard Blennerhassett, St. Louis, MO, to Newel K. Whitney, Nauvoo, IL, 7 Mar. 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; see also Historical Introduction to Letter from Isaac Galland, 11 Mar. 1843; and “Part 1: March 1843.”


Comprehensive Works Cited

Whitney, Newel K. Papers, 1825–1906. BYU.

The attorney apparently learned of Rockwell’s situation from an estranged Latter-day Saint, attorney Joseph Wood, although Blennerhassett did not mention Wood in the letter to Whitney.
2

Letter from Isaac Galland, 11 Mar. 1843; Letter from Joseph Wood, 14 Mar. 1843.


Blennerhassett, an Irish immigrant, was admitted to the
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
bar in 1835 and was considered one of the best criminal attorneys in St. Louis by 1842.
3

See Scharf, History of Saint Louis, 2:1477; Letter from Isaac Galland, 11 Mar. 1843; and Letter from Joseph Wood, 14 Mar. 1843.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Saint Louis City and County, from the Earliest Periods to the Present Day: Including Biographical Sketches of Representative Men. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1883.

Whitney

3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...

View Full Bio
received
Blennerhassett

9 May 1811–25 Dec. 1857. Teacher, lawyer. Born at Conway Castle, Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland. Son of Edward Blennerhassett and Alicia Spotswood. Member of Church of England. Married Theresa M. Byron. Migrated to Upper Canada, May 1831. Moved to Attica...

View Full Bio
’s 7 March 1843 letter 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....

More Info
by 17 March, when Whitney delivered it to JS at JS’s home at 4:00 p.m. After reviewing Blennerhassett’s missive, JS immediately dictated a response to his scribe
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

View Full Bio
.
4

JS, Journal, 17 Mar. 1843.


The draft includes emendations in the handwriting of Willard Richards, which may have been dictated by JS or made by Richards, acting on assignment. Richards presumably made a fair copy of the letter that was sent to Blennerhassett. Letters took approximately a week to travel between Nauvoo and
St. Louis

Located on west side of Mississippi River about fifteen miles south of confluence with Missouri River. Founded as fur-trading post by French settlers, 1764. Incorporated as town, 1809. First Mississippi steamboat docked by town, 1817. Incorporated as city...

More Info
.
5

For example, Blennerhassett mailed his 7 March 1843 letter on 10 March, and it arrived in Nauvoo by 17 March. (Richard Blennerhassett, St. Louis, MO, to Newel K. Whitney, Nauvoo, IL, 7 Mar. 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Whitney, Newel K. Papers, 1825–1906. BYU.

JS asked Blennerhassett to read the letter to
Rockwell

June 1814–9 June 1878. Ferry operator, herdsman, farmer. Born in Belchertown, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Orin Rockwell and Sarah Witt. Moved to Farmington (later in Manchester), Ontario Co., New York, 1817. Neighbor to JS. Baptized into Church of...

View Full Bio
and requested that Blennerhassett write back regarding any further developments in Rockwell’s case. No response to JS’s letter is known. Ultimately, the prominent
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
attorney
Alexander Doniphan

9 July 1808–8 Aug. 1887. Lawyer, military general, insurance/bank executive. Born near Maysville, Mason Co., Kentucky. Son of Joseph Doniphan and Ann Smith. Father died, 1813; sent to live with older brother George, 1815, in Augusta, Bracken Co., Kentucky...

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represented Rockwell.
6

See Transcript of Proceedings, 18 Nov. 1843, State of Missouri v. Rockwell (Clay Co. Cir. Ct. 1843), [6], Historical Department, Nineteenth-Century Legal Documents Collection, CHL.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Historical Department. Nineteenth-Century Legal Documents Collection, ca. 1825–1890. CHL. CR 100 339.

The letter sent to Blennerhassett is apparently not extant. The draft of the letter, preserved among church records, is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Richard Blennerhassett, St. Louis, MO, to Newel K. Whitney, Nauvoo, IL, 7 Mar. 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; see also Historical Introduction to Letter from Isaac Galland, 11 Mar. 1843; and “Part 1: March 1843.”

    Whitney, Newel K. Papers, 1825–1906. BYU.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Isaac Galland, 11 Mar. 1843; Letter from Joseph Wood, 14 Mar. 1843.

  3. [3]

    See Scharf, History of Saint Louis, 2:1477; Letter from Isaac Galland, 11 Mar. 1843; and Letter from Joseph Wood, 14 Mar. 1843.

    Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Saint Louis City and County, from the Earliest Periods to the Present Day: Including Biographical Sketches of Representative Men. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1883.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 17 Mar. 1843.

  5. [5]

    For example, Blennerhassett mailed his 7 March 1843 letter on 10 March, and it arrived in Nauvoo by 17 March. (Richard Blennerhassett, St. Louis, MO, to Newel K. Whitney, Nauvoo, IL, 7 Mar. 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.)

    Whitney, Newel K. Papers, 1825–1906. BYU.

  6. [6]

    See Transcript of Proceedings, 18 Nov. 1843, State of Missouri v. Rockwell (Clay Co. Cir. Ct. 1843), [6], Historical Department, Nineteenth-Century Legal Documents Collection, CHL.

    Historical Department. Nineteenth-Century Legal Documents Collection, ca. 1825–1890. CHL. CR 100 339.

Page [2]

[See Letter to Editor, 17 Mar. 1843, Partial Draft.] [p. [2]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Richard Blennerhassett, 17 March 1843
ID #
5089
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:62–66
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