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Letter from Orson Hyde, 30 April 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , to “Dear Brethren” [the (including JS)], , Hancock Co., IL, 30 Apr. 1844; handwriting and signature of ; seven pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamps, dockets, archival notation, and dockets.
Two bifolia, the first measuring 9¾ × 7⅞ inches (25 × 20 cm) and the second measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). The paper of the first bifolium is blue and is ruled with twenty-five horizontal blue lines per page; the second bifolium is ruled with twenty-seven horizontal blue lines per page. The letter was inscribed on the first three pages of the first bifolium and on all four pages of the second bifolium. Before mailing, placed the second bifolium inside the first, trifolded the letter twice in letter style, addressed it, and sealed it with a red adhesive wafer. Remnants of the wafer remain on the verso of the last leaf. The letter was later refolded for filing. At some point, the bifolia were attached by multiple staples. Those staples have since been removed.
The letter was docketed by Jonathan Grimshaw, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1856. Graphite notations were later added, apparently by a clerk or secretary for Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. The letter may have been listed in an inventory 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 docket, its notations, its possible inclusion in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate 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]

    Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  3. [3]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL. The JS Collection includes five letters that Orson Hyde wrote in 1844. The circa 1904 inventory references a letter from Hyde to the “council of the Church.” During his trip to Washington DC in spring 1844, Hyde addressed three letters, including this one, specifically to the Council of Fifty. (See Orson Hyde, Washington DC, to “Dear Brethren,” Nauvoo, IL, 9 June 1844; and Orson Hyde, Washington DC, to “Dear Brethren,” Nauvoo, IL, 11 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL.)

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  4. [4]

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

Historical Introduction

On 30 April 1844, wrote his third of five extant letters from to JS and the in , Illinois. Hyde was in Washington to deliver a memorial prepared by the council that, if accepted by Congress, would make JS a member of the Army and give him the command of one hundred thousand armed volunteers to protect migrating settlers to the , the , and other western settlements. Hyde had sent updates to the council in letters dated 25 and 26 April, detailing the meetings he and had held with members of the congressional delegation and President . After discussing the memorial with these officials, Hyde reported in his 25 April letter to the Council of Fifty that the had “an undoubted right to go to Oregon” but that Congress was unlikely to pass any legislation regarding Texas or Oregon for the time being.
focused much of his 30 April letter on the debate over the annexation of —a major political issue in 1844. A few weeks earlier, news broke that representatives from the Republic of Texas had secretly agreed to an annexation treaty with ’s secretary of state, . Presidential hopefuls and , leading figures of the Democrat and Whig parties, respectively, argued publicly against annexation in letters that appeared in newspapers. With annexation seemingly off the table, Hyde suggested that the council write a letter asking the president of Texas, , what incentives his government might offer the Saints if they were to send volunteers to help Texas secure its independence from . Based on the information he had gathered and reported, Hyde also proposed that the council consider raising money for the church by using enslaved labor to produce sugar in Texas and increasing agricultural production in , Illinois. He also added two postscripts to the letter offering further information and advice.
wrote the letter to his “Dear Brethren”—JS and the —but addressed the wrapper to , who was not only a council member but also the postmaster of , which meant that he could send and receive mail without charge. JS received Hyde’s letter by 25 May 1844, when he assembled the Council of Fifty to discuss the information the letter reported. Fewer than half of the council members attended this meeting because many of them were out of town promoting JS’s campaign for president of the . Nevertheless, the council “orderd an answr” to Hyde to be written by .

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844; Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 Apr. 1844; Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 24–26 Mar. 1844.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844.

  3. [3]

    “Texas Treaty,” Daily Madisonian (Washington DC), 12 Apr. 1844, [2]; Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 679.

    Daily Madisonian. Washington DC. 1841–1845

    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.

  4. [4]

    See “Mr. Clay’s Letter,” and “To the Editor of the Globe,” Globe (Washington DC), 29 Apr. 1844, 139, 140.

    Globe. Washington DC. 1831–1845.

  5. [5]

    Council of Fifty, “Record,” 19 Mar. 1844; “List of Letters,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 17 Jan. 1844, [3]. As a postmaster, Rigdon was entitled to franking privileges, meaning he could receive mail for free.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  6. [6]

    Council of Fifty, “Record,” 25 May 1844; JS, Journal, 25 May 1844.

  7. [7]

    JS, Journal, 25 May 1844. In this letter, Richards informed Hyde that the council was still committed to electing JS as president of the United States and that if Congress were to pass all or part of the memorial, the council would decide whether to accept or reject the final product. (Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to Orson Hyde, [Washington DC], 25 May 1844, copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.)

Page 4

and now, would it not be our most politic course to strengthen ourselves by agriculture, extend our borders, enlarge our territory in as I have spoken, and break up the plan of settling so much within the limits of the town. If we were to get , or rather go there under the most favourable circumstances which we have any reason to hope for; There is an Army to support, and also a Navy. An executive and legislative government to support. Ministers and consuls to all nations. Would not this enormous weight of taxation keep out capitalists and sink the infant government?
Knowing that our inexperienced minds dwell first, and with far more pleasure, upon the sunny side of the picture, I have thought propper to present a little of the shade also; for if we move at all, it is “through both sun and shade”: yet whatever course you shall determine to steer, after seeing every point of the compass, I am with you, heart, hand, property, life and honor. It is, therefore, but reasonable, when one has so much at steak, to indulge an earnest desire and an ardent wish for the most judicious course to be persued; and did I conceal my thoughts and find afterwards that we had moved erroneously, I could not escape the censure of my own mind; But if my thoughts are wrong, I know your superior discernment will not only discover, but reduce them to a propper bearing [p. 4]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Orson Hyde, 30 April 1844
ID #
1344
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Orson Hyde

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