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Letter from John Wentworth, 25 May 1844

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Letter from John Wentworth, 25 May 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 25 May 1844; handwriting and signature of ; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes dockets and notation.
Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 7⅞ inches (25 × 20 cm). The upper left corner of the first page bears an oval paper mill embossment. The recto and verso of the first leaf are ruled with twenty-seven and twenty-nine horizontal lines, respectively, printed in blue ink. The recto of the second leaf is ruled with twenty-nine lines. The letter was written almost entirely on the recto of the first leaf, but it concludes with a brief postscript on the recto of the second leaf. The letter’s date, salutation, and first line of text were inscribed in black ink; the remaining text was inscribed in blue ink. The document was likely first folded to pocket size and later refolded for storage.
The letter was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844. Another docket was inscribed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, its listing in the circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. 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.

  2. “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.

  3. “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.

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

Historical Introduction

On 25 May 1844, representative wrote from to JS in , Illinois, to report that he had introduced JS’s most recent petition to the House of Representatives, who refused to consider it. Wentworth, who was serving his first term in Congress, had previously edited and owned the newspaper Chicago Democrat. Wentworth was already familiar with JS and the and had published newspaper editorials in the early 1840s expressing his respect for church leaders. In early 1842, presumably, he corresponded with JS to request a history of the Latter-day Saints; the resulting document included doctrinal statements later known as “The Articles of Faith.” Nauvoo mayor and the Nauvoo City Council honored Wentworth by declaring him a free citizen of Nauvoo early that same year. Although Wentworth did not represent Nauvoo’s congressional district, in 1844 the voted to have him submit their petition to the House.
The document came about during a 19 March 1844 meeting of the , when Willard Richards proposed that petition the government to authorize JS to “protect the and from all foreign invasion.” The council, in turn, wrote a memorial asking the government to authorize JS “to raise a Company of one hundred thousand armed volunteers” to, in part, protect Americans emigrating from the United States to neighboring territories. The completed document was dated 26 March 1844. JS signed the document on 31 March, and on 4 April, left for carrying the memorial, which was addressed to both houses of Congress, and a copy addressed to President . Hyde arrived in Washington on 23 April and met with Wentworth the next day.
On 25 May, during a session of the House of Representatives, requested that the petition be read to House members. While the clerk was reading the document, Congressman Joseph R. Ingersoll of “objected to any further reading of the paper.” Afterward, Wentworth moved that the House go into the Committee of the Whole, a parliamentary procedure that would have allowed Wentworth to continue discussion on JS’s petition. After his motion failed, he wrote this letter to JS detailing his efforts.
The absence of addressing and postage on the letter suggests that it was hand delivered, though it is not known who carried the letter to . Since anticipated that would relate details of the 25 May House session, it is possible that Pratt was the courier. It is also possible that , who delivered the memorial to Wentworth, was the bearer. In either case, JS would not have received it, because he was murdered on 27 June 1844, before either of these men returned to Nauvoo.

Footnotes

  1. The church’s Nauvoo newspaper, Times and Seasons, reprinted these laudatory editorials from the Chicago Democrat. (“Chicago Democrat,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1841, 2:302–303; Editorial, Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1841, 2:351; Editorial, Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1842, 3:759; see also Editorial, Times and Seasons, 16 May 1842, 3:790.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  2. “Church History,” 1 Mar. 1842.

  3. Resolution, 22 Apr. 1842, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

  4. Council of Fifty, “Record,” 19, 21, and 26 Mar. 1844. Nauvoo was in Illinois’s sixth congressional district, represented by Democrat Joseph P. Hoge, whom the Saints overwhelmingly voted for in 1843. Wentworth represented the fourth district. This was not the first time church leaders received assistance from a representative outside their district. For instance, in 1839 John Reynolds, who represented Illinois’s first district during the Twenty-Sixth Congress, introduced JS, who lived in the third district, to United States president Martin Van Buren. (Martis, Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, 95, 97; Discourse, 6 Aug. 1843; Historical Introduction to Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 Dec. 1839; Reynolds, My Own Times, 575.)

    Martis, Kenneth C. The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, 1789–1989. New York: Macmillan, 1989.

    Reynolds, John. My Own Times: Embracing Also, the History of My Life. Belleville, IL: B. H. Perryman and H. L. Davison, 1855.

  5. Council of Fifty, “Record,” 19 Mar. 1844.

  6. Council of Fifty, “Record,” 21 and 26 Mar. 1844; Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 24–26 Mar. 1844.

