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Letter to John and Sarah Kingsley Cleveland, 24 May 1839

Source Note

JS and , Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to and , , Adams Co., IL, 24 May 1839. Featured version copied [between 25 May and 30 Oct. 1839] in JS Letterbook 2, p. 12; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction

On 24 May 1839, JS and his wife wrote a letter to and , inviting them to move from , Illinois, to , Illinois. The Clevelands had generously lodged Emma and the Smith children when they arrived in Quincy in mid-February 1839. In late April, after JS escaped custody in , he joined his family in the Cleveland home, where the Smiths lived until moving to Commerce on 9–10 May.
In the 24 May letter to the Clevelands, JS and mentioned they had selected lots of land in for the Clevelands to purchase, with one of the lots located across the street from the Smiths’ lot. The previous month, the had purchased land in the Commerce area; by mid-May, JS was apparently selecting lots for his friends and their families. JS likely chose the specific lots for the Clevelands to show appreciation for the Clevelands’ hospitality and friendship. Extant records indicate that the Clevelands purchased the recommended plots of land by 1841; it is unclear whether the family moved to Commerce before that time.
The original letter to the Clevelands, which both JS and apparently signed, is not extant. inscribed a copy in JS Letterbook 2 between 25 May and 30 October 1839.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from Emma Smith, 7 Mar. 1839; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 6–7 and 15 Feb. 1839; Letter from Edward Partridge, 5 Mar. 1839. Emma Smith wrote in a 7 March 1839 letter to JS that she and their children were living at the Clevelands’ home but that she was not sure how long they would stay there. In his memoirs, Joseph Smith III recalled that the Clevelands housed and cared for the Smith family.a Sarah Cleveland joined the church by 1836; John Cleveland was never baptized but was sympathetic to the church’s doctrine and was generous to church members.b The Clevelands were also kind to other Latter-day Saints; while housing Emma Smith and her children, the Clevelands also provided lodging for Phebe Brooks Rigdon (wife of Sidney Rigdon), her children, and Dimick B. Huntington. The Clevelands also helped the rest of Huntington’s family move to Illinois.c

    (a“The Memoirs of President Joseph Smith,” Saints’ Herald, 6 Nov. 1934, 1416. bCompton, In Sacred Loneliness, 275–277; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 144. c“The Memoirs of President Joseph Smith,” Saints’ Herald, 6 Nov. 1934, 1416; Dimick Huntington, Reminiscences and Journal, [20]–[21]; Oliver Huntington, “History of Oliver Boardman Huntington,” 44–45.)

    Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.

    Compton, Todd. In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2001.

    Lee, John D. Mormonism Unveiled. St. Louis, MO: Sun Publishing Company, 1882.

    Huntington, Dimick B. Reminiscences and Journal, 1845–1847. Dimick B. Huntington, Journal, 1845–1859. CHL. MS 1419, fd. 1.

    Huntington, Oliver B. “History of Oliver Boardman Huntington,” 1845–1846. BYU.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 22 Apr.–10 May 1839; Woodruff, Journal, 3 May 1839.

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

  3. [3]

    Woodruff, Journal, 18 May 1839; Alanson Ripley, Statements, ca. Jan. 1845, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, 1839–1860, CHL.

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

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

  4. [4]

    The same day as writing this letter, JS addressed letters to close associates George W. Harris and Newel K. Whitney. In those letters, he likewise encouraged the men and their families to relocate near the Smiths in Commerce. (See Letter to George W. Harris, 24 May 1839; Letter to Newel K. Whitney, 24 May 1839; Trustees Land Book A, White Purchase Index, block [147], lot 2; and Trustees Land Book B, 250.)

    Trustees Land Books / Trustee-in-Trust, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Land Books, 1839–1845. 2 vols. CHL. MS 3437.

  5. [5]

    Cleveland and Cleveland, Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families, 1:754; Trustees Land Book A, White Purchase Index, block [147], lot 2; Trustees Land Book B, 250, 265.

    Cleveland, Edmund Janes and Horace Gillette Cleveland, comps. The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families. 3 vols. Hartford, CT: By the authors, 1899.

    Trustees Land Books / Trustee-in-Trust, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Land Books, 1839–1845. 2 vols. CHL. MS 3437.

