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Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 February 1842

Source Note

, Letter, , Chester Co., PA, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 10 Feb. 1842; handwriting of ; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notations, endorsements, and docket.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7½ inches (25 × 19 cm). When the bifolium is folded so the letter begins on the recto of the first leaf and ends on the verso of the first leaf, the addressing appears on the recto of the second leaf and the verso is blank. The paper is ruled with twenty-six blue horizontal lines. The bifolium was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. When the letter was opened, the wafer tore a hole in the second leaf; wafer residue appears on the recto and verso of that leaf. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The document was endorsed in graphite by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. It was also endorsed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as temple recorder from 1842 to 1846. The document was docketed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The document may be the 1842 letter from listed in an inventory 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 endorsements and early docket as well as its possible inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and its inclusion in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. [2]

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

    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.

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

  3. [3]

    “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.

  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 10 February 1842 wrote a letter from , Pennsylvania, to JS in , Illinois, detailing the latest developments in their business affairs and inquiring about the state of banks in the region. This letter was one of a series of letters exchanged between JS and Hunter while the latter was in from fall 1841 to summer 1842. Hunter had returned from visiting Nauvoo to his native West Nantmeal to settle his own financial affairs, purchase goods for JS, and conduct business on behalf of Margaret Smith, a recent convert from who had relocated to Nauvoo. On 21 December 1841 and 5 January 1842, JS wrote Hunter to inform him that, as requested, he would accept a shipment of goods delivered as payment for a debt Hunter owed him. JS also told Hunter that he had purchased ninety acres of land on Hunter’s behalf. On 10 February, Hunter responded to JS.
Addressing JS as church , reported the transportation costs for the recent shipment of goods. He also explained that there was a defect with the new power of attorney JS had sent him. In addition, Hunter expressed his intention to transport one or two steam engines to when he traveled there in the spring. He then requested information regarding the best possible means by which to donate money from the sale of one of his farms to the and the . Finally, Hunter sought JS’s help in arranging improvements on his properties in Nauvoo.
The letter was mailed by the Guthrieville, Pennsylvania, post office—seven miles southeast of —which postmarked it on 18 February 1842. JS received the letter on 8 March 1842 and answered it the following day.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter to Edward Hunter, 21 Dec. 1841; Letter to Edward Hunter, 5 Jan. 1842.

  2. [2]

    Margaret Smith supplied Hunter with a power of attorney so he could take over her finances from her cousin John Guest. Because the initial document lacked the proper certification, JS had another produced on 15 December 1841. Hunter explained in this February 1842 letter that the new power of attorney was also defective. (Letter to Edward Hunter, 21 Dec. 1841; Edward Hunter to Margaret Smith, Bond, 25 Sept. 1841; Margaret Smith to Edward Hunter, Power of Attorney, 15 Dec. 1841, Edward Hunter, Collection, 1816–1884, CHL.)

    Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.

  3. [3]

    Letter to Edward Hunter, 9 and 11 Mar. 1842.

Page [2]

drafts on the State Bank of , <​or ​> if you think it the most proper way of conveyance of funds, on this subject I wish to hear from you I shall receive part of the sale of my property First of Aprill next at that time I would wish to send it out the Eight hundred Dollars I before mentioned— <​&​> I wish to hear how the State Bank of Illinois stands & the Banks of those banks will be a verry important subject to the brethren that are going out this spring— Myself and family purpose starting out to begining of May, the greater part of this are geting ready to go out this summer— Brother was at my hous this week he looks well & is in good spirits, he says several has lately come in the our little branch is geting along pretty well, & desire to gather out as soon as they can, I have wrote to brother [Jacob] Weiler to forward my hous I do not know whether he will receive the letter or not if he does not receive the letter I will be obliged If you will inform him that I want him to go on with it <​my hous​> as fast as he can I likewise sent wrote to him to get Br s <​or some other person​> to plow Eighty Acres of the North West part of my purchace, to fence it according to the barg[a]in I made with him the plowing & fenceing to be done in a Workman like manner the ground to be surveyed first & I calculate to pay the cash as the work is done—
May the Blessings of Heaven attend you— Yours in the Gospel of Christ
Mr Joseph Smith [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 February 1842
ID #
763
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D9:152–156
Handwriting on This Page
  • Edward Hunter

Footnotes

  1. [8]

    In March, JS responded to this query, informing Edward Hunter that the “State Bank is down.” (Letter to Edward Hunter, 9 and 11 Mar. 1842.)

  2. [9]

    A general conference held on 5–7 October 1839 designated Nauvoo as “a place of gathering for the saints.” By early 1841 church leaders encouraged members to gather there over all other places. (Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839; Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841.)

  3. [10]

    Winchester had been serving as the presiding elder of the Philadelphia branch since spring 1840. (“Important Church News,” Times and Seasons, May 1840, 1:109; Philadelphia, PA, Minutes and Records, 16 Nov. 1840, 8.)

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

    Philadelphia, PA, Minutes and Records, 1840–1854. CCLA.

  4. [11]

    Weiler was a convert from Chester County who arrived in Nauvoo in July 1841. Before Edward Hunter left Nauvoo that fall, he hired Weiler to build a house for him there. On 27 February 1842 Weiler wrote to Hunter informing him that he had not received his letter but had received “your letter riten to Bro Sheets the 23th of febuary informing me that you wrote to me to send a statement of the expenses of your house and the appearance of it.” Due to a variety of setbacks, Weiler made little progress on the home. (Weiler, Autobiographical Sketch, 2; Jacob Weiler, Nauvoo, IL, to Edward Hunter, Chester Co., PA, 27 Feb. 1842, Edward Hunter, Collection, 1816–1884, CHL.)

    Weiler, Jacob. Autobiographical Sketch, 1892–1895. Typescript. CHL.

    Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.

  5. [12]

    Stephen Winchester, Benjamin’s father, had been residing in Nauvoo since at least 1840. (1840 U.S. Census, Hancock Co., IL, 187; Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, 542.)

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

    Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1891.

  6. [13]

    TEXT: A small rectangular diagram of the property is included above this line. Its sides are marked with “N”, “E”, “S”, and “W”, and the upper left (northwest) section is designated with a square.

  7. [14]

    Garner was an English convert. According to his daughter-in-law’s memoir, he migrated to Nauvoo six months before the sailing of the Britannia, which carried the first emigrant company of British Saints to the United States. An account book Edward Hunter kept from 1842 includes a lengthy account for Garner. (Garner, “Last Leaf on the Tree,” 10; Sonne, Ships, Saints, and Mariners, 30–31; Account Book, 1842–1845, pp. [21]–[28], Edward Hunter, Collection, 1816–1884, CHL.)

    Garner, Mary Field. “The Last Leaf on the Tree,” ca. 1940. Typescript. Copy at CHL.

    Sonne, Conway B. Ships, Saints, and Mariners: A Maritime Encyclopedia of Mormon Migration, 1830–1890. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987.

    Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.

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