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Letter from Calvin A. Warren, 31 August 1841

Source Note

Calvin A. Warren

3 June 1807–22 Feb. 1881. Lawyer. Born in Elizabethtown, Essex Co., New York. Lived at Hamilton Co., Ohio, 1832. Moved to Batavia, Clermont Co., Ohio, by 1835. Married first Viola A. Morris, 25 May 1835, at Batavia. Moved to Quincy, Adams Co., Illinois, 1836...

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, Letter,
Quincy

Located on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...

More Info
, Adams Co., IL, to JS,
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, 31 Aug. 1841; handwriting of
Calvin A. Warren

3 June 1807–22 Feb. 1881. Lawyer. Born in Elizabethtown, Essex Co., New York. Lived at Hamilton Co., Ohio, 1832. Moved to Batavia, Clermont Co., Ohio, by 1835. Married first Viola A. Morris, 25 May 1835, at Batavia. Moved to Quincy, Adams Co., Illinois, 1836...

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; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address and docket.
Single leaf measuring 12⅝ × 7⅞ inches (32 × 20 cm), ruled with thirty-eight horizontal blue lines. The letter was written on the recto and then trifolded twice in letter style and addressed. The document was folded for filing.
The document was docketed by
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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, 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.
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].


Comprehensive Works Cited

Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

The letter is listed in a Church Historian’s Office inventory from circa 1904. By 1973 this letter had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
2

See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.


The docket, inventory, and inclusion in the JS Collection suggest this letter has remained in continuous institutional custody since its receipt in 1841.

Footnotes

  1. [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–.

  2. [2]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 31 August 1841,
Calvin A. Warren

3 June 1807–22 Feb. 1881. Lawyer. Born in Elizabethtown, Essex Co., New York. Lived at Hamilton Co., Ohio, 1832. Moved to Batavia, Clermont Co., Ohio, by 1835. Married first Viola A. Morris, 25 May 1835, at Batavia. Moved to Quincy, Adams Co., Illinois, 1836...

View Full Bio
of
Quincy

Located on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...

More Info
, Illinois, addressed a letter to JS in
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Illinois, about a proposed property purchase in
Warsaw

Located at foot of Des Moines rapids of Mississippi River at site of three military forts: Fort Johnson (1814), Cantonment Davis (1815–1818), and Fort Edwards (1816–1824). First settlers participated in fur trade. Important trade and shipping center. Post...

More Info
, Illinois.
1

Warren became involved in Hancock County real estate in 1836. In August 1836, Warren and fellow Warsaw residents Mark Aldrich and Daniel S. Witter purchased land that had been designated as the township’s school section. Warren moved back to Quincy in 1839; his real estate investments in Warsaw had become a financial strain, and he and his partners sought to sell the land. During a meeting with JS in December 1841, Warren acknowledged the financial strain of his 1836 deal and confided to JS that “his temporal salvation depended on the success of the enterprize.” (“Our Town and County,” Western World [Warsaw, IL], 13 May 1840, [2]; Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 277, 413, 418, 637–638; History of Adams County, Illinois, 413; JS, Journal, 13 and 30–31 Dec. 1841; for more on Warren’s real estate dealings, see Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. C, pp. 256–257, 2 Aug. 1836, microfilm 954,193; vol. 11F, pp. 270–272, 30 Aug. 1838, microfilm 954,194; vol. 12G, pp. 293–294, 16 July 1839, microfilm 954,195; vol. H, pp. 112–113, 15 May 1839, microfilm 954,598, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Western World. Warsaw, IL. 1840–1841.

Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

The History of Adams County, Illinois. Containing a History of the County—Its Cities, Towns, Etc. . . . Chicago: Murray, Williamson, and Phelps, 1879.

U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

Warren wrote the letter in response to an earlier conversation with JS, in which they discussed the possibility of JS purchasing property in Warsaw Township that was owned by a Mr. Morris, likely Warren’s brother-in-law
Isaac N. Morris

22 Jan. 1812–29 Oct. 1879. Lawyer, newspaper editor, politician, farmer, railroad owner and commissioner. Born in Bethel, Clermont Co., Ohio. Son of Thomas Morris and Rachel Davis. Moved to Oxford, Butler Co., Ohio, before 1835. Moved to Warsaw, Hancock Co...