  6. [6]

    Mulholland copied this letter into JS Letterbook 2 after a letter dated 25 May 1839, making that the earliest likely copying date for this letter to the Clevelands.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter to John and Sarah Kingsley Cleveland, 24 May 1839
Letterbook 2 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 12

Ill, 24th May 1839
Dear & ,
We write you in order to redeem our pledge which we would have done before now, but that we have been in the midst of the bustle of business of various kinds ever since our arrival here, we however beg to assure you And your family that we have not forgotten you, but remember you all, as well as the great kindness and friendship which we have experienced at your hands. We have selected a lot for you just across the street from our own beside ’, And in the orchard according to the desire of And also one on the adapted to s trade. The various business attendant on settling a new place goes on here at present briskly while all around and concerning us goes on quietly and smoothly as far as we have knowledge. It would give us great pleasure to have you all here along with us, which we hope to enjoy in a short time.
I have also remembered Rufus Cleveland to the Surveyor, And am happy to <​be​> able to say that the land in far exceeds my expectations, both as to richness of soil, and beauty of locations more so than any part of which I have seen. We desire to have And his brother come up here as soon as convenient and see our situation, when they can judge for themselves, And we shall be happy to see them And give them all information in our power. and family Arrived here Yesterday, his health rather improves. We all join in wishing our sincere respects to each And every of you, And remain your very sincere friends.
Joseph Smith Jr
&
Ill. [p. 12]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to John and Sarah Kingsley Cleveland, 24 May 1839
ID #
450
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D6:470–473
Handwriting on This Page
  • James Mulholland

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See JS, Journal, 20–24 May 1839.

  2. [2]

    No maps or other records of the Commerce area mention any orchards in the vicinity. The “orchard” referred to here perhaps consisted of a small garden or a few trees.

  3. [3]

    It is unclear what trade is referred to here. Cleveland worked as a farmer and wagon maker but may also have engaged in other mercantile activities. (See Cleveland and Cleveland, Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families, 1:754; 1850 U.S. Census, Eden, Schuyler Co., IL, 361[B]; and Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 579–580.)

    Cleveland, Edmund Janes and Horace Gillette Cleveland, comps. The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families. 3 vols. Hartford, CT: By the authors, 1899.

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

    Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

  4. [4]

    Rufus Cleveland was John Cleveland’s brother. The identity of the surveyor mentioned here is unknown. The letter may be referring to a county surveyor or to Alanson Ripley, who surveyed land in Commerce for the church. (Cleveland and Cleveland, Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families, 1:310, 757; Alanson Ripley, Statements, ca. Jan. 1845, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, 1839–1860, CHL.)

    Cleveland, Edmund Janes and Horace Gillette Cleveland, comps. The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families. 3 vols. Hartford, CT: By the authors, 1899.

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

  5. [5]

    Three days earlier, on 21 May 1839, JS and a small number of other Saints inspected Iowa Territory lands that Isaac Galland was selling. (Woodruff, Journal, 21 May 1839; JS History, vol. C-1, 930–932; see also Lee Co., IA, Land Records, 1836–1961, vol. 1, pp. 507–510, 29 May 1839, microfilm 959,238; and vol. 2, pp. 3–6, 13–16, 26 June 1839, microfilm 959,239, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

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

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  6. [6]

    Although Joseph Smith Sr. appears to have enjoyed better health in May 1839, he was ill on the journey from Far West, Missouri, and remained sick for much of 1839. It is unclear which members of the extended Smith family were living in Commerce by this time. The party traveling with JS’s parents from Far West included Sophronia Smith McCleary, husband William McCleary, and her child from her first marriage, Maria Stoddard; Katharine Smith Salisbury, husband Wilkins Jenkins Salisbury, and children Lucy, Solomon, and Alvin; Don Carlos Smith, wife Agnes Coolbrith Smith, and daughters Agnes and Sophronia; and Lucy Smith. On their arrival in Illinois, this group apparently stayed in Archibald Williams’s home in Quincy. Soon thereafter, the families of Samuel and Don Carlos Smith traveled roughly sixty miles northeast to reside for a time on the property of church member George Miller near Macomb, Illinois. (George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 22 June 1855, in Northern Islander [St. James, MI], 9 Aug. 1855, [1]; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 16, [9]–[12], bk. 17, [5]; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, 36.)

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

  7. [7]

    Several contemporary sources refer to John Cleveland as a judge. However, according to extant records, he never held that position in Illinois, where he lived the majority of his life. The appellation is perhaps connected to his father, Gardner Cleveland, who may have served as a judge in New York. (See Letter from Emma Smith, 7 Mar. 1839; Dimick Huntington, Statement, ca. 1854–1856, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, 1839–1860, CHL; Oliver Huntington, “History of Oliver Boardman Huntington,” 44–45; and Cleveland and Cleveland, Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families, 1:310, 754.)

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

    Huntington, Oliver B. “History of Oliver Boardman Huntington,” 1845–1846. BYU.

    Cleveland, Edmund Janes and Horace Gillette Cleveland, comps. The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families. 3 vols. Hartford, CT: By the authors, 1899.

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