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Letter from Reuben Hedlock, 4 October 1843
Source Note
Source Note
, Letter, , Lancashire, England, to the (including JS) and , , Hancock Co., IL, 4 Oct. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, wafer seals, postal stamps, postal notations, dockets, notations, and use marks.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The letter was inscribed on the recto and the verso of the first leaf and on the recto of the second leaf. It was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with two small red adhesive wafers, and postmarked. The recto and the verso of the second leaf contain wafer residue; there are tears near the residue that likely occurred when the letter was opened, resulting in a loss of text. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The letter was 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. Jonathan Grimshaw, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office from 1853 to 1856, docketed it a second time. The notation “A.J. Printed” was added by Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. The document was listed in a Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) inventory from circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets and notation, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.
Footnotes
- [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]
Historian’s Office, Journal, 7 June 1853; Wilford Woodruff, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 30 Aug. 1856, in Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 364.
Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.
Historian’s Office. Letterpress Copybooks, 1854–1879, 1885–1886. CHL. CR 100 38.
- [3]
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.
- [4]
“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
- [5]
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 4 October 1843, , the newly appointed of the British mission who was based in , wrote to the and the in , Illinois, to report on his arrival in and the general state of the British mission. Hedlock had previously served a proselytizing mission to England along with eight members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles between April 1840 and May 1841. During their time in England, the apostles, Hedlock, and other missionaries thousands of converts, organized new congregations, and facilitated the emigration of British to Nauvoo. While preparing to leave England in early 1841, the quorum determined that apostle should remain in that country to oversee the British mission and continue editing the church newspaper Millennial Star. The quorum also appointed as a church to assist British Saints emigrating to America and counseled emigrants to cross the Atlantic in steamships chartered by the church. In April 1841, Hedlock and the remaining apostles departed England for the .
After returning to , the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles made additional changes to the administrative structure of the British mission. In June 1842, the quorum voted that go to the British Isles to “take charge of the Emigration in instead of .” They also instructed Fielding to “come immediately to this place with his family.” Clark arrived in England by mid-September 1842, but Fielding did not immediately return to Nauvoo. In November 1842, the Twelve learned that planned to return to Nauvoo, and the quorum determined that “the Millenial Star & all other publications in England . . . be suspended until further instruction from the Quorum.” Pratt appointed to lead the British mission and edit the Millennial Star following his departure. Ward and his counselor, Hiram Clark, acknowledged the quorum’s directive in a March 1843 letter and indicated that Fielding was “acting contrary to counsel given him by you, in being again engaged in the Emigration business, and all things seem to go wrong, and he does not seem to be able to succeed in anything, but to be an obstacle in the way of success.”
In a quorum meeting held in May 1843, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (including the recently returned ) voted to send to “preside over the church in , Scotland, Ireland, and all places connected with the English mission” with and as his counselors and called several missionaries to labor in other parts of the British Isles. They also voted, as they had the previous year, that return to , adding, “and if he do not thus come, that he be cut off from the church.” Twelve days later, the quorum instructed Hedlock to assume control over the emigration program and to use funds generated by publishing endeavors in England to “send the worthy poor Saints to this country.” Hedlock and the other missionaries departed Nauvoo sometime in the next few months and arrived in on 30 September 1843.
wrote the featured letter to the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles four days after arriving in . In this correspondence, Hedlock briefly recounted his journey on the packet ship Columbus, described conversations he had with church members in Liverpool, and offered his opinion regarding the church’s printing endeavors in the British Isles. Hedlock mailed the letter to , who was JS’s private secretary and the clerk for the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The letter was postmarked in Liverpool, conveyed via steamship to , and likely received in by late October or early November. Extant sources suggest that neither the First Presidency nor the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles responded to Hedlock’s letter.
Footnotes
- [1]
George A. Smith, Journal, 9 Mar. 1840; Woodruff, Journal, 20 Apr. and 19 May 1841.
Smith, George Albert. Journals, 1839–1875. George Albert Smith, Papers. 1834–1877. CHL.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
- [2]
The Twelve also appointed Levi Richards and Lorenzo Snow to “assist brother Pratt in the general superintendence of the church in this country.” (Parley P. Pratt, Liverpool, England, to Aaron Frost, East Bethel, ME, 19 Apr. 1841, Parley P. Pratt, Letters to Aaron Frost, CHL; “An Epistle of the Twelve,” Millennial Star, Apr. 1841, 1:309–311; Nameplate, Millennial Star, Apr. 1841, 1:289; May 1841, 2:1; Woodruff, Journal, 15–20 Apr. 1841.)
