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Letter from Thomas Rawcliff, 24 May 1843

Source Note

Thomas Rawcliff, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 24 May 1843; handwriting and signature presumably of Thomas Rawcliff; six pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address and docket.
Bifolium measuring 12½ × 7½ inches (32 × 19 cm) with an extra slip of paper measuring 5½ × 4⅝ inches (14 × 12 cm). The recto of the first leaf appears to have been ruled with horizontal blue lines, now almost completely faded. The letter was written on the verso of the first leaf, the recto and verso of the second leaf, and then the recto of the first leaf. It was concluded on a separate slip of paper, ruled with sixteen horizontal blue lines and apparently cut from a larger sheet of paper. The slip was inserted into the bifolium. The letter was then trifolded twice for mailing, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. Remnants of the wafer are on both sides of the first leaf. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The letter was docketed 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 document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) 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, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    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.

  2. [2]

    “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.

  3. [3]

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

Historical Introduction

On 24 May 1843, Thomas Rawcliff, a British immigrant living in , Illinois, wrote a letter to JS asking for help in recovering debts owed him by , , and , three prominent members of the and the Nauvoo community. Rawcliff also shared his concern for his fellow British immigrants, who he believed were being exploited through land speculation, lending practices, and employment arrangements. Though his parents joined the church in , Rawcliff was not a Latter-day Saint. After a brief sojourn in in 1841, he came to Nauvoo at the encouragement of friends who lived there. After settling in Nauvoo, he discovered some things that troubled him.
In 1841, British immigrants began arriving in and were in desperate need of employment. Several men found work building the and were dependent upon Nauvoo House funding for their subsistence. Rawcliff asserted that his friends working on the building were underfed and underpaid. This was not an uncommon complaint; on 21 February 1843, —overseer of the Nauvoo House construction—stated that it was difficult to keep workmen on the job because he could not adequately feed or compensate them. At a church in Nauvoo in April 1843, church members approved a motion for the to collect funds for the Nauvoo House. On 19 April, JS directed the apostles to “go in the name of th[e] Lord God & tell [Lucien] Woodworth to put the hands onto the Nauvoo House & be patient till men can be provided.” In addition, JS encouraged British immigrants to find work outside the city because of the lack of employment opportunities in Nauvoo.
Rawcliff went on to express worry that some individuals—one of whom he believed was —were attempting to swindle newly arrived Latter-day Saints. JS generally shared Rawcliff’s concern. On 13 April 1843, JS addressed a group of immigrants assembled at the site and warned them about “specluators who would get away your property.” He encouraged immigrants to rely on church leaders for advice regarding whom they could trust.
JS and other church leaders periodically lectured the Saints against stealing from those not of the faith. Despite these efforts, Rawcliff believed that some church members had no qualms about cheating outsiders. He was especially frustrated because he could not get , a doctor and prominent businessman; , major general of the ; and , a counselor in the , to repay their debts to him. After repeated attempts to collect the money, Rawcliff felt “reluctantly compelled” to seek JS’s help as church president and wrote requesting assistance in recovering his money.
The letter contains no postmarks, which indicates that Rawcliff or a courier delivered it. A later history stated that JS received the letter the same day Rawcliff wrote it. No response to the letter is known, and it is unclear whether JS took any action against the Laws or .

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 26 June 1855, in Northern Islander, 16 Aug. 1855, [3].

    Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 21 Feb. 1843.

  3. [3]

    Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 Apr.–ca. 8 May 1843; see also Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843.

  4. [4]

    Minutes, 19 Apr. 1843.

  5. [5]

    Discourse, 13 Apr. 1843.

  6. [6]

    Discourse, 13 Apr. 1843; JS, Journal, 13 Apr. 1843.

  7. [7]

    Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843; see also “Thieves,” Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1841, 3:615; and Discourse, 10 Apr. 1842.

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

  8. [8]

    JS History, vol. D-1, 1561.

Page [2]

