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Letter from Parley P. Pratt, between 23 and 27 September 1842

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Letter from Parley P. Pratt, between 23 and 27 September 1842

Source Note

, Letter, [, Lancashire, England], to the (including JS) and the , , Hancock Co., IL, [between 23 and 27 Sept. 1842]; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address and dockets.
Single leaf, measuring 8⅞ × 7⅜ inches (23 × 19 cm). The left side of the recto is hand cut. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer for transmission. The verso of the leaf bears residue from the wafer; the letter was torn at the wafer site when it was opened, removing portions of text. The document was later folded for filing.
Presumably, the document was a part of the church records kept in , Illinois. The document was docketed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. It was listed in inventories that were produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 the letter had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket and its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventories and in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “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.

  2. [2]

    “Index to Papers in the Historians Office,” ca. 1904, draft, 7; “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [2], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

  3. [3]

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

Historical Introduction

Between 23 and 27 September 1842, wrote from , England, to the and members of the in , Illinois, updating them on plans for the immigration of British Latter-day Saints to Nauvoo. During September 1842, Pratt assisted 551 of these converts, organizing them into three different companies under the leadership of , , and , respectively. On 17 September, Richards’s company of 180 Saints sailed from Liverpool for on the Sidney.
Although the letter is undated, contextual evidence indicates the range of dates during which may have written it. In the early morning hours of 23 September, a week after the company departed, a fire broke out in near Prince’s and Waterloo docks. The fire consumed large amounts of cotton and other goods prior to being extinguished five days later, on 27 September. As the content of the letter makes clear, Pratt wrote this letter to leaders in while the fire was still at its height, with flames reaching as high as 150 feet into the air. For Pratt, the fire demonstrated the necessity of the British Saints’ ongoing migration to Nauvoo. Noting the return of church emigration to Liverpool and feeling anxious to return to Nauvoo himself, Pratt expressed his intentions to leave for Nauvoo as early as spring 1843.
The lack of postal markings and the brevity of the contents suggest that sent the late September letter to with one of the emigrating Saints, likely in the care of either or , both of whom departed for Nauvoo in the days immediately following the fire. The Hyde and Snider parties arrived in Nauvoo on 7 December 1842 and 23 January 1843, respectively. The letter probably arrived in Nauvoo on one of these days and was personally delivered to JS shortly thereafter.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Great Fire at Liverpool,” Morning Chronicle (London), 24 Sept. 1842, [3]; “Extensive Fire at Liverpool,” Coventry (England) Standard and General Advertiser, 30 Sept. 1842, [2]; “Most Destructive Fire and Loss of Life in Liverpool,” Liverpool (England) Mail, 24 Sept. 1842, [2].

    Morning Chronicle. London. 1789–1865.

    Coventry Standard and Daily Advertiser. Coventry, England. 1836–1918.

    Liverpool Mail. Liverpool. 1836–1880.

  2. [2]

    Throughout their mission to England, the majority of the apostles had commented on the circumstances of the poor in that country. In March 1840, Willard Richards wrote to his brother that “hundreds of thousands are short of food,” with beggars being “almost as common as stones in the street.” While making his second visit to England, Heber C. Kimball was surprised at the population’s circumstances, which had worsened since he had left England. He found that “thousands are out of employ, and . . . famishing for want of bread.” Brigham Young was similarly surprised by the circumstances, writing to his wife Mary Ann Angell Young that if she “could but see and have a knolidge of the inhabtence of this contry,” her “hart would be pained” because the many who were out of work and did not even have the privilege of “asking for somthing to eat if hungry.” According to Brigham, it was “the gratest unequalety . . . that I ever saw in my life.” (Willard Richards to William Richards, 5 Mar. 1840, pp. 11–13, typescript, Richards Family Papers, CHL; Heber C. Kimball, Manchester, England, to Vilate Murray Kimball, Commerce, IL, 27 May 1840, CHL; Letter from Heber C. Kimball, 9 July 1840; Brigham Young, Liverpool, England, to Mary Ann Angell Young, Commerce, IL, 6 Apr. 1840; Brigham Young, Liverpool, England, to Mary Ann Angell Young, Nauvoo, IL, 13 Mar. 1841, George W. Thatcher Blair Collection, CHL.)

    “Richards Family Letters 1840–1849.” Typescript. Richards Family Papers, 1965. CHL.

    Kimball, Heber C. Letter, Manchester, England, to Vilate Murray Kimball, Commerce, IL, 27 May 1840. CHL.

    Blair, George W. Thatcher. Collection, 1837–1988. CHL.

  3. [3]

    See Letter from Hiram Clark and Others, 21 Oct. 1842.

  4. [4]

    The ships carrying the companies led by Hyde and Snider left Liverpool for New Orleans on 25 and 28 September, respectively. (“Emigration,” Millennial Star, Oct. 1842, 3:112.)

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

  5. [5]

    JS, Journal, 7 Dec. 1842 and 23 Jan. 1843.

