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Letter from Henry A. Cyrus, 1 May 1843

Source Note

, Letter, Houston Township, Adams Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 1 May 1843; handwriting and signature presumably of ; one page; Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, and docket.
Single leaf measuring 12¼ × 7½ inches (31 × 19 cm). The document was folded in half and then trifolded twice in letter style, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. Mathematical equations were written in graphite on the document’s verso at an unknown time and in unidentified handwriting. The letter has undergone archival conservation.
The letter was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844. The letter was in a collection of papers held by Helen Vilate Bourne 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 (now CHL).

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]

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

Historical Introduction

On 1 May 1843, wrote from Houston Township, Illinois, to JS in , Illinois, requesting his assistance in selling lands in Sonora Township, Illinois, approximately ten miles southeast of Nauvoo. Cyrus was one of the earliest settlers of Houston Township and served as a postmaster there by 1838. He helped lay out the town of Houston, located in , Illinois, but the attendant land sales met with little success. Nevertheless, Cyrus apparently remained engaged in selling land in western . He contacted JS because of JS’s land dealings in and the large number of immigrants settling in and around Nauvoo.
In this letter, included a notice of the location of three available tracts of land, some additional information for potential purchasers, and the names of people who could better describe the land. He then asked JS, the president, to post the sale notice where those immigrating to the area could see it and offered him an incentive of ten dollars per tract for his help.
The letter does not bear any postage; however, given that was a postmaster in and wrote “pm” following his name on the addressing, he presumably sent his inquiry to JS through the post office. If so, it likely arrived in within a week of its mailing. The letter from Cyrus was apparently received in Nauvoo, because it was passed down among descendants of Nauvoo resident and Latter-day Saint and his wife, . However, it does not appear that JS provided Cyrus with any assistance. JS and other church members were already struggling to sell all the land they had purchased for settlement in the Nauvoo area.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Portrait and Biographical Record of Adams County, Illinois, 308; U.S. Post Office Department, Record of Appointment of Postmasters, reel 27, vol. 12B, p. 472.

    Portrait and Biographical Record of Adams County, Illinois, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, together with Biographies and Portraits of All the Presidents of the United States. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1892.

    U.S. Post Office Department. Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832–September 30, 1971. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M841. 145 microfilm reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1977.

  2. [2]

    JS encouraged church members to gather to the Nauvoo area beginning in 1839. British converts to the church began migrating to Nauvoo in 1840, and their numbers increased in early 1843. (Letter to the Saints Abroad, 24 May 1841; “Emigration,” Wasp, 16 Apr. 1842, [2]; JS, Journal, 12 Apr. 1843.)

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

  3. [3]

    Federal law permitted postmasters to send letters via the post office free of charge. (An Act to Reduce into One the Several Acts Establishing and Regulating the Post-Office Department [3 Mar. 1825], Post-Office Laws, Instructions and Forms, pp. 15–16, sec. 27.)

    Post-Office Laws, Instructions and Forms, Published for the Regulation of the Post-Office. Washington DC: Way and Gideon, 1828.

  4. [4]

    For example, just days after Cyrus wrote this letter, Brigham Young published an advertisement in the Nauvoo Neighbor informing new immigrants that he had “a few lots on hand” to “sell very cheap.” (Brigham Young, “Look Here,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 3 May 1843, [3]; 10 May 1843, [4].)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Page [2]

Full
, pm
Houston Ills
Joseph Smith,
,
Illinois. [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Henry A. Cyrus, 1 May 1843
ID #
1484
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:267–269
Handwriting on This Page
  • Henry A. Cyrus

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