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Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 February 1844–B

Source Note

Lyman Wight

9 May 1796–31 Mar. 1858. Farmer. Born at Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of Levi Wight Jr. and Sarah Corbin. Served in War of 1812. Married Harriet Benton, 5 Jan. 1823, at Henrietta, Monroe Co., New York. Moved to Warrensville, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, ...

View Full Bio
,
George Miller

25 Nov. 1794–after July 1856. Carpenter, mill operator, lumber dealer, steamboat owner. Born near Stanardsville, Orange Co., Virginia. Son of John Miller and Margaret Pfeiffer. Moved to Augusta Co., Virginia, 1798; to Madison Co., Kentucky, 1806; to Boone...

View Full Bio
,
Phineas R. Bird

29 Jan. 1802–25 July 1850. Weaver, stone mason. Born in Trenton, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey. Son of Benjamin Bird and Mary. Moved to Romulus, Seneca Co., New York, by 1810. Moved to Wells, Bradford Co., Pennsylvania, by 1820. Captain in U.S. Army, 10 Jan. ...

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,
Pierce Hawley

14 Nov. 1788–16 Aug. 1858. Farmer. Born in Vergennes, Addison Co., Vermont. Son of Gideon Hawley and Lavinia Darrough. Moved to Ferrisburg, Addison Co., by 1790. Married first, ca. 1812. Served in War of 1812. Moved to White Co., Illinois, ca. 1818. Married...

View Full Bio
, and
John Young

May 1811–30 Oct. 1886. Lumber and sawmill worker, clerk, farmer. Born in Jackson Co., Tennessee. Son of David Young and Elizabeth Vance. Possibly baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by John D. Lee at same time as his parents and siblings...

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, Letter,
Black River Falls

Post village located on Black River. Site of pine lumber industry. County seat. Population in 1850 about 460. Committee of church members wrote to JS and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from village, 15 Feb. 1844.

More Info
, Crawford Co., Wisconsin Territory, to the
First Presidency

The highest presiding body of the church. An 11 November 1831 revelation stated that the president of the high priesthood was to preside over the church. JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood on 25 January 1832. In March 1832, JS appointed two...

View Glossary
(including JS) and the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...

View Glossary
, [
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL], 15 Feb. 1844; handwriting of Otis Hobart; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, docket, and notations.
Bifolium measuring 12⅛ × 7¾ inches (31 × 20 cm). The paper is likely ruled (though the lines are now completely faded). The letter was folded three times horizontally and twice vertically.
The letter was received by JS in
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
folded together and wrapped with another letter of the same date from
Lyman Wight

9 May 1796–31 Mar. 1858. Farmer. Born at Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of Levi Wight Jr. and Sarah Corbin. Served in War of 1812. Married Harriet Benton, 5 Jan. 1823, at Henrietta, Monroe Co., New York. Moved to Warrensville, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, ...

View Full Bio
and others in
Wisconsin Territory

Area settled by French, before 1700. Became part of U.S. by Treaty of Paris, 1783. Territory officially formed, 1836, with Belmont established as capital. Capital moved to present-day Burlington, Iowa, 1837. Territory initially included all or part of present...

More Info
. The document was docketed by Jonathan Grimshaw, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1856,
1

Historian’s Office, Journal, 7 June 1853; Wilford Woodruff, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 30 Aug. 1856, in Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 364.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

Historian’s Office. Letterpress Copybooks, 1854–1879, 1885–1886. CHL. CR 100 38.

and contains notations made by him. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
2

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


The document’s early docket and notations and its inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Historian’s Office, Journal, 7 June 1853; Wilford Woodruff, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 30 Aug. 1856, in Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 364.

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

    Historian’s Office. Letterpress Copybooks, 1854–1879, 1885–1886. CHL. CR 100 38.

  2. [2]

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

Historical Introduction

On 15 February 1844, a committee of
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
members in
Black River Falls

Post village located on Black River. Site of pine lumber industry. County seat. Population in 1850 about 460. Committee of church members wrote to JS and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from village, 15 Feb. 1844.

More Info
, Wisconsin Territory, composed two letters to church leaders in
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Illinois, containing their recommendation that the church look into establishing a new
gathering

As directed by early revelations, church members “gathered” in communities. A revelation dated September 1830, for instance, instructed elders “to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect” who would “be gathered in unto one place, upon the face of this land...

