Footnotes
JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.
Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.
“Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Footnotes
Remini, Henry Clay, 632.
Remini, Robert V. Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union. New York: W. W. Norton, 1991.
JS, Journal, 9 Mar. 1843. Later, Cowan traveled to Washington DC and Baltimore and met with United States president John Tyler, urging him to provide JS with a United States Army commission. Although Cowan moved to Henderson County, Illinois, in 1836 and died there in 1853, he was a member of the Nauvoo Legion in Hancock County, Illinois. Cowan’s assignments from JS and his membership in the Nauvoo Legion indicate that he was most likely a church member. (John Cowan, New York City, NY, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 31 May 1844, JS Collection, CHL.)
JS, Draft Letter to Presidential Candidates, 4 Nov. 1843, JS Collection, CHL; JS, Journal, 4 Nov. 1843; see also Historical Introduction to Letter to John C. Calhoun, 4 Nov. 1843.
In 1844 most presidential candidates refrained from campaigning openly. Instead, they relied on supporters to campaign on their behalf. To this end, Whigs throughout the country formed Clay Clubs to organize electioneering efforts locally. (See Wood, Radicalism of the American Revolution, chap. 16; Cheathem, Coming of Democracy, 9–11; and Klotter, Henry Clay, 305.)
Wood, Gordon S. The Radicalism of the American Revolution. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1992.
Cheathem, Mark R. The Coming of Democracy: Presidential Campaigning in the Age of Jackson. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018.
Klotter, James C. Henry Clay: The Man Who Would Be President. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
The letter was likely transmitted from Memphis to Nauvoo by steamboat on the Mississippi River. Steamboats often traveled from New Orleans to St. Louis, and Memphis was a stop on that route. Going from New Orleans to St. Louis could take a week or longer depending on the conditions of the river. The mail was then often transferred to another steamboat that traveled between St. Louis and the area near Nauvoo, a trip that took approximately one day. (Leonard, Nauvoo, 80; “Regular Line from Saint Louis to Hannibal, Marion City, Quincy, Warsaw and Keokuck,” Daily Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 13 July 1841, [3].)
Leonard, Glen M. Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002.
Daily Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1869.
In January 1844, Clay was the clear favorite to win the presidential nomination of the Whig Party. However, the expulsion of President John Tyler from the party had left the Whigs divided. After losing several key races in the 1842 midterm elections, the Whig Party appeared to be losing strength while the power of the Democratic Party was growing. It is unclear why Cowan qualified Clay’s prospects in the election with “if he lives.” (Klotter, Henry Clay, 290–291; Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 594.)
Klotter, James C. Henry Clay: The Man Who Would Be President. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.