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Letter from Joseph L. Heywood, 5 June 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Adams Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 5 June 1843; handwriting and signature of ; two pages; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Included enclosure (not extant); includes address, docket, and archival marking.
Bifolium measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The letter refers to an enclosure, which is apparently no longer extant. A hole was torn in the second leaf of the bifolium when the letter was opened.
The document was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as temple recorder from 1842 to 1846. In late 1844, following JS’s death, became one of the interim church trustees and was appointed “first bishop” among other Nauvoo bishops. It was presumably during this time that many of the church’s financial and other administrative records passed into his possession. This document, along with many other personal and institutional documents that Newel K. Whitney kept, was inherited by Newel K. and ’s daughter Mary Jane Whitney, who was married to Isaac Groo. The documents were passed down within the Groo family. Between 1969 and 1974, the Groo family donated their collection of Newel K. Whitney’s papers to the J. Reuben Clark Library (renamed Harold B. Lee Library in 1973) at Brigham Young University.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 18, 30–31.

    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.

    Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

  2. [2]

    Willard Richards, Journal, 9 Aug. 1844; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:693; see also Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

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

  3. [3]

    Andrus and Fuller, Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 24; Wilkinson et al., Brigham Young University, 4:255.

    Andrus, Hyrum L., and Chris Fuller, comp. Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers. Provo, UT: Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, 1978.

    Wilkinson, Ernest L., Leonard J. Arrington, and Bruce C. Hafen, eds. Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years. Vol. 4. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1976.

Historical Introduction

On 5 June 1843, , a merchant and recent convert, wrote from his home in , Illinois, to JS in , Illinois, making a donation for the construction of the Nauvoo . JS had asked church members to donate one-tenth of their money, goods, or labor to the building of the Nauvoo temple, followed by one-tenth of their annual increase. Some responded by donating cash, but as Nauvoo had primarily a barter economy in which cash was scarce, many tithes and donations came in the form of personal property, labor, or transferred debts.
In an earlier visit to , attempted to collect a debt owed him by , a Nauvoo blacksmith and church member. Shumaker had apparently given Heywood a note for $46.92, and Heywood wanted to donate the amount toward construction. Though Shumaker was apparently unable to pay his note during Heywood’s visit, Heywood was confident that Shumaker would satisfy the debt by having those indebted to him pay in kind (either through labor or materials) to the temple construction. This type of transaction, in which debts passed from one person to another in the form of promissory notes, was common in the Nauvoo economy of the 1840s. Heywood forwarded a note donating the $46.92 for temple construction to JS as the church’s president and trustee-in-trust.
The letter bears no postal markings, which indicates that it was likely delivered by a courier or by himself. It would have taken about two days to carry the letter the fifty miles upriver from to . It is unknown when JS received the letter. However, it was received in Nauvoo before 15 July 1843, when the donation was recorded in the Book of the Law of the Lord, crediting Heywood for “$46,92 per ’s note on tithing.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Receipt from Reynolds Cahoon, 11 Feb. 1841; and Brigham Young et al., “Baptism for the Dead,” Times and Seasons, 15 Dec. 1841, 3:625–627.

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

  2. [2]

    Phebe Carter Woodruff wrote to her husband, Wilford, that church leaders “proposed building the Lord’s house by tytheing the people.” (Phebe Carter Woodruff, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, Manchester, England, 6–19 Oct. 1840, digital scan, Wilford Woodruff, Collection, CHL; see also Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Collection, 1831–1905. Digital scans. CHL. Originals in private possession.

  3. [3]

    Church members sent their temple donations to JS in his capacity as the church’s trustee-in-trust. (See, for example, Historical Introduction to Receipt from Reynolds Cahoon, 11 Feb. 1841.)

  4. [4]

    Letter from Heber C. Kimball, 9 July 1840.

  5. [5]

    Book of the Law of the Lord, 331.

Page [2]

I shall be accountable for it.—
I am willing to deduct a reasonable percentage for Collection
Very Respectfully
[p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Joseph L. Heywood, 5 June 1843
ID #
1088
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:374–376
Handwriting on This Page
  • Joseph L. Heywood

Footnotes

  1. [3]

    Kimball moved in 1837 to the area that would become Nauvoo and worked as a land agent and merchant, owning several stores in the area. By 1842, he owned a foundry with George W. Robinson and may have formed a business relationship with Shumaker. As a general merchant, Kimball likely extended credit to many people in Nauvoo, particularly in the uncertain economic environment of the early 1840s. (Portrait and Biographical Record of Hancock, McDonough, and Henderson Counties, Illinois, 353; “Look Here! Look Here!!,” Wasp, 27 Aug. 1842, [4].)

    Portrait and Biographical Record of Hancock, McDonough and Henderson Counties, Illinois, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County. Chicago: Lake City Publishing, 1894.

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

  2. [4]

    Apparently, no collection costs were required or subtracted. The entire amount of the note, $46.92, was credited to Heywood as a tithe. (Book of the Law of the Lord, 331.)

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