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Letter from Emma Smith, 6 December 1839

Source Note

Emma Smith

10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...

View Full Bio
, Letter,
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
[
Commerce

Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...

More Info
], Hancock Co., IL, to JS,
Washington DC

Created as district for seat of U.S. federal government by act of Congress, 1790, and named Washington DC, 1791. Named in honor of George Washington. Headquarters of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of U.S. government relocated to Washington ...

More Info
, 6 Dec. 1839; handwriting of
Emma Smith

10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...

View Full Bio
; two pages; Charles Aldrich Autograph Collection, State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines. Includes address, stamped postmark, postal notation, and dockets.
Two leaves (including the cover sheet on which the address was written). The sheet on which the letter was written is 10 × 7⅝ inches (25 × 19 cm) and contains thirty-one printed horizontal lines; the cover sheet is 10 × 7½ inches (25 × 19 cm) and does not contain printed lines. The letter was trifolded in letter style, addressed, sealed, and mailed. At a later time, the letter was folded twice horizontally and docketed by an unidentified scribe and JS’s scribe
Robert B. Thompson

1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...

View Full Bio
.
Based on
Thompson

1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...

View Full Bio
’s docket, the letter was in JS’s possession from its reception and remained in Smith family possession after JS’s death.
Joseph Smith III

6 Nov. 1832–10 Dec. 1914. Clerk, hotelier, farmer, justice of the peace, editor, minister. Born at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Son of JS and Emma Hale. Moved to Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri, 1838; to Quincy, Adams Co., Illinois, 1839; and to Commerce ...

View Full Bio
donated the letter to the state of
Iowa

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803. First permanent white settlements established, ca. 1833. Organized as territory, 1838, containing all of present-day Iowa, much of present-day Minnesota, and parts of North and South Dakota. Population in...

More Info
, which put it in a collection of letters and autographs in 1891.
1

“The Mormon Prophet,” Des Moines (IA) Register, 13 Mar. 1891, in Historical Department, Newspaper Clippings, 1831–1993, CHL.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Historical Department. Newspaper Clippings, 1831–1993. CHL.

The state’s archives, including the extensive collection of autograph collector Charles Aldrich (1828–1908), were deposited with the newly organized Iowa State Historical Department (now the State Historical Society of Iowa) in 1892.
2

“Signed on the Dotted Line: The Charles Aldrich Autograph Collection,” [6]–[7].


Comprehensive Works Cited

“Signed on the Dotted Line: The Charles Aldrich Autograph Collection.” Iowa Historian: The Newsletter of the State Historical Society of Iowa (Feb.–Mar. 2008): [6]–[7]. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017. A copy of this digital newsletter is archived at publications.iowa.gov/6203/1 /Iowa_Historian_Feb-Mar_2008.pdf.

It is unknown when or why the letter was interfiled with the Aldrich collection.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “The Mormon Prophet,” Des Moines (IA) Register, 13 Mar. 1891, in Historical Department, Newspaper Clippings, 1831–1993, CHL.

    Historical Department. Newspaper Clippings, 1831–1993. CHL.

  2. [2]

    “Signed on the Dotted Line: The Charles Aldrich Autograph Collection,” [6]–[7].

    “Signed on the Dotted Line: The Charles Aldrich Autograph Collection.” Iowa Historian: The Newsletter of the State Historical Society of Iowa (Feb.–Mar. 2008): [6]–[7]. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017. A copy of this digital newsletter is archived at publications.iowa.gov/6203/1 /Iowa_Historian_Feb-Mar_2008.pdf.

Historical Introduction

Emma Smith

10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...

View Full Bio
wrote a letter on 6 December 1839 to her husband, JS, who was then in
Washington DC

Created as district for seat of U.S. federal government by act of Congress, 1790, and named Washington DC, 1791. Named in honor of George Washington. Headquarters of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of U.S. government relocated to Washington ...

More Info
. One month earlier, JS had written to Emma from
Springfield

Settled by 1819. Incorporated as town, 1832. Became capital of Illinois, 1837. Incorporated as city, 1840. Sangamon Co. seat. Population in 1840 about 2,600. Stake of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints organized in Springfield, Nov. 1840; discontinued...

