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Letter from Miner R. Deming, 26 June 1844

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Letter from Miner R. Deming, 26 June 1844

Source Note

, Letter, [, Hancock Co., IL], to JS and , , Hancock Co., IL, 26 June 1844; handwriting and signature of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address and dockets.
Single leaf measuring 6¾ × 7⅜–7⅞ inches (17 × 19–20 cm). Both sides of the leaf were ruled with eighteen printed blue horizontal lines. The top and right sides of the recto have the square cut of manufactured paper, whereas the left and bottom sides were apparently cut or torn by hand, which suggests that the leaf was removed from a book or larger sheet. The letter was written on the recto, trifolded twice in letter style, and addressed. The document appears to have been later trimmed.
The letter was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865, also docketed the letter. 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 letter 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, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. 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.

  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 26 June 1844, Brigadier General of the state militia sent a letter to JS and informing them that their guards at the jail, in , Illinois, had received new instructions regarding who could visit them. JS and Hyrum Smith had been committed to the jail on the evening of 25 June after being charged with .
That same evening, , one of JS’s attorneys, asked Governor “to have a company detailed to guard the jail, which was done, and they arrived at the jail about the same time as the prisoners.” , the jailer, observed that “there was a guard of seven armed men kept at the door of the jail” with “strict orders from their officer, to let no man see the prisoners, or go in the jail without a written order from the legal officer.” For instance, on 26 June a man who apparently did not have a pass tried to deliver a verbal message to JS, but one of the guards “refused to allow them any communication.” Evidently, JS objected to this restriction, but how his complaint was conveyed or to whom it was addressed is unclear. On the morning of 26 June, a number of messengers left the jail, including Wall Southwick, , , and , any of whom might have communicated JS’s complaint. It is also possible that JS voiced his concerns directly to Ford, with whom he met that same morning at 9:27.
Regardless of how JS’s complaint was transmitted, it appears that , who commanded the various units of the militia gathered at , was informed of the problem and attempted to resolve it. Deming then wrote the featured letter on 26 June to notify JS that he had clarified the guards’ instructions, implying that those without a pass would now be allowed to see the prisoners. Deming apparently gave the letter to , one of JS’s attorneys, who delivered it to JS at around twelve thirty that afternoon. Despite Deming’s new instructions to the guards, reported that on 27 June he was unable to enter the jail without a pass, and that same day, several of JS’s associates sought to obtain passes allowing them to come and go from the jail freely. No response to Deming’s letter is known to exist.

Footnotes

  1. Warrant, 24 June 1844.

  2. Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 30 June 1844, [1]; Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:562; James W. Woods, Statement, Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 30 June 1844, [1]; James W. Woods, Statement, Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:563.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

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

  3. George Stigall, Carthage, IL, 3 July 1844, Letter to the Editor, Warsaw (IL) Signal, 24 July 1844, [2].

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

  4. JS History, vol. F-1, 167.

  5. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844. Southwick, Wasson, Markham, and Jones had accompanied JS into the Hancock County jail on the night of 25 June.

  6. Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 30 June 1844, [1]; Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:561; Ford, History of Illinois, 324, 339, 343–345.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

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

    Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.

  7. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844.

  8. Jones, “Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith,” 12–13. Both contemporary and reminiscent sources suggest that individuals obtained such passes from Governor Ford. (Thomas Ford to Willard Richards, Pass, [Carthage, IL], 27 June 1844, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL; Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844; Stephen Markham, Fort Supply, Utah Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 20 June 1856, [4]; Cyrus Wheelock, London, England, to George A. Smith, 29 Dec. 1854, [10], Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL.)

    Dennis, Ronald D. “The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith and His Brother Hyrum.” BYU Studies 24 (Winter 1984): 78–109.

    Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490.

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Miner R. Deming, 26 June 1844
History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

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Messrs Smiths
I was requested by the to order you such protection as circumstances might require. The guard have been acting upon the supposition that your protection excluded all persons but those admitted by a pass. I have caused the officer of the guard to be correctly instructed of his duties, so that you need suffer no further inconvenience—
Brig— Genl..
Head Quarters
June 26th. 1844. [7 lines blank] [p. [1]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Miner R. Deming, 26 June 1844
ID #
1451
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Miner R. Deming
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