Pratt, Parley P. Letters, 1838–1839. CHL. MS 5828.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
- [3]
“An Epistle of the Twelve,” Millennial Star, Apr. 1841, 1:311; Parley P. Pratt, Liverpool, England, to Aaron Frost, East Bethel, ME, 19 Apr. 1841, Parley P. Pratt, Letters to Aaron Frost, CHL; Woodruff, Journal, 19–20 Apr. 1841.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
Pratt, Parley P. Letters, 1838–1839. CHL. MS 5828.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
- [4]
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 14 June 1842. In March 1842, Fielding led a group of 230 British converts to Nauvoo, arriving in the city in May. Fielding remained in Nauvoo until at least 12 June and returned to Liverpool by mid-September 1842. (Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 13 Mar. 1842; Parley P. Pratt and Amos Fielding, “Emigration,” Millennial Star, Mar. 1842, 2:176; JS, Journal, 14 May 1842; Editorial, Times and Seasons, 16 May 1842, 3:790; Letter to Parley P. Pratt and Others, 12 June 1842; Historical Introduction to Account and Pay Order from Parley P. Pratt and Amos Fielding, 16 Sept. 1842.)
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
- [5]
- [6]
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 21 Nov. 1842.
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.
- [7]
- [8]
“Extracts from the Record of the Twelve, for the Use and Benefit of Elder Reuben Hedlock, and through Him to the Parties Concerned,” ca. 28 June 1843, pp. 1–2, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL, underlining in original.
Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL.
- [9]
“Extracts from the Record of the Twelve, for the Use and Benefit of Elder Reuben Hedlock, and through Him to the Parties Concerned,” ca. 28 June 1843, p. 3, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.
Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL.
- [10]
The Columbus was a packet ship operated by the Black Ball Line, a transatlantic ship company that transported passengers, freight, and mail between New York City and Liverpool. (Clark, Clipper Ship Era, 38, 41, 45; Albion, Square-Riggers on Schedule, 27–28, 276.)
Clark, Arthur H. The Clipper Ship Era: An Epitome of Famous American and British Clipper Ships, Their Owners, Builders, Commanders, and Crews, 1843–1869. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1911.
Albion, Robert Greenhalgh. Square-Riggers on Schedule: The New York Sailing Packets to England, France, and the Cotton Ports. [Hamden, CT]: Archon Books, 1965.
- [11]
JS, Journal, 21 Dec. 1842; Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 7 Nov. 1843.
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.
- [12]
In a 10–21 January 1844 letter to JS and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Hedlock indicated that church member John Hill and his sister had arrived from Nauvoo and informed him that “the Mob spirit had subsided in that country and all was peace in Nauvoo.” This bit of news, wrote Hedlock, was “the most information that I have Received from Nauvoo since I Left New York.” Hedlock lamented, “it seems as if you had forgoten me,” and noted that he had not received any of the copies of the Times and Seasons or Nauvoo Neighbor that John Taylor promised to send him. (Reuben Hedlock, Liverpool, England, to JS and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, [Nauvoo, IL], 10–21 Jan. 1844, p. 1, JS Collection, CHL.)
Mr
Hancock Co
Illinoise
U, S, A,
< OCT 1◊>
<1/-> <27>
<PAID AT OCT 1843>
<Hibernia> [p. [4]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
Circular postmark stamped in red ink. The letter was delivered by the steamship Hibernia. Hibernia’s sister ship Cambria took about nine days to get from Liverpool to Halifax; the trip from Halifax to Boston took at least two days. Even if the letter was mailed on the same day it was written, it is unlikely it arrived in Boston before 15 October 1843. (Gibbs, Passenger Liners of the Western Ocean, 48–49.)
Gibbs, C. R. Vernon. Passenger Liners of the Western Ocean: A Record of the North Atlantic Steam and Motor Passenger Vessels from 1838 to the Present Day. London: Staples Press, 1952.
British postage, in the amount of one shilling, in unidentified handwriting.
United States postage in unidentified handwriting.
Postmark stamped in red ink.
- [16]
TEXT: Notation in unidentified handwriting. The Hibernia was a steamship built in 1843 by the Cunard Line, a steamship company that transported passengers and mail across the Atlantic Ocean. The ship traveled between Liverpool; Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Boston. (“Duties on Imports by British Steamers at Boston and New York,” 377; Gibbs, Passenger Liners of the Western Ocean, 41–44, 49; Smith, Coal, Steam and Ships, 113–114.)
"Duties on Imports by British Steamers at Boston and New York." Hunt's Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review 25, no. 3 (Sept. 1851): 377–379.
Gibbs, C. R. Vernon. Passenger Liners of the Western Ocean: A Record of the North Atlantic Steam and Motor Passenger Vessels from 1838 to the Present Day. London: Staples Press, 1952.
Smith, Crosbie. Coal, Steam and Ships: Engineering, Enterprise and Empire on the Nineteenth-Century Seas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.