Pay Order to Henry G. Sherwood for John A. Hicks, 7 November 1839
Source Note
JS, Pay Order, , Sangamon Co., IL, to , for , [, Hancock Co., IL], 7 Nov. 1839; handwriting of and JS; signature of JS; one page; JS, Papers, 1839–1844, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL. Includes dockets and filing notation.
One leaf of lined paper, measuring 7¾ × 6 inches (20 × 15 cm). The bottom edge of the leaf is torn. The extant portion of the leaf was trifolded in letter style. The verso is blank except for dockets and a notation inscribed in 1845.
The dockets and notation, probably in the handwriting of probate justice of the peace , indicate this document was later submitted as a claim against JS’s estate. At an unknown time, the pay order was removed from the Hancock County Probate Court and came into private possession. The Illinois State Historical Library (now Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library) acquired this document from the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop of Chicago in 1972.
Historical Introduction
On 7 November 1839, JS wrote a pay order to requesting that he pay fifty dollars. JS was in , Illinois, en route to with a delegation seeking redress for atrocities and deprivations committed against members during the “Mormon War” in . JS wrote to Sherwood in , Illinois, presumably because Sherwood had been selling lots on the plat to newly arriving Latter-day Saints and likely had available funds to pay Hicks. The previous month, the Nauvoo had appointed Sherwood to appraise, show, and sell town lots. Hicks, a member of the church, had apparently lent money to assist with JS’s trip expenses, though it is unclear whether Hicks—who was living in Nauvoo by the following year—gave the money before JS departed from Commerce or sometime during the delegation’s journey.