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Letters from Newton E. French and James H. Seymour, 27 December 1843
Source Note
Source Note
Newton E. French, Letter, Lenox Township, Ashtabula Co., OH, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 27 Dec. 1843, with appended Letter from , Lenox Township, Ashtabula Co., OH, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 27 Dec. 1843; handwriting presumably of Newton E. French and ; signatures presumably of Newton E. French and ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, wafer seal, postal notations, dockets, and notations.
Bifolium measuring 11⅞ × 7⅞ inches (30 × 20 cm) and ruled with thirty-seven printed lines, now heavily faded. The text of both letters is inscribed in blue ink on the first three pages. The bifolium was trifolded twice in letter style with a seal flap, addressed in black ink, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked in black ink. The first page was torn at the wafer site when the document was opened, resulting in a loss of text. The wafer remains on the verso of the second leaf.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. Two unidentified scribes later amended the docket to include the authors’ full names in graphite and red ballpoint pen. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket and notations as well as its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody.
Footnotes
- [1]
Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.
Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
- [2]
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 27 December 1843, two young Ohioans wrote letters to JS in , Illinois. Newton E. French and , both residents of Lenox Township, Ohio, were nineteen and eighteen years old, respectively. French was a stranger to JS. While he apparently knew of the persecution experienced by JS and the Latter-day Saints, his letter evinced little familiarity with JS’s religious thought. Seymour, on the other hand, indicated an awareness of JS’s visions and revelations, his teachings on the of Israel, and his efforts to erect a in Nauvoo. It is not known how French and Seymour learned of JS or the , but the men’s families lived for many years in Lenox, about thirty miles east of JS’s former residence in , Ohio. No known records indicate that either man formally joined the church, though Seymour expressed a belief in JS and his teachings and a hope to join the Saints in .
In his letter, French voiced his indignation at the attempts JS’s enemies had made on his life and relief that JS had escaped their grasp, perhaps referring to the failed attempts to extradite JS to in 1842 and 1843. ’s letter is an expression of his faith and his interest in contributing to the building up of . As young men addressing a well-known religious and political leader, both wrote with some affectation, but with apparently sincere interest in JS and the Latter-day Saints.
French and wrote their letters on the same bifolium, which was mailed from Lenox Township on 28 December. The letters were subsequently received by JS in . On 16 January, JS wrote to Seymour thanking both men for their compliments, stating that Nauvoo was a gathering place for all who wished to “covenant by sacrifice,” and concluding with his respects to “the gentlemen who wrote and all friends.” There is no known record of any continued correspondence and no evidence that French or Seymour ever visited Nauvoo.
Footnotes
- [1]
French was born on 4 January 1824 in Lenox and later became a prominent Ohio banker. Seymour was born on 9 July 1825 and went on to become a politician in Nebraska. (Biographical History of Northeastern Ohio, 333–334; Omaha Illustrated: A History of the Pioneer Period and the Omaha of To-day, [24].)
Biographical History of Northeastern Ohio: Embracing the Counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake. Containing Portraits of All the Presidents of the United States, with a Biography of Each, Together with Portraits and Biographies of Joshua R. Giddings, Benjamin F. Wade, and a Large Number of the Early Settlers and Representative Families of To-day. Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1893.
Omaha, Illustrated: A History of the Pioneer Period and the Omaha of To-day, Embracing Reliable Statstics and Information. . . Omaha: D. C. Dunbar, 1888.
- [2]
There were three attempts to extradite JS to Missouri based on allegations of treason committed during the 1838 “Mormon War” and of complicity in an assassination attempt on former Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs. The most recent extradition attempt occurred in June and July 1843. (See “Joseph Smith Documents from February through November 1841”; Introduction to Appendix 1: Missouri Extradition Attempt, 1842–1843, Selected Documents; and “Part 4: June–July 1843”; see also Historical Introduction to Extradition of JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes; Historical Introduction to Extradition of JS for Accessory to Assault; and Historical Introduction to Extradition of JS for Treason.)
- [3]
JS, Nauvoo, IL, to James H. Seymour, Lenox Township, OH, 16 Jan. 1844, JS Collection, CHL; see also JS, Journal, 16 Jan. 1844.
I am under the painful necessity of closing this Communication to make room for my friend, who is also desirous of corresponding with you.
I have one request to make, viz. that you may go on in the course you have so undeviatingly pursued for the last few years, until it shall be the Father’s good pleasure to give you the reward of well doing.
Yours with Respect
Newton E. French
P S Please return me an answer, informing about the State of in , and other matters of moment
J. Smith
Ne. E F
To the honorable Joseph Smith, Prophet of the most high God.
Believe me sincerely happy in being thus permited to address a few lines to one who has been so highly favored of Heaven, one who who has been permited to see the vissions of eternity, and the glories of the mansions of bliss, to commune with God and the holy angels, and to be made the instrument in the hands of God, of bringing back the lost tribes of Israel, to the knowledge of God the Father. Such honors bestowed by the Almighty on a man should be enough to convince me of the divine <commission> under which you act. Surely “the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,” or they would listen to the voice of reason and revelation. To myself nothing is more clear than the truth of the revelation which the most High has been pleased to make through his Prophet. Believe me when I say I have [p. [2]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
- [4]
TEXT: “P S” partially boxed in with dotted border.
Handwriting presumably of Newton E. French ends; handwriting presumably of James H. Seymour begins.
- [5]
This was apparently a reference to JS’s 1832 vision of the afterlife. (See Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76].)
- [6]
See Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 487 [3 Nephi 21:22–28]; and Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 4 Jan. 1833.
- [7]
See Jeremiah 17:9.