More Info
, Illinois, updating her on the progress of his journey and inquiring after the well-being of their children.
1

Letter to Emma Smith, 9 Nov. 1839.


In that letter, he expressed particular concern about their three-year-old son,
Frederick

20 June 1836–13 Apr. 1862. Farmer, merchant. Born at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Son of JS and Emma Hale. Married Anna Marie Jones, 13 Sept. 1857, in Hancock Co., Illinois. Died in Nauvoo, Hancock Co.

View Full Bio
, who was ill at the time JS departed the
Commerce

Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...

More Info
, Illinois, area. In response to JS’s letter, Emma updated him about the health of their children, his parents, and several friends in Commerce amid a prolonged malaria epidemic. She also informed JS of the death of his scribe
James Mulholland

1804–3 Nov. 1839. Born in Ireland. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Married Sarah Scott, 8 Feb. 1838/1839, at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Engaged in clerical work for JS, 1838, at Far West. Ordained a seventy, 28 Dec. 1838....

View Full Bio
2

Mulholland had served as one of JS’s scribes since at least September of the previous year. The Nauvoo high council appointed him as a clerk for land contracts and subtreasurer of the church just seven days before JS departed for Washington DC. (JS, Journal, 3 Sept. 1838; Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 21 Oct. 1839, 25; Minutes, 27 Oct. 1839.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.

and of
Robert B. Thompson

1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...

View Full Bio
’s appointment to serve in Mulholland’s stead. After apprising JS of the well-being of his family and friends, Emma mentioned an ongoing border dispute between
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
and
Iowa Territory

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803. First permanent white settlements established, ca. 1833. Organized as territory, 1838, containing all of present-day Iowa, much of present-day Minnesota, and parts of North and South Dakota. Population in...

More Info
that brought thousands of armed Missourians within thirty miles of Commerce.
3

This dispute—nicknamed the “Honey War” by a local newspaper because of stories that a Missouri tax collector cut down hollow trees containing beehives on the property of an Iowa resident in order to collect the honey instead of the tax—was a bloodless conflict that lasted throughout the 1830s. It climaxed in 1839 when a sheriff from Iowa Territory and a sheriff from Missouri both tried to collect taxes from residents on a tiny strip of land that each side claimed along the Des Moines River. The hostilities soon resulted in a standoff between both sides’ militias and elicited federal intervention. JS apparently learned of the conflict from a source other than Emma’s letter because he mentioned the dispute in a letter to Robert D. Foster a week before Emma’s letter arrived in Washington. (“The Border War,” Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 7 Dec. 1839, [2]; “The Honey War,” Missouri Whig, and General Advertiser [Palmyra], 26 Oct. 1839, [3]; Everett, Creating the American West, chap. 4; Journal of the Senate of the United States, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., 12 Dec. 1839, 10; Letter to Robert D. Foster, 30 Dec. 1839.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Daily Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1869.

Missouri Whig, and General Advertiser. Palmyra, MO. 1839–1841.

Everett, Derek R. Creating the American West: Boundaries and Borderlands. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014.

Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, Being the First Session of the Twenty-Sixth Congress, Begun and Held at the City of Washington, December 2, 1839, and in the Sixty-Fourth Year of the Independence of the Said United States. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1839.

Emma

10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...

View Full Bio
expressed concern that her letter would not reach JS before he started home from the capital. Postmarks on the letter indicate it was forwarded to
Philadelphia

Port city founded as Quaker settlement by William Penn, 1681. Site of signing of Declaration of Independence and drafting of U.S. Constitution. Nation’s capital city, 1790–1800. Population in 1830 about 170,000; in 1840 about 260,000; and in 1850 about 410...

More Info
, where JS was presiding at a church
conference

A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...

View Glossary
. It is unclear when JS received the letter.
4

JS arrived in Philadelphia on 21 December 1839. He remained in the region, visiting congregations in some of the outlying communities, until he departed around 31 January 1840 for Washington DC, where he arrived by 5 February. According to the postmarks on this document, Emma mailed the letter at Commerce on 12 December 1839; it arrived in Washington on 8 January 1840 and was then forwarded to Philadelphia, though it is unknown when it arrived there. (Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 21 Dec. 1839, 70; 27 Jan. 1840, 2; Letter to Robert D. Foster, 30 Dec. 1839; Minutes and Discourse, 13 Jan. 1840; Discourse, 5 Feb. 1840.)


Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter to Emma Smith, 9 Nov. 1839.

  2. [2]

    Mulholland had served as one of JS’s scribes since at least September of the previous year. The Nauvoo high council appointed him as a clerk for land contracts and subtreasurer of the church just seven days before JS departed for Washington DC. (JS, Journal, 3 Sept. 1838; Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 21 Oct. 1839, 25; Minutes, 27 Oct. 1839.)

    Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.

  3. [3]

    This dispute—nicknamed the “Honey War” by a local newspaper because of stories that a Missouri tax collector cut down hollow trees containing beehives on the property of an Iowa resident in order to collect the honey instead of the tax—was a bloodless conflict that lasted throughout the 1830s. It climaxed in 1839 when a sheriff from Iowa Territory and a sheriff from Missouri both tried to collect taxes from residents on a tiny strip of land that each side claimed along the Des Moines River. The hostilities soon resulted in a standoff between both sides’ militias and elicited federal intervention. JS apparently learned of the conflict from a source other than Emma’s letter because he mentioned the dispute in a letter to Robert D. Foster a week before Emma’s letter arrived in Washington. (“The Border War,” Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 7 Dec. 1839, [2]; “The Honey War,” Missouri Whig, and General Advertiser [Palmyra], 26 Oct. 1839, [3]; Everett, Creating the American West, chap. 4; Journal of the Senate of the United States, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., 12 Dec. 1839, 10; Letter to Robert D. Foster, 30 Dec. 1839.)

    Daily Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1869.

    Missouri Whig, and General Advertiser. Palmyra, MO. 1839–1841.

    Everett, Derek R. Creating the American West: Boundaries and Borderlands. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014.

    Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, Being the First Session of the Twenty-Sixth Congress, Begun and Held at the City of Washington, December 2, 1839, and in the Sixty-Fourth Year of the Independence of the Said United States. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1839.

  4. [4]

    JS arrived in Philadelphia on 21 December 1839. He remained in the region, visiting congregations in some of the outlying communities, until he departed around 31 January 1840 for Washington DC, where he arrived by 5 February. According to the postmarks on this document, Emma mailed the letter at Commerce on 12 December 1839; it arrived in Washington on 8 January 1840 and was then forwarded to Philadelphia, though it is unknown when it arrived there. (Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 21 Dec. 1839, 70; 27 Jan. 1840, 2; Letter to Robert D. Foster, 30 Dec. 1839; Minutes and Discourse, 13 Jan. 1840; Discourse, 5 Feb. 1840.)

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Emma Smith, 6 December 1839
Letterbook 2

Page 1

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
Dec. 6th [1839]
Dear husband in the midst of the confusion of my own family and
Elder Hydes [Orson Hyde’s]

8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...

View Full Bio
1

The family of Orson Hyde—a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—consisted of his wife, Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde, and his two-year-old daughter, Laura Marinda Hyde. Marinda Hyde was pregnant when the Hydes arrived at the Smith home and gave birth to a girl a week later on 13 December 1839. (1900 U.S. Census, Salt Lake City Ward 1, Salt Lake Co., UT, 2A.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

& and the remains of Stena Fisks family
2

“The remains of Stena Fisks family” likely refers to the surviving family members of Sterry Fisk. Fisk died in Commerce on 26 July 1839; his seven-month-old daughter, Harriet, preceded him in death by nine days. (“Obituary,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:32.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

I shall endeavour to write, having omited writing so long already on account of so much confusion and some sickness that I very much fear that my letter will not arrive in
Washington

Created as district for seat of U.S. federal government by act of Congress, 1790, and named Washington DC, 1791. Named in honor of George Washington. Headquarters of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of U.S. government relocated to Washington ...

