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Letter from Chauncey Robison, 2 November 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 2 Nov. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; one page; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Includes address, wafer seal, docket, and archival marking.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7⅞ inches (25 × 20 cm). The letter was inscribed on the recto of the first leaf; the verso of the first leaf and the recto of the second leaf were left blank. It was trifolded twice in letter style and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The document was apparently folded before the ink dried, as there is considerable ink transfer corresponding with the fold pattern. The letter was torn when opened, and there is wafer residue on the recto and the verso of the second leaf.
The letter was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as temple recorder from 1842 to 1846. In late 1844, following JS’s death, became one of the interim church trustees and was appointed “first bishop” among other Nauvoo bishops. It was presumably during this time that many of the church’s financial and other administrative records passed into his possession. This document, along with many other personal and institutional documents that Whitney kept, was inherited by Newel K. and ’s daughter Mary Jane Whitney, who was married to Isaac Groo. The documents were passed down within the Groo family. Between 1969 and 1974, the Groo family donated their collection of Newel K. Whitney’s papers to the J. Reuben Clark Library (renamed Harold B. Lee Library in 1973) at Brigham Young University.

Footnotes

  1. [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. [2]

    Richards, Journal, 9 Aug. 1844; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:693; see also Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

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

  3. [3]

    Andrus and Fuller, Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 24; Wilkinson et al., Brigham Young University, 4:255.

    Andrus, Hyrum L., and Chris Fuller, comp. Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers. Provo, UT: Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, 1978.

    Wilkinson, Ernest L., Leonard J. Arrington, and Bruce C. Hafen, eds. Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years. Vol. 4. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1976.

Historical Introduction

On 2 November 1843, wrote a letter accepting JS’s terms for settling a financial transaction. JS had agreed to purchase land from Robison a year earlier, and on 20 September 1843, Robison wrote to JS offering to extend the due date of the balance on the debt if JS quickly repaid a portion of it. JS apparently responded to that letter on 31 October suggesting that he could transfer a draft of around $1,000 from the Bank of Rochester.
received JS’s response on 2 November and replied accepting his proposal. Robison’s letter bears no postal markings, but it does bear the notation “Care of ,” indicating that the letter was hand delivered to JS via his private clerk William Clayton. Though Robison completed the letter on 2 November, he likely delivered it to Clayton when they met in two days later. Clayton had acted as JS’s in purchasing the land in October 1842, and he apparently managed the details of the transaction on JS’s behalf thereafter.
By the time met with on 4 November, the Bank of Rochester draft was no longer available. According to Clayton’s account of the meeting, the promised draft was to come from David LeBaron, a in , but LeBaron had left for by the time Robison arrived in Nauvoo. With cash in short supply, it took until 28 November for Clayton to obtain $150—far less than the amount JS initially proposed—to pay Robison and even longer to pay further on the debt.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Land Transaction with Chauncey Robison, 22 Oct. 1842; Letter from Chauncey Robison, 20 Sept. 1843.

  2. [2]

    Clayton, Journal, 4 Nov. 1843.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  3. [3]

    Historical Introduction to Land Transaction with Chauncey Robison, 22 Oct. 1842.

  4. [4]

    Clayton, Journal, 4 Nov. 1843.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  5. [5]

    Land Transaction with Chauncey Robison, 22 Oct. 1842; Clayton, Journal, 28 Nov. 1843. Between February and November 1844, Robison made an arrangement with JS or the subsequent trustees to have them pay off one of Robison’s debts to New York lawyer and politician Reuben H. Walworth instead of paying Robison directly. (Land Transaction with Chauncey Robison, 22 Oct. 1842; Newel K. Whitney and George Miller to Parley P. Pratt, 9 July 1845, Copybook, pp. 9–10, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

Page [1]

Illinois
2[nd]. November 1843
Sir
Your Letter of the 31[st]. Oct 1843 is Just Received
I shall be glad to procure Your Draft on the Bank of Rochester New York
Ten or Twelve hundred Dollars payable in will Suit me equally as well as the Cash in hand
Your Obt Servt
Genl Joseph Smith [1/4 page blank] [p. [1]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Chauncey Robison, 2 November 1843
ID #
1194
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:245–247
Handwriting on This Page
  • Chauncey Robison

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