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Note to James Sloan, circa 30 May 1843
Source Note
Source Note
JS as mayor, Note, to , [, Hancock Co., IL, ca. 30 May 1843]; handwriting of JS and ; signature of JS; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes notations and archival marking.
Single leaf measuring 3⅞ × 7⅝ inches (10 × 19 cm) and ruled with ten horizontal blue lines that are now faded. The left and top edges have the square cut of manufactured paper, while the right and bottom edges appear torn. The leaf was folded in half.
This document was presumably kept among city records. In 1845 the city of Nauvoo was disincorporated. Many if not most of the city records were listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) in 1846, when they were packed up with church records that were taken to the Salt Lake Valley. The city records are listed in inventories of church records created in 1855, 1878, and circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s presumed inclusion with city records listed in several inventories and its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody since the mid-1840s.
Footnotes
- [1]
“An Act to Repeal the Nauvoo Charter,” 14th General Assembly, 1844–1845, Senate Bill no. 35 (House Bill no. 42), Illinois General Assembly, Enrolled Acts of the General Assembly, 1818–2012, Illinois State Archives, Springfield.
Illinois General Assembly. Enrolled Acts of the General Assembly, 1818–2012. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.
- [2]
“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
- [3]
“Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th April 1855,” [1]–[2]; “Index of Records and Journals in the Historian’s Office 1878,” [11]; “Index to Papers in the Historians 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]
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On or about 30 May 1843, in , Illinois, JS directed city recorder to prepare an order for $6.60 “for Some lime” via a note, to which Sloan subsequently added three notations clarifying JS’s instructions and documenting their implementation. The note is representative of the many routine documents produced by JS and his clerks in the daily course of fulfilling his civic responsibilities. The note to Sloan was the result of a legal case, State of Illinois v. Daniel Brown and Thomas Edwards, over which JS had presided as a justice of the peace in the mayor’s court. On 15 November 1842, JS found insufficient evidence against the defendants to sustain the charge that they had stolen some logs, and he discharged Brown and Edwards from custody. JS ordered the complainant, , to pay the case costs, totaling $6.00. When Niswanger failed to comply with the judgment, JS issued a on 10 December 1842 ordering the city marshal to levy Niswanger’s property to recover the costs. Nauvoo constable attempted to serve the writ, but he was unable to locate any of Niswanger’s property. Parker charged the city $0.50 for his attempt to serve the writ. On 4 April 1843, JS renewed the writ of execution, commanding the city marshal to collect from Niswanger the costs, which now totaled $6.50. After receiving the writ on 26 April, Parker went to Niswanger’s lime kiln and levied $6.50 worth of lime. On 1 May 1843, Parker sold the lime at a public sale to Younger McCaslin, who was apparently unable to pay for it at the time. On 11 May, the lime was sold again, this time to , but he was also apparently not able to pay for it, at least not immediately.
In this note instructing to prepare an order for $6.60 “for Some lime,” JS did not specify what type of order, but other sources indicate that the resulting document obligated to pay for the lime. JS signed the note as ’s mayor. He probably produced the note in the mayor’s office, which at this time was also his private on the second floor of his , located at the southwest corner of Water and Granger streets in Nauvoo. After receiving the note, Sloan added a notation specifying the correct amount of $6.50. Sloan then prepared the order and delivered it to , who made a corresponding notation on the writ of execution that he “Received order by order of the Mayor for 6,50.” The order is apparently not extant, although it evidently constituted a “Demand” upon Roundy to pay for the lime. Parker further noted on the execution that the order was “Given to Shadrich [Shadrach] Roundy this 30th Day of May 1843.” Roundy apparently agreed at this time to split the cost for the lime with . However, rather than pay outright for the lime, Roundy and Sherwood arranged with Sloan to have the $6.50 deducted from the fees owed them by the city for their services as night watchmen. Sloan added a second notation to JS’s note, dated 30 May, explaining this arrangement.
On 1 June 1843, the city council approved the claims made by and of $12 each for their service as night watchmen. As part of this approval, the council specified that “the sum of $6,50 is to be deducted from Sherwood & Roundys claims, (one half from each,) being for Lime bought by them, under sale by Execution, at suit of the City of against , for that amt. of costs.” accordingly wrote two pay orders, each for $8.75, for the night watchmen. He then added a third notation to JS’s note indicating that the $6.50 had been “charged” by the city council on 1 June 1843.
Footnotes
- [1]
- [2]
- [3]
Execution, 4 Apr. 1843, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; “Lime,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 26 July 1843, [4]. Quicklime was made by burning limestone into powder in a kiln to remove impurities and was primarily used as fertilizer and as mortar for cement. After burning, it was packaged into bushels of approximately eighty pounds. In summer 1843, the Nauvoo Neighbor advertised quicklime as selling in St. Louis for $0.10–0.12 per bushel, meaning that $6.50 purchased between 54 and 65 bushels. (“Lime,” in Morton, Cyclopedia of Agriculture, 2:252–253, 255, 298; “St. Louis Weekly Price Current,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 9 Aug. 1843, [3]; McBride, House for the Most High, 107–108.)
Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.
Morton, John C., ed. A Cyclopedia of Agriculture, Practical and Scientific; in Which the Theory, the Art, and the Business of Farming, Are Thoroughly and Practically Treated. By Upwards of Fifty of the Most Eminent Practical and Scientific Men of the Day. 2 vols. Glasgow: Blackie and Son, 1855.
McBride, Matthew. A House for the Most High: The Story of the Original Nauvoo Temple. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007.
- [4]
Parker made several notations documenting these transactions on the back of the writ of execution. (Execution, 4 Apr. 1843, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
- [5]
- [6]
Parker referred to the order as a “Demand” in his tabulation of fees on the back of the writ of execution. (Execution, 4 Apr. 1843, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
- [7]
Sherwood wrote in his personal account book in May 1843 that he had received from Parker two orders “for lime,” both for $3.25, suggesting that it had already been arranged for the $6.50 to be divided evenly between him and Roundy. (Sherwood, Record Book, May 1843.)
Sherwood, Henry G. Record Book, ca. 1838–1844. CHL.
- [8]
Roundy filed a claim with the city on 23 February 1843 asking for $12, or $1.50 per night for eight nights. The claim also requested the same amount for Sherwood and Alexander Mills. (Shadrach Roundy, Claim, Nauvoo, IL, 23 Feb. 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; see also Mayor’s Order to City Watch, 20 May 1842.)
- [9]
Sloan also added a corresponding notation on the writ of execution stating that “the above $6,50 is to be deducted out of a claim of Shadrach Roundy & H. G. Sherwood, agst the City, as night Watch, & sd. claim is now before the City Council.” (Execution, 4 Apr. 1843, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
- [10]
- [11]
Pay Order to Shadrach Roundy, 1 June 1843; Pay Order to Henry G. Sherwood, 1 June 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.
give an order of six dollars and sixty cents for Some lime which will be explained
Joseph Smith
Mayor
Sh[oul]d have been $6,50.—
& to be charged with this in their claim upon the as Night Watch. so soon as their Claim is allowed.
May 30th. 1843.—
charged, June 1st. 1843,— see City Council Book of that date.— [p. [1]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
JS handwriting begins.
JS handwriting ends; James Sloan begins.
- [1]