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Notice, 26 August 1843

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Notice, 26 August 1843

Source Note

JS, Notice, , Hancock Co., IL, 26 Aug. 1843. Featured version published in “Notice,” Nauvoo Neighbor (Nauvoo, Hancock Co., IL), 30 Aug. 1843, vol. 1, no. 18, [3].
Nauvoo Neighbor (Nauvoo, Hancock Co., IL), vol. 1, no. 1–vol. 3, no. 23 (3 May 1843–29 Oct. 1845); edited by and .
The Nauvoo Neighbor was a weekly newspaper printed in , Illinois, from May 1843 through October 1845. It was scheduled to be published each Wednesday, though print runs were occasionally late. Each issue of the paper was printed on a bifolium measuring 21⅜ × 14⅞ inches (54 × 38 cm) and consisting of four printed pages. Each page contained six columns of text. The columns were 2¼ inches (6 cm) wide. Each issue bore the masthead “OUR MOTTO.—THE SAINTS’ SINGULARITY—IS UNITY, LIBERTY, CHARITY.” There were a total of 508 pages in the entire run. The Neighbor replaced and eventually doubled the size of its predecessor, the Wasp. Volume 1, issue 1 was labeled as whole number 53, which continued the numbering from the Wasp. The final issue was numbered 179. The newspaper was printed and published by Taylor & Woodruff—a firm owned and operated by church apostles and —in a on the northwest corner of Water and Bain streets until 31 January 1844 (volume 1, issue 40), when Taylor became sole editor and proprietor. The printing office remained at that location until 1845, when it moved to the northwest corner of Main and Kimball streets.
Loose copies of individual issues of each volume were later bound together, probably by employees in the Church Historian’s Office (now CHL) in Utah Territory. The bound volume used in The Joseph Smith Papers measures 21⅝ × 15⅜ × 1⅝ inches (55 × 39 × 4 cm). The volume has leather over the pasteboard corners. The spine is leather and contains gold lettering and five gold embossed lines. The front cover of the volume is completely detached. Most of the issues included in this bound volume were owned by or the Nauvoo City Council. Richards’s name or that of the city council appears in brown ink in the upper right corner of the front pages of numerous issues.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For more information on the Wasp, see Lease to John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, between 8 and 10 Dec. 1842.

  2. [2]

    Masthead, Nauvoo Neighbor, 31 Jan. 1844, [1]. The timing of Taylor’s acquiring of sole ownership likely had a connection to a 23 January 1844 agreement between Taylor and JS to transfer guardianship of the Edward Lawrence estate from JS to Taylor. (See JS, Journal, 23 Jan. 1844; and JS to John Taylor, Article of Agreement, 23 Jan. 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  3. [3]

    Masthead, Nauvoo Neighbor, 21 [18] May 1845, [1].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Historical Introduction

On 26 August 1843, JS created a notice to be published in the Nauvoo Neighbor notifying residents that personal bedding had been left on the steamboat Maid of Iowa. In May 1843, JS had purchased 50 percent of the Maid of Iowa, a 60-ton, 115-foot-long steamboat, from . In early June, the City Council passed an ordinance authorizing JS to operate a ferry from Nauvoo, Illinois. Captained by co-owner and recent convert , the vessel conveyed residents back and forth across the ; brought English immigrants from ; carried laborers to the ; and transported freight and sundry mercantile goods. On occasion, church leaders entertained guests on pleasure cruises aboard the steamboat. In addition to containing a cargo area, a dining room, and a passenger deck, the steamship was equipped with sleeping quarters for passengers and crew.
Sometime in April or May, someone left personal bedding on the Maid of Iowa, a situation that JS apparently inherited when he became co-owner of the boat. On 26 August 1843, JS authorized the publication of a notice informing the unknown owner of the bedding that he or she could retrieve the belongings upon proving ownership and “paying charges.” JS or one of his clerks submitted the featured notice to , the editor of the Nauvoo Neighbor, who published it in the 30 August issue of the paper. The notice was republished weekly through the 1 November 1843 issue.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 12 May 1843; Survey of Federal Archives, Ship Registers and Enrollments of New Orleans, Louisiana, 4:173. The purchase was finalized on 2 June 1843. (JS, Journal, 2 June 1843; Clayton, Journal, 2 June 1843.)

    Ship Registers and Enrollments of New Orleans, Louisiana. 6 vols. University, LA: Louisiana State University, 1941.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  2. [2]

    Ordinance, 1 June 1843. JS previously received authorization from the Nauvoo high council to operate the church’s ferry between Nauvoo and Montrose, Iowa Territory, and entered into an agreement with Daniel C. Davis for this purpose in October 1839. (See Agreement with Daniel C. Davis, 21 Oct. 1839.)

  3. [3]

    See Enrollment of Maid of Iowa, St. Louis, MO, 1 Oct. 1842, photocopy, Ship Enrollment Certificates, CHL; Notes for Passage of Maid of Iowa, 24 Sept. 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; JS, Journal, 12 Apr. 1843; JS, Journal, 12 May 1843; 3 June 1843; 15 and 21 July 1843; 13 Apr. 1844; Adams, Autobiography, 7, typescript; “Expedition to the Pinery,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 19 July 1843, [2]; and Clayton, Journal, 2 and 4 Oct. 1843.

    Ship Enrollment Certificates, 1838–1844. Photocopy. CHL. Originals at National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC.

    Adams, William. Autobiography, Jan. 1894. CHL.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  4. [4]

    Enders, “Steamboat Maid of Iowa,” 328–330.

    Enders, Donald L. “The Steamboat Maid of Iowa: Mormon Mistress of the Mississippi.” BYU Studies 19, no. 3 (Spring 1979): 321–335.

  5. [5]

    The notice appeared on the fourth page of the 6, 13, 20, and 27 September; 4, 11, 18, and 25 October; and 1 November issues.

Page [3]

NOTICE.
SOMETIME in April or May last, the S. B. [steamboat] Maid of Iowa left with the subscriber a Feather Bed, two Pillows and one Bed Quilt which the owner can have by proving property and paying charges.
JOSEPH SMITH.
, August 26th. 1843. [p. [3]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Notice, 26 August 1843
ID #
1145
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:70–71
Handwriting on This Page
  • Printed text

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    In early April 1843, the Maid of Iowa transported Latter-day Saint immigrants from St. Louis to Nauvoo; in May, the vessel began operating as a ferry between Nauvoo and Montrose, Iowa Territory. It is possible that the unknown passenger left the bedding on the boat after one of these voyages. (JS, Journal, 12 Apr. 1843; JS, Journal, 12 May 1843; “Steam Ferry at Nauvoo,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 17 May 1843, [2].)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.