Letter from Benjamin Winchester, 18 September 1841
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Source Note
, Letter, , Philadelphia Co., PA, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 18 Sept. 1841; handwriting of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamps, dockets, and notation.Bifolium measuring 9⅝ × 7⅝ inches (24 × 19 cm). The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, then sealed with a red adhesive wafer, addressed, and stamped with postmarks. The letter was later refolded for filing and docketed. There is some wear and tear along the folds, and a small hole is visible on the second leaf. The second leaf bears residue from the red adhesive wafer used to seal the letter. A pamphlet, titled An Address to the Citizens of Salem and Vicinity, was originally enclosed with the letter. This pamphlet is no longer preserved with the letter; however, a copy of it is archived in the Church History Library.Three dockets appear on the verso of the second leaf. , who served as JS’s personal scribe beginning in late 1841, inscribed a docket on the letter in its original trifolded state. A graphite notation was later added, apparently by a clerk or secretary for Andrew Jenson, who served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. Another unidentified Church Historian’s Office staff member inscribed a graphite notation indicative of manuscript filing methods used in the Church Historian’s Office during the same period. The letter is listed in a Church Historian’s Office inventory from circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The dockets, notation, inventory, and inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody of the letter since its receipt.
Footnotes
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1
Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 48–55.
Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.
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2
“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, 1, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
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3
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
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1
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Historical Introduction
Having just returned to from a mission in , Massachusetts, wrote a letter to JS on 18 September 1841, asking to be excused from another missionary assignment to the same place. Winchester had presided over the Philadelphia of the since April 1840 and had served a number of proselytizing missions in the eastern , including the one to Salem, which he served with from July to early September 1841. On 16 August 1841 a special church held in , Illinois, called Winchester to serve another mission in Salem with Snow. Citing his poor health, impoverished circumstances, and confidence in Snow’s independent preaching abilities, Winchester asked in the letter featured here to be relieved from his new missionary assignment. In addition to this request, Winchester provided his observations on , who had recently come to Philadelphia.The letter featured here is the original sent from and received by JS in , likely a couple of weeks after it was mailed in on 18 September 1841.
Footnotes
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1
Snow, Journal, 1841–1847, 3–13. For more on Benjamin Winchester’s role in the Philadelphia branch, see Philadelphia Branch Record Book, 6 Apr. and 14 Dec. 1840; 6 Apr. 1841; Benjamin Winchester, Philadelphia, PA, 10 Feb. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, May 1840, 1:104; and Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 22 Nov. 1839.
Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.
Philadelphia Branch, Record Book, 1840–1854. CCLA.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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3
For more information on John E. Page and his travels, see Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841.
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Document Transcript
Footnotes
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1
It is unclear when Winchester last wrote JS since no other letters from Winchester to JS have been located. Some of Winchester’s letters to various individuals did, however, appear in the church’s newspaper. (See “Important Church News,” Times and Seasons, May 1840, 1:109; and Benjamin Winchester, Philadelphia, PA, 10 Feb. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, May 1840, 1:104.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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2
It is not clear why this asterisk was inscribed.
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3
Lorenzo Barnes was one of the clerks at the 16 August 1841 special church conference at which Brigham Young assigned several individuals to embark on proselytizing missions. Two of the individuals named at that meeting were Benjamin Winchester and Erastus Snow, who were called to go to Salem, Massachusetts. (See Minutes, 16 Aug. 1841.)
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4
Hyrum Smith and William Law passed through Philadelphia in early July 1841, having previously traveled through Salem Massachusetts. At that time, they asked Erastus Snow and Benjamin Winchester to go to Salem and “try to establish the kingdom in that city.” (Snow, Journal, 1841–1847, 3.)
Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.
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5
TEXT: Possibly “that I could” or “that I would”.
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6
Snow and Winchester departed Philadelphia for Salem on 14 July 1841. Winchester left Salem by 9 September to return to Philadelphia. (Snow, Journal, 1841–1847, 5, 13.)
Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.
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7
According to Snow, after he and Winchester held a meeting at a crowded hall in Salem, they “wrote an address to the citizens of Salem and vicinity setting forth our doctrine in short inviting them out to hear us preach. It contained 8 large royal octavo pages. We got 2500 copies printed.” In addition to explaining the doctrine and beliefs of the church, the address refuted negative claims and perceptions about the church and its founder. It also featured Snow and Winchester’s testimony of the Book of Mormon and a brief history of the persecution of the Latter-day Saints in Missouri. (Snow, Journal, 1841–1847, 13; Snow and Winchester, Address to the Citizens of Salem, 1–8; Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:171.)
Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.
Snow, Erastus, and Benjamin Winchester. An Address to the Citizens of Salem and Vicinity. Salem, MA: Salem Observer Press, 1841.
Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.
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8
The editor of the Times and Seasons published the Salem address in two parts: the first in the 15 October 1841 issue and the second in the 15 November 1841 issue. (Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1841, 2:574–576; 15 Nov. 1841, 3:578–584.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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9
For more on Winchester’s confidence in Snow’s proselytizing, see Benjamin Winchester, Nauvoo, IL, to Erastus Snow, 12 Nov. 1841, in Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1841, 3:605.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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10
Winchester served as the editor of the Philadelphia-based Gospel Reflector, the first issue of which was released on 1 January 1841. It was printed twice a month until 15 June 1841, with “each number containing 24 royal octavo pages.” The first issue of the Gospel Reflector stated, “The object the publisher has in view, in publishing this work, is to further the cause of righteousness, unprejudice the minds of the prejudiced, and set the principles of our Holy Religion before the public in a plain and precise manner.” The paper also sought to combat false rumors about the church, to outline the leading principles of the Latter-day Saint faith, and to aid in the church’s missionary efforts in the eastern United States. (Nameplate, Gospel Reflector, 1 Jan. 1841, 1; Nameplate, Gospel Reflector, 15 June 1841, 297; “To the Reader,” Gospel Reflector, 1 Jan. 1841, 1.)
Gospel Reflector. Philadelphia. Jan.–June 1841.
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11
The special church conference of 16 August 1841 had already appointed John Murdock to travel to and preach in Baltimore, Maryland, and Samuel James to go to Washington DC. (See Minutes, 16 Aug. 1841.)
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12
Page expressed similar expectations about the length of his stay in his 1 September letter to JS. (Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841.)
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13
The reprimand referenced by Winchester here refers to the notice printed in the 15 January 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons, which stated: “Elders Orson Hyde and John E. Page are informed, that the Lord is not well pleased with them in consequence of delaying their mission, (Elder John E. Page in particular,) and they are requested by the First Presidency to hasten their journey towards their destination.” (Notice, Times and Seasons, 15 Jan. 1841, 2:287.)
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14
Page made similar statements about his and Hyde’s financial situations in a 1 September 1841 letter to JS. (Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841.)
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15
Page had previously expressed a lack of confidence in Winchester. (See Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841.)
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16
According to the Philadelphia branch records, more than fifty individuals were baptized into the church in Philadelphia during the first nine months of 1841. (“Names of the Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Philadelphia,” in Philadelphia Branch Record Book.)
Philadelphia Branch, Record Book, 1840–1854. CCLA.
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17
JS’s brother Don Carlos Smith passed away on 7 August 1841. Notice of his death was published in the 16 August 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons. (See “Death of General Don Carlos Smith,” Times and Seasons, 16 Aug. 1841, 2:503; and Eliza R. Snow, “Lines, Written on the Death of Gen. Don Carlos Smith,” Times and Seasons, 16 Aug. 1841, 2:504.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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Stamped in blue ink.
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18
TEXT: When the manuscript is unfolded, the address and postal markings appear immediately before the final paragraph of the letter.
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Postal place and date stamped in blue ink.
