Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 16 August 1842
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Source Note
, Letter, , New Utrecht, Kings Co., NY, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 16 Aug. 1842; handwriting of ; four pages; JS Materials, courtesy of Community of Christ Archives, International Headquarters, Independence, MO. Includes address and dockets.Bifolium measuring 9⅛ × 7½ inches (23 × 19 cm). A paper mill insignia, embossed in the top left corner of the first leaf recto, reads “D. FELT & Co. | NEW YORK”, encircling an eagle. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer, the wafer remaining on the recto of the second leaf., who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844, docketed the document, as did an unidentified scribe. The letter was likely retained by JS and passed down among Smith family descendants. By 1961, the family had donated the letter to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ), and it is now housed in the Community of Christ Library and Archives.
Footnotes
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David Felt & Co. was a stationery company run by David Felt in New York City at this time. (Longworth, Longworth’s American Almanac [1842], 234; Morris, Felt Genealogy, 155–156.)
Longworth’s American Almanac, New-York Register, and City Directory, for the Sixty-Seventh Year of American Independence. . . . New York: T. Longworth and Son, 1842.
Morris, John E., comp. The Felt Genealogy. A Record of the Descendants of George Felt of Casco Bay. Hartford, CT: Lockwood and Brainard, 1893.
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2
JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.
Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.
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3
Richard Howard, email to Rachel Killebrew, 5 June 2017, copy in editors’ possession.
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Historical Introduction
On 16 August 1842, , a prominent educator and journalist, wrote a letter to JS detailing his thoughts on various members he had encountered and outlining his position on and the allegations Bennett had made against JS. Although Bennet had not met JS in person, he had become acquainted with the Latter-day Saints earlier in 1842 and had—apparently at John C. Bennett’s instigation—received an honorary degree from the University of Nauvoo; had the “freedom of the city” of , Illinois, conferred upon him; had a street in Nauvoo named after him; and received a commission as inspector general in the . In May 1842, he had proven himself a friend to JS and the Saints by defending them against charges of free love and communalism in a letter he published in the New York Herald under the pseudonym “Cincinnatus.” Bennet’s letter to JS answered one JS had written to him on 30 June 1842, which had delivered to Bennet while in his company from 5 to 7 August.explained in his 16 August letter that had asked him to help publish an exposé of JS and the church but that he had refused. Bennet believed that , the editor of the New York Herald, planned to publish and promote the book, but Bennet advised JS not to worry about John C. Bennett’s allegations. Bennet was confident that John C. Bennett’s claims would bring greater attention to and interest in the church and that his exposé would not present anything that JS had not already been charged with in various newspapers. James Arlington Bennet also expressed his satisfaction with leaders of the church he had met, including , a church and JS’s scribe; , who presided over the church’s in ; and , who was in New York City.Although there are no postal markings on the letter, an entry in JS’s journal states that the letter was conveyed to JS by mail and that he received it a few days before 7 September 1842. On 8 September, he dictated a reply.
Footnotes
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1
“Honorary Degree,” “Freedom of the City,” and “Military Appointment,” Wasp, 30 Apr. 1842, [3]; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 22 Apr. 1842, 74–75.
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
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2
James Arlington Bennet [Cincinnatus, pseud.], “The Mormons,” New York Herald, 16 May 1842, [2].
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
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3
Richards had traveled to the eastern United States to be reunited with his family and help them move to Nauvoo. At the same time, he had been assigned to raise money for the Nauvoo temple and to serve as an agent on general church business, but JS also wanted him to convey to Bennet “all the facts” relative to John C. Bennett. After staying with Bennet, Richards wrote a letter to JS conveying Bennet’s views on various matters. Bennet’s 16 August letter repeats some of this information. (“To the Eastern Churches,” Times and Seasons, 1 June 1842, 3:814; Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 30 June 1842; Richards, Journal, 4 and 7 Aug. 1842; Letter from Willard Richards, 9 Aug. 1842.)
Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.
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5
JS, Journal, 8 Sept. 1842; JS, Nauvoo, IL, to James Arlington Bennet, New Utrecht, NY, 8 Sept. 1842, JS Collection, CHL.
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