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Letter from John E. Page, 24 April 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Allegheny Co., PA, to JS and , , Hancock Co., IL, 24 Apr. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, dockets, and notation.
Single leaf measuring 12 × 7½ inches (30 × 19 cm). The leaf is ruled with thirty-nine horizontal blue lines. Page wrote the letter in blue ink. It was folded in half and then trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. A hole was torn at the bottom of the leaf when the letter was opened. The leaf was later refolded for filing.
, who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844, docketed the document, as did , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The notation “Copied by A. J.” was apparently added by a clerk or secretary to Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office 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 early dockets, notation, and later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718; “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.

    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.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  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 24 April 1843, wrote a letter to JS and from , reporting on the proselytizing work in that city and on a group of Pittsburgh Saints who planned to migrate to , Illinois. Page had been preaching in Pittsburgh since December 1841, although he was not officially assigned there until April 1842. He corresponded with JS in summer 1842 about the progress of the in Pittsburgh, but their correspondence apparently ceased thereafter. This letter was evidently the first Page had written to JS in several months. The lack of communication concerned JS, and just five days before Page wrote this letter, JS stated that Page could not “get money enough to pay po[s]tage” on a letter and instructed the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to remove him from Pittsburgh and to put a “good ” there in “his pl[a]ce.”
Although the letter was addressed solely to JS, its contents name his wife as an intended recipient as well. directed the second part of the letter to Emma, warning her that Mary Spratly, who would be coming to from Pittsburgh and who wanted to meet Emma, had an unbridled tongue.
The lack of postal markings on the letter indicates that it was delivered to JS by courier. The courier was likely , who apparently made a trip from to in April and May and called on , allowing him to hastily compose this letter to the Smiths. Although it is not clear when Hunter returned to Nauvoo, the letter may have reached JS before a 16 May 1843 meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In this meeting, the apostles decided that Page should “repair immediately to to prea[c]h.” He was later sent there.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from George Gee, 30 Dec. 1841; Minutes and Discourses, 6–8 Apr. 1842.

  2. [2]

    Letter to John E. Page, 16 July 1842; Letter from John E. Page, 8 Aug. 1842; Letter from John E. Page, 15 Aug. 1842.

  3. [3]

    Minutes, 19 Apr. 1843.

  4. [4]

    JS signed a promissory note to Hunter on 10 April 1843, suggesting Hunter was in Nauvoo at that time. On 1 June, Hunter was elected a member of the Nauvoo City Council, suggesting that he had returned to Nauvoo by then. ([JS] to Edward Hunter, Promissory Note, Nauvoo, IL, 10 Apr. 1843, JS Collection, CHL; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 1 June 1843, 180.)

  5. [5]

    JS, Journal, 16 May 1843; Kimball, Journal, 23 and 29 June 1843; Woodruff, Journal, 28 July 1843.

    Kimball, Heber C. Journals, 1837–1848. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

Page [2]

If you can fix out a bridle Suitable for her tongue and get her to weare it you will do more than all the Saints in can do— A word to the wise is Sufficient— All the rest of the company of the Saints is first rate and worthy of all confidence There is one Brother Crock it would be well if he could be made to see that <​it​> requires means temprally as well as spiritualy to build up Probely he does See it in the case of others but not in his own— Even a one piceuine [picayune] is twice Something you know as a little to make a muckle [mickle] in zion— Pray for me
yours in great haste
Joseph Smith)
President
Joseph Smith
Ill— [p. [2]]
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Source Note

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Page [2]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John E. Page, 24 April 1843
ID #
1054
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:234–237
Handwriting on This Page
  • John E. Page

Footnotes

  1. [8]

    See Psalm 39:1; and James 1:26.

  2. [9]

    According to Webster’s 1828 dictionary, mickle was an obsolete term meaning “much; great.” (“Mickle,” in American Dictionary [1828].)

    An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.

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