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Letter from Hiram Clark and Others, 21 October 1842

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Letter from Hiram Clark and Others, 21 October 1842

Source Note

, Letter with postscript by , , and , , Lancashire, England, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 21 Oct. 1842; handwriting of ; signatures of , , and ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 8⅞ × 7¼ inches (23 × 18 cm) when folded. A manufacturer’s embossment with illegible script is visible in the upper right corner of the first page. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer; the wafer is still attached to the verso of the second leaf. The second leaf of the bifolium is torn where the letter was opened. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. The document was later 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. It was listed in an inventory that was 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 document’s early dockets and its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. [2]

    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.

  3. [3]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, 1, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

  4. [4]

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

Historical Introduction

On 21 October 1842, wrote a letter from , England, to JS at , Illinois, regarding financial issues and other matters. On 14 June 1842, the assigned Clark to travel to Liverpool and superintend the emigration of British Latter-day Saints. In addition to giving him this responsibility, the Twelve directed Clark to “collect means for building the ” and to “purchase goods.” Clark arrived in by mid-September and immediately began taking part in both the financial management and the leadership of the British mission. Soon after Clark’s arrival in , and , who succeeded Pratt as president of the British mission, published a notice in the ’s British newspaper that Clark was authorized “to receive and forward the and consecrations” for the Nauvoo temple and to “attend to whatever business may be necessary for the general welfare of the society.”
’s letter of 21 October 1842 appears to have been prompted by his desire to report his efforts to collect funds for the that could take back to . Along with this correspondence, Clark forwarded to JS sixty-two pounds and eight shillings that could be used at JS’s discretion toward the construction of the temple or of the . In addition to reporting on these transmitted funds, Clark asked JS to direct the temple committee to build a house for his wife, , by drawing upon personal funds he had left in the hands of before departing for . Hiram Clark presumably intended the house to be built on property he had purchased from JS in March 1842.
At the end of the letter, , , and former church emigration wrote a short postscript expressing their warm feelings for JS and sending well-wishes to the Saints in . Ward and Clark wrote as members of the “General Presidency of the Church in Europe,” having been appointed to that presidency by 10 October because of ’s impending return to Nauvoo. Fielding’s position at this time is unclear, but it seems that he was continuing to function as an emigration agent for the church in , albeit informally.
sent the letter to in the care of , who sailed from for on 29 October 1842 and arrived in Nauvoo on 7 February 1843. However, the funds, and perhaps this letter, may have remained behind at with Pratt’s family and his company of Saints until their arrival in Nauvoo on 12 April. In his journal, noted that on 17 April he “rode to P. P. Pratts for £50” in gold sovereigns, which were earmarked “for the & .” There is no known reply from JS.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Woodruff, Journal, 14 June 1842.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  2. [2]

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 14 June 1842.

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.

  3. [3]

    Account and Pay Order from Parley P. Pratt and Amos Fielding, 16 Sept. 1842.

  4. [4]

    Parley P. Pratt and Thomas Ward, “Tithings for the Temple,” Millennial Star, Oct. 1842, 3:112.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  5. [5]

    In March 1842, Clark purchased the east half of lot 1 in block 147 in Nauvoo from JS and Emma Smith for $500. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. 20P, p. 320, 10 Mar. 1842, microfilm 954,602, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

  6. [6]

    Parley P. Pratt, “To the Saints in Europe,” Millennial Star, Oct. 1842, 3:110.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  7. [7]

    Fielding does not appear to have had any official position at this time. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had stipulated that Clark was to “take charge of the Emigration in England instead of Amos Fielding.” Fielding, on the other hand, was to go to England only long enough to retrieve his family and then “come immediately” to Nauvoo. Disregarding these instructions for some unknown reason, Fielding had remained in Liverpool and continued to assist Clark in supervising emigration. Evidently in response to Fielding’s disregard for these instructions, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles voted during a May 1843 meeting “that elder Amos Fielding come immediately to Nauvoo or be cut off from the church.” (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 14 June 1842 and 11 May 1843; Woodruff, Journal, 14 June 1842; “Emigration,” Millennial Star, May 1843, 4:14–16.)

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  8. [8]

    JS, Journal, 12 Apr. 1843.

