Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 13 April 1841
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Source Note
JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , , New York Co., NY, 13 Apr. 1841; handwriting of ; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notations, endorsement, and docket.Bifolium measuring 12¾ × 7¾ inches (32 × 20 cm). Embossed in the upper left corner of the first page are a decorative star and “D. & J. Ames, Springfield”, the insignia of a Springfield, Massachussetts, paper mill firm. The pages are ruled with thirty-five horizontal lines in blue ink. The letter was written on the recto and verso of the first leaf, and then the document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The last page has a 1-inch (3-cm) tear on the edge to the left of the wafer.Presumably the letter was acquired by the church sometime after ’s arrival in , Illinois, in 1843 and has remained in continuous institutional custody. By 1973 it had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
Footnotes
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Whiting, “Paper Making in New England,” 309; Gravell et al., American Watermarks, 235.
Whiting, William. “Paper-Making in New England.” In The New England States: Their Constitutional, Judicial, Educational, Commercial, Professional and Industrial History, edited by William T. Davis, vol. 1, pp. 303–333. Boston: D. H. Hurd, 1897.
Gravell, Thomas L., George Miller, and Elizabeth Walsh. American Watermarks: 1690–1835. 2nd ed. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2002.
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See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
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Historical Introduction
On 13 April 1841 in , Illinois, JS dictated a letter to in in response to a letter from Bernhisel dated 6 March 1841; Bernhisel’s letter is apparently no longer extant. In his letter, Bernhisel, who was a practicing doctor of medicine in New York and a recent convert to the , had evidently requested JS’s help in obtaining property in Nauvoo.’s request generated a series of at least nine letters between himself and JS over the course of the next year. Seven of the extant letters deal with property matters and Bernhisel’s relocation. Their correspondence confirms that Bernhisel wanted to relocate and join the members of the church living in and that he hoped to secure property before his relocation. Bernhisel received the letter featured here on 10 May and responded to it on 12 July 1841.
Footnotes
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1
“The Late Hon. John M. Bernhisel,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 26 Oct. 1881, 616; New York City Branch History, [18]; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 2 Aug. 1841, 2:499.
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
New York City Branch History, no date. In High Priests Quorum Record, 1844–1845. CHL.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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In addition to the letter featured here, see Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841; Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 3 Aug. 1841; Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 18 Aug. 1841; Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 8 Sept. 1841; and Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 16 Nov. 1841. The property arrangements made through their correspondence were finally executed in early 1842. (JS, Nauvoo, IL, to John Bernhisel, New York City, NY, 4 Jan. 1842, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 221.)
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Document Transcript
Footnotes
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1
JS likely received Bernhisel’s 6 March letter by the end of March; his inability to respond to Bernhisel’s letter right away was likely due in part to the commemorative events of early April. The church had just commemorated its eleventh anniversary with a church conference and the laying of cornerstones for the Nauvoo temple on 6 April. (See Benediction, 6 Apr. 1841; and Report of the First Presidency to the Church, ca. 7 Apr. 1841.)
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2
Congress passed a land law in 1820 that made public lands available from the federal government for a minimum price of $1.25 per acre, which was known as the “congress price.” JS had also applied for land patents in Missouri with the congress price in 1836. Land at this price in Illinois was made available to veterans of the War of 1812, who in turn often sold their large purchases for a profit to land syndicates in the East. JS and the church purchased their Illinois land from one of these land syndicates, namely the partnership of Horace Hotchkiss, Smith Tuttle, and John Gillet. By the time Bernhisel wrote his letter, any news of available land in Illinois at congress price was outdated and unrealistic. (Rohrbough, Land Office Business, 141; Application for Land Patent, 22 June 1836; Carlson, Illinois Military Tract, 7–9, 25–26, 40; Anthony Hoffman, Rushville, IL, to John Reid, Argyle, NY, 1 Nov. 1833, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, IL; Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A.)
Rohrbough, Malcolm J. The Land Office Business: The Settlement and Administration of American Public Lands, 1789–1837. New York: Ocford University Press, 1968.
Carlson, Theodore L. The Illinois Military Tract: A Study of Land Occupation, Utilization, and Tenure. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1951.
Hoffman, Anthony. Letter, Rushville, IL, to John Reid, Argyle, NY, 1 Nov. 1833. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.
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Bernhisel’s initial letter presumably outlined the details of his real estate desires; his response a few months later to the letter featured here made it clear that he prioritized the size of the land and availability of timber over location. (Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841.)
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Members of the church had lost property and suffered injury during a conflict with other Missourians in 1838 that culminated in the expulsion of the Saints from the state. For more on the Missouri conflict see Introduction to Part 3: 4 Nov. 1838–16 Apr. 1839.
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The general conference was held 7–11 April. (See Minutes, 7–11 Apr. 1841.)
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Samuel Bent and George W. Harris, who were members of the Nauvoo high council, had been sent as agents for the church to the “branches of the church in the east.” (Recommendation for Samuel Bent and George W. Harris, between ca. 17 and ca. 28 July 1840; Minutes, 17 July 1840; Letter from Samuel Bent and George W. Harris, 23 Sept. 1840.)
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JS introduced the doctrine of baptism for the dead during a funeral for church member Seymour Brunson in August 1840. He later expanded on the doctrine at a church conference in October 1840. By December 1840, JS realized the doctrine “may have raised some inquiries” and wrote some additional instruction to the twelve apostles. (Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840; Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 15 Dec. 1840.)
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Postage in unidentified handwriting.
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Postal place and likely date of postage from Nauvoo in different unidentified handwriting.
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John M. Bernhisel handwriting. Bernhisel appears to have recorded the date of receipt. The 10 May date of receipt and the Nauvoo postage date of 24 April indicate the letter was two and a half weeks en route. (For a similar system of recording postage and receipt dates, see Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 16 Nov. 1841.)
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This address was located in the lower west side of Manhattan Island.
