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Letter from Fields Jarvis, 6 February 1843

Source Note

, Letter, “Head of Ellison,” [Warren Co., IL], to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 6 Feb. 1843; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, endorsements, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 12¼ × 7⅝ inches (31 × 19 cm) when folded. Each page is ruled with twenty-six lines printed in blue ink. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. Remnants of the wafer are still visible on the second leaf. The document was later refolded for filing.
Sometime between 6 February and circa 25 February 1843, added on the last page a series of endorsements regarding JS’s response to the offer made by in the letter. Richards 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. The document was later docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early endorsements and dockets as well as its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and 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]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  3. [3]

    “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.

  4. [4]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 6 February 1843, wrote from Warren County, Illinois, to JS at , Illinois, to gauge his interest in purchasing the rights to operate a ferry across the approximately twenty to twenty-five miles north of Nauvoo. Jarvis had moved to the region sometime after 1828 and settled near the headwaters of Ellison Creek, which empties into the Mississippi River just north of , Illinois. Jarvis evidently owned a large and profitable tract of land, perhaps including a ferry landing and ferrying rights. Following the passage of the Bankruptcy Act of 1841, Jarvis experienced significant financial reversals because those indebted to him “availed themselves” of the law’s “advantages.” It was likely these circumstances that compelled Jarvis to try to sell his ferry rights. Although no other letters from him to JS are extant, Jarvis stated that he had previously attempted to correspond with JS on several other occasions. In his letter of 6 February 1843, Jarvis offered the ferry landing to JS for $1,000, promising that within a few years the property would appreciate ten times in value. The lack of postal markings on the envelope suggests that this letter was hand delivered to JS, perhaps by a courier.
JS presumably received the letter shortly after it was written. An endorsement on the letter indicates that he was initially interested in the offer. From 15 to 16 February, he visited and surveyed regions around to examine other properties for a possible Latter-day Saint settlement and may have inspected ’s ferry site at that time. However, a second endorsement on the letter notes his disinterest in the property, stating that he sent a reply to Jarvis on 25 February declining the offer. The response is not extant.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Portrait and Biographical Album of Warren County, Illinois, 718; Past and Present of Warren County, Illinois, 108; History of Mercer and Henderson Counties, 1025, 1158.

    Portrait and Biographical Album of Warren County, Illinois, Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County. . . . Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1886.

    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.

    History of Mercer and Henderson Counties: Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, etc. . . . Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1882.

  2. [2]

    Past and Present of Warren County, Illinois, 108; Allaman, “Incidents in the Life of an Old Pioneer,” 16.

    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.

    Allaman, John Lee. “‘Incidents in the Life of an Old Pioneer’: The Memoir of Fields Jarvis.” Western Illinois Regional Studies 9, no. 1 (Spring 1986): 5–18.

Page [1]

Head of Ellison Feby 6 1843
Mr Joseph Smith
Sir I inform you that I have for sale a Ferry privilege accross the — about 20 or 25 miles above — This I would sell If you would pay me 1000 in hand I would convey to your property worth 10000 in a few years— I have sent several times to your place but have not recvd any calls— If any of your followers will call on me this spring I will assist them to make fine purchases,
Very Respectfully Your humble servant & friend &c &c &c—
— [1/2 page blank] [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Fields Jarvis, 6 February 1843
ID #
987
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D11:393–395
Handwriting on This Page
  • Fields Jarvis

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    The headwaters of Ellison Creek are in Warren County. (Past and Present of Warren County, Illinois, 108; History of Mercer and Henderson Counties, 1025, 1158.)

    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.

    History of Mercer and Henderson Counties: Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, etc. . . . Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1882.

  2. [2]

    Early records of Henderson County, Illinois—where Jarvis’s ferry site would have been located—suggest that Jarvis was not granted any ferriage rights between 1841, when Henderson County was formed from Warren County, and the time of this letter. However, Jarvis’s autobiography suggests that he obtained several properties in the region prior to the formation of Henderson County. He may have acquired the rights from Warren County prior to 1841. (See Early Court Commissioner’s Records of Henderson County, IL, 1–49; and Allaman, “Incidents in the Life of an Old Pioneer,” 16.)

    Early Court Commissioner’s Records of Henderson County, IL: 1841–1853; Copied from WPA Records at Springfield, IL. [Monmouth, IL]: Warren County, Illinois, Genealogical Society, 1992.

    Allaman, John Lee. “‘Incidents in the Life of an Old Pioneer’: The Memoir of Fields Jarvis.” Western Illinois Regional Studies 9, no. 1 (Spring 1986): 5–18.

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