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Poem from William W. Phelps, 7 November 1843

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Poem from William W. Phelps, 7 November 1843

Source Note

, Poem, , Hancock Co., IL, to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 7 Nov. [1843]; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes dockets.
Single leaf measuring 10 × 8 inches (25 × 20 cm) and ruled with twenty-eight horizontal lines printed in blue ink. A tear along the left side of the recto indicates the leaf was likely separated from a bifolium. The poem was inscribed on the recto. The document was trifolded twice in letter style and later refolded.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859, docketed it a second time. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The poem’s early dockets and its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. [2]

    “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  3. [3]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 7 November 1843, wrote a poem requesting that JS deed a city lot to Phelps’s wife, . After joining the in 1831, William became a prominent Latter-day Saint poet and hymnist, and he chose to convey this 1843 request to JS in the form of a poem rather than a formal letter. At the time, he was employed by JS as clerk of the Nauvoo mayor’s court as well as in other scribal capacities. He had just returned a day earlier from a trip to , Illinois, to deliver a petition from JS and the to governor .
In his 7 November poem, assured JS of his loyalty and noted that also remained “true” to JS and her faith. Reminding JS of his generosity to the , William requested that JS deed a city lot to Sally. Although the specific lot is not identified in the poem, William apparently requested that JS deed block 135, lot 4 to Sally. JS had promised to deed this lot to William Phelps sometime between 1840 and 1842. Phelps was assessed taxes on the lot for 1842, which suggests that he and his family may have been living there at the time. Though unusual, it was not unheard of for Latter-day Saints to live on land that was promised to them by JS before arranging the legal transfer of the land. However, in fall 1843, Phelps and his family moved into a rented home near JS’s . Phelps’s 7 November poem may have been an attempt to bring closure to whatever earlier arrangements he had made with JS concerning the property and to secure a home of his own.
presumably hand delivered the poem featured here to JS sometime on 7 November or soon thereafter. As one of JS’s regular scribes, Phelps could have delivered the poem at any one of his frequent meetings with JS. On 16 November, , acting on behalf of JS, deeded the lot to .

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Hicks, Mormonism and Music, 12–14; Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:59.

    Hicks, Michael. Mormonism and Music: A History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989.

    Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

  2. [2]

    See Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 11 Feb. 1843, 159; Letter to Thomas Ford, 16 Oct. 1843; and JS, Journal, 6 Nov. 1843.

  3. [3]

    JS frequently provided lots and other financial resources to church leaders, such as members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, or their wives. For example, in 1840, JS arranged to build homes for at least three of the wives of the apostles who were on a mission to England and promised to do the same for “any of the wives of the 12 that wish to live in Commerce.” In August 1843, JS pledged to donate a city lot to his scribe Willard Richards for him to build a house. (Phebe Carter Woodruff, Montrose, Iowa Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, Ledbury, England, 8–22 Mar. 1840, p. [3], digital scan, Wilford Woodruff, Collection, 1831–1905, CHL; Subscriptions for Willard Richards, 2 Aug. 1843; see, for example, Pay Order to Newel K. Whitney for “Mrs. Young,” 15 June 1840.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Collection, 1831–1905. Digital scans. CHL. Originals in private possession.

  4. [4]

    Trustees Land Book A, Galland Purchase, block 135, lot 4.

  5. [5]

    Book of Assessment, 1842, Fourth Ward, 5, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

    Nauvoo, IL, Records, 1841–1845. CHL.

  6. [6]

    See, for example, Deed to Sarah Ann Whitney, 6 Sept. 1842.

  7. [7]

    JS, Journal, 27 Sept. 1843.

  8. [8]

    See JS, Journal, 7–8, 13–15, and 17 Nov. 1843.

  9. [9]

    Clayton’s journal and the deed to the lot state that the transaction took place on 16 November, but JS’s journal states that it occurred on 17 November. It is possible that the deed was written on 16 November and approved or signed by JS on 17 November. It is also possible that the date in JS’s journal referred to when the deed was copied into the Nauvoo Registry of Deeds. (Clayton, Journal, 16 Nov. 1843; Nauvoo Registry of Deeds, Record of Deeds, bk. B, pp. 28–29; JS, Journal, 17 Nov. 1843; see also Trustees Land Book B, Galland Purchase, block 135, lot 4, p. 273.)

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

Page [1]

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The goodly city of ,
November 7. (and that will do.)
President Smith; how do ye do?
From me this line will speak with you.
Health, peace and grace, and all things, too
Be unto you <​thee​>, till life is through.
A blight o’er me, has shadow’d you;
But still my soul to you is true;
I ask no wealth of old or new,
But come what will, I’ll make it do.
I can not live as others do,
And be a half a man with you;
I am a man, as men can view,
And god will let me die or do!
You bless the with things anew
So bless my with something, too.
Twelve years she’s waded through
The sea of woe without ado,
And still remains the same— and true;
Deed her a lot; and that will do:
( knows the one in view.)
May God your path with honor strew
Is poetry to you. [5 lines blank] [p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Poem from William W. Phelps, 7 November 1843
ID #
1200
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:253–255
Handwriting on This Page
  • William W. Phelps

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Following the 1838 Missouri conflict between the Latter-day Saints and other Missourians, William W. Phelps distanced himself from the church and testified against JS and others. Although Phelps reconciled with JS in 1840, the church’s opponents continued to use his 1838 testimony against JS as evidence of JS’s maleficence. (William W. Phelps, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes [Mo. 5th Jud. Cir. 1838], in State of Missouri, “Evidence”; Letter from William W. Phelps, with Appended Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 29 June 1840; Letter to William W. Phelps, 22 July 1840; “Dr Bennett and the Mormons,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, 6 Aug. 1842, [2]; Bennett, History of the Saints, 333–334.)

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

    Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.

  2. [2]

    TEXT: Double underlined.

  3. [3]

    Sally Waterman Phelps was likely baptized in June 1831, about the same time her husband was baptized. She later moved with the Saints to Missouri and endured long separations from her husband, who was frequently with JS in Kirtland, Ohio. She was expelled from her Missouri homes in Jackson, Clay, and Caldwell counties, and while her husband dissented from JS’s leadership in 1838, extant correspondence from him suggests that she did not dissent and that the two may have separated for a time over the issue. (William W. Phelps, “Letter No. 6,” Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1835, 1:97; Letter to Sally Waterman Phelps, 20 July 1835; William W. Phelps, Far West, MO, to Sally Waterman Phelps, St. Louis, MO, 1 May 1839, CHL.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

    Phelps, William W. Letter, Far West, MO, to Sally Waterman Phelps, St. Louis, MO, 1 May 1839. CHL.

  4. [4]

    As part of his many clerical responsibilities for JS, Clayton helped oversee JS’s finances, particularly with regard to real estate. (Allen, No Toil nor Labor Fear, 74–76.)

    Allen, James B. No Toil nor Labor Fear: The Story of William Clayton. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002.

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