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Letter from Isaac Galland, 11 March 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , St. Louis Co., MO, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 11 Mar. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamp, dockets, notation, and redaction.
Bifolium measuring 12½ × 7¾ inches (32 × 20 cm). The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. When the letter was opened, the second leaf was torn, resulting in a loss of some text on the recto. The document 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. , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859, added a second docket. Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941, inscribed a notation beneath Hawkins’s docket. 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 notation, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection 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]

    “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.

  3. [3]

    Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

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

  4. [4]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], 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 11 March 1843, land speculator and erstwhile Latter-day Saint wrote from to JS in , Illinois, informing him that member had been arrested. Galland had been into the church in 1839 after he sold land to the Saints in and following their expulsion from . He served as a church until early 1842, when he was removed from the position after allegedly misappropriating church funds. Galland no longer actively affiliated with the church by early 1843, but the tone of the letter featured here indicates that he remained on friendly terms with JS. Galland was visiting St. Louis in March when he learned of Rockwell’s arrest.
was charged with the 6 May 1842 attempted assassination of former governor in , Missouri. Based on that charge, Missouri officials initiated extradition proceedings, which were honored by governor , who issued an arrest warrant for Rockwell in August 1842. After eluding arrest, Rockwell went into hiding among church members in and around . For reasons that remain unclear, in early 1843 Rockwell decided to return to . While passing through , Rockwell was recognized, taken into custody, and incarcerated in the St. Louis County jail on 5 March 1843.
Upon hearing that was in , requested to meet with him, but when Galland arrived at the jail on 8 March he learned that Rockwell had been moved that morning to , Missouri, the state capital, on the way to for trial. Two days later, Galland met with the St. Louis jailer, George H. C. Meloday, who shared details of Rockwell’s situation, and on 11 March, Galland met with attorney , who had given legal counsel to Rockwell. Later that day, Galland summarized what he had learned about Rockwell’s predicament in his letter to JS. Galland also recounted attending the lectures of former Latter-day Saint in St. Louis and reported that Bennett made several misleading claims about the Saints.
According to the postmark, waited to mail the letter until 15 March, four days after its composition and a full week after had been moved from to . The reason for the delay is unclear, although as he indicated in his letter, Galland was aware that had already written to church leaders in with news of Rockwell’s arrest, which perhaps reduced Galland’s sense of urgency. Galland’s letter probably reached Nauvoo about a week after he mailed it. By that time, JS had already learned of Rockwell’s predicament and had set a legal strategy in motion. JS’s response to Galland’s letter, if any, is unknown.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Historical Introduction to Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839; and Historical Introduction to Letter from Isaac Galland, 24 July 1839.

  2. [2]

    Revocation of Power of Attorney, 18 Jan. 1842.

  3. [3]

    Galland was a resident of Iowa Territory. He may have been in St. Louis on business, as he had previously done business with an individual from that city. (Cook, “Isaac Galland,” 281; Letter from Isaac Galland, 11 Dec. 1841.)

    Cook, Lyndon W. “Isaac Galland—Mormon Benefactor.” BYU Studies 19 (Spring 1979): 261–284.

  4. [4]

    “Assassination of Ex-Governor Boggs of Missouri,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 21 May 1842, [3]; Orrin Porter Rockwell, Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 8 Aug. 1842, copy, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

    Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

  5. [5]

    Letter from Sybella McMinn Armstrong and Orrin Porter Rockwell, 1 Dec. 1842.

  6. [6]

    “Orrin Porter Rockwell,” Daily Missouri Republican (St. Louis), 6 Mar. 1843, [3]; see also “Part 1: March 1843.”

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

  7. [7]

    Richard Blennerhassett, St. Louis, MO, to Newel K. Whitney, Nauvoo, IL, 7 Mar. 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; “The Attempted Assassination of Gov. Boggs,” New-York Commercial Advertiser (New York City), 18 Mar. 1843, [1].

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

    Commercial Advertiser. New York City. 1820–1863.

  8. [8]

    Blennerhassett’s letter took a week to be carried the same distance. (Richard Blennerhassett, St. Louis, MO, to Newel K. Whitney, Nauvoo, IL, 7 Mar. 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; Letter to Richard Blennerhassett, 17 Mar. 1843.)

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

  9. [9]

    Word of Rockwell’s arrest reached Nauvoo on 13 March 1843. (JS, Journal, 13 Mar. 1843; see also Letter to Richard Blennerhassett, 17 Mar. 1843; Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 17–18 Mar. 1843; and Letter to Justin Butterfield, 18 Mar. 1843.)

Page [2]

for this service in what ever way he may desire the it to be done. Now Sir I have this <​day,​> seen , and conversed with him on the subject. He informs me that he has wrote to on on the case. and But I will here take occasion to say, what, would not say, and that is, that could not have selected from the bar of this , or perhaps of the ; a councillor better, or even as well quallified to defend him as , can and will do; provided that mobocracy does not superseede the administration of law. I know nothing of the guilt or innocence of this individual, nor have I heard any circumstance connected with the charge of guilt against him; except what what has been alledged by Genl. in his affidavits and lectures, and these are taken in this with great allowances. I do hope that that may have a fair & lawful course taken in relation to his trial, but it is scarcely to be expected. Therefore However it is the duty of his friends, to, at least make an effort to secure him a fair trial. And I will here rema[r]k that Mr. Melloday informed me that he met the appraoaching storm with perfect composure. said that he had rather die, than be deprived of his liberty— and so long as this charge rested on him, uninvestigated, he must be restrained from going where he pleased— he asserted his innocence; but declared, he had rather die, than live under the disabilities which such a charge inflicted. He left here perfectly reconciled to his fate, be that what it may. [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Isaac Galland, 11 March 1843
ID #
1009
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:32–37
Handwriting on This Page
  • Isaac Galland

Footnotes

  1. [5]

    In a 7 March 1843 letter to Newel K. Whitney, Blennerhassett explained that he met with Rockwell in the St. Louis County jail and gave him legal advice. Blennerhassett indicated that if he were retained as Rockwell’s attorney, he would seek a change of venue from Jackson County. The lawyer also reported that he had written Missouri governor Thomas Reynolds “demanding the protection of the laws for Rockwell against personal violence.” (Richard Blennerhassett, St. Louis, MO, to Newel K. Whitney, Nauvoo, IL, 7 Mar. 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU, underlining in original.)

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

  2. [6]

    Blennerhassett entered legal practice in St. Louis in the early 1840s and “was connected with many noted civil and criminal cases” during his career. (Johnson, “Recollections of the Criminal Practice,” 96.)

    Johnson, Charles P. “Recollections of the Criminal Practice.” In The History of the Bench and Bar of Missouri . . . , edited by A. J. D. Stewart, 90–108. St. Louis: Legal Publishing, 1898.

  3. [7]

    Following his 1842 excommunication from the church, Bennett alleged in various publications that JS had hired Rockwell to assassinate Boggs and that Rockwell had been in Independence at the time of the shooting. Bennett supplied affidavits designed to support his claims. (“Bennett’s Second and Third Letters,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 15 July 1842, [2]; “Gen. Bennett’s 4th Letter,” Sangamo Journal, 22 July 1842, [2]; John H. Lawton, Affidavit, 6 July 1842; John C. Bennett, Affidavit, 7 July 1842; Jonas Hobart, Affidavit, 9 July 1842, in “Disclosures—the Attempted Murder of Boggs!,” Sangamo Journal, 22 July 1842, [2].)

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

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