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Letter from Orson Hyde, 11 June 1844

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Letter from Orson Hyde, 11 June 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , to “Dear Brethren” [the (including JS)], , Hancock Co., IL, 11 June 1844; handwriting and signature of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamp, postal notation, docket, and notations.
Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). A blank rectangular embossment appears in the top left corner of the recto of the first leaf, with a faint impression on the second leaf. Both sides of the first leaf and the recto of the second leaf are ruled with twenty-eight horizontal lines printed in blue ink (now faded). The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, which remains on the verso of the second leaf, and postmarked. When the letter was opened, a hole was torn in the second leaf, resulting in the loss of text on the third page. The letter was later trifolded for storage and underwent some conservation.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. This may be one of two 1844 documents from listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 it had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket, its possible listing in the circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. 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.

  2. “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.

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

Historical Introduction

On 11 June 1844, wrote from to the , including JS, in , Illinois, to report on his meeting that day with president . Hyde had been in Washington since April, attempting to secure either congressional or executive approval of JS’s March 1844 memorial, copies of which petitioned Congress and the president, respectively, to grant JS membership in the United States Army and authority to raise one hundred thousand volunteers to protect American citizens emigrating to and . After learning that Congress was not authorized to appoint JS to the army, Hyde decided to first submit the memorial to Congress without the appointment clause and then appeal to the president with the unaltered memorial. He reasoned that this approach would offer him the best chance of having the entire memorial approved. On 9 June, Hyde wrote to the Council of Fifty reporting that the memorial had been rejected by both the House of Representatives and the Senate and that he had therefore resolved to petition the president, whom he had previously met.
On 11 June, met with around midday. During their meeting, Tyler read JS’s memorial and commended its objective to help settle . JS’s intentions would have likely interested Tyler, who aspired to annex the and, to a lesser extent, lay claim to the Oregon territory. However, Tyler claimed that the Constitution prevented him from fully endorsing the memorial, likely because of its request for the president to make JS a member of the army. Article 2, section 2, of the Constitution, which named the United States president the “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States,” allowed him to appoint “all other Officers of the United States,” but only “with the Advice and Consent of the Senate.” JS’s memorial to the president specifically requested Tyler to “constitute the said Joseph Smith, a member of the Army of the United States.” Even though the Constitution permitted Tyler to work with the Senate to appoint JS, the president chose not to pursue this option.
In his 11 June letter, written immediately after this meeting, provided a summary of his exchange with the president, highlighting his efforts to secure executive support for the memorial and reporting on ’s refusal to provide JS with special treatment or protection. Hyde closed by advising members of the Council of Fifty against seeking further assistance from the government.
addressed the letter to , who was a member of the and ’s postmaster, with franking privilege, or the privilege of free mail delivery. It was postmarked 11 June from Washington DC. Given that Hyde’s previous letters from to Nauvoo took approximately two to three weeks to reach Nauvoo, the letter probably arrived, at the earliest, sometime in late June or early July. It is unlikely JS saw this letter before leaving Nauvoo for , Illinois, on 24 June or before his death there on 27 June 1844.

Footnotes

  1. 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. Hyde left Nauvoo on 4 April and arrived in Washington DC on 23 April. (JS, Journal, 4 Apr. 1844; Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844.)

  2. Letter from Orson Hyde, 9 June 1844. On 25 April, Illinois senator James Semple introduced Hyde to Tyler at the White House; Hyde and the president discussed the Latter-day Saints’ experience in Missouri as well as their transition to life in Nauvoo. Senator Semple represented Illinois as a Democrat in the Twenty-Eighth Congress. (Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 Apr. 1844; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 127, 1887.)

    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.

  3. Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 590, 658–680, 717–718; Crapol, John Tyler, 56, 118–121, 176–222.

    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.

    Crapol, Edward P. John Tyler: The Accidental President. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.

