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Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 7 April 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , New York Co., NY, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 7 Apr. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; certified by on behalf of JS; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamp, filing notation, dockets, and use marks.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 7⅞ inches (26 × 20 cm). The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. When the letter was opened, the second leaf was torn. Remnants of the adhesive wafer remain on the last page of the bifolium. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The document was 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 also docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844, and 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 letter had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest 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; Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    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.

    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 7 April 1843, land speculator wrote from to JS in , Illinois, regarding property there. JS and Hotchkiss had exchanged voluminous correspondence over the previous four years relating to land in Nauvoo that JS and the had acquired from Hotchkiss and his partners, and , in 1839. Hotchkiss, who was JS’s largest creditor, learned from , the assignee for JS’s pending bankruptcy case, that the Nauvoo land, or possibly only JS’s right to the land, was to be sold, despite the fact that Hotchkiss still held the title. Catlin was moving forward with bankruptcy proceedings by preparing to sell JS’s assets, which included significant properties, to help satisfy JS’s debts. In his application for bankruptcy, JS had mistakenly listed the Hotchkiss land as his asset, though he did not yet own title to the land and still owed substantial sums of money to Hotchkiss for it. JS’s listed assets had likely been turned over to Catlin; however, there is no evidence that Catlin sold any of the Hotchkiss land or JS’s rights to the land. Hotchkiss’s business partner in , John Gillet, may have met with JS or others to resolve the issue when he visited Nauvoo on 12 April 1843.
Based on the tone of this letter, seemed unconcerned about the pending sale by since he had legitimate claim to the land and could prove it. Hotchkiss also indicated that rather than evict the Saints, he would allow them to continue living on his land as tenants. JS eventually renegotiated the original land deal with Hotchkiss and his partners in July 1843.
mailed his letter from on 8 April; JS received it by 5 May 1843, when transcribed the contents of the letter into the city register of deeds on JS’s behalf. Clayton also inscribed a notation certifying the official recording on the verso of the first leaf of Hotchkiss’s letter.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    On 12 August 1839, JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith signed a bond to purchase approximately four hundred acres from Hotchkiss and his partners, John Gillet and Smith Tuttle. Hotchkiss and Gillet purchased the land mentioned in that bond from Alexander White in June 1836. The land was originally set aside by the federal government as bounty land to be sold to men who held a military commission during the War of 1812. (Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A; Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 Aug. 1839; Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. B, p. 322, microfilm 954,192, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Anthony Hoffman, Rushville, IL, to John Reid, Argyle, NY, 1 Nov. 1833, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, IL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Hoffman, Anthony. Letter, Rushville, IL, to John Reid, Argyle, NY, 1 Nov. 1833. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.

  2. [2]

    JS applied for bankruptcy in April 1842. According to the Bankruptcy Act of 1841, an assignee was given all rights to distribute and sell the bankrupt individual’s property. By early June 1842, the federal district court in Springfield, Illinois, appointed Joel Catlin to be the assignee for individuals residing in Nauvoo and elsewhere in Hancock County, Illinois. (Application for Bankruptcy, ca. 14–16 Apr. 1842; An Act to Establish a Uniform System of Bankruptcy [19 Aug. 1841], Public Statutes at Large, vol. 5, pp. 442–443, sec. 3; Letter from Calvin A. Warren, ca. 23 June 1842.)

    The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.

  3. [3]

    Application for Bankruptcy, ca. 14–16 Apr. 1842; Historical Introduction to Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 27 May 1842.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 12 Apr. 1843.

  5. [5]

    JS had been informed by Justin Butterfield that Catlin could only sell “Josephs Right” to the land because JS had not satisfied his debt to Hotchkiss and his partners. Therefore, the lots and right to the land would revert to Hotchkiss. (JS, Journal, 5 Jan. 1843.)

  6. [6]

    Clayton, Journal, 7 July 1843; Bond from Smith Tuttle and John Gillet, 7 July 1843; Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. 12G, p. 299, microfilm 954,195, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; John Gillet, Lake Fork, IL, to Smith Tuttle, Fair Haven, CT, 20 Aug. 1843, John Gillett-William P. Whittle Papers, 1835–1869, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, IL.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    John Gillett-William P. Whittle Papers, 1835–1869. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, IL.

  7. [7]

    Nauvoo Registry of Deeds, Record of Deeds, bk. A, p. 140.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 7 April 1843 Nauvoo Registry of Deeds, Deed Record Book A, 1840–1843 History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] “History of Joseph Smith”

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 7 April 1843
ID #
1041
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:180–183
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