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, a former resident of Warsaw.
2

“Mr. Morris” could also be Benjamin F. Morris, a Congregationalist minister who was living in Warsaw in 1841. Both men had reasons to be interested in selling land in Warsaw at that time. Prior to moving to Quincy, Isaac N. Morris partnered with Warren in several Warsaw land deals. Benjamin F. Morris, while not as active in buying and selling land in Warsaw, was deeply concerned about the proposed Latter-day Saint settlement near Warsaw. Ten days before Warren wrote to JS, Benjamin F. Morris predicted that many citizens would sell their property to avoid living near the Saints. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. C, pp. 256–257, 2 Aug. 1836, microfilm 954,193; vol. 12G, pp. 293–294, 16 July 1839, microfilm 954,195; vol. H, pp. 112–113, 15 May 1839, microfilm 954,598, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Benjamin F. Morris, Warsaw, IL, to Milton Badger, New York City, 21 Aug. 1841, American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, reel 18, CHL.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, 1816–1898. Microfilm. CHL.

The letter provided JS with details regarding the price of the land and the terms under which it might be purchased.
Warren

3 June 1807–22 Feb. 1881. Lawyer. Born in Elizabethtown, Essex Co., New York. Lived at Hamilton Co., Ohio, 1832. Moved to Batavia, Clermont Co., Ohio, by 1835. Married first Viola A. Morris, 25 May 1835, at Batavia. Moved to Quincy, Adams Co., Illinois, 1836...

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and JS had become acquainted by June 1841. Warren, acting as the master in
chancery

The court of chancery, also known as equity, emerged in fourteenth-century England as an alternative to the common law courts, which over preceding centuries had developed complicated and strict rules of procedure, governed by precedent. Partial compliance...

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in
Adams County

Situated in western Illinois; bounded on west by Mississippi River. Organized from Pike Co., 1825. Quincy established as county seat, 1825. Population in 1830 about 2,200. Population in 1840 about 14,500. Latter-day Saint exiles from Missouri found refuge...

More Info
, Illinois, helped JS obtain a writ of
habeas corpus

“Have the body”; a written order from a court of competent jurisdiction commanding anyone having a person in custody to produce such person at a certain time and place and to state the reasons why he or she is being held in custody. The court will determine...

View Glossary
following an arrest at
Bear Creek

Named after stream that rises near Carthage, Illinois, and flows southwest into Mississippi River. JS arrested in area, 5 June 1841, by Adams Co., Illinois, sheriff Thomas King, acting on warrant from Illinois governor Thomas Carlin, who planned to deliver...

More Info
, Illinois.
3

On 5 June 1841, JS was arrested at Bear Creek, Illinois, based on a requisition issued by former Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs to have Illinois governor Thomas Carlin extradite JS as a fugitive from justice. JS obtained a writ of habeas corpus in Quincy, Illinois, and departed two days later for his hearing in Monmouth, Illinois. (Requisition for JS, 1 Sept. 1840, State of Missouri v. JS for Treason [Warren Co. Cir. Ct. 1841], JS Extradition Records, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, IL; “The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

Soon thereafter, Warren and JS began negotiating the
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

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’s purchase of Warsaw Township’s school section.
4

The Land Ordinance of 1785 specified that land in the United States be surveyed into townships of six miles square. Each township was further surveyed into thirty-six one-mile-square sections, one of which was designated the “school section.” Proceeds from the sale of the school section were to be used to fund public schools within the township. (“Our Town and County,” Western World [Warsaw, IL], 13 May 1840, [2]; Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 637–638.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Western World. Warsaw, IL. 1840–1841.

Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

Such a land purchase was intended to help JS accommodate the influx of people into
Hancock County

Formed from Pike Co., 1825. Described in 1837 as predominantly prairie and “deficient in timber.” Early settlers came mainly from mid-Atlantic and southern states. Population in 1835 about 3,200; in 1840 about 9,900; and in 1844 at least 15,000. Carthage ...

More Info
, including over eight hundred Saints from the British Isles, who had arrived in
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
by mid-July 1841.
5

“British Emigration to Nauvoo,” 5–6, in Historian’s Office, Church Emigration, CHL.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Historian's Office. Church Emigration, no date. CHL.

