Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 July 1841
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Source Note
, Letter, Ratisbon (Regensburg), Bavaria, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 17 July 1841. Featured version published in “Letter from Elder Hyde,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1841, vol. 2, no. 24, 570–573. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.
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Historical Introduction
On 17 July 1841, wrote a letter from Regensburg, Bavaria (now in Germany), to JS in , Illinois, to share information regarding his mission abroad. This was Hyde’s third letter to JS since arriving in Europe.After leaving on 20 June 1841, arrived in , the Netherlands, where he met with the area’s chief rabbi to discuss the restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land. Hyde traveled through the Netherlands, unsuccessfully seeking audiences with local Jewish leaders before continuing on to . After traveling through Mainz and Frankfurt, Hyde stopped in Regensburg, where he boarded with a hospitable German family for nearly two months. The family reportedly taught him German in exchange for English lessons and offered him the use of their carriage during his stay.planned to travel to , but because he had failed to send his passport to the Austrian consulate upon his arrival in Frankfurt, he was required to forward the passport to Munich and await approval before he could legally enter Austria. While he waited, Hyde concentrated on learning German and writing. This letter to JS was one among many of his resulting works. Combining a mission report and travelogue with sentimental expression, the letter outlines Hyde’s efforts to fulfill his charge to “be [an] agent and representative in foreign lands . . . and converse with the priests, rulers and Elders of the Jews.”JS likely received this letter in in September 1841. The original letter is apparently not extant, but it was published in the 15 October issue of the Times and Seasons; that is the version featured here.
Footnotes
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1
See Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 Apr. 1841; and Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841.
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2
Hyde, “Orson Hyde’s Life,” 23.
Hyde, Joseph S. “Orson Hyde’s Life,” no date. Weston Nephi Nordgren, Orson Hyde Research Files, ca. 1945–1979. CHL.
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3
An 1837 travel handbook warned travelers that “without the signature of an Austrian ambassador or minister on his passport, no traveller is allowed to enter the Austrian dominions.” If a signature was not procured before reaching the border, travelers would be “turned back to seek the signature . . . of an Austrian minister, in the nearest capital.” (Handbook for Travellers in Southern Germany, 107, italics in original.)
Handbook for Travellers in Southern Germany; Being a Guide to Bavaria, Austria, Tyrol, Salzburg, Styria, &c., the Austrian and Bavarian Alps . . . . London: John Murray and Son, 1837.
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6
Postal transmission times were irregular. Letters from England to Nauvoo generally took between thirty and ninety days to arrive. Hyde’s letter was written on 17 July and received before 2 October in Nauvoo, when JS read it aloud at a church conference, suggesting JS received it sometime in September. (JS History, vol. C-1, 1228.)
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Document Transcript
Footnotes
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1
Regensburg was commonly known as Ratisbon throughout the nineteenth century. (Handbook for Travellers in Southern Germany, 18, 91.)
Handbook for Travellers in Southern Germany; Being a Guide to Bavaria, Austria, Tyrol, Salzburg, Styria, &c., the Austrian and Bavarian Alps . . . . London: John Murray and Son, 1837.
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3
Snow arrived in London on 11 February 1841. He was made president of the London conference of the church at its organization three days later. The conference comprised congregations from London, Bedford, Ipswich, and Woolwich. (Woodruff, Journal, 11 and 14 Feb. 1841.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
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4
A traveler taking Hyde’s same route aboard the Batavier in 1835 described the vessel as “a large, black-looking, rounded whale of a vessel,” with a “comfortable cabin on deck, and a platform on the roof of it.” (Rhenish Album, 4.)
The Rhenish Album; or, Scraps from the Rhine: The Journal of a Travelling Artist through Holland, up the Rhine to Strasburg, and Returning through Belgium. With Notices of Public Edifices, Hotels, &c. London: Leigh and Son, 1836.
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5
The New London Hotel was located behind Boompjes street in the center of Rotterdam and on the north bank of the New Meuse River. (New Picture of Rotterdam, 95; Rhenish Album, 1.)
A New Picture of Rotterdam; Containing: I. An Account of Its Origin and Subsequent Enlargements. II. A Succinct, but Complete and Critical History of the Town. III. A Complete Directory. . . . Rotterdam, Netherlands, Arbon and Krap, 1825.
