On 12 July 1841, wrote a letter from to JS in , Illinois, requesting that JS purchase land for him. In March of that year, Bernhisel had asked JS for help securing property in Nauvoo. JS replied in April that he would “endeavour to obtain a suitable place” for Bernhisel and invited him to send an unspecified amount of money with an of the . This 12 July letter authorized JS to act on Bernhisel’s behalf in purchasing land. Bernhisel, a member of the church who had never met JS, also enclosed a certificate of deposit for $425.

In his March letter, apparently expressed the desire to obtain a very large parcel of land close to the center of , perhaps near the construction site of the . In his response in April, JS informed Bernhisel of the rapidly rising real estate prices in the city and suggested Bernhisel widen his search if he wanted to secure a large tract of land with the amount of money he wanted to spend. JS, who managed the sales of Nauvoo land, had overseen numerous property transactions from 1839 to 1841.

After penning the letter, sent it by mail from . JS received the letter approximately three weeks later, accepted Bernhisel’s money and request, and sent a reply to Bernhisel in the first week of August.