Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 24 July 1841
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Source Note
, Letter, , New Haven Co., CT, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamp, postal notation, and dockets.Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The letter was written on the first page only and then trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. There are two tears on the last page. One of the tears likely occurred when the letter was opened. The letter was later folded for filing.On the verso of the second leaf, a contemporary docket was added by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. A second docket was later added on the same leaf by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865: “ | to | Joseph Smith | recd. 23 Augt. | ansd. 25th.”. The letter has presumably remained in institutional custody since its receipt in 1841, when Richards docketed and filed it.
Footnotes
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1
JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
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2
Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.
Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
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Historical Introduction
, a land speculator in , wrote a letter to JS in , Illinois, on 24 July 1841, expressing concern over the ’s lack of payment on lands purchased from him and his partners, and . In 1839, Hotchkiss and his partners sold several large tracts of land in the Nauvoo area to JS, , and . In accordance with the contracted repayment schedule, Hotchkiss and his partners were expecting an annual interest payment of $3,000 in or around August 1841.In February 1841, JS commissioned and to act as on his behalf to settle the debt with . After arriving in the eastern by the end of March, the two men worked to exchange lands in for lands from the Saints in the East; they intended then to deed those eastern lands to Hotchkiss as payment. Hotchkiss had verbally agreed to this arrangement and was expecting the delivery of these deeds. After procuring some property and transacting other church business in the northeastern United States, Hyrum Smith returned to Nauvoo at the end of April 1841. Galland was to continue procuring properties in the East and then meet Hotchkiss and his partners to turn over the land deeds as payment on the outstanding debt. As of 13 May, however, no such meeting had taken place, and Hotchkiss addressed a letter to Hyrum Smith in Nauvoo expressing his surprise at the delay and urging Hyrum to make immediate arrangements for payment.Although it is unclear when received the letter, he and left from , Illinois, on another assignment to the eastern in early June, with the apparent purpose of continuing efforts to secure properties for . Evidently aware of this assignment, Hotchkiss requested that Hyrum visit , Connecticut, to transfer the agreed-upon properties. Due to illness, however, Hyrum returned home prematurely after visiting the in and and making a short stop in , Massachusetts.Extant records reveal that and succeeded in obtaining some real estate meant to be transferred to . Though it is unclear exactly what happened with the acquired properties, Galland apparently sold some of them to other buyers in the East. In late July, Galland wrote to Hotchkiss to inform him that he intended to return immediately to and that would see to the intended land transfer. Although frustrated, Hotchkiss agreed to call on William Smith in hopes of receiving payment on the Nauvoo lands.mailed this 24 July 1841 letter from the , Connecticut, post office on 26 July. JS received it nearly a month later on 23 August and wrote a response two days later.
Footnotes
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2
Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 Feb. 1841; Snow, Journal, 1838–1841, 103.
Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.
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3
Horace Hotchkiss, Fair Haven, CT, to Hyrum Smith, Nauvoo, IL, 13 May 1841, JS Office Papers, CHL.
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4
The reason for Hyrum’s premature return is unclear, but he reportedly returned to Nauvoo in “good health.” (News Item, Times and Seasons, 1 May 1841, 2:403; Philadelphia Branch Record Book, 6 Apr. 1841; Letter from Smith Tuttle, ca. 15 Sept. 1841; Clayton, Diary, 2 May 1841.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Philadelphia Branch, Record Book, 1840–1854. CCLA.
Clayton, William. Diary, Vol. 1, 1840–1842. BYU.
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5
Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841; Letter from Smith Tuttle, ca. 15 Sept. 1841.
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Horace Hotchkiss, Fair Haven, CT, to Hyrum Smith, Nauvoo, IL, 13 May 1841, JS Office Papers, CHL.
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“The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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George A. Smith, Journal, 21 June 1841; Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841; Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 25 Aug. 1841; Snow, Journal, 1841–1847, 3. While details of his visit to Salem are scarce, Hyrum may have made the visit hoping to find a solution to the church’s debts. During this assignment, Hyrum carried with him a copy of JS’s 6 August 1836 revelation, which alluded to “much treasure” in Salem, and may have been hoping to realize the revelation’s promise that God would give the Saints “power to pay” their debts. Following his short visit to Salem, Hyrum stopped in Philadelphia, where he assigned Erastus Snow and Benjamin Winchester “to establish the kingdom in that city.” He gave a copy of the 6 August revelation to Erastus Snow and Benjamin Winchester, stating his belief that “the due time of the Lord had come” for its fulfillment. (Revelation, 6 Aug. 1836 [D&C 111]; Snow, Journal, 1841–1847, 3–4.)
Smith, George A. Journal, 22 Feb. 1841–10 Mar. 1845. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 2, fd. 4.
Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.
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By late July, the two had reportedly succeeded in obtaining “nearly enough” land to make the required payment. (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; Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 25 Aug. 1841.)
Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.
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Extant deeds reveal that lands were first transferred to Almon Babbitt, who was acting as an agent for JS, and then to Galland. In a letter to Edward Hunter, Galland mentioned he had sold some of the properties. Since the deeds for those lands were never given to Hotchkiss, Galland seems to have sold them for personal gain. (Isaac Galland, Philadelphia, to Edward Hunter, [West Nantmeal Township, PA], 27 July 1841, Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL; Chester Co., PA, Deeds, 1688–1903, vol. U-4, pp. 82–83, 185–188, 271–275, microfilm 557,205, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Peirce, Robert and Hannah Harvey Peirce, 63.)
Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Peirce, Earl Harvey. Robert and Hannah Harvey Peirce, 1847 Pioneers: Including Some of Their Ancestors and Descendants. Provo, UT: By the author, 1990.
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While Hotchkiss stated only that Galland was “leaving for the west,” Smith Tuttle clarified that Galland had stated he was “on his way to Nauvoo,” as William Smith confirmed in his 5 August 1841 letter. (Letter from Smith Tuttle, ca. 15 Sept. 1841; Letter from William Smith, 5 Aug. 1841.)
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