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Letter from Aldrich & Chittenden, 28 July 1842

Source Note

Aldrich & Chittenden, Letter, , Adams Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 28 July 1842; handwriting of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 12⅛ × 7⅝ inches (31 × 19 cm), ruled with thirty-six blue lines (now faded). The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. When the letter was opened, it tore a hole in the second leaf. The recto of the second page contains remnants of the wafer. The letter was later folded for filing.
, who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844, docketed the document. It was also docketed by , who was a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office from 1853 to 1859. The document was listed in inventories that were produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, circa 1904 inventories, and inclusion in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.

    Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

  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]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [2]; “Index to Papers in the Historians Office,” ca. 1904, draft, [2], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  4. [4]

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

Historical Introduction

On 28 July 1842, attorney wrote from , Illinois, to JS in , Illinois, on behalf of two men identified only by their surnames—“Aldrich & Chittenden.” The letter advised JS regarding recent efforts to extradite him to , as well as the prospect of a mob attack in Nauvoo. The authors wrote in response to a letter from JS, dated 24 July—which is not known to be extant—wherein JS apparently asked Aldrich and Chittenden for advice. Although the assignation “Aldrich & Chittenden” and the content of the letter suggest that the writers were part of a firm or partnership, extant records fail to confirm the existence of such an entity in or around Quincy during the early 1840s.
Although the identities of the authors are uncertain, circumstantial evidence suggests some possibilities. Aldrich may have been of , Illinois, who with and others had negotiated with JS in 1841 about the potential of a Latter-day Saint settlement in Warsaw. The arrangement failed to materialize, creating financial difficulties for Aldrich. Those difficulties came to a head in March 1842 when he, like many other residents of —including JS and other residents—filed for bankruptcy with the help of Ralston, Warren & Wheat, a law firm in which Warren was a partner. During the summer, notices of Aldrich’s intention to petition for bankruptcy were printed along with notices for JS and other Nauvoo residents. Aside from these direct and indirect connections between JS and Aldrich, Nauvoo citizens nominated Aldrich for a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives in June. Chittenden may have been Abram I. Chittenden or, alternatively, one of the five sons of Abram I. and Deborah Fowler Chittenden, who were early settlers of Warsaw. Of these individuals, William Chittenden is the most likely candidate. In February 1842, he married Helen Aldrich, who appears to have been the daughter of Mark Aldrich.
It is unclear what business Aldrich and Chittenden had in in late July 1842. It appears that they, along with , were aware of and perhaps present at a meeting governor held on 26 July with , , and Amanda Barnes Smith, at which these women presented a petition from the seeking protection for JS and residents. On that same occasion, delivered one or more similar petitions, along with a letter from JS.
In the letter featured here, Aldrich and Chittenden predicted that governor ’s request to extradite JS would not succeed. On the issue of mob violence, they indicated that citizens should feel justified in protecting themselves, if necessary. Apparently in response to JS’s request to have visit him, they also informed JS that he would do so as soon as his health allowed.
As indicated by the addressing, this letter was delivered to JS in by his wife . JS likely received the letter on 29 July, when Emma returned home from her short trip to . No response from JS is extant or otherwise known.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS also evidently asked Illinois governor Thomas Carlin for similar advice in a 25 July letter. This letter is also not known to be extant. (See Letter from Thomas Carlin, 27 July 1842.)

  2. [2]

    JS and Mark Aldrich, Articles of Agreement, Hancock Co., IL, 16 Aug. 1841, private possession; Letter from Calvin A. Warren, 31 Aug. 1841; JS, Journal, 13 and 30–31 Dec. 1841. According to a later history of Hancock County, Aldrich had “commenced the study of law, which he subsequently abandoned.” (Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 653–654.)

    Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

  3. [3]

    Notice to Creditors and Others, 17 June 1842; Mark Aldrich, Petition for Bankruptcy, 22 Mar. 1842, Bankruptcy General Records (Act of 1841), 3:258; see also Letter from Calvin A. Warren, ca. 23 June 1842.

    Bankruptcy General Records (Act of 1841), 1842–1845. 7 vols. In Records of the U.S. District Courts, Southern District of Illinois, Southern Division (Springfield, IL), 1819–1977. National Archives—Great Lakes Region, Chicago.

  4. [4]

    See, for example, Bankruptcy Notice for Mark Aldrich, Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 1 July 1842, [4]; and Bankruptcy Notice for Mark Aldrich, Sangamo Journal, Extra, 29 July 1842, [2]. These petitions were published in compliance with federal legal requirements for those applying for bankruptcy. (An Act to Establish a Uniform System of Bankruptcy [19 Aug. 1841], Public Statutes at Large, 27th Cong., 1st Sess., chap. 9, p. 446, sec. 7.)

