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Letter from John E. Page, 8 August 1842

Source Note

, Letter, , Allegheny Co., PA, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 8 Aug. 1842; handwriting of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, docket, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 7½ × 6 inches (19 × 15 cm). The bifolium was manually created by folding a single leaf of lined paper, with the printed lines vertical. Both leaves are ruled with about eighteen blue lines (now faded). The right, left, and bottom edges have the square cut of manufactured paper; the top edge is jagged, suggesting it was torn from a bound volume or a larger piece of paper. The letter was inscribed in blue ink. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. Remnants of the wafer are located on the recto of the second leaf. The letter was later refolded for filing. Some separation has occurred along the folds of the second leaf.
, who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844, docketed the document. The notation “Copied by A.J.” was apparently added by a clerk or secretary for Andrew Jenson, who served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. 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 docket and notation, the circa 1904 inventory, and inclusion in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.

    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.

  2. [2]

    Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 48–52, 55.

    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.

  3. [3]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, 1, 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

In response to a 16 July 1842 letter from JS, wrote this 8 August 1842 letter from , where he was proselytizing, to JS in , Illinois. In his letter, Page expressed concern about how accusations from and others were influencing public opinion. Several newspapers, including the Sangamo Journal, had published letters from both Bennett and Martha Brotherton, an eighteen-year-old convert from , alleging that JS, , and confined Brotherton in a room in Nauvoo and told her it was God’s will that she marry Young as a plural wife. Rumors about a marriage proposal to Brotherton had apparently existed in Nauvoo since at least April, but they gained a wider audience with the publication of Bennett’s and Brotherton’s letters. Concerned that such statements were destroying the reputation of JS and other leaders, Page, who was also one of the , urged JS, Young, and Kimball to denounce the allegations.
The lack of postal markings suggests that a courier hand carried the letter. It likely reached within a few weeks. The docket on the letter by indicates that the letter reached Nauvoo, but when JS received it is unclear, especially since he was in hiding for much of August. However, on 26 August 1842, JS discussed with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles plans to send on missions to the eastern to counteract ’s accusations. On 27 August, perhaps in response to ’s pleas in the letter, and both swore affidavits refuting Brotherton’s charges. These affidavits were published as a broadside on 31 August 1842.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter to John E. Page, 16 July 1842.

  2. [2]

    “Miss Brotherton’s Statement,” Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 22 July 1842, [2].

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

  3. [3]

    Minutes and Discourses, 6–8 Apr. 1842.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 26 Aug. 1842; “Affidavit of H. C. Kimball” and “Affidavit of Brigham Young,” in Affidavits and Certificates [Nauvoo, IL: 1842], copy at CHL; see also “Testimony of J. McIlwrick” and Vilate Murray Kimball, Affidavit, Hancock Co., IL, 30 Aug. 1842, in Affidavits and Certificates [Nauvoo, IL: 1842], copy at CHL.

    Affidavits and Certificates, Disproving the Statements and Affidavits Contained in John C. Bennett’s Letters. Nauvoo Aug. 31, 1842. [Nauvoo, IL: 1842]. Copy at CHL.

Page [3]

The people believe that is a villen and effectually exposing villens— But the thinking Public are looking for and his and the Higbees and others to finish the work of Death to mormonism
Testimony from from without the will have the best efect to doaway s sayings.
I am hapy to subscribe myself you[r] Brother unshaken in the of the gospel of Peace to establish the glory of — My love to the the and all the saints
To the President
Joseph Smith [p. [3]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John E. Page, 8 August 1842
ID #
900
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:361–364
Handwriting on This Page
  • John E. Page

Footnotes

  1. [4]

    One newspaper, for example, reported, “We have no doubt that Smith is a stupendous rascal—and as for Bennett, there is no great lack of charity in setting him down as only not quite so bad.” (“A Row among the Mormons,” Sun [Baltimore], 22 July 1842, [2].)

    Sun. Baltimore. 1837–2008.

  2. [5]

    Bennett claimed in his letters that Francis Higbee, George W. Robinson, and Sidney Rigdon all had knowledge of JS’s alleged marriage proposal to Nancy Rigdon. Bennett also claimed that JS had proposed marriage to Sarah Marinda Bates Pratt while her husband, Orson, was on a mission in England. The Sangamo Journal called on Orson Pratt, Rigdon, Robinson, Higbee, and William Marks “to come out like honest and pure men, and expose the corruptions of the imposter [JS].” Bennett later produced letters from Robinson discussing information Robinson claimed to have collected about JS’s conduct in Nauvoo, including details about the alleged proposal to Nancy Rigdon. Bennett also stated that Higbee gave him a letter purporting to be from JS to Nancy Rigdon, written to convince her that plural marriage was from God. (John C. Bennett, Nauvoo, IL, 27 June 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 8 July 1842, [2]; “Bennett’s Second and Third Letters,” Sangamo Journal, 15 July 1842, [2]; Bennett, History of the Saints, 245–249.)

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

    Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.

  3. [6]

    See Romans 10:15; Ephesians 6:15; and Revelation, ca. Aug. 1835 [D&C 27:16].

  4. [7]

    See Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 88 [2 Nephi 14:5]; and Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:6].

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