  9. [9]

    Clayton, Journal, 17 Apr. 1843; JS, Journal, 17 Apr. 1843. Assuming that these were the funds Clark forwarded, it is unclear what happened to the additional twelve pounds eight shillings that Clark had sent to JS with Pratt. Clayton entered the fifty-pound donation into the Book of the Law of the Lord on or shortly after 18 April 1843. For some unknown reason, he later canceled the contribution. (Book of the Law of the Lord, 300.)

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

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, Oct. 21st. 1842.
Beloved Brother Joseph
I send you by the hand of , Sixty-two Pounds, eight shillings, to be at your disposal to expend on the , or the , as you deem expedient.
I have also left in the hands of One hundred and <​forty​> fifty dollars, in notes of one hundred dollars against — and forty against — which I have left for the purpose of building a house for myself. Should you think worthy of a better house to dwell in— you will please direct the to build one next spring about the size of Brother Dunn’s, and of the same materials, to be finished agreeably to the will of my .
Whatever means may come into my hands shall be subject to your order either to be transmitted to you in [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Hiram Clark and Others, 21 October 1842
ID #
942
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D11:177–181
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Ward

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    By this time, Pratt had likely booked passage to the United States on the Emerald, which departed Liverpool on 29 October. (News Item, Millennial Star, Feb. 1843, 3:175.)

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  2. [2]

    By the end of October 1842, a temporary floor had been laid in the temple. The Saints held their first meeting there on 30 October. (Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 32.)

    Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

  3. [3]

    Despite efforts to urge the Saints to be more committed in their efforts to build the Nauvoo House during this period, little progress had been made on the structure by October 1842. (See Historical Introduction to Discourse, 25 Feb. 1843; Smith, “Symbol of Mormonism,” 114–128; and Godfrey, “Monument of the Saints’ Industry,” 132–133.)

    Smith, Alex D. “Symbol of Mormonism: The Nauvoo Boarding House.” John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 35, no. 2 (Fall/Winter 2015): 109–136.

    Godfrey, Matthew C. “A Monument of the Saints’ Industry: The Nauvoo House and the Council of Fifty.” In The Council of Fifty: What the Records Reveal about Mormon History, edited by Matthew J. Grow and R. Eric Smith, 131–140. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2017.

  4. [4]

    The Book of the Law of the Lord includes an entry that reads “received of Hiram Clark 50 Gold Sovereigns value $242.” These sovereigns were likely the funds that Clark had forwarded to JS through Pratt. (Book of the Law of the Lord, 300, canceled text in original.)

  5. [5]

    An 1842 description of Nauvoo’s city lots listed Clark as owning property in block 147, lot 1. This was presumably the Nauvoo residence of Clark and his wife, Thankful Gill Clark, at the time of this letter, as an 1842 census of Nauvoo wards listed them as being members of the Nauvoo Fourth Ward. (“Abstracts Containing a Description of All City Lots,” 1842, White Purchase, block 147, lot 1, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Platt, Nauvoo, 79.)

    Nauvoo, IL, Records, 1841–1845. CHL.

    Platt, Lyman De. Nauvoo: Early Mormon Records Series, 1839–1846. Vol. 1. Highland, UT, 1980.

  6. [6]

    The Nauvoo temple committee was occasionally referred to simply as “the building committee.” (See, for example, Minutes, 7–11 Apr. 1841; Reynolds Cahoon, Alpheus Cutler, and Elias Higbee, to JS, Receipt, 12 Apr. 1841, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; and Alpheus Cutler et al., “To the Churches Abroad and Near By,” Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1842, 3:909.)

  7. [7]

    This is possibly a reference to Simeon A. Dunn, who owned property in block 140, lot 1, north of Clark’s property in block 147, lot 1. Both Clark and Dunn were listed as members of the Nauvoo Fourth Ward in 1842. (“Abstracts Containing a Description of All City Lots,” 1842, White Purchase, block 140, lot 1, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Platt, Nauvoo, 80.)

    Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

    Platt, Lyman De. Nauvoo: Early Mormon Records Series, 1839–1846. Vol. 1. Highland, UT, 1980.

  8. [8]

    George Miller later recalled that “a great deal of the lumber” that had been obtained through “toil and sacrifice” for the temple and the Nauvoo House had been used for other purposes, including building private homes in Nauvoo. Miller stated that the “Temple Committee said that the workmen must needs have houses” and had accordingly become “house builders.” (George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 27 June 1855, in Northern Islander, 23 Aug. 1855, [1].)

    Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.

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