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Letter from George W. Henry, 18 July 1841

Source Note

George W. Henry, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to JS, , , and , , Hancock Co., IL, 18 July 1841; handwriting presumably of George W. Henry; one page; Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, CHL. Includes address and docket.
Single leaf, measuring 12¼ × 7⅞ inches (31 × 20 cm), ruled with thirty-seven faint, gray lines. Red residue from an adhesive wafer is visible on the bottom of the recto and on the center of the verso. The leaf is folded in letter style with two vertical folds and four horizontal folds. The document has undergone some conservation to strengthen the horizontal folds and to repair a tear on the bottom edge.
The letter was in a collection of papers held by Helen B. Fleming, a descendant of and . The collection was passed down to Fleming’s descendant Helen Marian Fleming Petersen. Shortly after Petersen’s death in February 1988, one of her children found this letter and other items in a box in Petersen’s home. By December 1988, the materials had been donated to the Church Historical Department.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, 1836–1963, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 18 July 1841, George W. Henry, a resident of , Illinois, wrote a letter addressed to JS, , , and —men involved in the construction of the and the —offering to help them build a lumber mill in . Because construction efforts in Nauvoo, Illinois, required a great deal more lumber than the surrounding prairie of and could provide, church leaders were interested in acquiring lumber elsewhere.
boasted a number of timber-rich regions along its many rivers, including the St. Croix, Chippewa, , Wisconsin, Fox, and Wolf rivers. These regions were known for their lumber industry, which included felling, sawing, and transporting timber. One newspaper deemed the along the Wisconsin River to be “one of the finest lumber districts in the .” Henry was familiar with Wisconsin Territory, having previously owned land in Brown County, on the eastern edge of the territory. He apparently also had connections with prominent individuals at army forts near prime lumbering operations. Having heard from an unidentified “Mr brown” that the Latter-day Saints were interested in starting their own operation in Wisconsin, Henry offered his services to JS and other church leaders.
JS, , , and apparently did not take Henry up on his offer because no further communications between Henry and the four men have been found. Latter-day Saint leaders were already in negotiations with Horatio Curts and George Crane to erect, operate, and eventually purchase a mill in the on the in west-central . The 15 September 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons reported on the progress of construction in as well as mill purchases by the Latter-day Saints: “The of the are making rapid advances towards the completion of that great and desirable object; the baptismal font in its base, will probably be completed in a few weeks. The is also in a great State of forwardness, and the work thereon is being pushed forward with all possible dilligence. We are informed that the committee of those two buildings have purchased extensive mills, and water privileges in the Pineries of Wisconsin, and a company of several men, in their employ, will leave here in a few days for that country.” The Latter-day Saints eventually built lumber mills at the confluence of the Black River and Roaring Creek in west-central Wisconsin Territory.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For more on the call to build the Nauvoo temple and Nauvoo House, see Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124]; and Agreement with William Law, 26 Apr. 1841. For more on the amount of and access to lumber in Illinois and Iowa, see News Item, North American and Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia), 3 Sept. 1840, [1]; and JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Edward Hunter, West Nantmeal, PA, 21 Dec. 1841, JS Collection, CHL.

    North American and Daily Advertiser. Philadelphia. 1839–1845.

  2. [2]

    News Item, North American and Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia), 3 Sept. 1840, [1]; “Land Sale,” Cleveland Daily Herald, 3 Sept. 1840, [3]; “Lumber from Wisconsin,” Daily Missouri Republican (St. Louis), 13 Oct. 1841, [2]; Hunt, Wisconsin Gazetteer [1853], 52, 64, 102, 212, 238, 243.

    North American and Daily Advertiser. Philadelphia. 1839–1845.

    Cleveland Herald. Cleveland. 1843–1853.

    Daily Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1869.

    Hunt, John Warren. Wisconsin Gazetteer, Containing the Names, Location, and Advantages, of the Counties, Cities, Towns, Villages, Post Offices, and Settlements, Together with a Description of the Lakes, Water Courses, Prairies, and Public Localities, in the State of Wisconsin. . Madison, WI: Beriah Brown, 1853.

  3. [3]

    “Land Sale,” Cleveland Daily Herald, 3 Sept. 1840, [3].

    Cleveland Herald. Cleveland. 1843–1853.