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

    The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.

  5. [5]

    “Public Meeting,” Wasp, 4 June 1842, [3].

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

  6. [6]

    Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 638; Hetzel, Lineage Book, 148.

    Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

    Hetzell, Susan Riviere. Lineage Book National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Vol. 14. Washington DC: National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1902.

  7. [7]

    Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 659; Aldrich Family Genealogy, [5], microfilm 960,046, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. Although William Chittenden does not appear to have filed for bankruptcy in 1842, Warren’s law firm published notices for his brothers George and Edward Chittenden. (Bankruptcy Notice for George Chittenden, Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 1 July 1842, [4]; Bankruptcy Notice for Edward Chittenden, Sangamo Journal, 22 July 1842, [1].)

    Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

  8. [8]

    Nauvoo Female Relief Society, Petition to Thomas Carlin, ca. 22 July 1842, in Derr et al., First Fifty Years of Relief Society, 136–141. Earlier in the month, Warren had written JS about a meeting George Miller and Erastus Derby had attended with Thomas Carlin to discuss Missouri’s extradition efforts. (Letter from Calvin A. Warren, 13 July 1842.)

    Derr, Jill Mulvay, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds. The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016.

  9. [9]

    Minutes, 22 July 1842; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 22 July 1842, 95–97; JS, Journal, 22 July 1842; Letter from Thomas Carlin, 27 July 1842.

  10. [10]

    Thomas Reynolds, Requisition, 22 July 1842.

  11. [11]

    Eliza R. Snow, Journal, 29 July 1842.

    Snow, Eliza R. Journal, 1842–1844. CHL. MS 1439.

Page [2]

from illegal force or assaults of Mobs, it only remains to say that the “Great Governor of the Universe” is so much before hand on the subject, as to leave nothing for the executive to do— You have the power and Authority, by an earlier delegation; you are the Administrators of a more powerful law, by the imposition of <​a​> mightier hands, than that of any executive conventional functionary—
The first law of nature is revealed for the benefit and protection of all subjects of illegal invasion & a unathorized aggression, and should and will find prompt & efficient administrators in yourself & people!
If danger should threaten your peace from abroad, quick messengers would bear the intelligence and point out the legal means of averting the blow.
As to the request <​that​> of our should call on you as early as practicable, we give you the assurance that if health permits, he shall visit you during the present or following week— on Tuesday week last, he was on his way to your place, when at , the resignation of as Commissioner in Bankruptcy, made it necessary to return as soon as possible to procure the appointment of a substitute, in order carry our cases successfully through on the 1st day of October—
In your case much talk and some threats have transpired in relation to a contest, but we thing [think] gubernatorial contest is all that is intended, and that words & threats will thereafter expire—
Please turn over—— [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Aldrich & Chittenden, 28 July 1842
ID #
895
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:317–323
Handwriting on This Page
  • Calvin A. Warren

Footnotes

  1. [10]

    This rhetoric partook of the natural law tradition stretching back to Thomas Hobbes, who, in Leviathan, wrote that the first law of nature “is the liberty each man hath to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own nature.” (Hobbes, Leviathan, pt. 1, chap. 14, sec. 1, in Hobbes, Leviathan, 79.)

    Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, with Selected Variants from the Latin Edition of 1668. Edited by Edwin Curley. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1994.

  2. [11]

    Warren, on behalf of the law firm Ralston, Warren & Wheat, had issued notices of Nauvoo residents’ petitions for bankruptcy in April 1842. Warren wrote JS about those petitions in late June and visited him in Nauvoo shortly thereafter. In a 13 July letter, in which he wrote JS concerning extradition and legal services, Warren included notices to be published in the Wasp. (Letter from Calvin A. Warren, ca. 23 June 1842; JS, Journal, 30 June 1842; Letter from Calvin A. Warren, 13 July 1842.)

  3. [12]

    Samuel Marshall had been serving as clerk of the Hancock County Commissioners Court since 1838. (Cochran et al., History of Hancock County, Illinois, 624.)

    Cochran, Robert M., Mary H. Siegfried, Ida Blum, David L. Fulton, Harold T. Garvey, and Olen L. Smith, eds. History of Hancock County, Illinois: Illinois Sesquicentennial Edition. Carthage, IL: Board of Supervisors of Hancock County, 1968.

  4. [13]

    The authors may have had in mind the Anti-Mormon Party’s efforts to counteract the Latter-day Saints’ political power. (See Letter to the Citizens of Hancock County, ca. 2 July 1842.)

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