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Letter from Elijah Malin Jr., 15 May 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Chester Co., PA, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 15 May 1843; handwriting and signature presumably of ; one page; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Included enclosure (not extant); includes address, docket, and archival marking.
One leaf measuring 10 × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The left edge of the recto was detached from a larger sheet, possibly a bifolium, before inscription. The letter refers to an enclosure, which was presumably used for the purposes communicated in the letter and is no longer extant. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, sealed with three adhesive wafers, and addressed. It was later refolded for filing.
The letter was 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 an interim church trustee 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 letter, 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 the Harold B. Lee Library in 1973) at Brigham Young University.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    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.

  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 15 May 1843, wrote a letter to JS in , Illinois, from , Pennsylvania, to transmit two dollars that member Andrew Hains had donated for the construction of the Nauvoo . Malin was the of the church’s in Brandywine. Nothing is known about Hains other than that he was listed in the 1840 federal census as living in Uwchlan, Chester County, Pennsylvania, and was between the ages of 30 and 39.
Hains’s donation, like those from other Latter-day Saints, played an important part in funding construction of the . A January 1841 revelation had instructed the Saints to participate in the construction of the temple, and church leaders had solicited donations from church members thereafter. Numerous Saints donated money, goods, and labor to the temple’s construction; Hains’s contribution was typical of the donations, which were often in relatively small sums. An 1842 article in the Times and Seasons opined that “never since the formation of this church was laid” had the church seen “a more ardent desire to do the will of God; more strenuous exertions used; or greater sacrifices made.”
’s letter was apparently hand carried to by a “Bro Baum,” likely Jacob Baum, who converted to the church in and moved to Nauvoo by August 1843. The letter and donation were evidently received in Nauvoo sometime during the next two months—a two-dollar cash contribution from Hains for construction of the Nauvoo was recorded in a trustee-in-trust tithing daybook on 19 July 1843.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Eva Pack, “Genealogical Records on the Families of Essick, Malin, McGuckin, Woodard,” 28, microfilm 443, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, CHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  2. [2]

    1840 U.S. Census, Uwchlan, Chester Co., PA, 285. Hains was also likely living with his mother at this time.

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

  3. [3]

    Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:31]; Brigham Young et al., “An Epistle of the Twelve,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1842, 3:737.

  4. [4]

    See, for example, Trustee-in-Trust, “Tithing Day Book B,” 1842–1844, pp. 10–171, Trustee-in-Trust, Tithing Daybooks, CHL.

    Tithing and Donation Record, 1844–1846. CHL.

  5. [5]

    “The Temple,” Times and Seasons, 2 May 1842, 3:775; see also William Clayton, “The Temple of God in Nauvoo,” Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1842, 4:11.

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

  6. [6]

    Portrait, Genealogical, and Biographical Record of the State of Utah, 275; JS History, vol. E-1, 1686.

    Portrait, Genealogical, and Biographical Record of the State of Utah, Containing Biographies of Many Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present. Chicago: National Historical Record, 1902.

  7. [7]

    Trustee-in-Trust, “Tithing Day Book B,” 1842–1844, p. 81, Trustee-in-Trust, Tithing Daybooks, CHL.

    Tithing and Donation Record, 1844–1846. CHL.

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Elijah Malin Jr., 15 May 1843
ID #
1067
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:305–306
Handwriting on This Page
  • Elijah Malin

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