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Letter from Isaac Stathem, 10 May 1843

Source Note

Isaac Stathem, Letter, , Philadelphia Co., PA, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 10 May 1843; handwriting and signature presumably of Isaac Stathem; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, dockets, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 8 inches (25 × 20 cm). The recto of the first leaf is ruled with twenty-nine horizontal blue lines that are now faded; the verso of the first leaf and recto of the second leaf are ruled with thirty horizontal blue lines that are now faded. Embossed in the upper left corner of the recto of the bifolium is an oval paper manufacturer’s insignia, now illegible. The document was trifolded twice in letter style and addressed. It was later refolded for filing.
The letter bears two dockets—one from , 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; and one from , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. A notation was added by Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s dockets and notation and its 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]; Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

    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.

  2. [2]

    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.

  3. [3]

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

Historical Introduction

On 10 May 1843, Isaac Stathem wrote a letter from to JS in , Illinois, to inquire about land arrangements Stathem had made in Nauvoo and to claim that he and his wife had been unjustly disfellowshipped by the Philadelphia of the . Stathem purchased land in Nauvoo in 1841 and then entered an agreement with , who owned an adjoining tract, allowing Morrison to rent Stathem’s land and house for thirty-six dollars a year. Stathem also entered into an agreement with a “Mathews”—probably —for additional land. In 1842, brought a suit against Stathem in the Circuit Court for nonpayment of a forty-dollar debt. When Stathem did not show up for the trial, the court ordered that a house owned by Stathem that was “a few paces North of the Store of Arhur Morison” be sold to pay the debt. This was probably the same house Morrison was renting from Stathem. If so, Stathem seemed unaware of the court order; he had previously asked to collect the rent from Morrison and pay it to Mathews as partial payment on the land, and he stated in the 10 May 1843 letter featured here that he expected that Young had collected another year’s rent. Young may have been involved in the transaction because he had made his own arrangement to purchase some land from Mathews. Stathem may have agreed to purchase some of the land Young bought from Mathews.
Sometime before February 1842, Stathem arrived in , where he was a supporter of , the of the Philadelphia branch. When Winchester and a group of his supporters split off from the rest of the branch and began meeting in a new building, Stathem followed them. One branch member referred to Stathem as one of Winchester’s “immediate Friends that Constantly surround him.” Stathem ran into difficulties after and set the Philadelphia branch in order under ’s leadership as presiding elder. Hess informed Hyrum Smith and JS in February 1843 that Stathem and his wife (whose name is not known) were “keeping a Kind of tave[r]n and oyster house” in Philadelphia “for prostitutes and their associates to resort.” The Stathems were also accused of prostituting Sister Miller, a young woman who had come to live with them after her parents disowned her because she converted to the church. The Stathems countered these charges by accusing Miller of immorality.
As a result of testimony regarding the Stathems’ accusations against Miller, Stathem’s wife was charged with defamation of character and using profane language. The first charge was “laid under the table” by the branch, a decision that believed was orchestrated by and his supporters. Stathem’s wife confessed to the second charge of using profanity and was exonerated. However, two months later, a “Select Council of ” disfellowshipped the Stathems based on Hess’s charge that they were “keeping a house of ill-fame.” Isaac Stathem composed this 10 May letter to tell JS his side of the story and to seek information about his property dealings.
The lack of postal markings on the letter suggests a courier delivered it to . The courier may have been , who was present at a 27 May 1843 meeting held to consider his standing in the church. Although three other letters written by branch members were read at this meeting, the minutes of the meeting do not mention Stathem’s letter. No response from JS has been located.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “List of Property in the City of Nauvoo,” 1841, Nauvoo block 11, lot 3; “List and Description of Taxable Lots and Lands,” 1842, Nauvoo block 11, lot 3, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Miller, “Study of Property Ownership: Nauvoo,” 11.

    Nauvoo, IL, Records, 1841–1845. CHL.

    Miller, Rowena J. “Study of Property Ownership: Nauvoo; Original Town of Nauvoo, 1839–1850,” ca. 1965. In Nauvoo Restoration, Inc., Corporate Files, 1839–1992. CHL.

  2. [2]

    Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Records, 1829–1897, vol. C, pp. 253–254, microfilm 947,496, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Notice, Warsaw (IL) Signal, 16 Feb. 1842, [2].

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

  3. [3]

    Young agreed to purchase fifty-five acres of land at $8 per acre and another ten acres of land and a house for $150, provided he could sell that property at those same amounts. (Anson Matthews and Brigham Young, Agreement, 30 Aug. 1841, photocopy, Nauvoo Restoration, Incorporated, Collection, CHL.)

    Nauvoo Restoration, Incorporated. Collection, 1818–2001. CHL.

  4. [4]

    A February 1842 notice in the Warsaw Signal stated that Stathem was not a resident of the state of Illinois. (Notice, Warsaw [IL] Signal, 16 Feb. 1842, [2].)

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

  5. [5]

    For more information on Winchester’s actions and the dividing of the branch, see Historical Introduction to Letter from Eliza Lowry Nicholson, 23 Apr. 1843.

  6. [6]

    Letter from Eliza Lowry Nicholson, 23 Apr. 1843. Stathem also signed a petition presented to a conference of the branch in April 1842 to request an investigation of disparaging remarks that had been made about Winchester. (Philadelphia Branch Record Book, 6 Apr. 1842, 25.)

    Philadelphia Branch Record Book, 1840–1854. Microfilm. CHL. Original at CCLA.

  7. [7]

    Philadelphia Branch Record Book, 14 Sept. 1842, 31; 15 and 31 Oct. 1842, 32–33.

    Philadelphia Branch Record Book, 1840–1854. Microfilm. CHL. Original at CCLA.

  8. [8]

    Letter from Peter Hess, 16 Feb. 1843.

  9. [9]

    Philadelphia Branch Record Book, 14 Feb. 1843, 38; see also Letter from Peter Hess, 16 Feb. 1843.

    Philadelphia Branch Record Book, 1840–1854. Microfilm. CHL. Original at CCLA.

  10. [10]

    Philadelphia Branch Record Book, 24 Apr. 1843, 39.

    Philadelphia Branch Record Book, 1840–1854. Microfilm. CHL. Original at CCLA.

  11. [11]

    See Minutes and Discourse, 27 May 1843.

Page [4]

To Mr
Joseph Smith
[p. [4]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Isaac Stathem, 10 May 1843
ID #
1063
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:296–300
Handwriting on This Page
  • Isaac Stathem

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