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Letter from Osee Welch, 25 October 1843

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Letter from Osee Welch, 25 October 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Jo Daviess Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 25 Oct. 1843; handwriting and signature presumably of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, wafer seal, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The first three pages are ruled with twenty-seven printed lines. The author inscribed the letter on the first page. The second and third pages are blank, with the address block on the fourth page. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The second leaf tore when the letter was opened, and the recto and verso of the second leaf contain wafer residue. The letter was refolded for filing.
The letter was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844. A later docket was inscribed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office from 1853 to 1859. The document was listed in an inventory produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.

    Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

  2. [2]

    “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  3. [3]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, 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 25 October 1843, of , Illinois, wrote a short letter to JS in , Illinois, requesting background information on former member . A merchant born in Auburn, New York, Welch settled in Massillon, Ohio, by the mid-1830s. In 1841, he filed for bankruptcy and later moved his family to the lead-mining boomtown Galena. Welch apparently owned a hardware establishment with two business partners, William and George McCully.
, who served as scribe to JS during the mid-1830s, was excommunicated from the church in , Ohio, in December 1837. Parrish moved to , Ohio, and lived there through at least January 1841 before moving approximately seventy-five miles south to Massillon, Ohio. In July 1842, Parrish wrote a letter from Massillon to excommunicated church member , expressing support for Bennett’s efforts in disparaging the leaders of the church and “breaking them up.” Parrish also indicated that he was then a partner in a mercantile establishment in Massillon. In fall 1843, Parrish accepted a position as pastor of a Baptist congregation in Rockford, Illinois, located eighty miles east of . It is possible that Parrish and established a business relationship in Ohio during the late 1830s or early 1840s or that they became acquainted in 1843 through the Baptist church in northern Illinois.
Fearing that intended to deceive him, wrote to JS on 25 October 1843 seeking information about Parrish’s “character and doings.” The lack of postal markings suggests that the letter was hand delivered to by an unidentified courier. A docket in the handwriting of indicates that the letter was received by JS in Nauvoo. There is no known response.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Osee Welch,” Greenwood Cemetery, Galena, Jo Daviess Co., IL, U.S. Find a Grave Index; Stark Co., OH, Marriage Records, 1809–1916, vol. B, p. 17, 20 Aug. 1836, microfilm 897,628, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Perrin, History of Stark County, 459–460.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Perrin, William Henry, ed. History of Stark County, with an Outline Sketch of Ohio. Chicago: Baskin and Battey, 1881.

  2. [2]

    Perrin, History of Stark County, 460.

    Perrin, William Henry, ed. History of Stark County, with an Outline Sketch of Ohio. Chicago: Baskin and Battey, 1881.

  3. [3]

    Jo Daviess Co., IL, Will Records, 1829–1921, vol. A, pp. 99–100, 5 Oct. 1853, microfilm 1,602,716, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 29 Oct. 1835; John Smith and Clarissa Lyman Smith, Kirtland, OH, to George A. Smith, Shinnston, VA, 1 Jan. 1838, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL.

    Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.

  5. [5]

    1840 U.S. Census, Chardon Township, Geauga Co., OH, 165; John Smith and George Gee, Ambrosia, Iowa Territory, to George A. Smith, Staffordshire, England, 7 Jan. 1841, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; Warren Parrish, Massillon, OH, to John C. Bennett, 31 July 1842, in Bennett, History of the Saints, 46; William W. Phelps, Nauvoo, IL, to Warren Parrish, Massillon, OH, 22 Mar. 1843, CHL.

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

    Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.

    Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.

    Phelps, William W. Letter, Nauvoo, IL, to Warren Parrish, Massillon, OH, 22 Mar. 1843. CHL.

  6. [6]

    Warren Parrish, Massillon, OH, to John C. Bennett, 31 July 1842, in Bennett, History of the Saints, 46–48.

    Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.

  7. [7]

    Church, History of Rockford and Winnebago County Illinois, 141.

    Church, Charles A. History of Rockford and Winnebago County Illinois from the First Settlement in 1834 to the Civil War. Rockford, IL: New England Soceity, 1900.

