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Letter from Henry Clay, 15 November 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , [Fayette Co., KY], to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 15 Nov. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket and notations.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 8 inches (25 × 20 cm) and ruled with twenty-seven horizontal lines printed in blue ink. The first page is inscribed; the second and third pages are blank. The bifolium was folded in half horizontally and then in thirds vertically for transmission. A docket and notation were later inscribed on the verso of the second leaf. The letter was refolded for filing.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. Bullock also inscribed the graphite notation “13 May 44”, indicating when JS responded to ’s letter. The notation “Copied by A. J.” was apparently added by a clerk or secretary for Andrew Jenson, who served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. The document was listed in an inventory produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The letter’s early docket and notations, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, 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]

    See “Correspondence between Gen Joseph Smith and the Hon. Henery Clay,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 29 May 1844, [2].

  3. [3]

    Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 48–52, 55.

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

  4. [4]

    “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.

  5. [5]

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

Historical Introduction

On 15 November 1843, presidential candidate responded to JS’s early November correspondence inquiring about Clay’s “rule of action” toward the should he be elected president. A lawyer from Kentucky, Clay had served as a member of the House of Representatives and the Senate at various times between 1806 and 1842. Driven by greater political ambitions, Clay ran for president of the United States in 1824 and 1832 but was defeated by and Andrew Jackson, respectively. In 1839, Clay again sought the Whig Party’s nomination for president for the 1840 election but was not selected as the Whig candidate.
JS apparently first met in late 1839 or early 1840, when he and other church leaders were in to petition the federal government for redress. JS met with President as well as senators and Clay. Little is known about JS’s meeting with Clay, but the senator reportedly advised him that the Latter-day Saints “had better Go to .” In January 1840, senator introduced a memorial from church leaders requesting redress. While senator spoke out against the memorial and senator John Norvell motioned to table any discussion, Clay argued that they should refer the memorial to the Committee on the Judiciary and that “inquiry should be made by the committee whether it is a matter of grievance and if it is, whether Congress has any power of redress”—a suggestion that was taken. In addition to meeting with JS and commenting on the Latter-day Saints’ redress petition, Clay was reportedly present at a public discourse JS delivered in Washington DC in late January 1840.
Though JS’s political loyalties vacillated between the Democrats and the Whigs, he apparently had a high opinion of when he wrote him in late 1843. In an August 1843 interview with the Pittsburgh Gazette, JS reportedly asserted, “I am a Whig, and I am a Clay man. I am made of Clay, and I am tending to Clay, and I am going to vote for Henry Clay . . . for he ought to be President.”
On 4 November, JS wrote letters to five presidential candidates, including , asking each candidate about his policy toward the Latter-day Saints should he become president. On 15 November, Clay responded to JS’s correspondence, stating that he sympathized with the Latter-day Saints’ suffering but would make no promises to any specific segment of American society. The lack of an address and postal markings suggests that this letter either was mailed in an envelope that is not extant or was hand delivered by an unidentified courier. JS received the letter in by 29 November 1843, when he mentioned its receipt in a meeting.
JS did not respond to ’s letter until May 1844, when he criticized the Kentuckian’s evasive answers and insinuated that the senator had abandoned his principles in order to attain the presidency.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter to John C. Calhoun, 4 Nov. 1843.

  2. [2]

    Klotter, Henry Clay, 5–6, 23–32, 95–119, 164–187, 244–257, 271. The Whig Party convention convened in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from 4 to 7 December 1839. The delegates eventually selected William Henry Harrison as their candidate. (Klotter, Henry Clay, 255–257; “Proceedings of the National Convention,” National Gazette and Literary Register [Philadelphia], 9 Dec. 1839, [2].)

    Klotter, James C. Henry Clay: The Man Who Would Be President. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.

    National Gazette and Literary Register. Philadelphia. 1820–1841.

  3. [3]

    Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 Dec. 1839; Letter from John C. Calhoun, 2 Dec. 1843; JS History, vol. D-1, 1552.

  4. [4]

    See Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840.

  5. [5]

    “Twenty-Sixth Congress,” Daily National Intelligencer (Washington DC), 29 Jan. 1840, [2].

    Daily National Intelligencer. Washington DC. 1800–1869.

  6. [6]

    Robert D. Foster, “A Testimony of the Past,” Saints’ Herald, 15 Apr. 1875, 228–229.

    Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.

  7. [7]

    Church members largely voted for Democratic candidates during the preceding decade but predominantly supported Whig candidates in 1840 and 1841. In December 1841, JS publicly endorsed the Illinois Democratic Party’s nominees for governor and lieutenant governor. Though JS pledged to vote for Whig Cyrus Walker in the 1843 congressional election, he publicly supported his brother Hyrum Smith’s endorsement of Democrat Joseph P. Hoge. (Pease, Illinois Election Returns, 1818–1848, 117, 122; Historical Introduction to Letter to Friends in Illinois, 20 Dec. 1841; Historical Introduction to Discourse, 6 Aug. 1843; see also Historical Introduction to Discourse, 13 Aug. 1843–B.)

