Letter from Harrison Sagers, circa April 1841

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Letter from Harrison Sagers, circa April 1841
Source Note

Harrison Sagers
3 May 1814/1815–19 June 1886. Painter, farmer. Born in LeRoy, Genessee Co., New York. Son of John Sagers and Amy Sweet. Moved to Elk Creek Township, Erie Co., Pennsylvania, by 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 27 Jan. 1833. ...
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, Letter,
New Orleans
Settled by French, 1717. Acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803. City, port of entry, and parish seat of justice. Population in 1840 about 100,000. Important trade center on Mississippi River. Branch of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints established...
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, Orleans Parish, LA, to JS,
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....
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, Hancock Co., IL, ca. April 1841. Featured version published in “New Orleans,” Times and Seasons, 15 May 1841, vol. 2, no. 14, 415–416. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction
Around April 1841,
Harrison Sagers
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wrote a letter reporting his proselytizing efforts in Louisiana to JS in
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....
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, Illinois. Sagers joined the
church
The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
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in
Pennsylvania
Area first settled by Swedish immigrants, 1628. William Penn received grant for territory from King Charles II, 1681, and established British settlement, 1682. Philadelphia was center of government for original thirteen U.S. colonies from time of Revolutionary...
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in January 1833 and quickly became a zealous missionary for his new faith.
1
Swanson, Sagers Clan, 28–45.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Swanson, Ella Sagers. The Sagers Clan: William Henry Harrison Sagers and His Descendants, with Shields, Smith, Martin and Other Related Lines. Tucson, AZ: By the author, 1980.
After serving several proselytizing missions to the eastern
United States
North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...
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between 1833 and 1839 and moving to
Illinois
Became part of Northwest Territory of U.S., 1787. Admitted as state, 1818. Population in 1840 about 480,000. Population in 1845 about 660,000. Plentiful, inexpensive land attracted settlers from northern and southern states. Following expulsion from Missouri...
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in 1840, Sagers was dispatched to
New Orleans
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, becoming the first Latter-day Saint missionary sent to Louisiana.
2
Benjamin Winchester, Payson, IL, to Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith, Commerce, IL, 18 June 1839, in Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:11; 1840 U.S. Census, Hancock Co., IL, 175.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.
His call came in response to a letter sent to JS from church members
Eli Terrill
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and Elam Luddington, who were living in Louisiana at the time.
3
Terrill was serving as an agent for the Times and Seasons in New Orleans. Luddington spent his winters in New Orleans and summers in Nauvoo for several years. (“List of Agents,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1841, 2:310; Goodman, “Elam Luddington,” 242–243.)
Goodman, Michael A. “Elam Luddington: First Latter-day Saint Missionary to Thailand.” In Go Ye into All the World: The Growth and Development of Mormon Missionary Work, edited by Reid L. Neilson and Fred E. Woods, 241–259. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012.
In January 1841, Terrill and Luddington petitioned JS to “send help to this city before the people perish, for it is a time of great excitement here, send us a Peter, or an apostle to preach unto us Jesus.”
4
“Summary,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1841, 2:339.
Sagers arrived in New Orleans on 28 March 1841. He immediately met with Terrill and Luddington, and together they rented a house for preaching and began proselytizing throughout the area.
5
“News from the South,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:445–447.

Shortly after his arrival,
Sagers
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wrote to JS about some of his proselytizing in
New Orleans
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and about prospects for future work in the area. JS presumably received the letter and then transmitted it to the editors of the church newspaper. Though Sagers’s original letter is apparently not extant, an excerpted version of it was published without a date in the 15 May 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons.
Footnotes
[1]
Swanson, Sagers Clan, 28–45.
Swanson, Ella Sagers. The Sagers Clan: William Henry Harrison Sagers and His Descendants, with Shields, Smith, Martin and Other Related Lines. Tucson, AZ: By the author, 1980.
[2]
Benjamin Winchester, Payson, IL, to Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith, Commerce, IL, 18 June 1839, in Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:11; 1840 U.S. Census, Hancock Co., IL, 175.
Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.
[3]
Terrill was serving as an agent for the Times and Seasons in New Orleans. Luddington spent his winters in New Orleans and summers in Nauvoo for several years. (“List of Agents,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1841, 2:310; Goodman, “Elam Luddington,” 242–243.)
Goodman, Michael A. “Elam Luddington: First Latter-day Saint Missionary to Thailand.” In Go Ye into All the World: The Growth and Development of Mormon Missionary Work, edited by Reid L. Neilson and Fred E. Woods, 241–259. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012.
[4]
“Summary,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1841, 2:339.
[5]
“News from the South,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:445–447.
Page 415
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New Orleans
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.

“I have held three meetings in this
city
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, and I can truly say the prospects are good.
1
See “Mormon Preaching,” Daily Picayune [New Orleans], 3 Apr. 1841, [2].
Daily Picayune. New Orleans, LA. 1837–1914.
We have crowded congregations, who pay great attention; many appear to feel deeply interested, and I have no doubt but there are hun [p. 415]
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Document Information
Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Harrison Sagers, circa April 1841
ID #
641
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:130–131
Handwriting on This Page
Printed text
Footnotes
[1]
See “Mormon Preaching,” Daily Picayune [New Orleans], 3 Apr. 1841, [2].
Daily Picayune. New Orleans, LA. 1837–1914.