Page [1]

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October 25. "43
Joseph Smith
Sir
Pardon me for adressing you this note, But if consistant, I would like to know from you, the history of , the reasons why he left your order &c, I have had some connection with him in which I think he intends to deceive me, and cover up his wickedness with the Sacredotal robe which he has assumed, (He is now a Baptist Minister) He has written and said many things prejudicial to your order as you well know, See his letter to & others
I am well aware that his conduct while with you, was not the most honorable from his own stories, and that there are other causes for his leaving, other than those he states, “being deluded,” I believe to[o] if he was deluded it was his own hypocracy that deluded him——
I would like to have you write me and give as full a relation of his character and doings as you may deem prudent, and what ever you may say if confidential as a man, (or on the square as a Mason) “will be as sacred in my breast as your own”. Yet I would like to be at liberty to use as much of his history as you will allow please write me as soon as convenient
Yours Respectfully,
<​I have taken more liberty in writing, you, having been well informed that you are a member of the Fraternity of mason——​> [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Osee Welch, 25 October 1843
ID #
1188
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:226–228
Handwriting on This Page
  • Osee Welch

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Warren Parrish, Massillon, OH, to John C. Bennett, 31 July 1842, in Bennett, History of the Saints, 46–48.

    Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.

  2. [2]

    Parrish was part of a group of dissenters who, in May 1837, accused JS of lying and openly expressed doubts about his prophetic authority. In December 1837, Parrish and others “renounced the Church of Christ of Latter day Saints, and claimed, themselves to be the old standard, called themselves the Church of Christ, excluded that of Saints, and set at naught Br. Joseph and the whole Church, denouncing them as Heriticks.” Later that month, Parrish and twenty-seven others were excommunicated. Parrish was later accused of embezzling funds from the Kirtland Safety Society and counterfeiting money. (“Part 6: 20 April–14 September 1837”; Thomas B. Marsh, Far West, MO, to Wilford Woodruff, Vinalhaven, ME, ca. 18 June 1838, Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, CHL; John Smith and Clarissa Lyman Smith, Kirtland, OH, to George A. Smith, Shinnston, VA, 1 Jan. 1838, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; “Argument to Argument Where I Find It; Ridicule to Ridicule, and Scorn to Scorn,” Elders’ Journal, Aug. 1838, 58.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

    Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.

  3. [3]

    In the months after he was excommunicated, Parrish publicly stated his astonishment that “men of common sense and common abilities should be so completely blinded” and led by JS and privately articulated that he did not believe JS “to be what he professes to be, to wit, a prophet of God.” (“Mormonism,” Zion’s Watchman, 24 Mar. 1838, 46; Warren Parrish, Kirtland, OH, to Asahel Woodruff, Terre Haute, IN, 9 Sept. 1838, Wilford Woodruff, Collection, 1830–1898, CHL.)

    Zion's Watchman. New York City. 1836–1838.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Collection, 1831–1905. Digital scans. CHL. Originals in private possession.

  4. [4]

    To Freemasons, the builder’s square (with its right angle) symbolized morality, uprightness, and honesty. Making an oath or promise “on the square” was equivalent to giving one’s word of honor. (Dermott, True Ahiman Rezon, 88; Constitutions of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in the State of New-York, 21; “Pledging the Masonic Word,” 603.)

    Dermott, Laurence. The True Ahiman Rezon; or, A Help to All That Are, or Would Be Free and Accepted Masons. New York: Southwick and Hardcastle, 1805.

    The Constitutions of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in the State of New-York; Collected and Digested by Order of the Grand Lodge. New York: Southwick and Hardcastle, [1805].

    “Pledging the Masonic Word.” In The Freemasons’ Repository, edited by Henry W. Rugg, vol. 17, pp. 603–604. Providence, RI: E. L. Freeman and Son, 1887–1888.

  5. [5]

    This quotation appears in a fictional story of British mariners written by William Neale in 1833. A variation of the phrase was also reportedly associated with Freemasonry. William Morgan’s 1826 exposition of Masonry, for example, asserts that Masons should conceal the secrets of Masonry and those of their fellow Masons so that “they may remain as secure and inviolable [in] your breast as in his own.” (Neale, Port Admiral: A Tale of the War, 3:267; Morgan, Illustrations of Masonry, 25.)

    Neale, William Johnson. The Port Admiral: A Tale of the War. 3 vols. London: Cochrane and M’Crone, 1833.

    Morgan, William. Illustrations of Masonry, by One of the Fraternity, Who Has Devoted Thirty Years to the Subject. Batavia, NY: By the author, 1826.

  6. [6]

    The Nauvoo Lodge under Dispensation was established on 15 March 1842. JS was initiated as an Entered Apprentice (first degree) Mason the same day. The following day, he was “passed” as a Fellow Craft (second degree) Mason and then “raised” as a Master (third degree) Mason. (Authorization from Abraham Jonas, 15 Mar. 1842; Minutes, 15–16 Mar. 1842.)

  7. [7]

    TEXT: Insertion written vertically in left margin.

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