Letter from Levick Sturges and Others, 30 January 1842
-
Source Note
, , , and , Letter with postscripts by , , Allegheny Co., PA, to the (including JS) and , , Hancock Co., IL, 30 Jan. 1842; handwriting presumably of and handwriting of ; signatures presumably of , , , and and signature of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, dockets, redactions, and notations.Bifolium measuring 11⅞ × 7½ inches (30 × 19 cm). The letter begins on the verso of the first leaf, continues on the recto of the second leaf, and concludes at the top of the recto of the first leaf. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and addressed. The recto of the second leaf contains wafer residue, and there is a tear on the verso surrounded by wafer residue. The letter was later refolded for filing.The document was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as temple recorder from 1842 to 1846. Another docket was inscribed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. Graphite redactions and a notation in the body of the letter are in the handwriting of Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office in 1882 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. Another notation, “Copied by A.J.”, was apparently added by a clerk or secretary for Jenson. The document was listed as a letter from in an inventory that was 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 and notations as well as its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.
Footnotes
-
1
JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 18, 30–31.
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.
Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.
-
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.
-
3
Jenson, Autobiography, 131, 133, 135, 141, 192, 389; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 44–52.
Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson. Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.
Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.
Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.
-
4
“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.
-
5
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
-
1
-
Historical Introduction
On 30 January 1842, four members in —, , , and —wrote to the and in , Illinois, notifying them of the recent death of and requesting that apostle remain in the city to preach. Gee was assigned the previous October to serve a mission in Pittsburgh. He arrived on 22 December 1841, only four days before , who was en route to Nauvoo to explain his delay in leaving on a mission to Europe and Palestine. At Gee’s request, Page remained in the city to help proselytize. As reported in the 30 January letter, Page continued preaching in Pittsburgh after Gee died, and because Page’s oratory attracted large audiences, the four church members in Pittsburgh requested that Page be allowed to remain and move his family there as well.apparently wrote the letter, after which he, , , and signed it. Then added two postscripts. In the first, he expressed his willingness to remain in if he could also relocate his family there, discussed the advantages of establishing a in the city, and reviewed his successful labors there. He also explained his intention to report to in the spring to account for his delay in leaving on his mission. In the second postscript, he asked JS to relay his love to the Saints and his plans to see his family when in Nauvoo.The letter indicates it was carried to by the “politeness of S. Bennet,” referring to , who had been in five days before and was likely passing through en route to . No letter of response from the First Presidency or the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has been located, but the letter likely influenced the decision of the April 1842 special to assign to serve in Pittsburgh.
Footnotes
-
1
Sturges, Small, Cooper, and Simon were from Philadelphia and possibly were assigned to assist Gee in proselytizing in Pittsburgh.
-
2
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 7 Oct. 1841.
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.
-
3
Minutes and Discourse, 6–8 Apr. 1840; Letter from George Gee, 30 Dec. 1841.
-
4
Bennett also carried a letter from Philadelphia dated 25 January 1842. (Letter from James B. Nicholson, 25 Jan. 1842.)
- 5
-
1
Document Transcript
Footnotes
-
Handwriting presumably of Levick Sturges begins.
-
1
Gee wrote that in late December he “was laboring under a very violent cold.” (Letter from George Gee, 30 Dec. 1841.)
-
2
On Sunday, 26 December 1841, Page presumably found them preaching at the hall the Saints rented “in the central part of the City” on Sunday and Thursday evenings. (Letter from George Gee, 30 Dec. 1841.)
-
3
Richard Savary, who later joined the church, credited Page for having “convinced me of my errors, relative to the divinity of the Bible . . . and the result is, I am almost persuaded to be a Christian, on the principles contained in the Book.” (Letter from Richard Savary, 2 Feb. 1842, italics in original.)
-
4
Gee wrote to the First Presidency in December 1841 informing them that he had asked Page to stay and agreeing “to take the blame . . . if there was any” for Page’s decision to acquiesce and remain in Pittsburgh. (Letter from George Gee, 30 Dec. 1841.)
-
5
Twenty-three people, none of whom were members of the church, later signed a petition requesting that Page return to Pittsburgh after his visit to Nauvoo. (Petition from Richard Savary et al., ca. 2 Feb. 1842.)
-
Signatures of William Small, Levick Sturges, Jeramiah Cooper, and George Simon.
-
Handwriting presumably of Levick Sturges ends; John E. Page begins.
-
6
Apostles Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and John Taylor traveled through Pittsburgh in 1841 on their way to Nauvoo and gave advice to other elders planning to take that route. (Brigham Young, Pittsburgh, PA, to Willard Richards, Richmond, MA, 9 June 1841, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.)
Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.
-
7
Between 1837 and 1842 there were four printings of Parley P. Pratt’s Voice of Warning. (Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:69–71, 97–98, 172–173, 182.)
Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.
-
8
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Use of the Latter Day Saints, edited by John E. Page and John Cairns (no publisher, 1841). (See Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:152–154.)
Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.
-
9
This is likely a reference to Orson Pratt’s A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, and of the Late Discovery of Ancient American Records, first printed in 1840 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Two American editions were printed in 1841. (Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:127–129, 160–161.)
Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.
-
10
John E. Page, Slander Refuted (no publisher, 1841). (See Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:173–174.)
Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.
-
11
See 1 Kings 18:17–40.
-
12
Page was apparently planning to travel down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River. According to an early American steamboat directory, ice on the Ohio River usually broke up in February, rendering the river “open for navigation.” In March 1838 the chief engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reported that “the navigation of the Ohio River opens always by the 1st of March, and generally by the middle of February.” (Lloyd, Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory, 50–51; Documents Submitted by the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company, 12; see also Roberts, Practical Views on the Proposed Improvement of the Ohio River, 48–49.)
Lloyd, James T. Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory, and Disasters on the Western Waters, Containing the History of the First Application of Steam, as a Motive Power. . . . Cincinnati: James T. Lloyd, 1856.
Documents Submitted by the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company, in Behalf of Their Application to the Legislature of Virginia. Richmond, VA: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, 1838.
Roberts, W. Milnor. Practical Views on the Proposed Improvement of the Ohio River. Philadelphia: Journal of the Franklin Institute, 1857.
-
13
In September 1841 Page recommended that Winchester be replaced as the president of the Philadelphia branch. That same month, Winchester wrote JS to inform him that Page had not increased his efforts to meet Hyde in England, despite the Times and Seasons notice reprimanding Page for his delay. (Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841; Letter from Benjamin Winchester, 18 Sept. 1841; Notice, Times and Seasons, 15 Jan. 1841, 2:287.)
