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Deed from Robert and Mary Crane McQueen, 20 February 1843
Source Note
Source Note
and , Deed for property in , Henderson Co., IL, to JS, 20 Feb. 1843; printed form with manuscript additions possibly in the handwriting of ; signatures of and ; witnessed by and ; certified by , 20 Feb. 1843, and by on behalf of John McKinney, 25 Apr. 1843; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket and notations.
Single leaf, measuring 12⅞–13⅛ × 12⅛ inches (33 × 31 cm). The leaf was unevenly cut along the top and bottom edges. Once the deed form was completed, signed, witnessed, and certified, it was folded and docketed for filing. The document has undergone conservation.
Likely on 22 April 1843, the deed was presented to the Henderson County, Illinois, recorder’s office in along with an accompanying power of attorney granted to . The deed was recorded by 25 April 1843 and was then likely returned to JS or Lyman. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
Footnotes
- [1]
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 20 February 1843, and of Henderson County, Illinois, deeded thirty-nine town lots in , Illinois, to JS. Robert McQueen and Charles Smith founded the town in 1836, but, despite their boosterism, Shokokon had not attracted many settlers. Many of the early residents apparently suffered from considerable illness due to the swampy environment and soon abandoned Shokokon. Nevertheless, McQueen continued to reside in the region and operated a mill, later referred to as McQueen’s Mills, a few miles south of town. In 1843 McQueen apparently arranged for another local resident, , to approach JS regarding the possibility of a Latter-day Saint settlement in Shokokon. On 10 February, Cowan met with JS in , Illinois, and invited him to send a missionary and immigrants north to Shokokon. That afternoon JS discussed Cowan’s suggestion at a meeting with the , and the quorum approved Cowan’s request.
On 14 February, returned to , and the next day JS, , and accompanied Cowan north to Henderson County. On 16 February, the party stopped at McQueen’s Mills and ate a midday meal before continuing on to . According to JS’s journal, when the men arrived at Shokokon, JS “veiwd the place” and determined that it was “very desirable for a city.” They then returned to McQueen’s Mills, where JS preached to “a large & attentive audience” of local residents for two hours. That night JS dined with , ’s father and the owner of several lots in Shokokon. The party then returned to Nauvoo the next day.
According to JS’s journal, upon arriving at JS’s home in , “proposed to give me [JS] 1/4 of city lots in .” Although the wording in JS’s journal suggests that these lots were to be a gift, Cowan actually offered to sell the lots to JS. The journal does not record a reply, but JS seems to have agreed to Cowan’s proposal and terms. Cowan then apparently returned to Henderson County to finalize the sale with . Someone, possibly McQueen, prepared a deed using a form that was printed at , Iowa Territory, across the from Shokokon, by the “Hawkeye Office,” a publishing company that printed newspapers, books, and other documents. The deed granted 39 lots in Shokokon to JS in exchange for $1,230. On 20 February, both McQueens signed the deed before a justice of the peace in Henderson County. The 39 lots (of a total of 240 in Shokokon) represented less than the quarter of the town Cowan had apparently proposed earlier. Additionally, at over $31 per lot, JS paid nearly three times as much as the only other known investor in the town at the time. Cowan returned to Nauvoo on 22 February and again met with JS, presumably to give him the signed deed.
Footnotes
- [1]
The day he registered the Shokokon town plat, McQueen also contracted with Illinois governor and land speculator Joseph Duncan to sell town lots, though it is unclear whether Duncan ever acted on the contract. (Warren Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1908, vol. 2, pp. 344–345, 361–362, 16 July 1836, microfilm 1,329,671, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; History of Mercer and Henderson Counties, 888–889.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
History of Mercer and Henderson Counties: Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, etc. . . . Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1882.
- [2]
History of Mercer and Henderson Counties, 893, 1199, 1214.
History of Mercer and Henderson Counties: Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, etc. . . . Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1882.
- [3]
Henderson Co., IL, Deeds, 1841–1893, vol. 4, p. 78, 22 Apr. 1849, microfilm 1,392,776, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
- [4]
- [5]
- [6]
JS spoke on Revelation 19:10, showing that “any man who denied his being a prop[h]et was not a prea[c]her of righteousness.” His journal reports that the congregation was “well pleased” at his discourse—a statement echoed by Pratt, who noted in his autobiography that “the crowded congregation seemed deeply interested—most of them being strangers to ‘Mormonism.’” (JS, Journal, 16 Feb. 1843; Pratt, Autobiography, 365, italics in original.)
Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.
- [7]
Allaman, “Joseph Smith’s Visits to Henderson County,” 49; Henderson Co., IL, Deeds, 1841–1893, vol. 1, p. 43, 22 June 1841, microfilm 1,392,775, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
Allaman, John Lee. “Joseph Smith’s Visits to Henderson County.” Western Illinois Regional Studies 8, no. 1 (Spring 1985): 46–55.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
- [8]
- [9]
- [10]
In 1841 Robert McQueen deeded fifteen lots to his father-in-law for $200. The only other recorded deeds related to Shokokon date from April 1849, when McQueen was preparing to leave Illinois for California. On that occasion, McQueen sold a number of lots at a rate of between $16.50 and $25 per lot—still considerably less than JS paid. (Henderson Co., IL, Deeds, 1841–1893, vol. 1, p. 43, 22 June 1841, microfilm 1,392,775; vol. 4, pp. 81–82, 88–89, 95, 118, 125, 244, microfilm 1,392,776, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
- [11]
| State of Illinois) | Recorders Office |
| Henderson County) | April 25th 1843 |
I hereby certify that the within deed & certificate of Proof have been duly recorded in my office Vol One pages 312 & 13
John McKinney Re[corde]r
By
| To) | Deed |
| Joseph Smith |
Filed April 22 25th <1843>
No 390
fee $3 62½ [p. [2]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
John McKinney certification in the handwriting of Alfred Knowles.
- [6]
Henderson Co., IL, Deeds, 1841–1893, vol. 1, pp. 312–313, 20 Feb. 1843, microfilm 1,392,775, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
- [7]
TEXT: Possibly just “Re” or “Rc”.
- [8]
Knowles was a previous resident of Shokokon. According to the records of the Henderson County Commissioner’s Court, of which he was the elected clerk, Knowles frequently worked in a number of clerical capacities for the county. (History of Mercer and Henderson Counties, 893; Early Court Commissioner’s Records of Henderson County, IL, 1, 8, 14, 22.)
History of Mercer and Henderson Counties: Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, etc. . . . Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1882.
Early Court Commissioner’s Records of Henderson County, IL: 1841–1853; Copied from WPA Records at Springfield, IL. [Monmouth, IL]: Warren County, Illinois, Genealogical Society, 1992.
Docket in unidentified handwriting.
Filing notation in the handwriting of Alfred Knowles.
- [9]
Knowles also docketed Amasa Lyman’s power of attorney, similarly stating that it was filed on 22 April 1843, although the certification stated that Knowles copied the document on 24 April. (Power of Attorney to Amasa Lyman, 28 Feb. 1843.)