More Info
in time for you to receive it, I did not receive your letter wrote at Jacksonvill
3

Jacksonville, Illinois, is approximately thirty miles west of Springfield. JS would have passed through this town on either 2 November or 3 November. This letter is apparently not extant. (Doyle, Social Order of a Frontier Community, 21; Pay Order to James Mulholland for John Snider, 8 Nov. 1839.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Doyle, Don Harrison. The Social Order of a Frontier Community: Jacksonville, Illinois, 1825–70. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983.

untill after that Mr Law
4

Likely Wilson Law or William Law.)


gave me the one he brought,
5

Letter to Emma Smith, 9 Nov. 1839.


I cannot give a very particular account of what has passed here since you left home, Buisness in this place does not go on quite as well as when you was here,
6

It is unclear exactly what Emma was referring to here, but surviving documents pertaining to land purchases in the planned town of Nauvoo suggest that business did in fact slow down during JS’s absence. Over fifty documents are extant relating to eighteen land transactions that occurred in September 1839. The extant documents created in October 1839 pertain to three or four land transactions, those composed in November 1839 pertain to fifteen, and those created in December 1839 pertain to six. These documents, as well as related promissory notes, are available on this website.


I broke
Fredericks [Frederick Smith’s]

20 June 1836–13 Apr. 1862. Farmer, merchant. Born at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Son of JS and Emma Hale. Married Anna Marie Jones, 13 Sept. 1857, in Hancock Co., Illinois. Died in Nauvoo, Hancock Co.

View Full Bio
fever the same day you left
7

JS left Commerce on 29 October 1839. (Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 29 Oct. 1839, 66.)


and he has been well ever since
Joseph [Smith III]

6 Nov. 1832–10 Dec. 1914. Clerk, hotelier, farmer, justice of the peace, editor, minister. Born at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Son of JS and Emma Hale. Moved to Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri, 1838; to Quincy, Adams Co., Illinois, 1839; and to Commerce ...

View Full Bio
has had the chill fever
8

“The chill fever” is “malarial or intermittent fever characterized by paroxysms (stages of chills, fever, and sweating at regularly recurring times) and followed by an interval or intermission.” (Carter, “Disease and Death in the Nineteenth Century,” 294.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Carter, James Byars. “Disease and Death in the Nineteenth Century: A Genealogical Perspective.” National Genealogical Society Quarterly 76 (Dec. 1988): 289–301.

twice the first time he had the bled at the nose untill he was very weak he has not been as well ever since as he was before but is now getting better, <​W.​> Milton has not been well but a small part of the time the rest of my family are and have been well
Elder Hydes

8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...

View Full Bio
and family were brought here the day you went away were all sick, he soon recovered his health and has gone to the east
9

Hyde departed Commerce for Philadelphia on 14 November 1839 to preach and to gather funds to aid destitute church members. (Orson Hyde, Commerce, IL, 4 Mar. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, Mar. 1840, 1:71–73.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

his
wife

28 June 1815–24 Mar. 1886. Born in Pomfret, Windsor Co., Vermont. Daughter of John Johnson and Alice (Elsa) Jacobs. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Apr. 1832, in Hiram, Portage Co., Ohio. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1833...

View Full Bio
is very feeble yet
Mr Mullholland [James Mulholland]

1804–3 Nov. 1839. Born in Ireland. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Married Sarah Scott, 8 Feb. 1838/1839, at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Engaged in clerical work for JS, 1838, at Far West. Ordained a seventy, 28 Dec. 1838....

View Full Bio
was brought here the day after you left home and suffered extremly untill Sunday morming,
10

Mulholland arrived at the Smith home on Wednesday, 30 October, and died on Sunday, 3 November 1839. Notice of Mulholland’s death appeared in the Times and Seasons. Unaware that Mulholland had died, JS addressed a pay order to him on 8 November 1839. (“Obituary,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:32; Pay Order to James Mulholland for John Snider, 8 Nov. 1839.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

when his spirit left its suffering
tenement

Everything of a permanent nature, except a fee interest, of which may be seized from an owner, including lands and inheritances, rents, and profits.

View Glossary
for a better mansion than he had here, he lost his speech the first evening he was here and never spoke another word wh[i]le he lived, although I think he retained his senses, his death was felt very sensibly by all in the place, his wife omited the funeral untill your return much buisness remains unatended to on account of his sudden and unexpected death altho
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...

