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Letter from Erastus Derby, 9 October 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Scott Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 9 Oct. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; two pages; Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, CHL. Includes address, wafer seal, postal notations, docket, and notations.
Bifolium measuring 12⅝ × 7⅞ inches (32 × 20 cm). The letter was inscribed on the verso of the first leaf and on the top half of the recto of the second leaf; the recto of the first leaf was left blank. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. The recto and the verso of the second leaf contain wafer residue; there is a large tear on the second leaf that likely occurred when the letter was opened. The letter contains graphite inscriptions and has undergone conservation.
The document was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844. In late 1844, following JS’s death, became one of the interim church trustees and was appointed “first bishop” among other 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 some other personal and institutional documents that may have been kept by Whitney, was inherited by Whitney’s great-granddaughter Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, who passed these and other family papers down to her daughter Helen Marian Fleming Petersen. In 1988, shortly after Petersen’s death, this collection was found in a box in her home, and later that year family members donated it to the Church Historical Department (now CHL).

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.

    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.

  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]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, 1836–1963, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 9 October 1843, while en route to , Illinois, member wrote a letter to JS in , Illinois, informing him about a voyage of the steamboat Maid of Iowa and the vessel’s precarious financial condition. JS had purchased a 50 percent interest in the steamboat in May 1843, joining church member and ship captain as co-owner. As part of the purchase, JS assumed financial debts associated with the Maid of Iowa’s initial construction and operation. These earlier debts, along with crew payments and the boat’s ongoing operation costs, meant that the boat operated at a loss in the following months.
On 24 September 1843, the Maid of Iowa departed to conduct business in and along the , a major tributary of the . and , two of JS’s trusted associates, were among the passengers and crew. JS had appointed both men as clerks and to collect payments and satisfy debts related to the steamboat. The steamboat first crossed the Mississippi River to , Iowa Territory, and moved downriver, making stops in , Iowa Territory, and in and , Illinois, before arriving in St. Louis on 26 September. Clayton recorded in his journal: “Almost as soon as we landed the creditors began to come on board with their claims, but in consequence of our dissappointment, we were compelled to ask them to wait longer. Some of them appeared very angry and we had to pay them.” On 28 September, the Maid of Iowa traveled northwest up the Illinois River, making stops in Peru and , Illinois. The steamboat returned to St. Louis on 5 October, laden with freight and twenty-six passengers. Clayton indicated that he “went & did some business in the Stores, settled matters with Derby and .” Later that evening, Clayton left for Nauvoo on the steamboat Swiftsure. Derby apparently remained aboard the Maid of Iowa, which made another run up the Illinois River.
In the featured letter, recounted a disagreement with , reported on the Maid of Iowa’s unsettled financial situation, and advised JS to put the ship “in different hands” if he wanted to make the boat profitable. He informed JS that an unnamed man wanted to charter the vessel for a run up the “Azoo River” in Louisiana. Derby mailed the letter from on 10 October 1843. A docket in the handwriting of , who returned to on 7 October, indicates that JS received the letter in Nauvoo. Perhaps in response to Derby’s suggestion that JS transfer management of the steamboat, JS leased the Maid of Iowa to church member in early December 1843.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 12 May 1843; Clayton, Journal, 3 June 1843. In late May, JS transferred a portion of his share to church member James Adams in exchange for 1,760 acres of prairie land; in July, JS deeded some or all of his remaining share to his wife Emma. (Trustees Land Book B, 24 May 1843, 19; Clayton, Journal, 15 July 1843.)

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

  2. [2]

    See “Liabilities of the S.B. ‘Maid of Iowa,’” 12 May 1843; and JS to Dan Jones and Levi Moffet, Financial Statement, 12 May 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.

  3. [3]

    In August 1842, JS went into hiding after Illinois officials issued a warrant for his arrest. During this period, Derby stayed with JS and delivered personal correspondence between JS and Emma Smith. Quoting a blessing given by JS to Derby during their time in hiding, JS’s journal stated, “How good, and glorious, it has seemed unto me, to find pure and holy friends, who are faithful, just and true, and whose hearts fail not; and whose knees are confirmed and do not faulter; while they wait upon the Lord, in administering to my necessities.” (JS, Journal, 11, 16, and 17 Aug. 1842.)

  4. [4]

    Clayton, Journal, 23 Sept.–5 Oct. 1843; Jones, “Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith,” [22].

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

    Dennis, Ronald D. “The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith and His Brother Hyrum.” BYU Studies 24 (Winter 1984): 78–109.

  5. [5]

    Clayton, Journal, 24–26 and 28 Sept. 1843; 31 Sept.–5 Oct. 1843. Clayton initially wanted to return to Nauvoo after the first stop in St. Louis, but Derby, “being very urgent,” persuaded him to continue. (Clayton, Journal, 28 Sept. 1843.)

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

  6. [6]

    Clayton, Journal, 7 Oct. 1843.

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

  7. [7]

    Lease to David S. Hollister, 2 Dec. 1843.

Page [3]

There is a man on the boat that has come with us to See what She can do that wants to charter the half of her if he can to run in the Azoo River in the State of Louiseannah and is very anxicous to get hold of her but Brother Joseph if you want to get your money out of this boat you must get it in different hands that is certain but I Supose you know how that is as well as I do I have kept an acurate acount of Every thing since I come on this boat and shall till removed I must close as are a landing at I have wrote this in great hast[e] with the boat joytin [jolting] as hard as it well can
I remain your true friend
[1/2 page blank] [p. [3]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Erastus Derby, 9 October 1843
ID #
1491
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:174–177
Handwriting on This Page
  • Erastus Derby

Footnotes

  1. [3]

    This may have referred to steamboat captain O. A. Miller, who later leased or purchased half of the Maid of Iowa. (See David S. Hollister, New Orleans, LA, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 8 Jan. 1843 [1844], JS Collection, CHL; Jones, “Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith,” [22]–[23]; and Survey of Federal Archives, Ship Registers and Enrollments of New Orleans, Louisiana, 4:173.)

    Dennis, Ronald D. “The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith and His Brother Hyrum.” BYU Studies 24 (Winter 1984): 78–109.

    Ship Registers and Enrollments of New Orleans, Louisiana. 6 vols. University, LA: Louisiana State University, 1941.

  2. [4]

    This likely referred to the Yazoo River, which flowed southwest from Greenwood, Mississippi, to a confluence with the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Mississippi, across from Louisiana. During this period, steamships transported cotton grown in the Yazoo River Basin to New Orleans for export abroad. (Siege of Vicksburg, Its Approaches by Yazoo Pass and Other Routes [1863]; “Sunday Packet Yazoo,” Daily Picayune [New Orleans], 25 June 1843, [3]; Smith, Yazoo River, xi–xv, 41–42, 88.)

    The Siege of Vicksburg, Its Approaches by Yazoo Pass and Other Routes. T. S. Hardee, 1863. Copy at Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress, Washington DC. Accessed 16 Apr. 2021. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3984v.cw0280 000/?r=-0.261,0.457,1.27,0.935,0.

    Daily Picayune. New Orleans, LA. 1837–1914.

    Smith, Frank E. The Yazoo River. New York: Rinehart, 1954.

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