    Pease, Theodore Calvin, ed. Illinois Election Returns, 1818–1848. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923.

  8. [8]

    Interview, 29 Aug. 1843.

  9. [9]

    Letter to John C. Calhoun, 4 Nov. 1843.

  10. [10]

    Minutes, 29 Nov. 1843; see also “Correspondence between Gen Joseph Smith and the Hon. Henery Clay,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 29 May 1844, [2].

  11. [11]

    In his pointed reply, JS asserted, “the sterling Yankee, the struggling Abolitionist, and the staunch Democrat, with a large number of the liberal minded Whigs, have marked you as a black-leg in politics, begging for a chance to shuffle yourself into the Presidential chair, where you might deal out the destinies of our beloved country for a game of brag.” (“Correspondence between Gen Joseph Smith and the Hon. Henery Clay,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 29 May 1844, [2], italics in original; see also JS, [Nauvoo, IL], to Henry Clay, [Ashland, Lexington, KY], [13 May 1844], partial draft, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Henry Clay, 15 November 1843
Letter from Henry Clay, 15 November 1843, as Published in Nauvoo Neighbor Letter from Henry Clay, 15 November 1843, as Published in Times and Seasons

Page [1]

15th Nov. 1843
Dear Sir
I have received your letter, in behalf of the , stating that you understand that I am a Candidate for the Presidency, and enquiring what will be my rule of action relative to you, as a people, should I be elected.
I am profoundly grateful for the numerous and strong expressions of the People, in my behalf, as a Candidate for President of the ; but I do not so consider myself. That must depend upon future events, and upon my sense of duty.
Should I be a Candidate, I can enter into no engagements, make no promises, give no pledges, to any particular portion of the people of the . If I ever enter into that high office, I must go into it free and unfettered, with no guarantees but such as are to be drawn from my whole life, character and conduct.
It is not inconsistent with this declaration to say, that I have viewed, with a lively interest, the progress of the Latter day Saints; that I have sympathised in their sufferings under injustice, as it appeared to me, what has been inflicted upon them; and that I think, in common with all other Religious Communities, they ought to enjoy the security and protection of the Constitution and the Laws.
I am with great respect, Your friend & obt. servt
Joseph Smith Esq
&c &c &c [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Henry Clay, 15 November 1843
ID #
1655
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:270–274
Handwriting on This Page
  • Henry Clay

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Ashland was the name of Henry Clay’s 515-acre estate located in an ash tree forest near Lexington, Kentucky. (Klotter, Henry Clay, 275–276; Brooks, Ashland: The Henry Clay Estate, 7.)

    Klotter, James C. Henry Clay: The Man Who Would Be President. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.

    Brooks, Eric. Ashland: The Henry Clay Estate. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2007.

  2. [2]

    See Historical Introduction to Letter to John C. Calhoun, 4 Nov. 1843.

  3. [3]

    Following the death of President William Henry Harrison in April 1841, the Whig Party began fracturing under the leadership of the new president, John Tyler. After Tyler vetoed key pieces of legislation promoted by Whig leaders, party members effectively wrote the president out of the party in September 1841. Though Clay became the de facto party leader following this episode, the paralyzing tension between the president and Congress persuaded him to resign from the Senate in March 1842. Despite this, many expected Clay to earn the party’s presidential nomination in 1844. Newspapers around the country endorsed his candidacy from early 1842 to October 1843. (Klotter, Henry Clay, 263–272; Henry Clay, Washington DC, to “The General Assembly of Kentucky,” 16 Feb. 1842, in Seager and Hay, Papers of Henry Clay, 656; see also, for example, “North Carolina,” Niles’ National Register [Baltimore], 16 Apr. 1842, 112; “For President, Henry Clay, of Kentucky,” New-York Daily Tribune [New York City], 2 Jan. 1843, [2]; “The Best Song Since 1840,” and “For President Henry Clay,” Lancaster [PA] Examiner and Democratic Herald, 19 July 1843, [2]; and “For President, Henry Clay,” Alton [IL] Telegraph, 21 Oct. 1843, [2].)

    Klotter, James C. Henry Clay: The Man Who Would Be President. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.

    Seager, Robert, II, and Melba Porter Hay, eds. The Papers of Henry Clay. Vol. 9, The Whig Leader: January 1, 1837–December 31, 1843. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1988.

    Niles’ National Register. Washington DC, 1837–1839; Baltimore, 1839–1848; Philadelphia, 1848–1849.

    New-York Daily Tribune. New York City. 1841–1924.

    Lancaster Examiner and Democratic Herald. Lancaster, PA. 1839–1844.

    Alton Telegraph and Democratic Review. Alton, IL. 1841–1850.

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