View Full Bio
has put
Robbert [Robert] B Thompson

1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...

View Full Bio
into his office
11

With the departure of JS and Sidney Rigdon, who were part of the delegation to the nation’s capital, Hyrum Smith was the remaining member of the church’s First Presidency in the Commerce area. (See Historical Introduction to Letter from Hyrum Smith, 2 Jan. 1840.)


yet
Mr Thompson

1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...

View Full Bio
has not done any thing at all in the buisness neither do I think he will
Carlos [Don Carlos Smith]

25 Mar. 1816–7 Aug. 1841. Farmer, printer, editor. Born at Norwich, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816–Jan. 1817. Moved to Manchester, Ontario Co., 1825. Baptized into Church of Jesus...

View Full Bio
requested me to ask me <​you​> what become of that letter [p. 1]
View entire transcript

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Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 1

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Emma Smith, 6 December 1839
ID #
1598
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:73–77
Handwriting on This Page
  • Emma Smith

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    The family of Orson Hyde—a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—consisted of his wife, Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde, and his two-year-old daughter, Laura Marinda Hyde. Marinda Hyde was pregnant when the Hydes arrived at the Smith home and gave birth to a girl a week later on 13 December 1839. (1900 U.S. Census, Salt Lake City Ward 1, Salt Lake Co., UT, 2A.)

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

  2. [2]

    “The remains of Stena Fisks family” likely refers to the surviving family members of Sterry Fisk. Fisk died in Commerce on 26 July 1839; his seven-month-old daughter, Harriet, preceded him in death by nine days. (“Obituary,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:32.)

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

  3. [3]

    Jacksonville, Illinois, is approximately thirty miles west of Springfield. JS would have passed through this town on either 2 November or 3 November. This letter is apparently not extant. (Doyle, Social Order of a Frontier Community, 21; Pay Order to James Mulholland for John Snider, 8 Nov. 1839.)

    Doyle, Don Harrison. The Social Order of a Frontier Community: Jacksonville, Illinois, 1825–70. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983.

  4. [4]

    Likely Wilson Law or William Law.)

  5. [5]

    Letter to Emma Smith, 9 Nov. 1839.

  6. [6]

    It is unclear exactly what Emma was referring to here, but surviving documents pertaining to land purchases in the planned town of Nauvoo suggest that business did in fact slow down during JS’s absence. Over fifty documents are extant relating to eighteen land transactions that occurred in September 1839. The extant documents created in October 1839 pertain to three or four land transactions, those composed in November 1839 pertain to fifteen, and those created in December 1839 pertain to six. These documents, as well as related promissory notes, are available on this website.

  7. [7]

    JS left Commerce on 29 October 1839. (Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 29 Oct. 1839, 66.)

  8. [8]

    “The chill fever” is “malarial or intermittent fever characterized by paroxysms (stages of chills, fever, and sweating at regularly recurring times) and followed by an interval or intermission.” (Carter, “Disease and Death in the Nineteenth Century,” 294.)

    Carter, James Byars. “Disease and Death in the Nineteenth Century: A Genealogical Perspective.” National Genealogical Society Quarterly 76 (Dec. 1988): 289–301.

  9. [9]

    Hyde departed Commerce for Philadelphia on 14 November 1839 to preach and to gather funds to aid destitute church members. (Orson Hyde, Commerce, IL, 4 Mar. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, Mar. 1840, 1:71–73.)

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

  10. [10]

    Mulholland arrived at the Smith home on Wednesday, 30 October, and died on Sunday, 3 November 1839. Notice of Mulholland’s death appeared in the Times and Seasons. Unaware that Mulholland had died, JS addressed a pay order to him on 8 November 1839. (“Obituary,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:32; Pay Order to James Mulholland for John Snider, 8 Nov. 1839.)

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

  11. [11]

    With the departure of JS and Sidney Rigdon, who were part of the delegation to the nation’s capital, Hyrum Smith was the remaining member of the church’s First Presidency in the Commerce area. (See Historical Introduction to Letter from Hyrum Smith, 2 Jan. 1840.)

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