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Letter from Hannah Root and James M. Adams, 10 March 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Ashtabula Co., OH, to , , Hancock Co., IL, with postscript to JS by , 10 Mar. 1843; handwriting presumably of ; signatures of and presumably by , three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, dockets, notation, and redactions.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The paper is ruled with approximately twenty-six horizontal blue lines, now faded. The letter was written in blue ink on both sides of the first leaf and the recto of the second leaf. The verso of the second leaf is blank except for the addressing and later dockets and notation. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. When the letter was opened, a hole was torn in the first leaf, which resulted in the loss of some text.
, who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865, docketed the letter. The notation “Copied by A. J” was added by Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. An unidentified clerk in the Church Historian’s Office also docketed the letter. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. The postscript in the letter contains asterisks written in graphite, which appear to have designated a portion of the letter that Jenson included in the Journal History of the Church in the early twentieth century. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, its inclusion in the Journal History, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [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. [2]

    Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  3. [3]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [2], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

  4. [4]

    Bergera, “Commencement of Great Things,” 30; Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 10 Mar. 1843.

    Bergera, Gary James. “The Commencement of Great Things: The Origins, Scope, and Achievement of the Journal History of the Church.” Mormon Historical Studies 4, no. 1 (Spring 2003): 23–39.

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

  5. [5]

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

Historical Introduction

On 10 March 1843, wrote a letter from , Ohio, to in , Illinois, enclosing four hymn texts Adams had composed. , Hannah’s husband, then dictated to Hannah a postscript addressed to JS. Hannah was in December 1836, and James had been a member of the since at least 1837. Little information exists about the couple and their family. Hannah was apparently an aspiring hymnist and included the hymn texts in response to a notice that appeared in the 1 February 1843 issue of the Times and Seasons requesting that “persons having Hymns adapted to the worship of the Church” should send them to Emma Smith. Hannah acknowledged that she was not personally acquainted with Emma Smith and expressed hope that she would at some point be able to gather with the Saints in Nauvoo.
, meanwhile, presided over the in 1841, represented both the Andover and Gustavus, Ohio, branches at a May 1841 , and served as an agent for the Times and Seasons in Andover. The 1 July 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons published a letter from James to in which James reported on his preaching in Trumbull County, Ohio, and in November 1842, James wrote another missive to JS about the work in Andover. James’s postscript to JS in the letter featured here explained the progress and growth of the church in the Andover region.
The lack of postal markings on the letter suggests that a courier carried it to the Smiths, who likely received the letter sometime in late March. ’s appraisal of the hymns sent is unknown; a new hymnal was not published, and no response from JS or Emma has been located.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Obituary for Hannah Root Adams, Saints’ Herald, 28 Dec. 1889, 851; License Record, Messenger and Advocate, June 1837, 3:528. James M. Adams received an elder’s license in Kirtland in 1837.

    Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  2. [2]

    “Sacred Hymns,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1843, 4:95.

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

  3. [3]

    Minutes, Kirtland, OH, 22–24 May 1841, in Times and Seasons, 1 July 1841, 2:459; “List of Agents,” Times and Seasons, 1 Jan. 1841, 2:272.

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

  4. [4]

    James M. Adams, Andover, OH, 1841, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 1 July 1841, 2:468; Letter from James M. Adams, 16 Nov. 1842.

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

  5. [5]

    Letters from Ohio apparently took two to three weeks to reach Nauvoo. (Historical Introduction to Letter to Oliver Granger, between ca. 22 and ca. 28 July 1840.)

Page [2]

3 O son of righteousness unfould
Thy powerful beams and there display
O may my soul by faith behold
Those mansions of eternal days
 
4 Where saints behold thy smiling face
With reverance thy great name adore
Filled with the fullness of thy grace
Upheld by thy <​thine​> almighty power
 
5 Send down thy cheering beams to us
Whilst on this earthly globe we dwell
O free our souls from evry curse
Dispell the glooms of death and hell
 
6 O give us some foretastes of heaven
To bear our sinking spirits up
Send down thy grace like holy leaven
To cleans[e] the whole depraved lump
 
Unity & Love
1 Hail thou glorious king of Salem
Through the world in triumph ride
Evry nation bid the[e] welcon [welcome]
And thy peace like rivers glide
None have need of to teach his neighbour
Him request to know the Lord
Gracious God all nations favour
With thy spirite [spirit] and thy word
 
2 Bring the time to favour
When the saints on earth shall reign
With there glorious Lord and saviour
Free from Satans slavish chain
Lord: thy glorious kingdom gether
Reign ore [o’er] evry land and tongue
All be filled with peace and pleasure
And through earth thy praise be sung
 
3 May all party tenets vanish
A pure language all possess
Lord all evils from us banish
Cloth[e] our souls with righteousness
Gracious God send down thy spirit
Light bestow on every one
And all toungs and tribes interpet
Life through thine eternal son
 
4 Hasten Lord the restoration
Banish Sorrow evermore
May each kindred tongue and nati[on]
Bow and thy great mame [name] addore
Gracious God: thou great Creator
Thine eternal scepter sway
Gather through the mediator
Evry soul that gone astray
 
5 When all souls are Joined in union
Feast on streams of love divine
With their saviour hold communion
All the glory Lord be thine
Then will all things bow before the[e]
And thy sacred name addore
Unto the[e] ascribe the glory
Power and kingdom evermore [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Hannah Root and James M. Adams, 10 March 1843
ID #
1008
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:24–31
Handwriting on This Page
  • Hannah Root Adams

Footnotes

  1. [12]

    See Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 105, 490–491, 541 [2 Nephi 26:9; 3 Nephi 25:2; Ether 9:22].

  2. [13]

    See 1 Corinthians 5:6–7; and Galatians 5:9.

  3. [14]

    See Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1–2; and Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 254 [Alma 13:17–18].

  4. [15]

    See Isaiah 48:18; 66:12; and Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 54 [1 Nephi 20:18].

  5. [16]

    See Jeremiah 31:34; and Hebrews 8:11.

  6. [17]

    See Psalm 102:13; and Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:6].

  7. [18]

    See Old Testament Revision 1, p. 16 [Moses 7:26].

  8. [19]

    TEXT: The second column on this page begins here.

  9. [20]

    See Zephaniah 3:9; and Old Testament Revision 1, p. 11 [Moses 6:6].

  10. [21]

    TEXT: “nati[page torn]”.

  11. [22]

    See Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 78, 126 [2 Nephi 9:5–6; Jacob 3:7].

  12. [23]

    See 1 Timothy 2:5.

  13. [24]

    See Old Testament Revision 1, p. 6 [Moses 4:2].

  14. [25]

    See Matthew 6:13; and Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:92–93].

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