  7. JS, Journal, 31 Mar. and 4 Apr. 1844; Historical Introduction to Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 24–26 Mar. 1844; JS, Memorial to the President of the United States of America, 30 Mar. 1844, draft, JS Collection, CHL. Illinois senator James Semple presented a copy of the memorial to the Senate on 6 May 1844, after which it was “referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.” In his 9 June letter to the Council of Fifty, Hyde reported that “the bill has been rejected in both houses.” (Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1887; Congressional Globe, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 575 [1844]; Letter from Orson Hyde, 9 June 1844.)

    Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1989: The Continental Congress September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788, and the Congress of the United States from the First through the One Hundredth Congresses March 4, 1789, to January 3, 1989, Inclusive. Edited by Kathryn Allamong Jacob and Bruce A. Ragsdale. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989.

    The Congressional Globe, Containing Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings of the First Session of the Twenty-Eighth Congress. Vol. 13. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1844.

  8. Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844; see also Historical Introduction to Letter to Orson Hyde, 25 May 1844.

  9. Congressional Globe, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 624 (1844).

    The Congressional Globe, Containing Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings of the First Session of the Twenty-Eighth Congress. Vol. 13. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1844.

  10. Pratt returned to Nauvoo on 6 August; Hyde returned on 13 August. It is also possible, though less likely, that Lyman Wight and Heber C. Kimball carried the letter. They were instructed by the Council of Fifty to deliver a message to Hyde in Washington DC and arrived there on 2 June. They returned to Nauvoo on 6 August. (Richards, Journal, 6 Aug. 1844; Clayton, Journal, 7 Aug. 1844; Woodruff, Journal, 13 Aug. 1844; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 13 May 1844; JS, Journal, 13 May 1844; Kimball, Journal, 31 May 1844; 1–2 June 1844; 6 Aug. 1844.)

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

    Kimball, Heber C. Journal, June 1837–Feb. 1838; Feb.–Mar. 1840; May 1846–Feb. 1847. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 3, fd. 2.

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May 25, 1844,
Gen Joseph Smith:
Dear sir:
I have, this day, done my best to get your petitition before the House. I had it read & Mr Joseph R Ingersoll, a leading whig fron the State of , objected to its reception, which any one man has a right to do.
I then moved to suspend the rules so as to go into the Committee of the Whole on the bill. Had this motion prevailed, we could have taken <​up​> the contents of your petition, whilst the bill was under discussion, & got some expression upon them. But the motion was lost by less than ten votes. I will send you the ayes & noes that you may see who prefer surrendering to the British rather than pretect American settlers in going & in remaining there.
Your Obt Sevt
P.S. [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John Wentworth, 25 May 1844
ID #
1368
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • John Wentworth

Footnotes

  1. This letter was written on a Saturday. In the House of Representatives, Saturdays were “set apart for the consideration of private bills and private business.” (“Local or Private Business,” in Rules of the House, H.R. Report no. 3, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., 24 Feb. 1844, p. 3.)

    Rules of the House. H.R. Report no. 3, 28th Cong., 1st Sess. (1844).

  2. Ingersoll also previously represented Pennsylvania in the Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Seventh Congresses. The Congressional Globe contained no explanation as to why Ingersoll objected, reporting only that he “had objected to the reception at first, and still objected.” Voicing objections was standard practice in House parliamentary procedure. The section entitled “Of Decorum and Debate” in the House rules indicated that “when the reading of a paper is called for, and the same is objected to by any member, it shall be determined by a vote of the House.” (Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1312; Congressional Globe, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 624 [1844]; “Of Decorum and Debate,” in Rules of the House, H.R. Report no. 3, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., 24 Feb. 1844, p. 5.)

    Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1989: The Continental Congress September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788, and the Congress of the United States from the First through the 104th Congresses March 4, 1789, to January 3, 1997. Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997.

    The Congressional Globe, Containing Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings of the First Session of the Twenty-Eighth Congress. Vol. 13. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1844.

    Rules of the House. H.R. Report no. 3, 28th Cong., 1st Sess. (1844).

  3. On 24 April, Orson Hyde proposed a similar strategy, presumably to Joseph P. Hoge, for presenting the memorial: “We want the memorial read, a move made to suspend the rules of the house, and the bill printed &c.” (Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844; see also Council of Fifty, Letters from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844.)

