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Letter from Orson Hyde, 9 June 1844

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Letter from Orson Hyde, 9 June 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , to “Dear Brethren” [the (including JS)], , Hancock Co., IL, 9 June 1844; handwriting and signatures of ; eight pages; JS Collection, CHL. Included enclosure (not extant); includes address, postal stamps, docket, and notations.
Two bifolia measuring 10 × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). A rectangular and mostly illegible embossment is present in the top left corner of the recto of the first leaf, and faint impressions of the embossment appear on other leaves. Pages 1–3 are ruled with twenty-seven horizontal lines printed in blue ink, pages 4–6 are similarly ruled with approximately twenty-eight lines per page, and page 7 is partially ruled on its right margin. The document was inscribed by first filling one bifolium, paginated 1–3 (with the verso of the second leaf left blank for addressing) and then continuing on to the second bifolium, paginated 4–7. The bifolia were gathered, with the second inside of the first, and then trifolded twice in letter style. The letter also contained a newspaper clipping, which is not extant, from the National Intelligencer. The verso of the second leaf of the outer bifolium, when folded, was addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer (which remains on that page), and postmarked. When the letter was opened, a hole was torn in the second leaf of the outer bifolium, resulting in the loss of text on page 3. At one point in time, the document was trifolded for storage; at another, the leaves were fastened together with staples or possibly pins and separated multiple times. The letter also underwent some conservation.
The letter 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 9 June 1844, wrote from to the , including JS, in , Illinois, responding to their criticism of his decision to alter JS’s 26 March 1844 memorial to Congress. Under the direction of the Council of Fifty, Hyde had traveled to Washington DC to present copies of JS’s memorial to both houses of Congress and to president , leaving on 4 April and arriving in Washington on 23 April. In part, the memorial requested that JS be granted membership in the United States Army and authorized to raise one hundred thousand volunteers to protect American citizens emigrating to and . In a 25 April letter, Hyde informed the council that he planned to strike out the memorial’s request to make JS a member of the army. On 13 May the council responded to Hyde’s decision with “dis-approbation and indignation,” informing him that “to throw away that one item, is to throw away the whole Memorial.”
answered the council’s reprimand with this letter, indicating that he altered the document after a meeting with Senator , which likely occurred on 24 April. Semple told Hyde that “Mr. Smith could not constitutionally be constituted a member of the Army.” Although article 1, section 8, of the Constitution empowered Congress “to raise and support Armies,” the Constitution did not authorize the House of Representatives or the Senate to appoint military officers. Article 2, section 2, on the other hand, named the president the “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States” and gave him authority, “with the Advice and Consent of the Senate,” to appoint “all other Officers of the United States.” Semple, moreover, viewed himself as a representative of all those living in and expressed concern that the memorial focused too much on JS’s interests: it failed to consider the needs of other religious groups and citizens of Illinois and benefited the alone. Hyde explained to the council that he had acted to protect JS’s reputation, which he believed would have suffered if the unedited memorial had been submitted. He also indicated that he intended to submit the memorial to unaltered.
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 10 June in . Given that Hyde’s previous letters from Washington 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 that JS saw this letter before leaving Nauvoo for , Illinois, on 24 June or before his death there on 27 June 1844.

Footnotes

  1. JS, Journal, 31 Mar. and 4 Apr. 1844; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 21 Mar. 1844; Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844; 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 also carried a letter of introduction signed by JS. (Authorization for Orson Hyde, 30 Mar. 1844, draft, JS Collection, CHL.)

  2. 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.

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

  4. Letter to Orson Hyde and Orson Pratt, 13 May 1844, underlining in original.

  5. Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844.

  6. Each of the memorial’s five sections focused on JS; two sections discussed the implications of JS’s petition for Congress to appoint him a member of the army. (Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 24–26 Mar. 1844.)

  7. Hyde presented the memorial to President Tyler two days later. (Letter from Orson Hyde, 11 June 1844.)

  8. 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.

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

  9. See Historical Introduction to Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 Apr. 1844; Historical Introduction to Letter from Orson Hyde, 30 Apr. 1844.

After being here eight days and talking with the members, and reasoning with them, it wanted no more of a prophetic spirit to tell what Congress would do, or rather what they would not do, than it does to tell that a man’s back must be towards the South if his face is towards the North. says that it is now said in council, that it was not expected that Congress would do any thing for us. The memorials were only to tease them, and that we might as well tease them with one thing as another. If I had left home with such instructions I should never have altered a letter, but as I said before I say again, that it was in good faith that they would do something that I left home. Pursuant to that impression I went to work as industriously and prudently as possible, but instead of meeting your approbation, I have met your “decided disapprobation and indignation”. Your discernment is superior to mine. I therefore say that I am sorry that I have committed the error, and if the council will forgive this offence, I will assure them that I shall never again, under any circumstances, be inclined to take alike responsibility. If I knew of any thing more that I could say or do to give you satisfaction, I would most certainly do it.
Believing, <​therefore,​> that your magnanimity will give the foregoing reasons and explanations due consideration, I honor the vote of the council, and ask you to accept the assurances of my hearty co-operation and good-will, asking the honor to still to subscribe myself your Ob’t. Serv’t.
. [p. 6]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Orson Hyde, 9 June 1844
ID #
1386
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Orson Hyde

Footnotes

  1. In his 25 April letter, Hyde reported that he spoke with congressmen Joseph P. Hoge, John J. Hardin, Stephen A. Douglas, and John Wentworth and Senator James Semple. (Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 127.)

    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.

  2. The Council of Fifty minutes for meetings between 4 April, when Hyde left Nauvoo, and 13 May, when the council directed Wight and Kimball to travel to Washington DC, do not contain any statements from council members expressing this view. JS, however, did inform Hyde on 21 March that “he [JS] did not care whether Congress would grant it or not, it would serve to goad them with.” On 6 June, Heber C. Kimball recorded that he had received a revelation indicating that the Saints would not receive any assistance from Congress. (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 21 Mar. 1844; 4–5, 11, 18, and 25 Apr. 1844; 3, 6, and 13 May 1844; JS, Journal, 4 Apr. 1844; Kimball, Journal, 6 June 1844.)

    Kimball, Heber C. Journal, June 1837–Feb. 1838; Feb.–Mar. 1840; May 1846–Feb. 1847. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 3, fd. 2.

  3. In his 26 April letter, Hyde reported that he and Orson Pratt submitted a bill to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary requesting two million dollars in reparations for church members’ losses from the Missouri persecutions of 1838–1839. In explaining the logic behind the submission of this bill, Hyde wrote, “we intend to tease them until we either provoke them, or get them to do something for us.” (Letter from Orson Hyde, 26 Apr. 1844.)

  4. The council’s 13 May letter informed Hyde that council members demonstrated their disapproval of his actions “by speech and vote.” Council minutes for 13 May reported that all who were present “voted to carry Er Phelps [William W. Phelps’s] motion to instruct our Delegates to carry all Memorials through Congress without alteration.” (Letter to Orson Hyde and Orson Pratt, 13 May 1844; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 13 May 1844.)

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