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Letter from Sidney Rigdon, 27 March 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 27 Mar. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, dockets, use marks, and redaction.
Bifolium measuring 11 × 9 inches (30 × 23 cm) and ruled with thirty-three horizontal gray lines, now faded. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. 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. After the letter was refolded for filing, another docket was added by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. The letter was copied into the manuscript history of the church by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. Hawkins may have added use marks at this time. 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 letter’s early dockets, its inclusion in the manuscript history, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [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. [2]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

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

  3. [3]

    JS History, vol. D-1, 1504–1505; Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 441; “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

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

  4. [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. [5]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 27 March 1843 in , Illinois, wrote a letter to JS, responding to concerns JS had expressed in a letter earlier in the day. The two men had become somewhat alienated during the previous year, and JS’s letter recounted his belief that Rigdon had aided in his attacks on JS. The letter expressed JS’s intent to withdraw fellowship from Rigdon, JS’s first counselor in the , at the April 1843 unless a reconciliation could be negotiated. JS sent , his personal secretary, to deliver the letter to Rigdon. The letter was apparently sent before 11:00 a.m. It was delivered to Rigdon in the Nauvoo post office, which was located in his home.
Within “a few minutes” of receiving JS’s letter, began writing a letter of reply. He denied any connection with , described the circumstances that led to his appointment as the postmaster of —the appointment had become a major point of contention between the two men—and related details regarding his recent trip to , Illinois. Rigdon concluded by expressing his desire to be at peace with JS. Portions of the letter do not correspond directly to items in JS’s 27 March 1843 letter, suggesting that Rigdon was also responding to verbal remarks made by JS when the two men met on 26 March. JS’s presence in Nauvoo and the simple addressing on Rigdon’s letter suggest that it was hand delivered to JS. There is no known response from JS.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter to Sidney Rigdon, 27 Mar. 1843.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 27 Mar. 1843.

  3. [3]

    Letter to Sidney Rigdon, 27 Mar. 1843.

  4. [4]

    JS did not withdraw fellowship from Rigdon at the conference. He did, however, present the First Presidency “for trial,” inviting church members to either sustain or raise objections to church leaders continuing in their callings. After discussing Rigdon’s past dealings with Bennett, the conference sustained Rigdon as a member of the presidency. (JS, Journal, 6 Apr. 1843; Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843.)

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Sidney Rigdon, 27 March 1843
History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [1]

Mar 27th, 1843
J Smith.
Dear Sir
I received your letter by the hand of a few minutes since, the contents of which are surprising to me, though I am glad that you have let me know your feelings, so as to give me a chance to reply to them. Why it is that you have the feelings which you seem to entertain I know not and what caused you to think that I had any connection with . at any time is not within my power to say. As to the Post office I never asked one word about it when I made application for it. If he ever wrote to the Department at any thing about it, it was, and is without my knowledge for surely I know of no such thing being done without it <​at any time​> neither did I know; at the time I applied for the office, that you were intending to apply for it, nor did I know it for some time afterwards. as far as the Post office is concerned these are the facts. I wrote myself to the department offering myself as an applicant and refered the Department to several members of congress to ascertain my character. This is all I ever did on the subject, I never wrote but the one letter to the Department on the subject, neither had I at the time any acquaintence of any amount with , nor for a very considerable time afterwards. He never was at our house but very little and then always on business and always in a hurry did his business and went off immediately. I know not that ever knew that I had applied for the office and I am quite satisfied he did not, till some time after I had written to the Department on the subject, and, if he ever did any thing about it, it was and is to this day without my having any knowledge of it. [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Sidney Rigdon, 27 March 1843
ID #
1022
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:116–120
Handwriting on This Page
  • Sidney Rigdon

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Rigdon was appointed postmaster for Nauvoo on 24 February 1841. (U.S. Post Office Department, Record of Appointment of Postmasters, reel 28, vol. 12B, p. 514.)

    U.S. Post Office Department. Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832–September 30, 1971. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M841. 145 microfilm reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1977.

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