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Report of Agents, circa 30 January 1841

Source Note

Agents of the church, Report, [, Hancock Co., IL], ca. 30 Jan. 1841; handwriting of ; two pages; JS Office Papers, CHL. Includes dockets.
One leaf, measuring 12 × 7⅝ inches (30 × 19 cm). The document was trifolded; the folds are weakened and soiled. The document was again folded for filing and was docketed “1841–” (double underlined) by . Another docket was written vertically by : “Report | of the | Agents of the Church | for buying & Selling | Land in Nauvoo”.
The report was presumably directed to the . The document’s nineteenth-century dockets and its inclusion in the Historian’s Office circa 1904 inventory suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Index to Papers in the Historians Office,” ca. 1904, draft, 6; “Index to Papers in the Historians Office,” ca. 1904, 6, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

Historical Introduction

Around 30 January 1841, compiled a report regarding the state of land purchases and sales on the , Illinois, peninsula. The report was neither signed nor dated except with a vertically written “1841” on the document’s verso. It is unclear who the agents were that prepared this report, though they may have included Nauvoo and counselor , who were appointed on 4 October 1840 to serve on a committee to raise funds for paying off the debts for Nauvoo land purchases. General church clerk , who inscribed the report featured here, also may have been one of the agents.
The report, which was presumably directed to the , included detailed information about the value of land the church had sold to Latter-day Saints who had moved to the area. The report also listed the amounts most immediately due to the various parties from whom the church had purchased the land. The compilers limited the report’s scope to land sales and debts on the Nauvoo peninsula and did not refer to land sales in the far more extensive tract of land the church had purchased immediately across the in . During summer 1839, church leaders purchased the land described in the report from , , , and and from the partnership of Hotchkiss, , and .
Although did not date the report featured here, later inscribed on the back of the document a docket that reads “1841.” Given internal evidence in the text, Bullock’s date was likely correct. According to the document, this was a new report following up on one or more previous reports—the most recent of which may have been prepared for the October 1840 church . The report featured here identified two interest notes due to , which came due in August 1840. The report could not have been prepared more than a year later for two reasons. First, by August 1841, two more interest payments would have been due to Hotchkiss, doubling the amount shown as owed. Second, Thompson, who inscribed the report, died on 27 August 1841. The report appears to have been created in early 1841 and may have been prepared around 30 January. On this date, a special conference was held in in which JS was elected “sole Trustee in Trust for the Church” and was made legally responsible for the church’s physical property. JS may have commissioned this report at the time of his election in order to address the church on the status of land sales in Nauvoo. If the report was intended for internal use only, JS also may have requested it in conjunction with his new legal position. Although the April 1841 church conference also would have fallen within the possible time frame of the report’s creation, detailed accounts of that later conference—which center on laying the cornerstones of the Nauvoo —do not indicate that JS used this type of report.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840.

  2. [2]

    On 3 October 1840, Thompson was appointed to replace George W. Robinson as general church clerk. (Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840.)

  3. [3]

    See Hancock Co., IL, Plat Books, 1836–1938, vol. 1, pp. 37–39, Nauvoo Plat, 3 Sept. 1839, microfilm 954,774, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. Acting on behalf of the church, Oliver Granger and Vinson Knight purchased nearly eighteen thousand acres of land in Lee County, Iowa Territory, from Isaac Galland during summer 1839. (Lee Co., IA, Land Records, 1836–1961, Deeds [South, Keokuk], vol. 1, pp. 507–509, microfilm 959,238; vol. 2, pp. 3–6, 13–16, microfilm 959,239, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; see also Cook, “Isaac Galland,” 270–275.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

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

  4. [4]

    While no similar earlier report has been located, the agents may have made their “last report” around the time of the October 1840 general conference of the church. During the morning session of that conference on 4 October, Thompson read a report from the First Presidency “in relation to the city plot,” after which JS spoke about the church’s land debts in the city. The First Presidency’s report may have been based on an accounting similar to this January 1841 report. (Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840; Report of the First Presidency, 4 Oct. 1840.)

  5. [5]

    “Death of Col. Robert B. Thompson,” Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1841, 2:519.

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

  6. [6]

    Appointment, 2 Feb. 1841, Hancock Co., IL, Bonds and Mortgages, 1840–1904, vol. 1, p. 95, microfilm 954,776, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; An Act concerning Religious Societies [6 Feb. 1835], Laws of the State of Illinois [1834–1835], pp. 147–149.

    Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835. Vandalia, IL: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835.

  7. [7]

    “Celebration of the Anniversary of the Church”; and Robert B. Thompson, “Laying the Corner Stone of the Temple,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, 2:375–377, 380–383.

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

Page [2]

The sales that have been made, have generally been on credit and as yet but comparitavely little means have come into their hands.
There has been paid the following, sums for lands in the plot viz
2000 Dollars to Mr Hugh White
1000 " to
18000 to Dr which
$3000 are now due to <​being the first payment of Int​> and $3000 to Mr Hugh White— the $3000 to Hugh White must be paid with or the must <​may​> suffer loss— it being the last payment to him for the farm purchased of him, and as soon as it is paid we shall be entitled to a deed for the same— we shall then have a deed of about 250 acres of the fairest portion of the City plot—
viz 120 acres from
80 from
and 50 from —
We have notes which are now due nearly sufficient to meet the payments but in consequence of the poverty of the brethren, we shall not be able to collect them for some time [p. [2]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Report of Agents, circa 30 January 1841
ID #
8240
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:534–538
Handwriting on This Page
  • Robert B. Thompson

Footnotes

  1. [7]

    On 23 April 1840, White gave JS a receipt for the payment of $1,000 plus interest in satisfaction of the debt owed White on the smaller land agreement church leaders made with Hotchkiss on 12 August 1839. (Receipt from William White, 23 Apr. 1840.)

  2. [8]

    The 12 August 1839 agreement between church leaders and the partnership of Hotchkiss, Tuttle, and Gillet required the payment of two interest installments per year, both due on 12 August, for $1,500 each. This report lists these payments as being “now due,” indicating that the August 1840 interest payments had not been made by the time this report was created. (Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A; JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith to Horace Hotchkiss, Promissory Note, 12 Aug. 1839–A, JS Collection, CHL; JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, Promissory Note, 12 Aug. 1839–A, JS Collection, CHL; see also Promissory Note to John Gillet and Smith Tuttle, 12 Aug. 1839.)

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