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Letter from Hiram Barney, 24 January 1842

Source Note

, Letter, , New York Co., NY, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 24 Jan. 1842; handwriting presumably of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamps, postal notations, endorsement, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 8 inches (25 × 20 cm). The letter is inscribed on the first three pages. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and then postmarked. The wafer is on the recto of the second leaf, and wafer residue is on the verso of that same leaf. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The document was contemporaneously docketed by , who 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. It was then endorsed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as temple recorder from 1842 to 1846. The document was also docketed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets and endorsement 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]

    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.

  3. [3]

    “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.

  4. [4]

    “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.

  5. [5]

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

Historical Introduction

On 24 January 1842 attorney composed a letter to JS concerning the proposed sale of a twenty-acre plot of land in , Illinois. The letter continued negotiations begun in an earlier, face-to-face conversation between the two men in Nauvoo. According to the letter, Barney was negotiating the sale on behalf of the land owner, a prominent New York City merchant named Abijah Fisher. In addition to owning property in , Fisher had acquired land in Peoria and Macoupin counties, Illinois, and in , Iowa Territory. Fisher’s land purchases may have been undertaken as private ventures, but they were more likely made on behalf of the New York Land Company, a firm that speculated on western land.
Located near the eastern bank of the on the peninsula, the property named in ’s letter reportedly included a portion of the platted town of and, according to a later JS history, lay “some where between the Hotchkiss Purchase on the North and Galland Purchase on the South.” The land originally belonged to Joseph Teas, one of ’s earliest settlers. In 1835 Teas sold land that included this property to Charles Munson for $1,000. According to land , the value of the Munson lands increased dramatically in the years following its purchase, in large part because of the prospect of building a city on the lands. In 1836 a partnership that included Fisher, Benjamin Lee, and Joshua Aiken purchased half of Munson’s property for $6,000. The twenty-acre property that Barney offered to JS was likely Fisher’s portion of the partnership’s former land holdings.
In his letter to JS, described the land Fisher hoped to sell to JS, his estimate of what it was worth, and his client’s indication that the property could be paid for largely by exchanging parcels of land located in the eastern . The letter was mailed from to on 25 January 1842. An endorsement written by indicates the letter was received by JS in Nauvoo. JS responded to Barney’s proposal in a 3 March 1842 letter.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    After settling in New York City in 1840, Barney established a commercial law practice with partner William Mitchell. (Obituary for Hiram Barney, New York Times [New York City], 20 May 1895, 2; Holley, New-York State Register, for 1843, 391, 396.)

    New York Times. New York City. 1857–.

    Holley, O. L., ed. The New-York State Register, for 1843. Containing an Almanac, Civil Divisions, and Census of the State; with Political, Statistical and Other Information, Relating to the State of New-York and the United States. Also, a Full List of County Officers, Attorneys, &c. Albany: J. Disturnell, 1843.

  2. [2]

    Barney traveled to Lee County, Iowa Territory, in October 1841; it is likely then that he met with JS in Nauvoo, which was located on the other side of the Mississippi River. (Hiram Barney, New York City, NY, to David Kilbourne, Montrose, Iowa Territory, 13 Dec. 1841; David Kilbourne, Montrose, Iowa Territory, to Hiram Barney, New York City, NY, 28 Aug. and 15 Nov. 1841, Hiram Barney Papers, Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.)

    Barney, Hiram. Papers, 1772–1924. The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

  3. [3]

    In 1839 Fisher was a partner in the firm Goodwin, Fisher & Spencer; he was also on the board of directors for several New York institutions, including the Mechanics’ and Traders’ Bank and the Union Theological Seminary. (Longworth’s American Almanac [1839], 286; “Dissolution,” New-York Commercial Advertiser [New York City], 11 Jan. 1841, [4]; Williams, New-York Annual Register, 243; An Act to Incorporate the Union Theological Seminary, in the City of New-York [27 Mar. 1839], Laws of the State of New-York [1839], chap. 99, pp. 83–84, secs. 1, 3.)

    Longworth’s American Almanac, New-York Register, and City Directory, of the Sixty-Fourth Year of American Independence. . . . New York: Thomas Longworth, 1839.

    Commercial Advertiser. New York City. 1820–1863.

    Williams, Edwin. New-York Annual Register for the Year of Our Lord 1836. Containing an Almanac, Civil and Judicial List; with Political, Statistical and Other Information, respecting the State of New-York and the United States. New York: Edwin Williams, 1836.

    Laws of the State of New-York, Passed at the Forty-Sixth Session of the Legislation. Begun at the City of Albany the First Day of January, and Continued Till April 24, 1823. Albany: Leake and Croswell, 1823.

  4. [4]

    Land Patents for Abijah Fisher and Joshua Aiken, Peoria Co., IL, nos. 2990–2997; Land Patent for Abijah Fisher, Joshua Aiken, and Mark Aiken, Peoria Co., IL, no. 3133; Land Patent for Abijah Fisher, Macoupin Co., IL, no. 15916, General Land Office Records, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior; Mason, “Decree in Partition of the Half Breed Tract in Lee County, Iowa, 1840,” 434.

    General Land Office Records. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior. Digital images of the land patents cited herein are available at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/.

