Letter from Reuben McBride, 3 January 1842
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Source Note
, Letter, , Lake Co., OH, to JS and , , Hancock Co., IL, 3 Jan. 1842; handwriting of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notations, and dockets.Bifolium measuring 12½ × 7⅞ inches (32 × 20 cm). All four pages are inscribed in black and blue ink. filled the recto and verso of each leaf, leaving space for the address on the verso of the second leaf. The fourth page of the letter also included writing to the right and left of the address block that was added after the letter was trifolded twice in letter style. It appears that McBride erased this text with a knife and then rewrote the content vertically across the text on the recto of the first leaf. Following this alteration, the letter was addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. There is wafer residue on the fourth page. The letter appears to have torn when it was opened, resulting in some loss of text on the left side of the first and fourth pages and the right side of the second and third pages. It was later refolded for filing.The document was docketed 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. Another docket was inscribed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The document was listed in an inventory produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets as well as its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.
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
“Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
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3
“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [2], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
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4
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
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1
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Historical Introduction
On 3 January 1842 member wrote a letter from , Ohio, to JS in , Illinois, reporting on the state of JS’s and the church’s outstanding financial obligations. McBride was given power of attorney after church members at a held in Nauvoo the previous October voted that he “go, settle, and if possible close a business concern left in an uncertain condition by deceased.”In 1838, as the majority of church members migrated from to , JS empowered several men to act as the church’s financial to settle debts that had accrued between 1835 and 1837 from building the and supplying mercantile businesses in and around Kirtland. In 1839 a general conference of the church appointed presiding officer over the church in Kirtland; in conjunction with this appointment, the authorized Granger to act as a church agent to settle outstanding debts on behalf of JS and other church leaders.While settled many church debts over the following years, he failed to convey information about these settlements to JS with the expected regularity and detail. This meant that JS, as the church’s president and trustee, often had an incomplete picture of the church’s outstanding financial debts, which sometimes resulted in confusion. In October 1840, under the mistaken assumption that Granger planned to return to in the fall, a church conference voted to replace him with as the presiding officer in ; JS also empowered Babbitt to act as the church’s financial agent in Kirtland. After learning that Granger intended to remain in Kirtland and was still performing his duties, JS sent him a letter explaining the leadership change and urging him to work together with Babbitt. Granger’s communications regarding the settlement of earlier debts continued to be sparse, however, leaving JS in a difficult position in terms of responding to creditors and ascertaining the church’s financial position. In May 1841, after learning that Granger’s health was in decline, JS requested an update on his progress in settling church debts. JS received no further correspondence from Granger. Less than four months later, Granger died in Kirtland.In October 1841 a church conference voted to withdraw fellowship from and to appoint , who was apparently in attendance, as the church’s agent in . At the time, McBride was a counselor in the Kirtland . JS granted him power of attorney later that month, and McBride likely left for Kirtland shortly afterward. Given the uncertainty about ’s success in settling church debts, it is likely that JS asked McBride to assess the church’s financial situation in Kirtland and write to him as soon as possible.On 3 January 1842 wrote the featured letter to JS outlining some of the church’s outstanding debts and seeking JS’s counsel on how best to settle them. Specifically, McBride described the money owed for his transactions as an agent in ; McBride’s own efforts to collect a promissory note from a “Br More,” likely Henry Moore, and to pay taxes on church land; and the status of two legal s that creditors held against the church farm in . McBride also informed JS that Latter-day Saint Abel Owen and his family were stranded in Kirtland and living in a “suffering condition.” McBride added three postscripts, one of which was directed to and concerned the liquidation of a debt that More apparently owed Smith. It is possible that one or more of the postscripts were added on 4 January, the day the letter was mailed. JS likely received the letter in a couple of weeks later. Though there is no extant response from JS, McBride continued to resolve church debts as an agent of the church in subsequent years.
Footnotes
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1
Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841, italics in original.
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2
See, for example, Statement of Account from Perkins & Osborn, ca. 29 Oct. 1838.
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3
Minutes, 4–5 May 1839; Authorization for Oliver Granger, 13 May 1839; see also Agreement with Oliver Granger, 29 Apr. 1840. Granger began acting as a church agent in 1837 and 1838. (See Statement of Account from John Howden, 29 Mar. 1838; Letter of Introduction from John Howden, 27 Oct. 1838; and Letter from William Perkins, 29 Oct. 1838.)
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4
Letter to Oliver Granger, 26 Jan. 1841; JS to Reuben McBride, Letter of Attorney, 2 Nov. 1841, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 213–214.
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6
See Letter to Amos Keeler, 16 Mar. 1841; and Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841.
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7
Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841; Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841.
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8
Obituary for Oliver Granger, Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1841, 2:550.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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9
Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841; Power of Attorney to Reuben McBride, 28 October 1841. Though the minutes do not explicitly state the reasons for withdrawing fellowship from Babbitt, they do suggest that he had encouraged eastern Saints to settle in Kirtland (going against the First Presidency’s directive to gather to Nauvoo) and “in many places taught doctrine contrary to the revelations of God and detrimental to the interest of the church.” Babbitt had also previously been accused of disparaging JS and Sidney Rigdon. On 28 October, JS revoked Babbitt’s authority to act as a church agent. (Historical Introduction to Letter to Oliver Granger, between ca. 22 and ca. 28 July 1840.)
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10
“Minutes of a Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1841, 2:458.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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11
Power of Attorney to Reuben McBride, 28 October 1841; see also JS to Reuben McBride, Letter of Attorney, 2 Nov. 1841, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 213–214.
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12
See Reuben McBride to William Marks, 4 June 1843, copy, CHL; JS, Journal, 15 Sept. 1843; and Reuben McBride to JS, Bill, 6 May 1845, Illinois State Historical Society, Circuit Court Case Files [Cases pertaining to Mormon Residents], 1830–1900, CHL.
McBride, Reuben. Letter to William Marks, 4 June 1843. Copy. CHL.
Illinois State Historical Society. Circuit Court Case Files, 1830–1900. Microfilm. CHL. MS 16278.
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