Although the land purchase in Warsaw had not been finalized, JS had already announced that the church would establish a number of new settlements, including a town in Warsaw Township’s school section. The new town was to be named
Warren

Platted on school section number 16, one mile south of Warsaw, summer 1841. Quorum of Twelve wrote epistle to Saints, 26 Aug. 1841, inviting immigrants to settle in Warren. Willard Richards moved to Warsaw and sold lots in Warren, Sept. 1841. Joseph Fielding...

More Info
, Illinois—after Calvin A. Warren—and would be located one mile south from the town of
Warsaw

Located at foot of Des Moines rapids of Mississippi River at site of three military forts: Fort Johnson (1814), Cantonment Davis (1815–1818), and Fort Edwards (1816–1824). First settlers participated in fur trade. Important trade and shipping center. Post...

More Info
.
6

“Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1841, 2:522; JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841.


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

While JS and the church were making preliminary efforts to establish a new town in the school section,
Warren

3 June 1807–22 Feb. 1881. Lawyer. Born in Elizabethtown, Essex Co., New York. Lived at Hamilton Co., Ohio, 1832. Moved to Batavia, Clermont Co., Ohio, by 1835. Married first Viola A. Morris, 25 May 1835, at Batavia. Moved to Quincy, Adams Co., Illinois, 1836...

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sent the letter featured here to invite JS to purchase additional land in the Warsaw Township. After conferring with Morris, Warren offered JS the option to acquire Morris’s home and seven-acre tract of land for the price of $2,250.
After
Warren

3 June 1807–22 Feb. 1881. Lawyer. Born in Elizabethtown, Essex Co., New York. Lived at Hamilton Co., Ohio, 1832. Moved to Batavia, Clermont Co., Ohio, by 1835. Married first Viola A. Morris, 25 May 1835, at Batavia. Moved to Quincy, Adams Co., Illinois, 1836...

View Full Bio
wrote the letter, he sent it to JS with an unnamed courier identified only as “your brother”—likely
Hyrum Smith

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

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. It was received and then filed by JS’s secretary,
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

View Full Bio
, most likely at the time of receipt. No additional correspondence provides further information regarding either the land or the loan, but a Latter-day Saint settlement near
Warsaw

Located at foot of Des Moines rapids of Mississippi River at site of three military forts: Fort Johnson (1814), Cantonment Davis (1815–1818), and Fort Edwards (1816–1824). First settlers participated in fur trade. Important trade and shipping center. Post...

More Info
existed briefly.
7

Some immigrants settled in the Warren, Illinois, area in November 1841, but by mid-December “the First Presidency decided that the saints should remove from Warsaw To Nauvoo immediately.” The brevity of the settlement appears to have been primarily due to opposition to the church. While the Warren settlement was still being planned, the Warsaw Signal expressed hopes that the town would be spared the “curse” of a Latter-day Saint settlement and proposed that the town be named “Money-Diggersville,” highlighting accusations regarding JS’s involvement with treasure-seeking in his youth. Concerned that the proposed settlement would line the roads of Warsaw “with the waggons of this deluded people,” Warsaw’s Congregationalist minister, Benjamin F. Morris, predicted that the old citizens would “sell their property” and “move away” because of their “strong disinclination to live near the Mormons.” (JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841; News Item, Warsaw [IL] Signal, 14 July 1841, [2], italics in original; News Item, Warsaw Signal, 4 Aug. 1841, [2]; Benjamin F. Morris, Warsaw, IL, to Milton Badger, New York City, 21 Aug. 1841, American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, reel 18, CHL; see also Hamilton, “Money-Diggersville,” 49–58.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, 1816–1898. Microfilm. CHL.

Hamilton, Marshall. “‘Money-Diggersville,’—The Brief, Turbulent History of the Mormon Town of Warren.” The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 9 (1989): 49–58.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Warren became involved in Hancock County real estate in 1836. In August 1836, Warren and fellow Warsaw residents Mark Aldrich and Daniel S. Witter purchased land that had been designated as the township’s school section. Warren moved back to Quincy in 1839; his real estate investments in Warsaw had become a financial strain, and he and his partners sought to sell the land. During a meeting with JS in December 1841, Warren acknowledged the financial strain of his 1836 deal and confided to JS that “his temporal salvation depended on the success of the enterprize.” (“Our Town and County,” Western World [Warsaw, IL], 13 May 1840, [2]; Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 277, 413, 418, 637–638; History of Adams County, Illinois, 413; JS, Journal, 13 and 30–31 Dec. 1841; for more on Warren’s real estate dealings, see Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. C, pp. 256–257, 2 Aug. 1836, microfilm 954,193; vol. 11F, pp. 270–272, 30 Aug. 1838, microfilm 954,194; vol. 12G, pp. 293–294, 16 July 1839, microfilm 954,195; vol. H, pp. 112–113, 15 May 1839, microfilm 954,598, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    Western World. Warsaw, IL. 1840–1841.

    Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

    The History of Adams County, Illinois. Containing a History of the County—Its Cities, Towns, Etc. . . . Chicago: Murray, Williamson, and Phelps, 1879.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  2. [2]

    “Mr. Morris” could also be Benjamin F. Morris, a Congregationalist minister who was living in Warsaw in 1841. Both men had reasons to be interested in selling land in Warsaw at that time. Prior to moving to Quincy, Isaac N. Morris partnered with Warren in several Warsaw land deals. Benjamin F. Morris, while not as active in buying and selling land in Warsaw, was deeply concerned about the proposed Latter-day Saint settlement near Warsaw. Ten days before Warren wrote to JS, Benjamin F. Morris predicted that many citizens would sell their property to avoid living near the Saints. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. C, pp. 256–257, 2 Aug. 1836, microfilm 954,193; vol. 12G, pp. 293–294, 16 July 1839, microfilm 954,195; vol. H, pp. 112–113, 15 May 1839, microfilm 954,598, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Benjamin F. Morris, Warsaw, IL, to Milton Badger, New York City, 21 Aug. 1841, American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, reel 18, CHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, 1816–1898. Microfilm. CHL.

  3. [3]

    On 5 June 1841, JS was arrested at Bear Creek, Illinois, based on a requisition issued by former Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs to have Illinois governor Thomas Carlin extradite JS as a fugitive from justice. JS obtained a writ of habeas corpus in Quincy, Illinois, and departed two days later for his hearing in Monmouth, Illinois. (Requisition for JS, 1 Sept. 1840, State of Missouri v. JS for Treason [Warren Co. Cir. Ct. 1841], JS Extradition Records, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, IL; “The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447.)

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

  4. [4]

    The Land Ordinance of 1785 specified that land in the United States be surveyed into townships of six miles square. Each township was further surveyed into thirty-six one-mile-square sections, one of which was designated the “school section.” Proceeds from the sale of the school section were to be used to fund public schools within the township. (“Our Town and County,” Western World [Warsaw, IL], 13 May 1840, [2]; Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 637–638.)

    Western World. Warsaw, IL. 1840–1841.

    Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

  5. [5]

    “British Emigration to Nauvoo,” 5–6, in Historian’s Office, Church Emigration, CHL.

    Historian's Office. Church Emigration, no date. CHL.

  6. [6]

    “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1841, 2:522; JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841.

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

  7. [7]

    Some immigrants settled in the Warren, Illinois, area in November 1841, but by mid-December “the First Presidency decided that the saints should remove from Warsaw To Nauvoo immediately.” The brevity of the settlement appears to have been primarily due to opposition to the church. While the Warren settlement was still being planned, the Warsaw Signal expressed hopes that the town would be spared the “curse” of a Latter-day Saint settlement and proposed that the town be named “Money-Diggersville,” highlighting accusations regarding JS’s involvement with treasure-seeking in his youth. Concerned that the proposed settlement would line the roads of Warsaw “with the waggons of this deluded people,” Warsaw’s Congregationalist minister, Benjamin F. Morris, predicted that the old citizens would “sell their property” and “move away” because of their “strong disinclination to live near the Mormons.” (JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841; News Item, Warsaw [IL] Signal, 14 July 1841, [2], italics in original; News Item, Warsaw Signal, 4 Aug. 1841, [2]; Benjamin F. Morris, Warsaw, IL, to Milton Badger, New York City, 21 Aug. 1841, American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, reel 18, CHL; see also Hamilton, “Money-Diggersville,” 49–58.)

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

    American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, 1816–1898. Microfilm. CHL.

    Hamilton, Marshall. “‘Money-Diggersville,’—The Brief, Turbulent History of the Mormon Town of Warren.” The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 9 (1989): 49–58.

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Calvin A. Warren, 31 August 1841
ID #
680
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:247–250
Handwriting on This Page
  • Calvin A. Warren

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