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Letter from Daniel McNeil, 21 July 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Warren Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 21 July 1843; handwriting and signature presumably of ; one page; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Includes address, postal notation, docket, notation, and archival marking.
One leaf measuring 10 × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The leaf was torn from a bifolium along the left edge. A notation was made on the leaf in graphite in unidentified handwriting—possibly that of the unnamed elder mentioned in the letter—and reads, “I want to speak to you soon I am in trouble.” The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. It was later refolded for filing. The letter was damaged when it was opened, and remnants of the wafer remain on the letter. There is marked damage along the folds, resulting in a loss of text.
The letter was later docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as temple recorder from 1842 to 1846. In late 1844, following JS’s death, became one of the interim church trustees and was appointed “first bishop” among other Nauvoo bishops. It was presumably during this time that many of the church’s financial and other administrative records passed into his possession. This document, along with many other personal and institutional documents that Whitney kept, was inherited by Newel K. and ’s daughter Mary Jane Whitney, who was married to Isaac Groo. The documents were passed down within the Groo family. Between 1969 and 1974, the Groo family donated their collection of Newel K. Whitney’s papers to the J. Reuben Clark Library (renamed Harold B. Lee Library in 1973) at Brigham Young University.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 18, 30–31; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.

    Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

    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]

    Willard Richards, Journal, 9 Aug. 1844; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:693; see also Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

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

  3. [3]

    Andrus and Fuller, Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 24; Wilkinson et al., Brigham Young University, 4:255.

    Andrus, Hyrum L., and Chris Fuller, comp. Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers. Provo, UT: Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, 1978.

    Wilkinson, Ernest L., Leonard J. Arrington, and Bruce C. Hafen, eds. Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years. Vol. 4. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1976.

Historical Introduction

On 21 July 1843, , the postmaster in , Warren County, Illinois, wrote a letter to JS in , Illinois, about the contents of another letter that was previously mailed from his post office. McNeil, who was apparently a Whig, had been involved for some time in local politics and had been appointed to various positions within the county government. His letter supplied information regarding Democratic political candidate , who was running for a seat in the Sixth Congressional District of , which included Nauvoo. Hoge had been campaigning in Warren County and was en route to Nauvoo. Apparently, an unspecified Latter-day Saint at Greenbush, Warren County, had heard Hoge speak disrespectfully of JS and conveyed this information to JS in a letter mailed on 18 July. Another Latter-day Saint elder visited McNeil at his home on 21 July, worried that the previous letter would not reach JS because it had been sent without postage.
Hoping to thwart ’s barnstorming efforts in , wrote to JS informing him of the previous letter and its contents. McNeil warned JS that Hoge “did not appear to relish the Mormons much” during his time in Warren County. McNeil mailed his letter the same day he wrote it. The letter traveled some sixty miles to Nauvoo and likely arrived within a week of its mailing. There is no known response from JS.
As predicted, arrived in in late July to campaign. He gave a three-hour speech at a political meeting on 29 July and spoke with JS privately after his political opponent, Whig candidate , gave a stump speech on 1 August. Although JS ultimately voted for Walker, and despite McNeil’s warning about Hoge’s alleged bias against JS and the Latter-day Saints, and “an overwhelming majority” of members ultimately voted for Hoge, who won the congressional seat.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “The Congressional Convention,” Rockford (IL) Forum, 21 June 1848, [2]. McNeil served in the military under Andrew Jackson and took part in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. In 1830, he moved to Warren County, Illinois, where he served at various times as the circuit court clerk, the county commissioner’s clerk, and the county’s first postmaster. (Dickey, Genealogy of the Dickey Family, 73–74; Past and Present of Warren County, Illinois, 109–112, 144–145.)

    Rockford Forum. Rockford, IL. 1844–1853.

    Dickey, John. Genealogy of the Dickey Family. Worcester, MA: F. S. Blanchard & Co., 1898.

    The Past and Present of Warren County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County—Its Citizens, Towns &c., a Biopgraphical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers. . . Chicago: H. F. Kett and Co., 1877.

  2. [2]

    A small branch of the church consisting of twelve members was organized by January 1841 in Greenfield (renamed Greenbush in 1843) by John Riggs. That branch apparently continued to function into mid-1843. (“Conference Minutes,” and “Summary,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1841, 2:338, 339; Snapp, Early Days in Greenbush, 8, 155.)

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

    Snapp, William L. Early Days in Greenbush with Biographical Sketches of the Old Settlers. Springfield, IL: H. W. Bokker, 1905.

  3. [3]

    In 1841, JS announced that he would no longer pay postage fees to receive letters because of the burdensome expense it placed on him. (Notice, ca. 1 June 1841.)

  4. [4]

    “To the Editor of the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 2 Aug. 1843, [2]; JS, Journal, 1 Aug. 1843.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  5. [5]

    JS, Journal, 5–7 Aug. 1843. The politics of church members trended Democratic in the 1830s and 1840s, but in Illinois the Saints voted for both Whigs and Democrats at various times. (See, for example, JS, Journal, 10 May 1838; “Joseph Smith Documents from February through November 1841”; and Historical Introduction to Letter from Isaac Galland, 5 Apr. 1841.)

Page [2]

P. M.
free
Joseph Smith. Mayor &c
Care of Esq
Illinois
 
July 21 [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Daniel McNeil, 21 July 1843
ID #
1668
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:489–491
Handwriting on This Page
  • Daniel McNeil

Footnotes

  1. [9]

    This is likely an indication that the postage was free because of McNeil’s privileges as postmaster. Federal law permitted postmasters to send letters via the post office free of charge. (An Act to Reduce into One the Several Acts Establishing and Regulating the Post-Office Department [3 Mar. 1825], Post-Office Laws, Instructions and Forms, pp. 15–16, sec. 27.)

    Post-Office Laws, Instructions and Forms, Published for the Regulation of the Post-Office. Washington DC: Way and Gideon, 1828.

  2. [10]

    Rigdon was the postmaster in Nauvoo. (Leonard, Nauvoo, 59.)

    Leonard, Glen M. Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002.

  3. [11]

    TEXT: Written vertically on top left.

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