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To the and the , Greeting.
Dear Brethrn, I have ownly time to say we are all well and in good Spirits, and I am coming to with my family as soon as next Spring. if God will. A great fire has just occured in . Burni[n]g ovre Six Acres of Ware hases [warehouses] foull [full] of cotten turpentine, etc. Some 20 ship loads of Cotton have been consumed, or rather is nowe Consuming, for the firse [fire] is still at its health height, and looks like a [b]urning mountain, at evening Ill[umin]ating the whole town. Distress is unparalleled in this whole cou◊ntr◊y. But the Saints are geting out we send 3 ships this month. Corouded [Crowded] with emigrants for . first , 2d , 3d .
has arived safe, also
I thank you for all your kind Letters, but have not time to answer them. as eever,
[p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Parley P. Pratt, between 23 and 27 September 1842
ID #
922
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D11:110–113
Handwriting on This Page
  • Parley P. Pratt

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Pratt arrived in England on 6 April 1840 along with Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, George A. Smith, and Reuben Hedlock. After learning that members of his family had contracted scarlet fever, Pratt returned to New York and escorted them to England, arriving in October 1840. With JS’s approval it was determined that Pratt would stay in England longer than the rest of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to direct the affairs of the church there. At the time of this 1842 letter, Pratt’s family consisted of his wife, Mary Ann Frost Pratt; his sister-in-law Olive Frost; his stepdaughter, Mary Ann Stearns, age nine; and his three children, Parley Parker Pratt Jr., Nathan Pratt, and Olivia Pratt, ages five, four, and one. They remained with Parley throughout the duration of his mission and returned to Nauvoo with him in 1843. (Letter from Heber C. Kimball, 9 July 1840; Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 15 Dec. 1840; Givens and Grow, Parley P. Pratt, 184–185, 196–197.)

    Givens, Terryl L., and Matthew J. Grow. Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

  2. [2]

    On 25 September, Bell’s New Weekly Messenger in London reported that the area affected by the fire was eight acres in size and included burned warehouses that “contained rum, turpentine, and cotton.” (“Awful Fire at Liverpool,” Bell’s New Weekly Messenger [London], 25 Sept. 1842, 4; see also “Most Destructive Fire and Loss of Life in Liverpool,” Liverpool [England] Mail, 24 Sept. 1842, [2].)

    Bell’s New Weekly Messenger. London. 1832–1855.

    Liverpool Mail. Liverpool. 1836–1880.

  3. [3]

    Cotton was the greatest loss in the fire, with at least 37,474 bales of cotton destroyed. One estimate reported that the value of the cotton consumed was £337,266. The total losses of the fire were estimated to exceed £500,000. (“Great Fire at Liverpool,” Evening Chronicle [London], 26 Sept. 1842, [1].)

    Evening Chronicle. London. 1835–1847.

  4. [4]

    TEXT: “[page torn]urning”.

  5. [5]

    TEXT: “Ill[page torn]ating”.

  6. [6]

    See “Most Destructive Fire and Loss of Life in Liverpool,” Liverpool (England) Mail, 24 Sept. 1842, [2].

    Liverpool Mail. Liverpool. 1836–1880.

  7. [7]

    “Emigration,” Millennial Star, Oct. 1842, 3:112. Along with Amos Fielding, Pratt had helped to establish a “line of emigration ships to N[ew] Orleans.” British converts could travel from Liverpool to Nauvoo for approximately twenty-five dollars. (Lorenzo Barnes, Leeds, England, to Elijah Malin and Edward Hunter, Chester Co., PA, 8 June 1842, CHL.)

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

    Barnes, Lorenzo D. Letter, Leeds, England, to Elijah Malin and Edward Hunter, Chester Co., PA, 8 June 1842. CHL.

  8. [8]

    Fielding arrived in Nauvoo on 14 May 1842, having led a group of approximately two hundred emigrants from Liverpool. Fielding planned to return to England by September 1842. On 14 June, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met and determined that “Elder Hiram Clark should go to Liverpool and take Elder Amos Fielding[’s] place & that Elder fielding bring his family to Nauvoo.” The two left Nauvoo on 23 June, traveling together to Cincinnati, where they separated. On 1 September, Clark arrived in Liverpool, where he “commenced to assist elder Pratt in the fitting out of the Sidney, the Medford and the Henry.” Traveling a different way, Fielding arrived in Liverpool sometime prior to 16 September. (“Emigration,” Millennial Star, Mar. 1842, 2:176; JS, Journal, 14 May 1842; Woodruff, Journal, 14 June 1842; “Extract from Elder Hiram Clark’s Journal, and Address to the Saints in the British Islands,” Millennial Star, Feb. 1844, 4:147–148, italics in original; Account and Pay Order from Parley P. Pratt and Amos Fielding, 16 Sept. 1842.)

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

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  9. [9]

    Several people, including members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, had sent letters to Pratt in the care of Fielding. Brigham Young wrote to Pratt toward the end of July 1842 describing, among other things, Orson Pratt’s struggles during summer 1842. (Letter to Parley P. Pratt and Others, 12 June 1842; Lyman Wight and James Brown, Nauvoo, IL, to Parley P. Pratt, Liverpool, England, 17 June 1842; Heber C. Kimball, Nauvoo, IL, to Parley P. Pratt and Mary Ann Frost Pratt, “Manchester or Liverpool,” England, 17 June 1842; Wilford Woodruff, Nauvoo, IL, to Parley P. Pratt, Liverpool, England, 18 June 1842, Parley P. Pratt, Correspondence, CHL; Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, to Parley P. Pratt, Liverpool, England, 17 July 1842, CHL.)

    Pratt, Parley P. Correspondence, 1842–1855. CHL. MS 897.

    Young, Brigham. Letter, Nauvoo, IL, to Parley P. Pratt, Liverpool, England, 17 July 1842. CHL. MS 14291.

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