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Letter from Robert D. Foster, 24 December 1839

Source Note

, Letter, , to JS, , Philadelphia Co., PA, 24 Dec. 1839. Featured version copied [between Apr. and June 1840] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 119–122; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction

On 24 December 1839, wrote a letter from to JS, who was then visiting the in and surrounding areas. Though Foster was traveling with the church’s delegation to the federal government, he was not an official member of that group. Instead, he had been asked to accompany , who was recovering from malaria. Foster wrote in a later reminiscence that after JS and left for Philadelphia, Foster remained in Washington in order “to take care of Mr. Rigdon; and also to wait upon every preacher in the city.” In this letter, Foster briefly updated JS on Rigdon’s health and described his own proselytizing efforts, including an encounter with Reverend George G. Cookman, a prominent Methodist minister in the city.
JS received the letter a few days after sent it and responded on 30 December. Foster’s original letter is not extant. copied the version featured here into JS Letterbook 2 sometime between April and June 1840.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839.

  2. [2]

    Historical Introduction to Letter of Introduction from Sidney Rigdon, 9 Nov. 1839; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 31 Oct.–3 Nov. 1839, 66.

  3. [3]

    Robert D. Foster, “A Testimony of the Past,” True Latter Day Saints’ Herald, 15 Apr. 1875, 227.

    Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.

  4. [4]

    The English-born Cookman immigrated to the United States in 1825 and in 1838 moved to Washington DC, where he led the congregation at Wesley Chapel. Seven days after Foster wrote this letter, the United States Senate appointed Cookman as its chaplain, a position he held until he perished at sea in March 1841. (Ridgaway, Life of the Rev. Alfred Cookman, 19–20, 31, 63, 65, 72–76, 81; Journal of the Senate of the United States, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., 31 Dec. 1839, 68.)

    Ridgaway, Henry B. The Life of the Rev. Alfred Cookman; with Some Account of His Father, the Rev. George Grimston Cookman. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1873.

    Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, Being the First Session of the Twenty-Sixth Congress, Begun and Held at the City of Washington, December 2, 1839, and in the Sixty-Fourth Year of the Independence of the Said United States. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1839.

  5. [5]

    Letter to Robert D. Foster, 30 Dec. 1839.

  6. [6]

    Coray, Autobiographical Sketch, 17, 19.

    Coray, Howard. Autobiographical Sketch, after 1883. Howard Coray, Papers, ca. 1840–1941. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2043, fd. 1.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from Robert D. Foster, 24 December 1839 Letterbook 2

Page 121

scripture— I asked God to give me the victory, and <​down​> came the Mighty Methodist, by a little— shepherd boy of a Mormon— I asked him to be so kind as to give me his meeting house, to preach in some in the night— but he said he would not— he would not pollute it— I then told him that was not right— he said it was, and would consider my doctrine <​false​> till I performed a miricle— I told him not to forbid others believing, but he said he would—
I told him if he said any thing ungentlemanly from the pulpit, if I heard him I should take the liberty to reply— said if I did he would have me put out of the house— I then requested him to appoint time and place, and we would discuss before the publick— but he said he would not waste his time with such nonsence— and that he was sorry such a promising young man should be so deluded— I told him I asked no sorrow, and begged he would give himself no uneasiness on that head— He was the most whipped <​man​> I ever have seen, and repented having his friends brought in, I know; he is the champion of the Methodist and is whipped well— I did not tell him how I whipped him but I will tell you— I asked God to close his mouth, if he did not receive it gladly, and he did— I can whip as many Methodist as there are blades of grass on the largest Prairie in , if God will assist me— and this is way in which I whipped him— God filled my mouth and my heart— and I was as happy as any mortal could be— While he was writhing in the most awful agony of body & mind.
I cannot tell you all, but I will visit all the Priests in , but what I will find some honest heart to embrace the truth.— I am not discouraged, I am going to hunt them [p. 121]
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Source Note

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Page 121

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Robert D. Foster, 24 December 1839
ID #
502
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:85–89
Handwriting on This Page
  • Howard Coray

Footnotes

  1. [7]

    See 1 Samuel 17:4, 33–34.

  2. [8]

    Wesley Chapel, which was located at Fifth and F streets in Washington DC. (Ridgaway, Life of the Rev. Alfred Cookman, 63; Picture of Washington, 113.)

    Ridgaway, Henry B. The Life of the Rev. Alfred Cookman; with Some Account of His Father, the Rev. George Grimston Cookman. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1873.

    Picture of Washington and Its Vicinity for 1845, with Forty-One Embellishments on Steel and Lithograph; to Which Is Added the Washington Guide, Containing a Congressional Directory, Residences of Public Officers, and Other Useful Information. Washington DC: William Q. Force, 1845.

  3. [9]

    In 1874 Foster reminisced about his encounter with Cookman: “On the following Sunday . . . Cookman preached in his church, and told some strange tales; that he had had an interview with Jo Smith, that arch imposter; and that the doctrines he taught were very irreligious and inconsistent with Bible truth.” (Robert D. Foster, “A Testimony of the Past,” True Latter Day Saints’ Herald, 15 Apr. 1875, 228.)

    Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.

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