in , for I could see Doctors having plenty of employment, and scores of things, quites contrary to what was expected by the Mormons in when I was there. I mention these things to show you how people feel cast down when they have left their homes for Christ<​’s​> sake, and find it out that they have been taken with guile; not saying in the least that I was. Well I had not been here many days before a Mormon offered to sell me a peice of Land and as you are well aware, I knew nothing about Tax Titles or Patent Titles or any thing else; and so I advised with a friend or two, who told me that the man was a Mormon brother and I need not be afraid of him, for one of them had bought some Land with the same Title that is Tax title on the recommend of ; well I thought that is sufficient for a is not to be a lover of filthy lucre, so I thought money could not be any temptation to him; and I agreed to give the man 8 dollars per acre for some Land, to which I expected he had a clear deed; as he demanded the whole payment at once; but when I got it, found it out to be a bond for a deed; to be given in two years after two payments had been made on it; so you see the hazard I had to run, In case there had been any fuss here, whether he would have made the payments or not. Or where a man buys Land of the Quincy Company sells the whole of it out in parcels, gets the whole money, and leaves them to settle with the first owner for themselves; can you call it any thing but swindling. for <​Or when​> a person to go to buys a Quarter Section for 400 dollars to be paid for in three yearly instalments, with 50 or 100 dollars down, comes to , takes advantage of a lot of English just landed; calls them brother, and so on, don’t you want to buy a peice of Land? sells them some at the rate of 8 or 10 Dollars per acre, and leaves them to make it up with the Quincy company the best way they can; giving them only bonds for their deeds, and duping them in this way under a cloak of religion, This is only one case out of an hundred that I could tell you; but I want to proceed to buisness of more importance to me at prestent; very soon after I had been sucked in by that brother in the Land affair; One morning, that arch imposter ; whose every Day’s transactions in lying and duplicity; would make the devil blush and and feel his own littleness, for he can out Yankee” all yankees; having got a wind that another green horn had just landed; lost no time, determined to have the first pull, came pouncing on me with a very sanctimonious face, and whined out a long palaver about being sorry for a poor man whose name was John Warre, that was wanting to go back to to fetch his wife, and said you must lend me 25 dollar[s] in the name of God, and the prophet, and you must not deny me, I must have <​it​> for I always go to the handle of the big jug first, and if he bids me God speed; then all the devils in Hell cannot stand against me; he thinking I was a Mormon spun out long yarns about the blessings of &c; and says he, if you will let me have the money, for this poor man 10 days; I will pay it you again and 10 bushels of corn with it, so help me God. and Joseph will be bound wi[th] me for any thing I want. It is not for my own benefit that I want but I feel so <​sorry​> for this poor man that wants to fetch his wife; but I soon found out what he felt a great deal more for them the poor man fetching his wife; the man was leavi[n]g in his possession 150 dollars worth of goods, in clothing, tools, watch, guns, &c &c. and he had sold the man 600 or 700 dollars worth of wild land on the prarie, some were wher by the big mound, at a good round price; and the man was going to fetch something that liked far better than his wife although that may seem rather strange! At last I let him have the money, in good faith that he would pay; after all these vows, and promises, and useing brother Joseph’s name so much; but alas, for the integrity of , that took place in Nov. 1841, and after going scores of times; than my heart aches with his lies, that he tells me every time I go. he has the impudence to tell me he has never had any money, that the those store goods were his brothers, that Joseph borrowed all he got off , and that he had to borrow money to get back from , when he went to show off. and spout against old . and all the while He can keep hearing tell of him paying monies and speculating in Land &c, and one day I caught him in the fact of paying a man about 40 dollars; he has money for anything, but paying his debts; I am waiti[ng] just now to go to to fetch my wife, but he is not so sorry for me, because I have not a lot of clothing to leave him, or else he could be as feeling for me <​too​> and go and delude some other unsuspecting fool, in the name of brother Joseph, and of the most high God out of some <​more​> money. And just to show you <​the​> chains such like wretches as have has over the minds of the people by using your name, I will recite a little discourse I had with a man about him, Says I, do you know this , yes say he, very well by sight. he is the man that Joseph’s had a revelation about building him a new house, and do you suppose God would choose a bad man; no not he. So do you see the effect of this liberty he takes with your name, But now he has got to using your name in a different style to me; for one day, he says, if Joseph would pay me what he is owing me I could pay you right off, for when we settled up, he was owing me 1800 Dollars, and I cannot get a picayune; while he has thousands of dollars, and if I was to say anything he would come right out and curse me on the stand; and do me a great deal of injury among the ignorant; where he has so much influence; There is <​also​> a report that he is going out a preaching Mormonism, and if it be true, I will venture a prophesy that it is not for god’s Glory, but his <​own​> benefit; that he is going to seek out customers for his good titled Lands, for any that he can do no less than buy of him, and I throw this out as a hint, as to what has induced a good many more to go a preaching, so that they may have the first chance to fleece them. [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Thomas Rawcliff, 24 May 1843
ID #
1081
Total Pages
6
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:328–342
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Rawcliff

Footnotes

  1. [19]

    There were several doctors, both Thomsonian, or “botanic,” and traditionally trained, or “regular,” in Nauvoo, but few practiced medicine full-time. (See Dinger, “Medicine and Obstetrics in Mormon Nauvoo,” 53, 58.)

    Dinger, Steven C. “‘The Doctors in This Region Don’t Know Much’: Medicine and Obstetrics in Mormon Nauvoo.” Journal of Mormon History 42, no. 4 (October 2016): 51–68.