View Glossary
place in the
Republic of Texas

France established colony in area, 1685. First Spanish settlement created, 1718. After Mexican War of Independence from Spain, 1821, area became part of Mexico and immigration increased. Conflict between Mexican government and Texian residents resulted in...

More Info
.
1

For more information on the background of these letters, see Historical Introduction to Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 Feb. 1844–A.


Prior to writing these letters, the committee met to discuss the church’s lumber operations in Black River Falls and concluded that by July 1844 the Saints in
Wisconsin Territory

Area settled by French, before 1700. Became part of U.S. by Treaty of Paris, 1783. Territory officially formed, 1836, with Belmont established as capital. Capital moved to present-day Burlington, Iowa, 1837. Territory initially included all or part of present...

More Info
would have more than enough lumber for the Nauvoo
temple

Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...

More Info
and the
Nauvoo House

Located in lower portion of Nauvoo (the flats) along bank of Mississippi River. JS revelation, dated 19 Jan. 1841, instructed Saints to build boardinghouse for travelers and immigrants. Construction of planned three-story building to be funded by fifty-dollar...

More Info
, thus fulfilling their purposes in Wisconsin. Furthermore, the committee concluded that the church could find more profitable enterprises by gathering to Texas, where the Saints might also proselytize among larger numbers of Native American groups. The committee was aware of recent missionary work in the southern
United States

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

More Info
and therefore also recommended that the church invite wealthy slaveholders to join this relocation and consecrate the profits of their plantations to support the growth of the church. The committee assigned
George Miller

25 Nov. 1794–after July 1856. Carpenter, mill operator, lumber dealer, steamboat owner. Born near Stanardsville, Orange Co., Virginia. Son of John Miller and Margaret Pfeiffer. Moved to Augusta Co., Virginia, 1798; to Madison Co., Kentucky, 1806; to Boone...

View Full Bio
and
Lyman Wight

9 May 1796–31 Mar. 1858. Farmer. Born at Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of Levi Wight Jr. and Sarah Corbin. Served in War of 1812. Married Harriet Benton, 5 Jan. 1823, at Henrietta, Monroe Co., New York. Moved to Warrensville, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, ...

View Full Bio
—both of whom were trustees of the
Nauvoo House Association

A corporation established in February 1841 to oversee the building of the Nauvoo House. A 19 January 1841 JS revelation included a commandment to construct a boardinghouse for visitors to Nauvoo that would also serve as a home for JS and his family. The association...

View Glossary
—to draft letters to church leaders in Nauvoo forwarding the committee’s recommendations and asking how the Wisconsin Saints should proceed. Unable to decide which letter to send, the committee resolved to send both letters. The letter featured here was created by George Miller and inscribed by Otis Hobart.
2

Wight, Address by Way of an Abridged Account and Journal of My Life, 1–3; Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 Feb. 1844–A.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Wight, Lyman. An Address by Way of an Abridged Account and Journal of My Life from February 1844 up to April 1848, with an Appeal to the Latter Day Saints. [Austin, TX], [ca. 1848].

The letters were brought to
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
by
Miller

25 Nov. 1794–after July 1856. Carpenter, mill operator, lumber dealer, steamboat owner. Born near Stanardsville, Orange Co., Virginia. Son of John Miller and Margaret Pfeiffer. Moved to Augusta Co., Virginia, 1798; to Madison Co., Kentucky, 1806; to Boone...

View Full Bio
and then discussed in a meeting with JS, available members of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...

View Glossary
, and the
temple committee

A committee assigned to raise funds and direct the building of the Nauvoo temple; also called the building committee or temple building committee. On 3 October 1840, Alpheus Cutler, Reynolds Cahoon, and Elias Higbee were appointed as a committee responsible...

View Glossary
on 10 March 1844.
3

JS, Journal, 10 Mar. 1844; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 10 Mar. 1844.


That meeting was adjourned until the next day, 11 March, when the
Council of Fifty

An organization intended to establish the political kingdom of God on the earth. An 1842 editorial in the church newspaper stated that the “design of Jehovah” was to “take the reigns of government into his own hand.” On 10 and 11 March 1844, JS and several...

View Glossary
was formally organized.
4

Council of Fifty, “Record,” 10 and 11 Mar. 1844.