    Mason, Charles. “Decree in Partition of the Half Breed Tract in Lee County, Iowa, 1840.” Annals of Iowa 14, no. 6 (Fall 1924): 424–460.

  5. [5]

    Fisher had business ties with many of the New York Land Company’s trustees—including Isaac Galland, Samuel Marsh, Edward Delavan, David Kilbourne, Benjamin Lee, and Joshua Aiken—and had reportedly become a company stockholder by 1842. (Kilbourne, Strictures, on Dr. I. Galland’s Pamphlet, Entitled, “Villainy Exposed,” 8; Mason, “Decree in Partition of the Half Breed Tract in Lee County, Iowa, 1840,” 434, 437–442; Doyle v. Teas, 4 Scammon 207, 224 [Ill. Sup. Ct. 1843]; Neu, Erastus Corning, 142.)

    Kilbourne, David W. Strictures, on Dr. I. Galland’s Pamphlet, Entitled, “Villainy Exposed,” with Some Account of His Transactions in Lands of the Sac and Fox Reservation, etc., in Lee County, Iowa. Fort Madison, IA: Statesman Office, 1850.

    Mason, Charles. “Decree in Partition of the Half Breed Tract in Lee County, Iowa, 1840.” Annals of Iowa 14, no. 6 (Fall 1924): 424–460.

    Neu, Irene D. Erastus Corning: Merchant and Financier, 1794–1872. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1960.

  6. [6]

    JS History, vol. C-1, 1286; Abijah Fisher and Oliver Granger, Tax Receipt, 25 May 1841, Hiram Kimball, Collection, CHL; Doyle v. Teas, 4 Scammon 223 (Ill. Sup. Ct. 1843).

    JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.

    Kimball, Hiram. Collection, 1830–1910. CHL.

    Scammon / Scammon, J. Young. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois. 4 vols. St. Louis: W. J. Gilbert, 1869–1870.

  7. [7]

    Hancock Co., IL, Plat Books, 1836–1938, vol. 1, pp. 10–11, Commerce Plat, 24 May 1834, microfilm 954,774, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 955.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    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.

  8. [8]

    Doyle v. Teas, 4 Scammon 206–207, 223–224 (Ill. Sup. Ct. 1843). The property was described in a later suit as an “undivided half of the north west fractional quarter of section two (2), in township six (6) north, of range nine (9) west.”

    Scammon / Scammon, J. Young. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois. 4 vols. St. Louis: W. J. Gilbert, 1869–1870.

  9. [9]

    Aiken reportedly sold his interest in the property to Lee after July 1837. On 2 March 1839 Lee sold 120 acres of land in the northwest fractional quarter of Section 2 in Township 6 North, Range 9 West. In January 1843 Fisher sold 120 acres in the same area, which likely included the lands offered to JS. (Doyle v. Teas, 4 Scammon 204, 207 [Ill. Sup. Ct. 1843]; Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. K, pp. 121–123, 2 Mar. 1839; vol. L, pp. 418–419, 20 Jan. 1843, microfilm 954,599, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    Scammon / Scammon, J. Young. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois. 4 vols. St. Louis: W. J. Gilbert, 1869–1870.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  10. [10]

    Letter to Hiram Barney, 3 Mar. 1842.

Page [1]

January 24th. 1842
Joseph Smith
Dear Sir,
During my last visit to I paid my respects to you and held a conversation with you in relation to the lands of Abijah Fisher Esqr situated in your . It was then understood between us that the negotiations which were then commenced should be prosecuted by letter. To obviate any unpleasant feelings which you may have growing out of the connection which has had with this business I take the liberty to assure you that that individual is no longer charged with instructions to negotiate or interfere with us in the transactions. If you choose to buy you will receive the property directly from Mr Fisher without the intervention of any third person.
Mr. Fisher owns the undivided one third part of Sixty acres equal to Twenty acres of land— The situation of this property in the centre of the flourishing and rapidly [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Hiram Barney, 24 January 1842
ID #
752
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D9:109–114
Handwriting on This Page
  • Hiram Barney

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Acting as a local agent for the New York Land Company, Kilbourne began purchasing land in Lee County, Iowa Territory, during the late 1830s; he also owned and operated a general store in Montrose, Lee County. Difficulties between him and JS appear to have developed in 1841. In mid-September, JS and John C. Bennett, respectively lieutenant general and major general of the Nauvoo Legion, were invited to attend a military parade of the Lee County militia in Montrose. At that gathering, Kilbourne apparently read aloud a proclamation insisting that Smith had no right to inspect the militia. Later that month Kilbourne wrote a series of letters to the Burlington Hawkeye and Patriot (later reprinted in the Warsaw Signal) in which he accused Latter-day Saint settlers of orchestrating thirteen robberies in Montrose. (“Mason-Remey and the Kilbourne Collections,” 310–311; David W. Kilbourne, Statement, Keokuk, IA, 22 Sept. 1853, microfilm 960,050, item 3, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; JS History, vol. C-1 Addenda, 18–19; “Difficulty at Montrose,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, 15 Sept. 1841, [2]; David Kilbourne and Edward Kilbourne, “Latter-Day-ism,” Warsaw Signal, 6 Oct. 1841, [2]–[3].)

    Editorial Department, “The Mason-Remey and the Kilbourne Collections,” Annals of Iowa 15 (Apr. 1926): 307–813.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

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