  4. U.S. Constitution, art. 2, sec. 2.

  5. JS, Memorial to the President of the United States of America, 30 Mar. 1844, [2], draft, JS Collection, CHL.

  6. An Act to Reduce into One the Several Acts for Establishing and Regulating the Post Office Department [3 Mar. 1825], Laws and Regulations for the Government of the Post Office Department, p. 16, sec. 27. Rigdon was appointed postmaster in 1841.

    Laws and Regulations for the Government of the Post Office Department. Washington DC: Alexander and Barnard, 1843.

  7. See Historical Introduction to Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 Apr. 1844; and Historical Introduction to Letter from Orson Hyde, 30 Apr. 1844. In a 30 June 1844 letter to Brigham Young, Mary Ann Angell Young reported that, due to mob interference, incoming mail to Nauvoo had “not been in but once for three or four weeks.” (Mary Ann Angell Young, Nauvoo, IL, to Brigham Young, 30 June 1844, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL.)

    Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

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June 11th. 1844.
Dear Brethren,
I have just returned from a visit to the . He devotes but 2 hours each day to business calls, from 11 till 1 o’clock. Many from all parts of the call daily to see him. He, consequently, is ◊◊able to devote but little time to each visitor. A word of explanation must suffice, and then one must give place to others. I presented him with the memorial. He read it attentively through; and then remarked that the object was most unquestionably a good one. The possession and settlement of appears to be the leading feature in the memorial said he, and you will recollect, continues he, that in my annual message I recommended to Congress the establishing of <​a line of​> forts through to that country for the protection of all citizens emigrating to that country Territory. Now does not this embrace all you want? I answered, no Sir! We shall go in bodies sufficiently large to protect ourselvs through the Indian territories. Mr. Smith wishes the Executive to throw a shield over him while his operations are confined to the in raising and fitting out said volunteers. He says, Mr. Smith may go on and do as he wishes, and this government will extend the same protection to him that it will to any other citizen. I observed to him, that this memorial originated upon the ground that the same protection had not heretofore been extended to him that had been to others. He replied that that was oweing to peculiar circumstances, wherein [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Orson Hyde, 11 June 1844
ID #
1390
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Orson Hyde

Footnotes

  1. While Orson Hyde did not indicate where he met with President John Tyler, it was likely at the White House, where they were introduced on 25 April and where Tyler regularly met with visitors. An 1842 account of Tyler’s schedule indicated that receiving visitors was part of his daily business. (Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844; John Tyler, Washington DC, to Robert McCandlish, Williamsburg, VA, 10 July 1842, in Tyler, Letters and Times of the Tylers, 172.)

    Tyler, Lyon G. The Letters and Times of the Tylers. Vol. 2. Richmond, VA: Whittet and Shepperson, 1885.

  2. TEXT: Presumably “unable”.

  3. The memorial emphasized the United States’ claim to the Oregon territory and recognized that upon their arrival in Oregon, American emigrants would need protection from “foreign invasion, and domestic feuds.” The memorial also emphasized JS’s willingness to lead volunteers “to protect the Inhabitants of Oregon.” (JS, Memorial to the President of the United States of America, 30 Mar. 1844, [1], draft, JS Collection, CHL.)

  4. President John Tyler’s 5 December 1843 annual message to the Senate and House of Representatives stated, “I must repeat the recommendation contained in previous messages, for the establishment of military posts at such places on the line of travel as will furnish security and protection to our hardy adventurers against hostile tribes of Indians inhabiting those extensive regions.” (“Third Annual Message. December 5, 1843,” in Williams, Statesman’s Manual, 1334.)

    Williams, Edwin, comp. Statesman’s Manual. Presidents’ Messages, Inaugural, Annual and Special, from 1789 to 1846. Vol. 2. New York: Edward Walker, 1848.

  5. The Council of Fifty minutes for 19 March 1844, which recounted the origin of the memorial, do not include discussion of JS’s failure to receive protection that others received. Instead, the minutes explain that Willard Richards introduced a resolution for the “General Government” to grant JS authority to “protect the Texas and Oregon from all foreign invasion.” (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 19 Mar. 1844.)

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