The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , , Lake Co., OH, 4 May 1841; handwriting of ; three pages; Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, Springfield, IL. Includes address, postal notations, and docket.
Bifolium measuring 12¼ × 7½ inches (31 × 19 cm). The letter was written on the first three pages and then trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with an adhesive wafer. The document was later folded for filing.
The Illinois State Historical Library (now the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum) purchased the letter from Morris H. Briggs in 1946.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Monaghan, “New Mormon Letter,” 85–86.

    Monaghan, Jay. “A New Mormon Letter.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 40, no. 1 (Mar. 1947): 85–86.

Historical Introduction

JS dictated this letter to his scribe on 4 May 1841 in , Illinois. The letter, addressed to , pertains to the ’s debts, which Granger was working to eliminate. In May 1839 the of the church entrusted “vast business concerns” to Granger and sent him to the eastern to resolve outstanding debts, primarily in , Ohio, and . By 1841, Granger was so immersed in the financial affairs of the church that his role as had become indispensable, but his health was waning. JS thus determined to send additional agents—including and —to the eastern states “on business for the church.”
In this 4 May 1841 letter, JS urged to meet with to give him information about his contacts, prior transactions, and efforts to resolve the church’s debts. However, no evidence exists that Granger ever met with Galland. Galland abandoned his assignment by July 1841, and Granger passed away in August 1841.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Authorization for Oliver Granger, 13 May 1839; see also Agreement with Oliver Granger, 29 Apr. 1840.

  2. [2]

    By July, Don Carlos Smith wrote Granger and mentioned he had heard Granger’s health was finally improving, but Granger died the next month. (Don Carlos Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to Oliver Granger, Kirtland, OH, 11 July 1841, Don Carlos Smith, Letters to Oliver Granger, 1841, CHL; Obituary for Oliver Granger, Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1841, 2:550.)

    Smith, Don Carlos. Letters to Oliver Granger, 1841. CHL.

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

  3. [3]

    Letter to Oliver Granger, 26 Jan. 1841; see also Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 Feb. 1841.

  4. [4]

    In July 1841, Horace Hotchkiss, a major creditor to the First Presidency for land purchased in Illinois, informed JS that Galland had never arrived in Connecticut to settle debts with Hotchkiss and his partners and that Galland had already left for the western United States. (Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 24 July 1841.)

Page [1]

City of May 4, 1841
Dear .
having returned and given me a statement of his journey and proceedings in the East, which have been very pleasing and satisfactory. I was sorry to hear that you had been so sick, and not able to attend to business as much [as] could be desired.
I have since heard that you have had a relapse, and that you were very sick again, this I was sorry to hear— However I hope you will yet recover and that we shall see you at this place before long.
I am very anxous indeed to have the matters which concern the settled as soon as possible, for until they are I have to labor under a load that is intolerable to bear, I therefore respectfully reccommend to you to give a whole statement of the whole affairs to who is yet in the east, and will be in soon, and get him to take the matter into his hands and get the thing business straitened up. This I must beg leave to urge upon you to do, for delays are dangerous, your health is precarious and if any thing should occur— [p. [1]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [1]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841
ID #
642
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:135–138
Handwriting on This Page
  • Robert B. Thompson

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Hyrum Smith returned prematurely from his trip to the eastern United States due to illness, but while there, Smith and Galland had reportedly succeeded in obtaining “nearly enough” land to pay the church’s debts. (Report, Times and Seasons, 1 May 1841, 2:403; Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 25 Aug. 1841; Letter from Smith Tuttle, ca. 15 Sept. 1841; JS et al., Bond, Nauvoo, IL, to Henry Kern, Bart Township, PA, 6 Apr. 1841, JS Collection, CHL; Isaac Galland, Philadelphia, to Edward Hunter, [West Nantmeal Township, PA], 27 July 1841, Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL; Robert Peirce, Nauvoo, IL, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 28 Feb. 1842, in Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:715.)

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

    Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.

  2. [2]

    JS had recently been served a pay order for one of the debts Granger was assigned to settle. (Letter to Amos Keeler, 16 Mar. 1841.)

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06