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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 [3]

St Johns Discovery
1 I looked and by: a heavenly Lamb
On s mountain stood
The mighty saviour great I am
With garments dyed in blood
 
2 And with him was a shining throung
The seed of Abraham
And this bright army sung the song
Of Moses and the Lamb
 
3 Great God how marvilous are thy ways
This heavenly army cry
All nations shall shout forth thy praise
And sound thine honors high
 
4 All nations shall thy name addore
In Abrihams seed be blest
Thee worship for thy Judgments are
To us made manifest
 
After being thus tedious I close by sending my love to all of the Saints preying that the great auther of all inteligence will bless us all and preserve us from evry faulse & delusive spirit & give us strength to resist all evil.
I subscribe myself your sister in the
Mrs
P S Sister Eliza Holman wishes to be remembered to you & all enquiring friends.
 
Br Joseph Smith Dear sir
As there is room for a line I thought it would not be a miss to say a word in regard to the prosperity of the Redemmers cause in this reagion of a country suffise it to say there is the greatest call for preaching that there ever has been scince the everlasting Gospel was sounded in the ears of mortals in these last days. And there has been well within the last two months double added to the in this section of the land country that there ever was before in the same length of time & verry menny are preparing to this spring & faul. There is also a great call for Books both in the church & out such as the Book of Mormon & covenents the latter of which many of the of the church is destitute because they cannot be obtained in this country. If there could be a quantity of Books sent in to this country say a general assortment containing that knowlege benificial to man & their there mint [might?] be many sold But for the want of room I close Your brother in the bonds of the covenent
Joseph Smith [p. [3]]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [3]

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. [26]

    See Revelation 14:1.

  2. [27]

    See Revelation 15:2–3.

  3. [28]

    TEXT: The second column on this page begins here.

  4. [29]

    See Revelation 15:3.

  5. [30]

    See Genesis 12:3; 28:14.

  6. [31]

    See Revelation 15:4.

  7. [32]

    TEXT: At this point, the page is no longer divided into columns.

  8. [33]

    This may refer to Eliza Coffman Holman, who was born in 1819 in Pennsylvania and married David Holman. (Temple Records Index Bureau, Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, 184; 1850 U.S. Census, Pottawattamie Co., IA, 69[A].)

    Temple Records Index Bureau of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, 10 December 1845 to 8 February 1846. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1974.

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

  9. [34]

    Truman Wait, apparently one of the first Latter-day Saint missionaries to preach in Andover, baptized six individuals in the area in 1834. James M. Adams reported in his 1841 letter to Don Carlos Smith that two people were baptized in Andover in a short period of time. (Truman Wait, Report, 18 Aug. 1835, Missionary Reports, 1831–1900, CHL; James M. Adams, Andover, OH, 1841, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 1 July 1841, 2:468.)

    Missionary Reports, 1831–1900. CHL. MS 6104.

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

  10. [35]

    “Covenents” refers to the Doctrine and Covenants, an 1835 publication of JS’s revelations. (Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God, comp. by JS, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams [Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835].)

  11. [36]

    Since 1840, requests were being made for new printings of the Doctrine and Covenants and other church publications so that they would be more widely available. (See, for example, Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 1 May 1840; and Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840.)

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