  4. [4]

    Henry was originally from Loudoun County, Virginia, and had lived in Quincy, Illinois, since at least 1839, when the Latter-day Saints found refuge in that city. He was married to Duannah, or Duana, Hamilton, and had two daughters. At some point he obtained a deed to land in Brown County, Wisconsin Territory, which he then transferred to a Louisa Moffetts in the fall of 1840. By 1850, Henry moved with his family to Mifflin, Wisconsin. (Adams Co., IL, 1825–1886, Deeds, vol. N, pp. 112–113, 23 Mar. 1839, microfilm 967,540; Loudoun Co., VA, Marriage Records, 1779–1914, Marriage Record, 1793–1850, p. 73, 30 Apr. 1827, microfilm 32,373; Columbia Co., WI, Land Records, 1838–1937, Brown County Record, vol. B, pp. 368–369, 13 Oct. 1840, microfilm 1,630,392, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; 1840 U.S. Census, Quincy Ward 1, Adams Co., IL, 2; 1850 U.S. Census, Mifflin, Iowa Co., WI, 378[A].)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

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

  5. [5]

    For more information on the negotiations with Curts and Crane, see Copy of Articles of Agreement for Mill, 11 Aug. 1840, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 26 June 1855, in Northern Islander (St. James, MI), 16 Aug. 1855, [3]–[4]; and Rowley, “Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries,” 126–127.

    Whitney, Newel K. Papers, 1825–1906. BYU.

    Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.

    Rowley, Dennis. “The Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries, 1841–1845.” BYU Studies 32, nos. 1 and 2 (1992): 119–148.

  6. [6]

    “The Church and Its Prospects,” Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1841, 2:543, italics in original.

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

  7. [7]

    George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 26 June 1855, in Northern Islander (St. James, MI), 16 Aug. 1855, [3]–[4]; Rowley, “Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries,” 121.

    Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.

    Rowley, Dennis. “The Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries, 1841–1845.” BYU Studies 32, nos. 1 and 2 (1992): 119–148.

Page [1]

18th July 1841
Gentlemen, this will inform you that I am now on my way to the and intended to have cal[l]ed at your , but find it out of my power To do do so— Having been informed By Mr brown that you were contempla[ting] the Building <​of​> a mill in the — I have thought that if I could probably be of Some servis to you, if we could meet at Fort Winebago, or in the — I shall be in at in the fort in about ten days & would be very <​glad​> to facilitate your interests in any way in my powers if you intend locating on the wisconsin River you will leave the at and go by land to unless the Wisconsin is up— enquire for me of Capt Low at Fort Winebago & if I can I certainly will do all in my power to advance your intersts—
with due Respect & esteem I am gentlemen yours &c—
G[eorge] W. Henry [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from George W. Henry, 18 July 1841
ID #
1478
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:209–212
Handwriting on This Page
  • G.W. Henry

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Golden Point, Illinois, was located approximately seven miles south and slightly east of Nauvoo, near the head of Larry Creek. (Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 473, 881–882; “Hancock County, Illinois, 1843–1844.”)

    Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

  2. [2]

    The “pinery,” or sometimes the “pineries,” refers to the region of lumbering operations along the Wisconsin River, though the term was also applied to other timber-rich regions along the rivers of Wisconsin Territory. (News Item, North American and Daily Advertiser [Philadelphia], 3 Sept. 1840, [1]; “Land Sale,” Cleveland Daily Herald, 3 Sept. 1840, [3]; “Lumber from Wisconsin,” Daily Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 13 Oct. 1841, [2]; Hunt, Wisconsin Gazetteer [1853], 52, 64, 102, 212, 238, 243.)

    North American and Daily Advertiser. Philadelphia. 1839–1845.

    Cleveland Herald. Cleveland. 1843–1853.

    Daily Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1869.

    Hunt, John Warren. Wisconsin Gazetteer, Containing the Names, Location, and Advantages, of the Counties, Cities, Towns, Villages, Post Offices, and Settlements, Together with a Description of the Lakes, Water Courses, Prairies, and Public Localities, in the State of Wisconsin. . Madison, WI: Beriah Brown, 1853.

  3. [3]

    Fort Winnebago, a United States Army fortification, was established in 1828 on the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers near present-day Portage, Wisconsin. The fort was constructed and staffed to protect white American travel and trade in that region. (“The Early History of Fort Winnebago,” Portage [WI] Democrat, 28 Mar. 1879, [4].)

    Portage Democrat. Portage, WI. 1877–1892.

  4. [4]

    Most likely Gideon Low. Low, originally from Pennsylvania, entered the army as an ensign in 1812 and rose to the rank of captain by 1828. According to a later history, Low, in 1831, was one of the earliest officers to arrive at Fort Winnebago, where he served as a captain until his resignation in 1840. Low remained in the area until his death in 1850. He was buried in the fort’s cemetery. (Draper, Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 7:402; Thwaites, Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 14:78–79.)

    Draper, Lyman Copeland, ed. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Vol. 7. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1908.

    Thwaites, Reuben Gold, ed. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Vol. 19. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1910.

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