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Letter from Joel Hamilton Walker, 9 May 1844
Source Note
Source Note
, Letter, , Suffolk Co., MA, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 9 May 1844; handwriting and signature presumably of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamp, postal notations, and docket.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7⅝ inches (25 × 19 cm). Each leaf is ruled with twenty-eight horizontal lines printed in blue ink. A watermark appears in the upper left corner of the recto of the first leaf. The text of the letter was inscribed on the first page. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The letter was later 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. The document 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 docket, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.
Footnotes
- [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]
“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
- [3]
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 9 May 1844, —a man with a business and military background—wrote a letter from to JS in , Illinois, in which he offered to support a memorial that had submitted to Congress on behalf of the . The memorial, composed in Nauvoo in late March, petitioned the federal government to make JS a member of the Army and to authorize him to raise one hundred thousand armed volunteers to go to the , the , and other areas west of the United States to protect and other prospective settlers. United States senator of presented the memorial to the Senate on 6 May 1844. It is not known how Walker, who was not a member of the church, had heard about the memorial.
In his 9 May letter, informed JS of his family connections, his military experience, and his education with the hope that JS would appoint him as one of the armed volunteers proposed in the memorial. In addition, he inquired about the possibility of performing civil work among the Latter-day Saints in if JS did not accept his offer. Walker also asked that JS send a reply. Walker’s letter was postmarked in and delivered by mail. JS received it by 1 June 1844, when he responded that if Congress approved the memorial, Walker’s military experience would be useful to the Saints. Walker’s original letter is featured here.
Footnotes
- [1]
- [2]
Congressional Globe, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 575 (1844). Hyde discussed this memorial with congressional representatives from Illinois on behalf of the Council of Fifty between 24 and 26 April 1844. (Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844; Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 Apr. 1844.)
- [3]
The postmark date is not entirely legible.
- [4]
JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Joel Hamilton Walker, Boston, MA, 1 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL.
<PAID> <25>
< [MA] May ◊ [9?]>
Gen. Joseph Smith
Illinois [p. [4]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
“PAID” stamped in red ink.
Postage in unidentified handwriting.
Circular postmark stamped in red ink.