William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
later copied these letters into the Council of Fifty record.
5

See Council of Fifty, “Record,” 10 Mar. 1844.


Miller’s original letter is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For more information on the background of these letters, see Historical Introduction to Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 Feb. 1844–A.

  2. [2]

    Wight, Address by Way of an Abridged Account and Journal of My Life, 1–3; Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 Feb. 1844–A.

    Wight, Lyman. An Address by Way of an Abridged Account and Journal of My Life from February 1844 up to April 1848, with an Appeal to the Latter Day Saints. [Austin, TX], [ca. 1848].

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 10 Mar. 1844; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 10 Mar. 1844.

  4. [4]

    Council of Fifty, “Record,” 10 and 11 Mar. 1844.

  5. [5]

    See Council of Fifty, “Record,” 10 Mar. 1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 February 1844–B
Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846; Volume 1, 10 March 1844–1 March 1845 History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [1]

Black River Falls

Post village located on Black River. Site of pine lumber industry. County seat. Population in 1850 about 460. Committee of church members wrote to JS and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from village, 15 Feb. 1844.

More Info
February 15th. 1844
To the
first Presidency

The highest presiding body of the church. An 11 November 1831 revelation stated that the president of the high priesthood was to preside over the church. JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood on 25 January 1832. In March 1832, JS appointed two...

View Glossary
and the
quorum of the Twelve

Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...

View Glossary
of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
Dear Breathren
Through the goodness and mercy of God the eternal Father, and grace of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, we are permitted to write and send by a Special messenger, a concise account of our lumbering opperations, together with the apparent prospects of the introduction & spred of the Gospel among the Chippewa & Menomonie Indians, and also the projects of our hearts in regard to future operations in spreading the Gospel South in all the extent of
America

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

More Info
and the consequences growing out of the same. All of which we beg leave to submit to your consideration, that we may have your concurrence or such views as shall be in accordance with the mind & will of the Lord, and govern ourselves in accordance thereto.
Since we have been here lumbering we have had many difficulties to encounter, but the main hindrance to our Successful opperations was the feeding, clothing and transporting a great many lazy, idle men who have not produced any thing by their pretended labor, and thus eating up all that the diligent and honest could produce by their unceasing application to labor & we have not yet got entirely clear of such like persons.
1

The Latter-day Saints in Wisconsin Territory were practicing a system of communal economics, which may have created tensions. John Pierce Hawley, a son of Bishop George Miller’s counselor Pierce Hawley, later recollected that the group had entered into a “covenant” to “have all things common.” Allen J. Stout, a Latter-day Saint living at Black River Falls, wrote in September 1843, “Every man has given a sc[h]edule of his property to the bishop and we have all things common accordi[ng] to the law in the book of covenants every man has his own goods to do what he pleases with the thing is we are all on an equality eve[ry] man far[e]s alike labours alike eats drinks wares alike but at the same time he lives to himself and what he has he has to himself and at his own controll.” Scarcity apparently loomed during the Wisconsin winter. Stout later recounted that the settlement temporarily ran out of food around 1 March 1844—within two weeks after the letters were written. (Hawley, “Autobiography of John Pierce Hawley,” 6; Allen J. Stout, Black River Falls, Wisconsin Territory, to Hosea Stout et al., Nauvoo, IL, 10 and 13 Sept. 1843, Allen J. Stout, Letters to Hosea Stout, CHL; Stout, Reminiscences and Journal, 20.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Hawley, Robert, ed. Autobiography of John Pierce Hawley. Hamilton, Mo: Robert Hawley, 1981. Copy at CHL. M291.7 H396a 1981.

Stout, Allen J. Letters to Hosea Stout, 1843. CHL.

Stout, Allen J. Reminiscences and Journal, 1863–1889. CHL.

But under all these mighty clogs and hindrances we have been able to accomplish and have in progress, so that we can deliver in
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
about one million feet of lumber by the last of July next, which will be a great deal more than what is necessary to build the
Temple

Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...

More Info
and
Nauvoo House

Located in lower portion of Nauvoo (the flats) along bank of Mississippi River. JS revelation, dated 19 Jan. 1841, instructed Saints to build boardinghouse for travelers and immigrants. Construction of planned three-story building to be funded by fifty-dollar...

