Images of this item © Community of Christ and licensed to the Joseph Smith Papers Project. Inquiries about high-resolution images of this item for scholarly use should be directed to the Community of Christ Library-Archives, Independence, Missouri.
The Papers
Reference
About
Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 10 April 1843
Source Note
Source Note
, Letter, , [New Utrecht, Kings Co.], NY, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 10 Apr. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; three pages; JS Materials, CCLA. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamp, endorsement, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 8 inches (25 × 20 cm). The paper is ruled with twenty-seven horizontal blue lines. The upper left corner of the recto of the first leaf is embossed with a circular paper manufacturer’s seal. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style and addressed. One of the panels was folded into a triangle, creating a seal flap, which was sealed with red wax and postmarked. The document was later refolded for filing. At some point, a staple was attached to the upper left corner of the bifolium; the staple was later removed.
, who was serving as JS’s scribe at the time the letter was received, docketed and endorsed it soon after receipt. The letter may have remained in the possession of JS’s family after his death and was likely given to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ). At some point, an archivist added a docket. The letter remains housed at the CCLA.
Footnotes
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 10 April 1843, attorney and educator wrote from , New York, to JS in , Illinois, offering legal counsel on the arrest of in . Rockwell had been detained in early March 1843 on a charge of having assaulted former governor in May 1842 with intent to kill. The charge stemmed from an allegation made by former Latter-day Saint that JS had sent Rockwell to to shoot Boggs. In summer 1842, following Bennett’s May 1842 excommunication and his subsequent efforts to attack the church, JS began corresponding with James Arlington Bennet, who became a staunch ally of and political adviser to JS. On 17 and 18 March 1843, JS wrote to Bennet to recount his recent discharge from arrest after Missouri officials attempted to extradite him in connection with the Boggs shooting and to relate ongoing difficulties caused by John C. Bennett. The next day, 19 March, , JS’s scribe, wrote to James Arlington Bennet with several questions regarding Rockwell’s legal situation.
’s 10 April letter was a response to the aforementioned letters from JS and . Addressing JS as general of the , Bennet stated that because of illness he could neither attend the parade of the Nauvoo Legion nor perform his responsibilities as the militia’s inspector general on 7 May 1843. Bennet also responded to Richards’s questions and discussed ’s activities in . Bennet mailed his letter on 12 April 1843. Letters usually traveled between and in two or three weeks. Bennet’s letter was received in Nauvoo by 4 May 1843, when JS “called at the & read a letter from [James] Arlington Bennet Shewing that he was sick & cou[l]d not be at inspe[c]tion of the Legion as had been exp[e]cted.” Richards noted on the verso of the second leaf of the featured letter that JS responded to Bennet on 11 May; the response is apparently not extant. In addition, during the evening of 18 May 1843 JS examined in his office “[James] Arlington Bennets letter,” presumably a reference to the 10 April 1843 missive.
Footnotes
- [1]
See Historical Introduction to Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 17–18 Mar. 1843.
- [2]
Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to James Arlington Bennet, 19 Mar. 1843, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.
- [3]
See Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 3 Aug. 1841; Historical Introduction to Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 1 Sept. 1842; and Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 8 Sept. 1842.
- [4]
- [5]
<25>
< APR 12>
Lieut Gen Joseph Smith
City of
Illinois
<ans. May 11.—> [p. [4]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
Postage in unidentified handwriting.
Circular postmark stamped in red ink.
- [22]
TEXT: Written around the wax seal.
Endorsement in the handwriting of Willard Richards.