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Letter from Austin Cowles, 13 March 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Hillsborough Co., NH, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 13 Mar. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). Each page is ruled with twenty-nine horizontal blue lines. The upper left corner of the folded bifolium bears an illegible circular embossment that goes through both leaves. The letter was written in blue ink, trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The document was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844. It was also docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. The notation “Copied by A. J.” was apparently added by a clerk or secretary for Andrew Jenson, who served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The letter’s early dockets, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection 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]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  3. [3]

    Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 48–52, 55.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  4. [4]

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

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

  5. [5]

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

Historical Introduction

On 13 March 1843, wrote a letter from , New Hampshire, to JS, in , Illinois, advocating for to be allowed to continue his mission in and reporting on Cowles’s own proselytizing efforts. Cowles was a counselor to , the president in Nauvoo, and had been preaching in and New Hampshire since fall 1842. Cowles encountered Adams in January 1843, sometime after Adams returned to New England from an 1842 visit to Nauvoo. Although JS talked to Adams about charges of adultery while Adams was in Nauvoo in 1842, he called for Adams to again come back to Nauvoo after he received a January 1843 letter from Adams’s wife, , alleging that Adams had been involved in an extramarital affair. On 10 March 1843, Adams received a letter from and ordering his return to Nauvoo. He responded immediately, relaying his intention to return speedily to Nauvoo.
However, was a significant asset for the in , having debated detractors and lectured regularly to refute opposition to the church, and Latter-day Saints in the area, likely unaware of the accusations against Adams, did not want him to leave. On 12 March, leaders in Boston passed resolutions requesting that church leaders allow Adams to come back to Boston after he answered the call to return to . Similarly, in this 13 March letter to JS, recommended that church leaders allow Adams to return to Boston to continue his ministry. There is no indication that Cowles was aware of the reason Adams was ordered to return to Nauvoo.
In addition to requesting that stay in , informed JS of the preaching success he had in Gilsum, New Hampshire, the birthplace of JS’s mother, . Lucy’s brother and JS’s uncle Solomon Mack Jr. still resided there. According to the letter, Cowles Solomon’s son Chilion Mack and hoped to baptize Solomon and other members of the family.
The absence of postage on the letter suggests that it was hand carried to . JS apparently received the letter, probably either in late March or early April. There is no indication that JS responded to the letter, perhaps because stated his intention to return to Nauvoo by early June.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Cowles is listed as attending a Nauvoo high council meeting on 22 October 1842, but he does not appear as an attendee in the minutes for the rest of 1842, suggesting he was no longer in Nauvoo. (Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, 22 Oct. 1842.)

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843. Fair copy. In Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Caroline Youngs Adams, ca. 15 Jan. 1843; JS, Journal, 10 Feb. 1843.

  3. [3]

    George J. Adams, New York City, NY, to Brigham Young and Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, 10 Mar. 1843, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL.

    Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

  4. [4]

    See, for example, “Dr. West and the Mormons,” Boston Investigator, 22 June 1842, [3].

    Boston Investigator. Boston. 1831–1904.

  5. [5]

    Resolutions of the Boston Conference, 12 Mar. 1843.

  6. [6]

    Although this 13 March letter to JS provides no indication that Cowles knew of the adultery accusations, in September 1843 Cowles brought charges of adultery, lying, and “unchristian conduct” against Adams before the Nauvoo high council. (Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, 1 Sept. 1843.)

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843. Fair copy. In Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL.

Page [2]

know the Circumstances pertaining to the Case of and my thoughts Concerning it Indeed to me it appears Expedient that more able ministers Be Sent to these parts than that the Number Should Be diminished By Calling any from their fields of Labor. Dont Br Joseph say, that I Now Counsel you for you know that a Burned Child Dreads the fire the manner of my Travelling and preaching has Been such that I have Been able to <​Deliver​> in General But one Discourse in Each place and Consequently Could not Build up but to sow and Leave it for others to Reap but I have been Enabled to Remove Mountains of prejudice and Leave the people Deeply Interested in the subjects Laid Before them at Gilsom I have Labored & Recently five one of which is your Cousin Chilion Mack and am Going to Return and hope to Baptise your uncle Mack [Solomon Mack Jr.] and Others of the family Cannot Expect to see till the first of June I Rejoice that the Boon of Liberty is again yours Remember me to all the saints
Yours in the Gospel——
[p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Austin Cowles, 13 March 1843
ID #
1012
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:43–46
Handwriting on This Page
  • Austin Cowles

Footnotes

  1. [2]

    This was a popular proverb meaning that people should avoid “those things that have already done them an Injury.” (Bailey, Divers Proverbs, 1.)

    Bailey, Nathan. Divers Proverbs with Their Explication and Illustration. . . . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1917.

  2. [3]

    As early as February 1840, Mack was listed as one of the New Hampshire agents for the Times and Seasons, the church newspaper published in Nauvoo, suggesting that he had amicable relations with the church before his baptism. (“Agents for the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, Feb. 1840, 1:64.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  3. [4]

    Solomon Mack Jr. was married to Esther Hayward in 1797. According to Lucy Mack Smith, Solomon and Esther had nine children: Calvin, Orlando, Chilion, Solomon, Amos, Dennis, Merrill, Esther, and Rizpah. (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, 37.)

  4. [5]

    See JS, Journal, 12 June 1843.

  5. [6]

    In 1842, Missouri officials attempted to extradite JS on the charge of acting as an accessory to the May 1842 shooting of former governor Lilburn W. Boggs. On 5 January 1843, JS was discharged from custody after a habeas corpus hearing held in Springfield, Illinois. (“Part 1: March 1843”; JS, Journal, 4–5 Jan. 1843.)

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