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Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 May 1842

Source Note

, Letter, [, Chester Co., PA], to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 10 May 1842; handwriting of ; one page; International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Pioneer Memorial Museum, Salt Lake City. Includes docket and archival marking.
Bifolium measuring 12¼ × 7⅞ inches (31 × 20 cm). The document was folded for transmission and folded a second time for filing; there is separation along the folds.
The document was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844. This docket indicates that the letter was in early church custody. The subsequent custodial history is unknown. According to institutional records of the International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, ’s granddaughter Clara Hunter Crittenden (1896–1960) donated the document sometime before her death.

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]

    Accession Records, International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Pioneer Memorial Museum, Salt Lake City.

    Accession Records. International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Pioneer Memorial Museum, Salt Lake City.

Historical Introduction

Latter-day Saint wrote from , Pennsylvania, to JS in , Illinois, on 10 May 1842 informing him about business matters in the eastern . Hunter, a successful businessman from , was building a house in Nauvoo and had planned to move there by May 1842, but he was delayed. This delay was due in part to Hunter’s efforts to settle the financial affairs of Margaret Smith, a Latter-day Saint who had moved from to Nauvoo. In summer 1841, Hunter had agreed to act as an for Smith and received a power of attorney that would allow him to settle her financial affairs in Philadelphia. , Margaret Smith’s cousin, had been managing her finances in her absence, and the power of attorney permitted Hunter to receive the money Guest had collected on rented land and from the sale of Smith’s property. Smith had apparently promised a portion of that money to JS.
The first power of attorney sent to , however, lacked the proper certification and a seal to make it legal, requiring Hunter to wait for another power of attorney, which JS had offered to help expedite. In a March 1842 letter, JS alerted Hunter that the power of attorney could not be certified until May. To offset this delay, JS asked Hunter and to proceed with their business and pledged that he would provide a complete power of attorney at “the earliest date possible.” According to this 10 May letter from Hunter, Guest had been reluctant to act without the power of attorney but relented and told Hunter that he had sent a portion of Margaret Smith’s money.
In a previous letter to JS, written 10 February 1842, stated that he intended to send him $800 from the sale of one of Hunter’s farms. Half of the money was earmarked for the construction of the , and the other half was for the purchase of stock in the . Due to the unreliability of banks and the difficulty of transferring funds, however, Hunter decided to purchase goods for the Nauvoo and Nauvoo House Association rather than send the $800 in cash. He hired Latter-day Saint William Moon to act as his agent by overseeing the shipment of these goods to Nauvoo and conducting his business there. An insertion at the beginning of the letter introduced Moon to JS. The docket by , one of JS’s office staff, indicates that the letter was received in Nauvoo.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 Feb. 1842.

  2. [2]

    Margaret Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to Edward Hunter, Chester Co., PA, 12 Nov. 1841, Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL.

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

  3. [3]

    In correspondence from January to March 1842, JS informed Hunter about how he planned to use Margaret Smith’s money. JS had initially hoped to use the money to purchase goods for his Nauvoo store. However, in January 1842 JS used $1,100 of the money he owed Hunter to instead pay a debt he owed to William and Wilson Law. As a result, JS told Hunter that he would be repaid by the money obtained from Margaret Smith. (Letter to Edward Hunter, 5 Jan. 1842; Letter to Edward Hunter, 26 Jan. 1842; Letter to Edward Hunter, 9 and 11 Mar. 1842.)

  4. [4]

    Margaret Smith, Power of Attorney, Nauvoo, IL, to Edward Hunter, 15 Dec. 1841, copy, Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL.

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

  5. [5]

    The power of attorney needed to be certified by the presiding judge of the district court in Springfield, Illinois, and apparently JS could not travel there until May. (See Letter to Edward Hunter, 9 and 11 Mar. 1842.)

  6. [6]

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

  7. [7]

    The letter does not indicate who received the money Guest sent.

  8. [8]

    Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 Feb. 1842. A JS revelation in January 1841 commanded the Saints to build the Nauvoo temple as well as the Nauvoo House, a boardinghouse that would also serve as the home of JS and his family. While the Nauvoo temple was to be funded by tithing and other donations, a stock association was established to fund the Nauvoo House. (Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:22–40].)

  9. [9]

    See William Moon, Pittsburgh, PA, to Edward Hunter, 21 May 1842, Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL.

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

Page [1]

Joseph Smith
May 10th 1842
Dr Brother, <​I am happy to Introduce you to Brother As Wm A Moon a faithful ​>
I called on twice since I receivd your letter and he is not disposed to let me have any money without a power of Attorney— the first time I [sa]w him he said he would send a check on <​of​> a Specia paying Bank marked Good by the Cashier, the 2nd time (last satturday he said he had sent some money) the money which I spoke of sending for the & I purpose laying out in Goods tomorrow the prospects of buying goods is good at present, The situation of our money market are desperate, I am detained from coming to in consequen[c]e, but expect to start in ten days, I wish my business forwar[d]ed as as <​much, as​> possable, Brother Moon will advance them a little mouer [more]
Yours &c
I have not time to write the car is waiting— [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 May 1842
ID #
1628
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:38–40
Handwriting on This Page
  • Edward Hunter

Footnotes

  1. [1]

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

  2. [2]

    TEXT: “[page torn]w”.

  3. [3]

    Hunter had commented on the difficult economic situation in his previous letter, writing, “I have sold one of my Farms the other I do not know whether I can sell it, the money matters is in a dreadfull situation Banks are breaking Continually.” (Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 Feb. 1842.)

  4. [4]

    The business mentioned here may have involved the house Hunter was in the process of building in Nauvoo. Construction on the house had been delayed by weather, illness, and a lack of funds. (Jacob Weiler, [Nauvoo, IL], to Edward Hunter, Brandywine Manor, PA, 27 Feb. 1842, Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL; see also Letter to Edward Hunter, 21 Dec. 1841; and Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 Feb. 1842.)

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

  5. [5]

    Hunter may have abbreviated “carriage” to “car,” or he may have been referring to a railcar.

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