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Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 27 September 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , New York Co., NY, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 27 Sept. 1843; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, wafer seal, postal stamp, postal notation, docket, and endorsement.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). Each leaf is ruled with twenty-nine blue horizontal lines. The letter was written on the first page only; the second and third pages are blank. It was then trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. The letter was torn when opened, and the second leaf bears wafer residue. The letter has undergone conservation.
The document was docketed and endorsed 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. It may be 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 endorsement and docket and its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continual 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]

    “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.

  3. [3]

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

Historical Introduction

On 27 September 1843, wrote a letter from to JS in , Illinois, asking about antagonistic resolutions that the Anti-Mormon Party passed three weeks earlier. Hotchkiss was one of the ’s primary creditors because , JS, and had purchased large tracts of real estate from the land syndicate of Hotchkiss, , and in 1839. Hotchkiss and JS had corresponded occasionally to negotiate payment of the interest on this debt. Though land and payment renegotiations took place earlier in 1843, Hotchkiss continued to have an economic interest in the church’s well-being, and he was concerned about rumors of meetings of the Anti-Mormon Party, which had assembled in to oppose the political influence and power of Latter-day Saints in .
In August and early September 1843, approximately two hundred citizens met and adopted resolutions of the “strongest kind” charging JS with “a most shameless disregard for all the forms and restraints of Law.” News of these resolutions reached in mid-September, when a local newspaper in , Illinois, published an account of the meeting. The Hancock County citizens also formed a committee to persuade newspaper editors in , , and to publish the proceedings of their meetings. Many newspapers responded, including the Burlington Hawk-Eye, St. Louis Ariel, and St. Louis New Era. Reports printed in those newspapers reached newspapers farther east, including the New York Herald, Philadelphia North American and Daily Advertiser, and Cleveland Herald. On 23 September, the New York Herald reprinted an article about the resolutions. On 27 September 1843, the Herald published another article, headlined “Joe Smith in Danger,” that stated, “Critical indeed is the position of the Mormon prophet becoming, and it is just possible that some fine morning we may receive intelligence of an attack on the holy city” of Nauvoo. Hotchkiss may have read either of these articles, or he may have found the news in another paper.
Concerned by the Anti-Mormon Party’s resolutions, wrote to JS seeking accurate information on the state of affairs in . Hotchkiss wrote his letter on 27 September 1843 and mailed it from the following day. JS received the letter, likely within two weeks’ time, and wrote a response on 12 and 13 October.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Historical Introduction to Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A.

  2. [2]

    See Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 26 Nov. 1842; Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 19 Dec. 1842; Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 7 Apr. 1843; Bond from Smith Tuttle and John Gillet, 7 July 1843; and JS et al. to Smith Tuttle et al., Quitclaim Deed, Nauvoo, IL, 7 July 1843, in Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. 12 G, p. 299, microfilm 954,195, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

  3. [3]

    For more information on the events leading up to and the resolutions of the meeting of the Anti-Mormon political party, see “Joseph Smith Documents from August through December 1843”; and “Great Meeting of Anti-Mormons!,” Warsaw (IL) Message, 13 Sept. 1843, [1]–[2].

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

  4. [4]

    “The Mormons,” New York Herald (New York City), 23 Sept. 1843, [1]; “Great Meeting of Anti-Mormons!,” Warsaw (IL) Message, 13 Sept. 1843, [1]; see also “Joseph Smith Documents from August through December 1843”; and Historical Introduction to Letter to Thomas Ford, ca. 20 Sept. 1843.

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

  5. [5]

    JS, Journal, 15 Sept. 1843; “Great Meeting of Anti-Mormons!,” Warsaw (IL) Message, 13 Sept. 1843, [1]–[2]; see also “Joseph Smith Documents from August through December 1843”; and Historical Introduction to Letter to Thomas Ford, ca. 20 Sept. 1843.

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

  6. [6]

    “Great Meeting of Anti-Mormons!,” Warsaw (IL) Message, 13 Sept. 1843, [2].

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

  7. [7]

    “The Mormons,” New York Herald (New York City), 23 Sept. 1843, [1]; “Joe Smith in Danger,” New York Herald, 27 Sept. 1843, [2]; Notice, North American and Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia), 27 Sept. 1843, [2]; “Mormon War Brewing,” Cleveland Herald, 23 Sept. 1843, [2].

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

    North American and Daily Advertiser. Philadelphia. 1839–1845.

    Cleveland Herald. Cleveland. 1843–1853.

  8. [8]

    “The Mormons,” New York Herald (New York City), 23 Sept. 1843, [1]. The article states that it originally appeared in the St. Louis New Era.

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

  9. [9]

    “Joe Smith in Danger,” New York Herald (New York City), 27 Sept. 1843, [2].

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

  10. [10]

    See Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 12–13 Oct. 1843.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 27 September 1843
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [1]

27th Sept. 1843
Rev Jos. Smith
Dear Sir— I see by the News Papers that there has been a meeting of citizens at relative to the Mormons and that several severe resolutions have been passed condemning the conduct of the mormons— knowing how little I can rely upon public rumor upon such subjects I have taken the liberty of applying directly to you for correct information and solicit as a particular favour that you will communicate at your earliest convenience the facts in the case—
Of course I feel an interest in the prosperity of and an interest also in the success of the mormon enterpise and a deep interest in the wellfare of your people and the more so certainly as their pecuniary interest is identified with my own— I make this frank acknowledgement because it is always best for men of sense to talk as they mean— I should however be solicitous for a successful termination of your great enterprise had I not one dollar invested in because the complete triumph of energetic exertions is always gratifying to all business men
Your Obt Svt [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 27 September 1843
ID #
1169
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:129–131
Handwriting on This Page
  • Horace Hotchkiss

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    According to a summary of the resolutions in the New York Herald, the Hancock County citizens declared, “if Governor Ford would not surrender Joe Smith on the requisition of the Governor of Missouri—which he had refused to do from political considerations—that they would call in aid from other counties and other States to assist them in delivering him up.” Furthermore, the Hancock County citizens resolved that because they believed Latter-day Saints threatened their lives, the committee would “avenge any blood that might be shed” by inflicting violence upon the religious community. Finally, the committee and gathered citizens “agreed not to obey the mandates of the Mormon officers of the county.” (“The Mormons,” New York Herald [New York City], 23 Sept. 1843, [1]; see also “Great Meeting of Anti-Mormons!,” Warsaw [IL] Message, 13 Sept. 1843, [1]–[2].)

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

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