  2. [20]

    A tax title was a title to land based on a sale of the property to pay delinquent taxes, while a patent was a land title issued by the federal government to the individual who applied for it. (An Act Supplemental to an Act, Entitled “An Act to Provide for Raising a Revenue” [19 Jan. 1829], Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois [1828–1829], p. 123, sec. 11; Rohrbough, Land Office Business, 76–77.)

    The Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois, Enacted at the Fifth General Assembly, at Their Session Held at Vandalia, Commencing on the Fourth Day of December, 1826, and Ending the Nineteenth of February, 1827. Vandalia, IL: Robert Blackwell, 1827.

    Rohrbough, Malcolm J. The Land Office Business: The Settlement and Administration of American Public Lands, 1789–1837. New York: Ocford University Press, 1968.

  3. [21]

    According to land deeds filed in Hancock County, Ethan Kimball sold the northern half of lot 35 in block 6 of Kimball’s first addition in Nauvoo to James Harrison Aldridge for one hundred dollars on 11 January 1842 with Thomas Rawcliff as a witness. The next day, Rawcliff purchased part of that lot from Aldridge for thirty-five dollars. On 13 January, Aldridge sold more land on the northern half of the same lot to JS for fifty dollars. It is possible that Aldridge did not obtain a clear title to this land so quickly after purchasing it from Kimball; Rawcliff’s claim to the land may have been dependent on Aldridge’s financial arrangement with Kimball. Though these land transactions took place between 11 and 13 January 1842, they were not recorded with the county office until a few years later. Kimball, Aldridge, and Rawcliff could have made verbal arrangements outside of the formulaic language reflected in the county’s records of these land deeds. Kimball to Aldridge was recorded 28 Nov. 1843; Aldridge to Rawcliff was recorded 26 Feb. 1845; Aldridge to JS was recorded 23 Mar. 1848. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. M, p. 32, 11 Jan. 1842, microfilm 954,600; vol. N, p. [235], microfilm 954,600; vol. U, pp. 86–[87], 13 Jan. 1842, microfilm 954,605, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  4. [22]

    Yankee was sometimes used as a verb meaning “to deal cunningly with like a Yankee, to cheat.” A January 1841 revelation directed Foster to “repent of all his folly and clothe himself with charity, and cease to do evil and lay aside all his hard speeches.” In February 1843, JS chastised Foster for his self-aggrandizing building projects in the city. (“Yankee,” in Oxford English Dictionary, 12:14; Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:115–116]; Discourse, 21 Feb. 1843.)

    Oxford English Dictionary. Compact ed. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.

  5. [23]

    Greenhorn—a term for “a raw, inexperienced person” and a “novice in a trade”—could also refer to a recent immigrant. (“Greenhorn,” in Oxford English Dictionary, 4:402.)

    Oxford English Dictionary. Compact ed. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.

  6. [24]

    This “mound” was located about five miles east of Nauvoo. (See map of Hancock County, IL, 1842–1843; and map of Nauvoo and Surrounding Area, 30 Apr. 1843.)

  7. [25]

    According to promissory notes signed in the spring of 1843, JS owed Edward Hunter $173.34. ([JS] to Edward Hunter, Promissory Note, Nauvoo, IL, 10 Apr. 1843, JS Collection, CHL; JS to Edward Hunter, Promissory Note, 13 May 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

  8. [26]

    In August 1842, Foster and his wife, Sarah Phinney Foster, traveled to New York City and attended a lecture Bennett gave against JS. The Fosters paid twenty-five cents to attend the lecture. According to Robert Foster, he confronted Bennett after the lecture and told him “he was a liar and was worse than many now in the penitentiary.” (“Extract of a Letter from Robert D. Foster,” Wasp, 24 Sept. 1842, [2].)

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

  9. [27]

    Rawcliff married twenty-six-year-old Margaret Harrison in January 1841, about three months prior to his departure to the United States in April. (Parish Registers for St. John’s Church, Preston, 1642–1948, Marriages, 1837–1846, p. 151, microfilm 93,993, British Isles Record Collection, FHL.)

    British Isles Record Collection. FHL.

  10. [28]

    A January 1841 revelation instructed Foster to construct a home for JS, which Foster had already planned to do. (Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:115].)

  11. [29]

    On 20 March 1843, JS signed a promissory note to Foster for $1,818.35 plus annual interest of 6 percent. (JS to Robert D. Foster, Promissory Note, Nauvoo, IL, 20 Mar. 1843, photocopy, CHL; see also JS, Journal, 20 Mar. 1843.)

  12. [30]

    Foster was appointed to serve a mission to “build up” the church in Tioga County, New York, on 10 April 1843. (“Elder’s Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1843, 4:157.)

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

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