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Letter from George Brandon, 6 July 1842

Source Note

, Letter, , IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 6 July 1842; handwriting presumably of ; four pages; JS Collection (Supplement), CHL. Includes address, dockets, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 12 × 7⅞ inches (30 × 20 cm), with slight variation due to uneven cutting and folding, ruled with thirty-four horizontal blue lines (now faded). The right side of the recto of both leaves was unevenly cut. wrote at the top and bottom of the verso of the second leaf, leaving space for the address block. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style for transmission; it was subsequently folded for filing.
The letter was docketed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office from 1853 to 1859. The notation “copied by A.J.” was apparently added by a clerk or secretary for Andrew Jenson, who served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. Sometime between 1973 and 1984, the document was added to the JS Collection Supplement at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket, notation, and inclusion in the JS Collection (Supplement) indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “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.

  2. [2]

    Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 48–52, 55.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  3. [3]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection (Supplement), 1833–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 6 July 1842, , who had moved from Tennessee to in May, wrote to JS in , Illinois, reporting on the state of the in northwestern Tennessee. Brandon had been while living in Henry County, Tennessee, sometime in 1835. The first missionaries began preaching in Henry and neighboring counties in 1834, and helped establish in these counties in 1835. Woodruff also preached at Brandon’s home on a few occasions in 1836. In 1839, Brandon reported on his proselytizing efforts in and around Henry County and noted that he had recently “organized a branch of the church called the charity branch, consisting of 8 members.” While other missionaries came and went, over the next few years Brandon continued to preach and baptize in the region. In early 1842, Daniel Hunt, , and Alfred Young stopped to preach with Brandon while journeying to central Tennessee. Within a few months, members of the Charity branch, including Brandon, began to relocate to Nauvoo and other nearby locales.
In the letter featured here, addressed to JS as the editor of the church newspaper, related his proselytizing success, noted the creation of the Charity , and reported on the state of other branches in and around Henry and counties. The absence of postal markings indicates that he probably hand delivered this letter to JS or an associate in . Brandon apparently intended for the letter to be printed in the Times and Seasons, but it was never published.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    George Brandon, Autobiographical Sketch, no. 52, in “Record of the Seventeenth Quorum of Seventies,” Seventies Quorum Records, CHL.

    Seventies Quorum Records, 1844–1975. CHL. CR 499.

  2. [2]

    Though Brandon wrote in his autobiography that he was baptized on about 25 March 1835, Wilford Woodruff, who baptized him, did not arrive in the region until April. (George Brandon, Autobiographical Sketch, no. 52, in “Record of the Seventeenth Quorum of Seventies,” Seventies Quorum Records, CHL; Woodruff, Journal, 9 Apr. 1835.)

    Seventies Quorum Records, 1844–1975. CHL. CR 499.

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

  3. [3]

    Patten, Journal, 2 Oct. 1834; David W. Patten and Warren Parrish, Paris, TN, to Oliver Cowdery, 11 Oct. 1834, in Messenger and Advocate, Nov. 1834, 1:24; Berrett, “History of the Southern States Mission,” 62–64, 78–80, 83–99, 109–110, 159–160, 192–194.

    Patten, David W. Journal, 1832–1834. CHL. MS 603.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

    Berrett, LaMar C. “History of the Southern States Mission, 1831–1861.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960.

  4. [4]

    Woodruff, Journal, 18 Jan. and 17–18 Feb. 1836.

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

  5. [5]

    “From the Elders Abroad,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:25.

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

  6. [6]

    Young, Autobiography, typescript, BYU. In a May 1842 letter to JS, John D. Lee reported that William and Alfred Young had organized a branch in Putnam County, Tennessee, and had tried to raise the dead. Lee characterized them as “counterfeit Mormons.” In his autobiography, written in the 1880s, Alfred Young challenged Lee’s claims. (“Letter from Tennessee,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842, 3:821.)

    Young, Alfred. Autobiography, no date. Typescript. BYU.

Page [3]

would Tarry there a few days or weeks my labours was extended as I before Stated from Blood River Henry County to montgomery County Through and Stewart Counties making a circuit of about 80 miles <​in length​> which lies in the the Shape of a half moon Commencing at Blood river the west point and extending in a circle south like a half moon to a parallel <​point​> East in Montgomery County through Out this circuit I have preached all I could my circumstances being vary limited I suppose that I have preached about five hundred Sermons in The last Three years and alone Twenty Six persons my circumstances have ben such that I have been compelled to labour all the while for the support of my family and not only this I was near Two hundred dollars in debt which I had no other way of paying only by my labour which I have paid excepting a few dollars that was given me this last spring by my sister Abigail Brandon. I suppose she gave me as much as fifteen dollars in money a good many of the poor sisters and Brothers has helped me to a little provisions &C as they could spare. I have suffered some loss by the mobs of and Henry Counties But out of all these Troubles the Lord has delivered me for which I feel to thank and a dore his name for he has not only made me able me to get here myself but he has made me an instrument in some degree of helping some of my Brethren to get here also to with Brothers french and Stacy with their families which are now in now to God be all the praise both now and for ever amen. There is a <​in​> the Acadimy But no other Officers the two elders having removed to this spring whose names are as follows Alexander W. Morgan and [p. [3]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from George Brandon, 6 July 1842
ID #
1917
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:241–245
Handwriting on This Page
  • George Brandon

Footnotes

  1. [13]

    Brandon married Keziah Fowler in October 1831. By February 1842, the couple had five living children: Thomas Jefferson, Elizabeth Jane, Wilford Woodruff, Mary Caroline, and Martha Frances. (1850 U.S. Census, District 21, Pottawattamie Co., IA, 100[A]; Black et al., Annotated Record . . . Iowa, Pottawattamie County, 2:700–701.)

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

    Black, Harvey Bischoff, Susan Easton Black, Sarah Allen, and Rebecca Allen. Annotated Record, United States Federal Census, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, 1850. 3 vols. Tel Aviv, Israel: MyHeritage, [2013?].

  2. [14]

    Records show tithing donations from Abigail Brandon beginning in November 1842. (Book of the Law of the Lord, 221, 222, 256.)

  3. [15]

    Wilford Woodruff had noted cases of mob activity and potential mob activity during his time in the area in the mid-1830s, though he did not specifically mention the destruction of property. (Woodruff, Journal, 28 July 1835; 19 and 28 July 1836.)

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

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