Footnotes

1. [1]

   Newhall, Glimpse of Iowa in 1846, 88–89; Fulton, History of Jefferson County, Iowa, 179, 238, 271, 292; United States Biographical Dictionary, 478–479; Portrait and Biographical Album of Knox County, Illinois, 808–809; 1840 U.S. Census, Township 68, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, 175. “J. C.” likely stood for “Jesse C.” or “Jesse Corfield.” Records of the United States General Land Office in Fairfield, Iowa Territory, indicate that a Jesse C. Wear and a Jesse Corfield Wear purchased land in Jefferson County on 1 January 1847. (Land Patent for Jesse C. Wear, Jefferson Co., Iowa Territory, no. 12666; Land Patent for Jesse Corfield Wear, Jefferson Co., Iowa Territory, no. 12051, General Land Office Records, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior.)

   Newhall, John B. A Glimpse of Iowa in 1846. Iowa City, IA: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1957.

   Fulton, Charles J. History of Jefferson County, Iowa: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement. Vol. 1. Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1914.

   The United States Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men: Missouri Volume. New York: United States Biographical Publishing Company, 1878.

   Portrait and Biographical Album of Knox County, Illinois, Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of Illinois, and the Presidents of the United States. Chicago: Biographical Publishing, 1886.

   Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

   General Land Office Records. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior. Digital images of the land patents cited herein are available at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/.

2. [2]

   Wear’s use of the formal salutation “Dr. Sir” rather than “Brother” or “President” suggests he did not know JS personally and was likely not a member of the church.

3. [3]

   Willis, Etiquette, and the Usages of Society, 9–11.

   Willis, Henry P. Etiquette, and the Usages of Society: Containing the Most Approved Rules for Correct Deportment in Fashionable Life, together with Hints to Gentlemen and Ladies on Irregular and Vulgar Habits. Also, the Etiquette of Love and Courtship, Marriage Etiquette, &c. New York: Dick and Fitzgerald, 1860.

4. [4]

   The mistake suggests that he docketed the letter shortly after it was received; the error was likely due to the recent transition from the year 1841 to the year 1842.

5. [5]

   Wear is not named in any Nauvoo property records and apparently did not place any advertisements in local papers about practicing law. Later histories of Illinois and Ohio note that an attorney named William K. Wear began practicing law in Hillsboro, Ohio, around 1842 and moved to Upper Sandusky, Ohio, in 1844. (Portrait and Biographical Album of Knox County, Illinois, 808–809; Winter, History of Northwest Ohio, 654.)

   Portrait and Biographical Album of Knox County, Illinois, Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of Illinois, and the Presidents of the United States. Chicago: Biographical Publishing, 1886.

   Winter, Nevin O. A History of Northwest Ohio: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress and Development from the First European Exploration of the Maumee and Sandusky Valleys and the Adjacent Shores of Lake Erie, down to the Present Time. Chicago: Lewis, 1917.