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Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 30 December 1841

Source Note

, Letter, , New Haven Co., CT, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 30 Dec. 1841; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamps, postal notations, and docket.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The document was inscribed on the recto of the first leaf in blue ink. The verso of the first leaf and recto of the second leaf are blank. The bifolium was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. The letter was torn when opened, and some wafer residue remains on the verso of the second leaf.
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. It may be one of the four 1841 letters from 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 docket as well as its possible inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and its inclusion 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]

    “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.

  3. [3]

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

Historical Introduction

On 30 December 1841 penned a letter to JS from his home in , Connecticut, responding to one JS wrote about three weeks earlier. Hotchkiss wrote of a proposed land transfer that he, JS, and had been discussing for the prior three months. In late September or early October 1841, Hotchkiss had met with Ivins in , at which time Ivins proposed selling to him some timbered land and the “ belonging to the Church,” properties located in New Jersey. Hotchkiss offered to pay $3,000 for the properties with the understanding that the amount would be applied toward $6,000 in interest the church then owed Hotchkiss and his land speculation partners, and , for a large tract of land in the , Illinois, area that the church had agreed to purchase in August 1839. On 10 December 1841 JS responded to Hotchkiss, counteroffering to sell the land for $3,200. Hotchkiss consulted with Tuttle and then wrote the featured letter on 30 December, agreeing to JS’s offer.
JS apparently did not send a response to this letter. sent a follow-up letter dated 7 February 1842, and JS replied to it on 10 March.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 10 Dec. 1841.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 11 Oct. 1841; Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 9 Nov. 1841; Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 10 Dec. 1841.

  3. [3]

    According to the terms of the agreement—the larger of two between the church and Hotchkiss on 12 August 1839—the church would make two interest payments (one to Hotchkiss and one to Tuttle and Gillet) of $1,500 each year for twenty years, with the principal of $50,000 due in the twentieth year, for a total of $110,000. The first two interest payments were due in 1840; as of 12 August 1841, four payments were due. (Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A.)

  4. [4]

    Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 10 Dec. 1841.

  5. [5]

    Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 7 Feb. 1842; Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 10 Mar. 1842.

Page [1]

30th. Decr. 1841
Jos. Smith Esqr.
Dr. Sir— Yours of 10th. Decr. is at hand and in reply to it I have the pleasure of informing you that upon a perusal of your letter by and in a free conversation with him relative to its contents we have come to the conclusion to accept your offer of the proprety [property] and the 137 acres Pine timber lands at 3200 dollars although we consider the price too much— You will therefore oblige by having the gentlemen in whose name the title now is give us a warrantee conveyance at your earliest convenience
Accept for yourself and make to all friends my respects and believe me your Sincere friend
[p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 30 December 1841
ID #
736
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D9:55–57
Handwriting on This Page
  • Horace Hotchkiss

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Though this letter and others from Horace Hotchkiss to JS, as well as from Hotchkiss to his business partners, are addressed from or have a postal stamp from Fair Haven, Hotchkiss gave his legal place of residence as nearby New Haven. (Bonds from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A and B.)

  2. [2]

    Cook’s Mills (later Cookstown) was a small town in Burlington County, New Jersey, located just a few miles away from New Egypt, Monmouth County, New Jersey. (Fort, “Account of the Capture and Death of the Refugee John Bacon,” 151.)

    Fort, George F. “An Account of the Capture and Death of the Refugee John Bacon.” Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society 1, no. 4 (1846): 151–153.

  3. [3]

    Hotchkiss’s later receipt for this purchase clarified that the pine land comprised two “Pine Timber farm[s]”; one was a hundred acres and the other was forty acres. (Receipt from Horace Hotchkiss et al., 28 Feb. 1842.)

  4. [4]

    In a letter dated 11 October 1841, Hotchkiss informed JS that the property in question had previously been appraised at $2,500 and then offered to pay $3,000. (Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 11 Oct. 1841.)

  5. [5]

    TEXT: Possibly “gentleman”.

  6. [6]

    It is unclear whose names the title was in, but James Ivins apparently had legal agency to sell the land. The transfer was completed as agreed upon, and Hotchkiss provided a receipt to Ivins on 28 February 1842. (Receipt from Horace Hotchkiss et al., 28 Feb. 1842.)

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