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Letter from David S. Hollister, 26 and 28 June 1844

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Letter from David S. Hollister, 26 and 28 June 1844

Source Note

, Letter, Wilmington, New Castle Co., DE, and , Philadelphia Co., PA, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 26 and 28 June 1844; handwriting and signatures of ; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, docket, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The recto of the first leaf is ruled with twenty-seven printed horizontal lines, now faded. The verso of the first leaf and recto of the second leaf are ruled with thirty-one printed horizontal lines, now faded. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer, remnants of which are on the verso of the second leaf. The document was later refolded for filing.
The letter was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. In the early twentieth century, the document was copied into the Journal History of the Church. The document was possibly listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 the letter had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket, its notation, its possible inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  2. Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 26 June 1844.

    Historical Department. Journal History of the Church, 1896–. CHL. CR 100 137.

  3. “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3]–[4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL. Two letters from David S. Hollister are listed under 1844 in the inventory, though Hollister wrote at least three letters to JS in 1844.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

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

Historical Introduction

On 26 June 1844, member wrote a letter from Wilmington, Delaware, to JS in , Illinois. He added a postscript after arriving in on 28 June. The letter reported on Hollister’s efforts in the mid-Atlantic states to generate support for JS’s presidential campaign in preparation for a national convention in on 13 July 1844, during which he was to represent Nauvoo and JS’s candidacy. Along with , , and , Hollister had been appointed as a delegate to the 1 May Whig National Convention. He planned to attend the 27–30 May Democratic National Convention as well. Both party conventions were also to be held in Baltimore. Hollister arrived in Baltimore too late for the Whig convention, but he was apparently in the city during the Democratic convention and presumably attended it. In June, Hollister continued to prepare for the July convention by traveling throughout Maryland and Delaware, trying to muster support for JS as president.
In his 26 June letter to JS, expressed his disappointment in the lack of success he had in (although he did not expound on his efforts or their reception), conveyed his unfamiliarity with what Latter-day Saints in other states were doing to prepare for the July convention, and declared his plans to secure a meeting hall for the July convention in Baltimore. He explained his plans to stay in Baltimore until that convention and then return to . Two days later, after reaching , Hollister added a postscript informing JS of newspaper reports, presumably about JS and the Latter-day Saints, that were negatively impacting public opinion.
The lack of postal markings on the letter suggests that it was transmitted to by hand. Because JS was killed on 27 June, he never saw the document. A docket on the letter, however, indicates that it arrived in Nauvoo and was filed with JS’s papers.

Footnotes

  1. A convention in Nauvoo on 17 May nominated Hollister, Orson Hyde, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, and Lyman Wight to represent Nauvoo at the July convention. (“Minutes of a Convention Held in the City of Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, May 17th, 1844,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 22 May 1844, [2].)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  2. JS, Journal, 23 Apr. 1844; Clayton, Journal, 23 Apr. 1844; Letter from David S. Hollister, 9 May 1844. Political parties began holding presidential nominating conventions in the 1830s. These conventions were typically held in Baltimore because of its accessibility and proximity to Washington DC. The precise role that Latter-day Saint delegates were to play at the Whig convention is unclear. According to John Taylor, they were to “make overtures” to those attending the convention, which may have meant trying to persuade the Whig Party to nominate JS for president or to enlist support among individual delegates for his nomination. Church leaders may have also wanted Hollister and the others to offer Latter-day Saint votes to candidates in exchange for support of the church’s ongoing efforts to obtain redress from Missouri and greater powers of self-government in Illinois. (McBride, Joseph Smith for President, 121, 176–179; “Public Meeting,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 24 Apr. 1844, [2].)

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

    McBride, Spencer W. Joseph Smith for President: The Prophet, the Assassins, and the Fight for American Religious Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  3. Hollister did not reach Baltimore until 4 May. He intimated in a 9 May letter that he planned to attend the Democratic convention, and on 31 May, John Cowan wrote to JS that he had recently seen Hollister in Baltimore. (“Whig National Convention,” Daily National Intelligencer [Washington DC], 2 May 1844, [2]; Letter from David S. Hollister, 9 May 1844; Letter from John Cowan, 31 May 1844.)

    Daily National Intelligencer. Washington DC. 1800–1869.

my Powers in compliance with the council I may rec[e]ive from the Propper Sourse Notwithstanding there are circumstances which render it exceedingly desireable for me to hasten home
I am dear Brother Yours as Ever
P.S.
June 28th 1844
I have Just arived in this and learn that no arangements are made for delagats to I Shall try them this Even[in]g; and tomorow go into the county and in a day or two pass on towards to meet Some appointments. Newspaper publications have frighent [frightened] Some people crazy
[15 lines blank] [p. [2]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from David S. Hollister, 26 and 28 June 1844
ID #
1448
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • David S. Hollister

Footnotes

  1. In an 11 April meeting of the Council of Fifty, JS was received as a king over the political kingdom of God on earth. At an 18 April 1844 meeting of the Council of Fifty that Hollister attended, JS stated that instead of referring to him as a king, the council should use the term proper source—a phrase that church members had used earlier in reference to JS to avoid the monarchal reference. (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 11 and 18 Apr. 1844; Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to John Whitmer, 1 Jan. 1834, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 15; “To the Saints Scattered Abroad,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:29; Woodruff, Journal, 7 Mar. 1844.)

    Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

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

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  2. By the end of June, numerous newspapers had reported the difficulties existing between the Latter-day Saints and their opponents in western Illinois. For example, the Public Ledger, a newspaper published in Philadelphia, contained a few articles in June highlighting the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor’s press and the resulting tensions. The 26 June 1844 issue of the Examiner and Herald, published in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, also recounted the Expositor’s destruction, reported the arrest of JS by a United States marshal, and gave an account of the apprehension of George Reader, “a Mormon preacher,” on charges of counterfeiting. An article from the Missouri Republican was reprinted in eastern United States newspapers as well. It depicted the Saints as “bent upon destruction” with “no spirit of concession or conciliation” but “wildly rush[ing] on from one act of aggression to another, until the law abiding citizens of the county are lost in amazement at their daring acts of villany.” (“The Mormon Schism,” Public Ledger [Philadelphia], 21 June 1844, [4]; “Proceedings at Nauvoo,” Public Ledger, 24 June 1844, [4]; “The Excitement at Nauvoo,” Public Ledger, 26 June 1844, [3]; “Doings at Nauvoo,” Examiner and Herald [Lancaster, PA], 26 June 1844, [3]; “Highly Important—Mormon War!,” Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, 28 June 1844, [4]; “Correspondence of the Missouri Republican,” Buffalo [NY] Commercial Advertiser, 26 June 1844, [3].)

    Public Ledger. Philadelphia. 1836–1925.

    Lancaster Examiner and Democratic Herald. Lancaster, PA. 1839–1844.

    Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette. Pittsburgh, PA, July 1786–.

    Buffalo Commercial Advertiser. Buffalo, NY. 184?–1890.

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