More Info
, besides all this we have made valuable improvements here, all the result of much labor done under trying circumstances.
2

Unlike many logging camps in Wisconsin Territory, the Latter-day Saint lumbering and milling operation came to be seen as more than temporary. Saints had purchased two mills in 1842, and a third was under construction. Miller recounted that after he returned to Wisconsin with a new group of settlers from Nauvoo in August 1843, “We had houses to build for the comfort and convenience of the families, and having great facilities for building (and Joseph wishing to make those mills a permanent establishment) it was thought best to make them permanent, good houses.” (George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 27 June 1855, in Northern Islander, 23 Aug. 1855, [1]; Mills, “De Tal Palo Tal Astilla,” 100–105; Rowley, “Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries,” 121, 130–131, 134.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.

Mills, H. W. “De Tal Palo Tal Astilla.” Annual Publications Historical Society of Southern California 10 (1917): 86–174.

Rowley, Dennis. “The Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries, 1841–1845.” BYU Studies 32, nos. 1 and 2 (1992): 119–148.

We have recently ascertained that the land from the
falls

Post village located on Black River. Site of pine lumber industry. County seat. Population in 1850 about 460. Committee of church members wrote to JS and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from village, 15 Feb. 1844.

More Info
of
Black River

Rises in Portage Co. (now in Taylor Co.), runs southwest 150 miles through central Wisconsin Territory, and empties into Mississippi River. First lumber mill built on river, 1818. In Sept. 1841, Nauvoo temple committee and trustees of Nauvoo House Association...

More Info
to its Sources is the property of the Menomanee Indians,
3

For more information on the Menominee, see the annotation in Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 Feb. 1844–A.


And the Genrl. government having [p. [1]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 February 1844–B
ID #
1271
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page

    Footnotes

    1. [1]

      The Latter-day Saints in Wisconsin Territory were practicing a system of communal economics, which may have created tensions. John Pierce Hawley, a son of Bishop George Miller’s counselor Pierce Hawley, later recollected that the group had entered into a “covenant” to “have all things common.” Allen J. Stout, a Latter-day Saint living at Black River Falls, wrote in September 1843, “Every man has given a sc[h]edule of his property to the bishop and we have all things common accordi[ng] to the law in the book of covenants every man has his own goods to do what he pleases with the thing is we are all on an equality eve[ry] man far[e]s alike labours alike eats drinks wares alike but at the same time he lives to himself and what he has he has to himself and at his own controll.” Scarcity apparently loomed during the Wisconsin winter. Stout later recounted that the settlement temporarily ran out of food around 1 March 1844—within two weeks after the letters were written. (Hawley, “Autobiography of John Pierce Hawley,” 6; Allen J. Stout, Black River Falls, Wisconsin Territory, to Hosea Stout et al., Nauvoo, IL, 10 and 13 Sept. 1843, Allen J. Stout, Letters to Hosea Stout, CHL; Stout, Reminiscences and Journal, 20.)

      Hawley, Robert, ed. Autobiography of John Pierce Hawley. Hamilton, Mo: Robert Hawley, 1981. Copy at CHL. M291.7 H396a 1981.

      Stout, Allen J. Letters to Hosea Stout, 1843. CHL.

      Stout, Allen J. Reminiscences and Journal, 1863–1889. CHL.

    2. [2]

      Unlike many logging camps in Wisconsin Territory, the Latter-day Saint lumbering and milling operation came to be seen as more than temporary. Saints had purchased two mills in 1842, and a third was under construction. Miller recounted that after he returned to Wisconsin with a new group of settlers from Nauvoo in August 1843, “We had houses to build for the comfort and convenience of the families, and having great facilities for building (and Joseph wishing to make those mills a permanent establishment) it was thought best to make them permanent, good houses.” (George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 27 June 1855, in Northern Islander, 23 Aug. 1855, [1]; Mills, “De Tal Palo Tal Astilla,” 100–105; Rowley, “Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries,” 121, 130–131, 134.)

      Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.

      Mills, H. W. “De Tal Palo Tal Astilla.” Annual Publications Historical Society of Southern California 10 (1917): 86–174.

      Rowley, Dennis. “The Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries, 1841–1845.” BYU Studies 32, nos. 1 and 2 (1992): 119–148.

    3. [3]

      For more information on the Menominee, see the annotation in Letter from Lyman Wight and Others, 15 Feb. 1844–A.

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