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Letter to Isaac Galland, 17 January 1842

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , [, Lee Co., Iowa Territory], 17 Jan. 1842; handwriting of ; signature of JS [possibly by ]; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address and dockets.
Single leaf measuring 13⅛ × 8½ inches (33 × 22 cm). The top, left, and bottom edges of the recto have the square cut of manufactured paper, whereas the right edge is unevenly cut, suggesting the leaf was removed from a book or a larger sheet. The text is inscribed in blue ink on the top half of the recto. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style and addressed. wrote a response to JS on the bottom half of the recto. The document was refolded for filing.
The document 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. Another docket was inscribed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. 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 document’s early dockets as well as its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and in the JS Collection by 1973 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]

    “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.

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

  3. [3]

    “Index to Papers in the Historian’s Office,” ca. 1904, 7, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  4. [4]

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

Historical Introduction

On 17 January 1842 JS wrote to , who was living in , Iowa Territory, requesting that Galland visit him in , Illinois, or send financial assistance. This letter was one of several exchanged between JS and Galland in December 1841 and January 1842. In spring 1841 Galland and traveled to the eastern as church agents to make payments to , , and for the land they sold to church leaders in 1839. Hyrum Smith returned to Nauvoo in May 1841, leaving Galland to pay the creditors, but Galland left the area toward the end of July for unknown reasons without doing so. By early December, Galland had arrived in Keokuk. JS apparently sent Galland a letter on 10 December 1841 urging him to come to Nauvoo to report on his efforts. The following day Galland responded, explaining that he would travel to Nauvoo as soon as he finished some pressing business in Keokuk, which he believed he would accomplish the following week.
By 17 January 1842 still had not arrived in . On that day JS dictated the featured letter. JS believed that Galland possessed church funds, likely because Galland was commissioned to perform property transactions and to collect donations for the construction of the Nauvoo .
JS apparently dictated the letter to . The letter lacks postal markings and includes a notation of presentation, indicating the letter was hand delivered to . He received it in by 18 January, when he wrote a response on the same leaf of paper.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Erastus Snow, Journal, 29 Mar. 1841, 105. The plan was to pay Hotchkiss, Gillet, and Tuttle by transferring to them lands in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that were owned by converts relocating to Nauvoo. (Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 Feb. 1841.)

    Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.

  2. [2]

    Letter to Smith Tuttle, 9 Oct. 1841; Letter from William Smith, 5 Aug. 1841.

  3. [3]

    This document has not been located, but Galland referred to it in his letter dated 11 December 1841. (Letter from Isaac Galland, 11 Dec. 1841.)

  4. [4]

    Letter from Isaac Galland, 11 Dec. 1841.

  5. [5]

    In an earlier letter to Tuttle, JS noted that Galland had “a considerable amt. of our money in his hands.” (Letter to Smith Tuttle, 9 Oct. 1841.)

  6. [6]

    When Galland was authorized to act as a church agent, he was commissioned “to sell stock in the Nauvoo boarding House and obtain subscriptions and donations for building the ‘House of the Lord’ in this place.” (Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 Feb. 1841; see also Cook, “Isaac Galland,” 280.)

    Cook, Lyndon W. “Isaac Galland—Mormon Benefactor.” BYU Studies 19 (Spring 1979): 261–284.

  7. [7]

    Letter from Isaac Galland, 18 Jan. 1842.

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Isaac Galland, 17 January 1842
ID #
747
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D9:94–97
Handwriting on This Page
  • Joseph Smith Jr.
  • Newel K. Whitney

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