Footnotes
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection (Supplement), 1833–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Footnotes
George J. Adams, 7 Oct. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1840, 2:220–221.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Adams later claimed he stayed in Nauvoo for around three weeks, but he actually spent more time in the region. Extant records show that he was in and out of the city for over a month between September and October. Regardless of when he left Nauvoo, by mid-December 1842 he had traveled as far east as Philadelphia, where he preached and met with a branch of the church. (George J. Adams, Deposition, 3 May 1847, Cobb v. Cobb [Mass. Sup. Ct. 1847], Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; Historical Introduction to Letter from George J. Adams and David Rogers, 11 Oct. 1842; “Religious Notice,” Public Ledger [Philadelphia], 17 Dec. 1842, [2]; Philadelphia, PA, Minutes and Records, 21 Dec. 1842.)
Cobb v. Cobb / Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Henry Cobb v. Augusta Adams Cobb, 1847. Boston, Suffolk Co., MA, Divorce Libels, case no. 477. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston.
Public Ledger. Philadelphia. 1836–1925.
Philadelphia, PA, Minutes and Records, 1840–1854. CCLA.
Although Caroline Youngs Adams did not identify Connor in her letter to JS, her identity can be pieced together from other sources. Little is known about Connor or her relationship with George J. Adams. It is unclear when Connor arrived in the United States or where she lived prior to her appearance at the Adams home. (London Conference, Minutes, bk. A, 26 Oct. 1842, 25; Adams’ New Drama [no publisher, 1850], copy at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT; Woodruff, Journal, 30–31 Aug. 1840; Church of England, St. Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch, Middlesex, England, Parish Registers, 1558–1901, Baptisms, 1816–1821, vol. 22, p. 207, entry no. 1656, microfilm 396,234, British Isles Record Collection, FHL.)
London Conference. Minutes, 1841–1877. CHL.
Adams’ New Drama / Traveling Theatre Royal, Late from Beaver Island. Adams’ New Drama. No publisher, 1850. Copy at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale Uni- versity, New Haven, CT.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
British Isles Record Collection. FHL.
According to Caroline Youngs Adams’s letter, George J. Adams left New York City prior to 15 January 1843. He arrived in Boston and was actively preaching by 19 January 1843. (“Review of the Mormon Lectures,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1843, 4:126.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Although sources are vague, later rumors surrounding George J. Adams’s affair suggest that both Caroline Youngs Adams and Connor were living in the Adams household after they relocated to Nauvoo. Some of these rumors identified Connor as George’s plural wife. In an August 1844 letter to Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, George requested that Young “see My beloved wife give My love to her and to Mary,” which suggests that Adams may have married Connor as well. (Charlotte Haven, Nauvoo, IL, to “My Dear Friends at Home,” 8 Sept. 1843, in “Girl’s Letters from Nauvoo,” 635; Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, 1 Sept. 1843, 15–16; John Smith to George A. Smith, 3 Sept. 1843, in Bathsheba Bigler Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to George A. Smith, Boston, MA, 2 Sept. 1843, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; George J. Adams, New Bedford, MA, to Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, Nauvoo, IL, Aug. 1844, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL, underlining in original.)
Haven, Charlotte. “A Girl’s Letters from Nauvoo.” Overland Monthly 16, no. 96 (Dec. 1890): 616–638.
Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843. Fair copy. In Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL.
Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.
Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.
Adams’ New Drama [no publisher, 1850], copy at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
Adams’ New Drama / Traveling Theatre Royal, Late from Beaver Island. Adams’ New Drama. No publisher, 1850. Copy at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale Uni- versity, New Haven, CT.
George J. Adams indicated that just such a revelatory process occurred in September or October 1842. In his 11 October 1842 letter to JS, Adams referred to his adultery as something “that the lord revealed” to JS. (Letter from George J. Adams and David Rogers, 11 Oct. 1842.)
When George J. Adams returned to Nauvoo in spring 1843, JS dealt with him privately, temporarily revoking his priesthood office of elder and having him act in the lower office of priest. JS then instructed the Twelve and others familiar with Adams’s indiscretions to “hold ther tongues and only say that Elder Adams has started anew.” (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 27 May 1843; see also Woodruff, Journal, 27 May 1843.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Caroline Youngs Adams apparently suffered from recurring bouts of an unidentified sickness. In an 1840 letter to his wife, Vilate Murray Kimball, Heber C. Kimball recorded that he and fellow apostle Orson Pratt were “cald upon to viset a sick woman”—presumably Caroline—in New York City who did not belong to the church and “inointed her with oil in the name of the Lord and she was healed and maid well.” Kimball noted that two days after this healing, the woman and her husband joined the church, which suggests that they may have joined in part because of her miraculous healing. George later claimed that he wished to divorce Caroline around this time and only remained with her because some unnamed church leaders counseled that she would soon die from her chronic illness. While making these claims, George also maligned his wife, alleging that her sickness was merely a cover for her drunkenness. This later charge, however, was disputed by a family friend. (Heber C. Kimball, New York City, NY, to Vilate Murray Kimball, Commerce, IL, 19 Feb. 1840, photocopy, Heber C. Kimball, Letters, CHL; Adams’ New Drama [no publisher, 1850], copy at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT.)
Kimball, Heber C. Letters, 1839–1854. Photocopy. CHL.
Adams’ New Drama / Traveling Theatre Royal, Late from Beaver Island. Adams’ New Drama. No publisher, 1850. Copy at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale Uni- versity, New Haven, CT.
Caroline Youngs and George J. Adams married in May 1832. (Youngs, Youngs Family, 344.)
Youngs, Selah, Jr. Youngs Family: Vicar Christopher Yonges, His Ancestors in England and His Descendants in America, a History and Genealogy. New York: By the author, 1907.
Before joining the church, George J. Adams had worked as a merchant tailor since at least 1832. (George J. Adams, Deposition, 3 May 1847, Cobb v. Cobb [Mass. Sup. Ct. 1847], Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; Advertisement, Jerseyman [Morristown, NJ], 28 Mar. 1832, [3].)
Cobb v. Cobb / Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Henry Cobb v. Augusta Adams Cobb, 1847. Boston, Suffolk Co., MA, Divorce Libels, case no. 477. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston.
The Jerseyman. Morristown, NJ. 1826–1931.
In February 1841, George J. Adams left New York City with Orson Hyde of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to join the other apostles already preaching in England. He returned to New York City in April 1842. (Letter from George J. Adams, 21 Apr. 1842.)