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Letter from Chauncey Robison, 20 September 1843
Source Note
Source Note
, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 20 Sept. 1843; handwriting of ; one page; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Includes address, wafer seal, postal stamp, postal notations, docket, and archival markings.
Bifolium measuring 7⅝–9⅞ × 7⅛ inches (19–25 × 18 cm). The letter was inscribed on the recto of the first leaf. The verso of the first leaf and recto of the second leaf were left blank. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. The letter was torn when it was opened and there is wafer residue on the second leaf. There is marked damage, particularly on the upper half of the document where over two inches of the page has disintegrated near the folds, causing the loss of a portion of the docket.
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]
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]
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]
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
Historical Introduction
On 20 September 1843, of , Illinois, wrote a letter to JS in , Illinois, seeking payment for an earlier transaction. This transaction was almost certainly JS’s October 1842 purchase of 160 acres of Robison’s land adjacent to JS’s , located about one mile southeast of Nauvoo. The terms of that agreement stated that JS owed Robison $1,920 plus interest in two installments due on the first days of April and September 1843. JS had yet to make a payment on the land as of mid-September 1843.
In his 20 September letter, requested immediate payment of half the amount due in exchange for extending the timeframe for repayment. Although Robison dated the letter 20 September, the stamped postal markings—presumably applied by Robison as Carthage’s postmaster—read 18 September. Although letters typically took only a day or two to travel between Carthage and , JS apparently did not respond to the letter until 31 October.
Footnotes
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Genl Joseph Smith
[p. [4]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
Circular postmark stamped in blue ink.
- [2]
Robison was appointed Carthage postmaster on 12 September 1840. As postmaster, he had the privilege of receiving and sending letters free of postage. (U.S. Post Office Department, Record of Appointment of Postmasters, reel 28, vol. 12B, p. 514; An Act to Reduce into One the Several Acts Establishing and Regulating the Post-Office Department [3 Mar. 1825], Public Statutes at Large, 18th Cong., 2nd Sess., chap. 64, p. 110.)
U.S. Post Office Department. Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832–September 30, 1971. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M841. 145 microfilm reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1977.
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.