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Letter from James Adams, 14 March 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Sangamon Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 14 Mar. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamp, endorsement, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 11½ × 7½ inches (30 × 19 cm). The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. When the bifolium is folded so that the letter appears on the recto of the first leaf, the address appears on the recto of the second leaf. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The letter was endorsed and 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. After the letter was refolded for filing, a new docket was added by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. An unidentified Historian’s Office clerk also docketed the letter on the verso of the second leaf. 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 letter’s early endorsement and dockets, 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]

    “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 14 March 1843, Latter-day Saint wrote from , Illinois, to JS in , Illinois, informing him about developments of interest to the church in Springfield. An attorney and a judge, Adams was a prominent Springfield citizen with influence and connections in the capital. He was also president of the Springfield of the . In the letter, Adams described recent attempts in the Illinois legislature to repeal or amend the Nauvoo charter, particularly section 17, which authorized the city’s municipal court to issue writs of . Debates surrounding the charter stemmed from criticisms of JS’s use of the provision to avert arrest when state officials sought to extradite him to Missouri in August 1842. In addition, Adams informed JS that was communicating with Missouri and Illinois officials to renew efforts to have JS extradited to Missouri and be tried for crimes allegedly committed during the 1838 conflict between Latter-day Saints and their antagonists in Missouri.
mailed the 14 March 1843 letter on 17 March. It arrived in presumably within a few days. added an endorsement noting a request mentioned in the letter from for a subscription to the Wasp and Times and Seasons newspapers. No response from JS has been located, perhaps because Adams indicated that he intended to be in Nauvoo in early April 1843.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Selby, History of Sangamon County, 10; Walgren, “James Adams,” 122.

    Selby, Paul, ed. History of Sangamon County. 2 vols. Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, edited by Newton Bateman and Paul Selby. Chicago: Munsell Publishing, 1912.

    Walgren, Kent L. “James Adams: Early Springfield Mormon and Freemason.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 75 (Summer 1982): 121–136.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Abraham C. Hodge and Springfield, IL, Branch, 25 Jan. 1842.

  3. [3]

    See Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.

  4. [4]

    As early as July 1842, former Latter-day Saint John C. Bennett publicly criticized the Nauvoo Municipal Court’s habeas corpus powers, predicting that JS would use the provision to escape arrest. When the court granted JS’s petition for habeas corpus the following month—after officers arrived in Nauvoo with a warrant for his arrest and extradition to Missouri—the issue drew additional critiques in the public press, leading to repeal efforts within the legislature. (“Gen. Bennett’s 4th Letter,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 22 July 1842, [2]; JS, Journal, 8 Aug. 1842; see also, for example, “Joe Smith Demanded,” Sangamo Journal, 19 Aug. 1842, [2]; and News Item, Illinois State Register [Springfield], 20 Jan. 1843, [3].)

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

    Daily Illinois State Register. Springfield, IL. 1855–1891.

Page [1]

City of March 14th 1843.
Genl Joseph Smith.
You no doubt have before this had information relative to the result of the numerous attempts to destroy your charter
The final attempt was made about two hours before the adjournment Sine die, and in the Senate received its veto. Your members all behaved manfully in sustaining it
I am informed that the has received a letter from stating that are prepareing to send for you again. This is however s word for it.
says he shall start for home in about one week, he is well, his is as well as it is reasonable to expect.
I expect to be at about the 6th of April
Our friend requested me to say that he wished the Wasp & the Times & Seasons forwarded to him, directed to Post Office.
I am &c
[p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from James Adams, 14 March 1843
ID #
1013
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:46–49
Handwriting on This Page
  • James Adams

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    During its thirteenth general assembly, the Illinois state legislature debated several times regarding the repeal of the Nauvoo charter or the amendment of section 17, the habeas corpus provision. The legislators assigned to Hancock County, Illinois—representatives William Smith (JS’s brother) and Thomas Owen and Senator Jacob C. Davis—successfully defended the charter from the repeal efforts. Although a bill repealing the offending provision of the charter passed the house on 3 March 1843, the state senate failed to act on the measure before the legislative session closed on 6 March. (JS, Journal, 9–20 Dec. 1842; 8 Feb. and 4 Mar. 1843; Journal of the Senate . . . of Illinois, 10 Dec. 1842, 55–56; 23 Feb. 1843, 412; 4 and 6 Mar. 1843, 515, 533; News Item, Illinois State Register [Springfield], 20 Jan. 1843, [3]; “House of Representatives,” Wasp, 9 July 1842, [2]; 15 Mar. 1843, [2]; see also Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)

    Journal of the Senate of the Thirteenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Regular Session, Begun and Held at Springfield, December 5, 1842. Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1842.

    Daily Illinois State Register. Springfield, IL. 1855–1891.

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

  2. [2]

    Thomas Ford.

  3. [3]

    Following his May 1842 excommunication from the church, Bennett worked with Missouri officials to have JS extradited to Missouri for his alleged complicity in the May 1842 assassination attempt on former governor Lilburn W. Boggs. In early January 1843, the United States Circuit Court for the District of Illinois ruled that the extradition attempt was unlawful and discharged JS from arrest. Upon learning of JS’s discharge, Bennett again communicated with Missouri citizens in order to have a grand jury convened in Daviess County, Missouri, to indict JS for allegedly committing treason in 1838, after which Missouri governor Thomas Reynolds was expected to initiate a new extradition attempt. (Court Ruling, 5 Jan. 1843; Letter to Justin Butterfield, 16 Jan. 1843; “Part 4: June–July 1843.”)

  4. [4]

    Adams was likely referring to Caroline Grant Smith’s suffering from dropsy, or edema, a painful ailment that made travel difficult. (“Funeral of Mrs. Caroline Smith,” Times and Seasons, 1 June 1845, 6:920; see also Walker, William B. Smith, 153–154.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

    Walker, Kyle R. William B. Smith: In the Shadow of a Prophet. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2015.

  5. [5]

    Adams likely hoped to attend the special church conference that was scheduled to start on 6 April 1843, though he was apparently not able to travel to Nauvoo until June 1843. (See Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843; Letter from James Adams, 27 Apr. 1843; and JS, Journal, 23 June 1843.)

  6. [6]

    A Chicago attorney, Butterfield represented JS before the United States Circuit Court for the District of Illinois in early January 1843, when JS sought release from arrest after Missouri officials attempted to extradite him to Missouri. The Wasp was a Nauvoo newspaper devoted to secular issues, while the Times and Seasons focused on the church. (See Historical Introduction to Letter from Justin Butterfield, 17 Dec. 1842; and Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:91–96, 192–193.)

    Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

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