The Rhenish Album; or, Scraps from the Rhine: The Journal of a Travelling Artist through Holland, up the Rhine to Strasburg, and Returning through Belgium. With Notices of Public Edifices, Hotels, &c. London: Leigh and Son, 1836.
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Probably Rabbi E. J. Löwenstamm, who functioned as chief rabbi of Rotterdam from 1834 to 1845. (Jewish Encyclopedia, 9:229.)
The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Edited by Isidore Singer. 12 vols. New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906.
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7
The rabbi spoke in Dutch. Jewish congregations in the Netherlands had largely been assimilated into their country by this time, speaking Dutch instead of languages they previously spoke, including Yiddish. Hyde presumably conversed with the rabbi through a translator. (Zweip, “Yiddish, Dutch, and Hebrew,” 56–73.)
Zweip, Irene E. “Yiddish, Dutch, and Hebrew: Language Theory, Language Ideology and the Emancipation of Nineteenth-Century Dutch Jewry.” Studia Rosenthaliana 34, no. 1 (2000): 56–73.
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8
Between 1800 and 1850, the approximate number of Jews in Palestine rose from ten thousand to twelve thousand. (Mendes-Flohr and Reinharz, The Jew in the Modern World, 531.)
Mendes-Flohr, Paul R., and Jehuda Reinharz. The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.
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9
Although no copies have been located, this pamphlet was the church’s first known publication in a foreign language. It may have been similar to the church tract Hyde published in German the following year from a draft he wrote while in England. (Hyde, Ein Ruf aus der Wüste, i; Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841.)
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10
The old English mile was likely an outgrowth of the Belgic-German mile, which is equal to 6,610 feet. Although it historically has varied in length, it was generally longer than the American mile by approximately a third. By the nineteenth century, however, the English mile was sometimes synonymous with the American mile of 5,280 feet. Based on Hyde’s estimation of thirty miles between Rotterdam and Amsterdam, his reference to the English mile likely coincides with the longer old English mile. (Klein, Science of Measurement, 69–70; Landmann, Universal Gazetteer [1840], iii.)
Klein, Herbert Arthur. The Science of Measurement: A Historical Survey. New York: Dover, 1988.
Landmann, George. A Universal Gazetteer; or, Geographical Dictionary. London: Longman, Orme, and Co., 1840.
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11
Although quantities temporarily decreased between 1800 and 1850, records indicate that Holland was the primary supplier of gin to the United States from 1750 to 1916. (Solmonson, Gin, 87–88.)
Solmonson, Lesley Jacobs. Gin: A Global History. London: Reaktion Books, 2012.
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12
William II assumed the Dutch throne in 1840. The monarchy had two palaces in The Hague: Noordeinde and Huis ten Bosch. Based on Hyde’s comparison of the building to Buckingham Palace, he was likely referring to Noordeinde Palace. (Koopmans, Historical Dictionary of the Netherlands, 34, 245.)
Koopmans, Joop W. Historical Dictionary of the Netherlands. 3rd ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2016.
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13
The chief rabbi of Amsterdam died in December 1838. Rather than appoint a new chief rabbi, the Jewish congregation appointed a rabbinical court, or bet din, to lead and make decisions for them. The court consisted of A. J. Susan, J. M. Content, B. S. Berenstein, J. S. Hirsch, and J. D. Wynkoop. Hyde’s unsuccessful efforts to gain an audience with the “President Rabbi” might have been directed to any of these individuals who served in the court. (Jewish Encyclopedia, 1:542; see also Het Amsterdamsche Opper-Rabbinaat, 1–16.)
The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Edited by Isidore Singer. 12 vols. New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906.
Het Amsterdamsche Opper-Rabbinaat. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: no publisher, 1839.
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14
Mainz, a city in the German Confederation, located on the Rhine. In nineteenth-century English, Mainz was traditionally spelled “Mayence.” It is likely that Hyde or the typesetter at the printing press, instead of spelling the city name as “Mayentz,” switched the letters “z” and “y” each time the name was written.