  4. Wentworth was referring to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union. Since 1789 members of the House of Representatives had been able to motion to go into a Committee of the Whole House. The House rules for the first Congress indicated that a Committee of the Whole would form to read, debate, amend, and perfect bills. Originally, House members used these committees to develop legislation before it was drafted by a select committee. Afterward, the legislation would return to a Committee of the Whole for further debate. In the early decades of the nineteenth century, House members began to limit how many bills different Committees of the Whole received and even attempted to reduce the number of these committees. The rules for the Twenty-Eighth Congress established that “the House may, at any time, by a vote of a majority of the members present, suspend the rules and orders for the purpose of going into Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union.” (Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States, 25 May 1844, 970; 7 Apr. 1789, 8, 10–11; Nickels, Committee of the Whole, 1–3; History of the Committee on Rules, 36–38; Alexander, History and Procedure of the House of Representatives, 258–260; “Of Committees of the Whole House,” in Rules of the House, H.R. Report no. 3, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., 24 Feb. 1844, p. 9; see also “Of Decorum and Debate,” in Rules of the House, H.R. report no. 3, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., 24 Feb. 1844, p. 4; and Ilona B. Nickels, “Committee of the Whole,” in Encyclopedia of the United States Congress, 1:409.)

    Journal of the House of Representatives of the Twelfth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, Convened By Proclamation of the Governor, Being Their First Session, Begun and Held in the City of Springfield, November 23, 1840. Springfield, IL: Wm. Walters, 1840.

    Nickels, Ilona B. Committee of the Whole: An Introduction. Washington DC: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 1985.

    A History of the Committee on Rules: 1st to 97th Congress, 1789–1981. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1983.

    Alexander, De Alva Stanwood. History and Procedure of the House of Representatives. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1916.

    Rules of the House. H.R. Report no. 3, 28th Cong., 1st Sess. (1844).

    The Encyclopedia of the United States Congress. Edited by Donald C. Bacon, Roger H. Davidson, and Morton Keller. 4 vols. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995.

  5. Wentworth was likely referring here to proposed legislation for establishing a United States territory within the Oregon territory.a In his 25 April 1844 letter to the Council of Fifty, Orson Hyde reported that the House of Representatives was considering bills “for establishing a territorial government in Oregon and to protect the emigrants there.”b On 24 May, Representative Alexander Duncan unsuccessfully motioned to resolve the House into the Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union to discuss “the Oregon bill.”c In 1818 the United States and Great Britain negotiated a joint occupation treaty for the northwest coast of North America. The treaty was designed to last ten years, but in 1827 the two nations extended the treaty indefinitely. Additionally, the 1827 agreement concluded that either nation could annul the terms by giving twelve months’ notice.d Wentworth, a member of the Committee on Territories, believed passionately in the right of the United States to claim the Oregon territory. He emphasized this right during a House discussion in January 1844 when he said, “we ought at once to let Great Britain know that we will not surrender to her an inch of territory.” The following month, Wentworth introduced resolutions “to annul the article of joint occupancy with Great Britain” and “establish a territorial government over it [Oregon territory].”e In 1844 Oregon was a topic of discussion for months among House members of the Twenty-Eighth Congress.f

    (aA Bill to Organize a Territorial Government in the Oregon Territory, and for Other Purposes, H.R. no. 21, 28th Cong., 1st Sess. [1844]; A Bill to Extend the Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction of the Several Courts of the Territory of Iowa over the Territory of Oregon, and for Other Purposes, H.R. no. 21, 28th Cong., 1st Sess. [1844]. bLetter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844. cCongressional Globe, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 621 [1844]; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 987. d“Convention with Great Britain,” and “A Proclamation,” American State Papers: Foreign Relations, 4:406–407; 6:1000. eCongressional Globe, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 29, 186, 336 [1844]. fSee A Bill to Facilitate and Encourage the Settlement of the Territory of Oregon, S. no. 23, 28th Cong., 1st Sess. [1844]; Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 Apr. 1844; Letter from Orson Hyde, 30 Apr. 1844; see also, for example, Congressional Globe, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 103, 104, 168, 400–403, 424–425, 612 [1844].)

    Rules of the House. H.R. Report no. 3, 28th Cong., 1st Sess. (1844).

    The Congressional Globe, Containing Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Congress. Vol. 8. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1840.

    Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1989: The Continental Congress September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788, and the Congress of the United States from the First through the 104th Congresses March 4, 1789, to January 3, 1997. Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997.

    American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. Edited by Walter Lowrie, Matthew St. Clair Clarke, Walter S. Franklin, Asbury Dickins, and James C. Allen. American State Papers: Foreign Relations. 6 vols. Washington DC: Gales and Seaton, 1832–1834, 1858–1859.

  6. Further communication from Wentworth to JS has not been located. There were seventy-nine “ayes” and eighty-six “noes.” The names of those who voted were published in the Congressional Globe. (Congressional Globe, 28th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 624 [1844].)

    The Congressional Globe, Containing Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Congress. Vol. 8. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1840.

  7. The number of American settlers in Oregon at the close of 1844 was around five thousand. (Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 714.)

    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.

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