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15
As Hyde notes, Regensburg was the stage for Napoleon’s battle with the Austrian Empire on 19–23 April 1809. Hyde likely conflated several closely related battles into one larger event. Fought within days and miles of each other, the battles of Abensberg, Ratisbon, Landshut, and Eckmühl all seem to merge in Hyde’s account into the Battle of Eckmühl (or Eggmühl), which he calls “Ackynaeal.” The Battle of Eckmühl was fought on 21–22 April 1809 in Eckmühl, Bavaria, fifteen miles outside of Regensburg. Conflating the battles would also result in a death toll closer to Hyde’s estimation of “about 60 thousand slain.” (Zabecki et al., Germany at War, 1:390.)
Zabecki, David T., Willam H. Van Husen, Carl O. Schuster, and Marcus O. Jones, eds. Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History. 4 vols. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC- CLIO, 2014.
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16
Franz de Paula von Colloredo-Waldsee served as Austrian ambassador in Munich from 1837 to 1843. (Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, 4:415.)
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. 56 vols. Leipzig, Germany: Duncker and Humblot, 1875–1912.
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17
Hyde had some teaching experience. Zebedee Coltrin later recalled JS appointing Hyde as the instructor in the School of the Prophets, an organization for learning “revelations and doctrine, but also for learning English grammar.” (School of the Prophets Salt Lake City Minutes, 11 Oct. 1883.)
School of the Prophets Salt Lake City Minutes, Apr.–Dec. 1883. CHL.
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18
Orson Hyde’s son Joseph later recollected his father’s description of the agreement with this German woman and her family. According to Joseph Hyde, his father was to receive room and board, along with use of the house servants and horse-drawn carriage. In exchange, Hyde would teach the mother and her two daughters English. He was also permitted to take the daughters on any outings if all conversations outside the home were in English. (Hyde, “Orson Hyde’s Life,” 23.)
Hyde, Joseph S. “Orson Hyde’s Life,” no date. Weston Nephi Nordgren, Orson Hyde Research Files, ca. 1945–1979. CHL.
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19
According to a medical journal article published in 1847, Egypt, Syria, and Constantinople were recognized as primary sources of the plague. Despite some reports of the plague abating, outgoing ships from these areas were required to undergo a mandatory period of quarantine. (“Mediterranean Quarantine Regulations,” 280; Orson Hyde, Trieste, Austrian Empire, to “Dear Brethren and Sisters at Nauvoo,” 17 Jan. 1842, in Hyde, Voice from Jerusalem, 22.)
“Mediterranean Quarantine Regulations.” Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal 67 (1847): 259–297.
Hyde, Orson. A Voice from Jerusalem, or a Sketch of the Travels and Ministry of Elder Orson Hyde, Missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to Germany, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. Liverpool: P. P. Pratt, 1842.
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20
See Daniel 2:44.
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21
There is no known letter from JS to Hyde from early 1841. However, JS wrote to Hyde and John E. Page in May 1840 and to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles collectively in December 1840. (Letter to Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 14 May 1840; Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 15 Dec. 1840.)
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22
By the 1830s the burgeoning industrial revolution and developments in bureaucratic practice led to a modern German confederation of states that increasingly relied on clerical practices for administration rather than on the earlier monarchical models. However, the application of these practices could vary greatly from state to state; for example, “the Bavarian bureaucracy in the mid-nineteenth century . . . was plainly less hierarchical and authoritarian than the Prussian version.” (Osterhammel, Transformation of the World, 606.)
Osterhammel, Jürgen. The Transformation of the World: A Global History of the Nineteenth Century. Translated by Patrick Camiller. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014.
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23
Hyde’s mission was uniquely public. Not only were his letters home intended for publication, but his assignment as an “agent and representative in foreign lands” was to obtain as much information as possible from Jewish rabbis and community leaders regarding the “present views and movements of the Jewish people” and to “communicate the same to some principal paper for publication.” (Recommendation for Orson Hyde, 6 Apr. 1840.)
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24
At the time of this letter, Hyde’s wife, Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde, lived in Nauvoo with their two daughters, Laura, age four, and Emily, age one. (Hyde, Orson Hyde, 496.)
Hyde, Myrtle Stevens. Orson Hyde: The Olive Branch of Israel. Salt Lake City: Agreka Books, 2000.