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Letter from Reuben McBride, 3 January 1842
Source Note
Source Note
, Letter, , Lake Co., OH, to JS and , , Hancock Co., IL, 3 Jan. 1842; handwriting of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notations, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 12½ × 7⅞ inches (32 × 20 cm). All four pages are inscribed in black and blue ink. filled the recto and verso of each leaf, leaving space for the address on the verso of the second leaf. The fourth page of the letter also included writing to the right and left of the address block that was added after the letter was trifolded twice in letter style. It appears that McBride erased this text with a knife and then rewrote the content vertically across the text on the recto of the first leaf. Following this alteration, the letter was addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. There is wafer residue on the fourth page. The letter appears to have torn when it was opened, resulting in some loss of text on the left side of the first and fourth pages and the right side of the second and third pages. It was later refolded for filing.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. Another docket was inscribed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The document was 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 dockets as well as its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.
Footnotes
- [1]
JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
- [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]
“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.
- [4]
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 3 January 1842 member wrote a letter from , Ohio, to JS in , Illinois, reporting on the state of JS’s and the church’s outstanding financial obligations. McBride was given power of attorney after church members at a held in Nauvoo the previous October voted that he “go, settle, and if possible close a business concern left in an uncertain condition by deceased.”
In 1838, as the majority of church members migrated from to , JS empowered several men to act as the church’s financial to settle debts that had accrued between 1835 and 1837 from building the and supplying mercantile businesses in and around Kirtland. In 1839 a general conference of the church appointed presiding officer over the church in Kirtland; in conjunction with this appointment, the authorized Granger to act as a church agent to settle outstanding debts on behalf of JS and other church leaders.
While settled many church debts over the following years, he failed to convey information about these settlements to JS with the expected regularity and detail. This meant that JS, as the church’s president and trustee, often had an incomplete picture of the church’s outstanding financial debts, which sometimes resulted in confusion. In October 1840, under the mistaken assumption that Granger planned to return to in the fall, a church conference voted to replace him with as the presiding officer in ; JS also empowered Babbitt to act as the church’s financial agent in Kirtland. After learning that Granger intended to remain in Kirtland and was still performing his duties, JS sent him a letter explaining the leadership change and urging him to work together with Babbitt. Granger’s communications regarding the settlement of earlier debts continued to be sparse, however, leaving JS in a difficult position in terms of responding to creditors and ascertaining the church’s financial position. In May 1841, after learning that Granger’s health was in decline, JS requested an update on his progress in settling church debts. JS received no further correspondence from Granger. Less than four months later, Granger died in Kirtland.
In October 1841 a church conference voted to withdraw fellowship from and to appoint , who was apparently in attendance, as the church’s agent in . At the time, McBride was a counselor in the Kirtland . JS granted him power of attorney later that month, and McBride likely left for Kirtland shortly afterward. Given the uncertainty about ’s success in settling church debts, it is likely that JS asked McBride to assess the church’s financial situation in Kirtland and write to him as soon as possible.
On 3 January 1842 wrote the featured letter to JS outlining some of the church’s outstanding debts and seeking JS’s counsel on how best to settle them. Specifically, McBride described the money owed for his transactions as an agent in ; McBride’s own efforts to collect a promissory note from a “Br More,” likely Henry Moore, and to pay taxes on church land; and the status of two legal s that creditors held against the church farm in . McBride also informed JS that Latter-day Saint Abel Owen and his family were stranded in Kirtland and living in a “suffering condition.” McBride added three postscripts, one of which was directed to and concerned the liquidation of a debt that More apparently owed Smith. It is possible that one or more of the postscripts were added on 4 January, the day the letter was mailed. JS likely received the letter in a couple of weeks later. Though there is no extant response from JS, McBride continued to resolve church debts as an agent of the church in subsequent years.
Footnotes
- [1]
Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841, italics in original.
- [2]
See, for example, Statement of Account from Perkins & Osborn, ca. 29 Oct. 1838.
- [3]
Minutes, 4–5 May 1839; Authorization for Oliver Granger, 13 May 1839; see also Agreement with Oliver Granger, 29 Apr. 1840. Granger began acting as a church agent in 1837 and 1838. (See Statement of Account from John Howden, 29 Mar. 1838; Letter of Introduction from John Howden, 27 Oct. 1838; and Letter from William Perkins, 29 Oct. 1838.)
- [4]
- [5]
- [6]
- [7]
- [8]
Obituary for Oliver Granger, Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1841, 2:550.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
- [9]
Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841; Power of Attorney to Reuben McBride, 28 October 1841. Though the minutes do not explicitly state the reasons for withdrawing fellowship from Babbitt, they do suggest that he had encouraged eastern Saints to settle in Kirtland (going against the First Presidency’s directive to gather to Nauvoo) and “in many places taught doctrine contrary to the revelations of God and detrimental to the interest of the church.” Babbitt had also previously been accused of disparaging JS and Sidney Rigdon. On 28 October, JS revoked Babbitt’s authority to act as a church agent. (Historical Introduction to Letter to Oliver Granger, between ca. 22 and ca. 28 July 1840.)
- [10]
“Minutes of a Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1841, 2:458.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
- [11]
- [12]
See Reuben McBride to William Marks, 4 June 1843, copy, CHL; JS, Journal, 15 Sept. 1843; and Reuben McBride to JS, Bill, 6 May 1845, Illinois State Historical Society, Circuit Court Case Files [Cases pertaining to Mormon Residents], 1830–1900, CHL.
McBride, Reuben. Letter to William Marks, 4 June 1843. Copy. CHL.
Illinois State Historical Society. Circuit Court Case Files, 1830–1900. Microfilm. CHL. MS 16278.
but I expect there [is] testimony enough to prove he sold it for fear of your debt against him he will do nothing here not willingly he says you can take the property there and get your pay he has a great many to council him and to make him believe you mean to strip him of every thing to fullfil the Prophesy you made concerning him in your Letter to him[.] that Letter has made a great Stir here you may Hope— not they think I am sent to take his property to follfil it
I sued him on a Small note I had in favor of he offers to p[ay] $30, or stand trial it is adjourned till 24 March 1842 on his making oath he wanted Dr Harv[e]y Tate for a witness
I wish you to tell Br about it and tell him the Situation of it If you cannot get your pay there the quicker you let me no [know] the better I will go a head with it just as far as you think best your House and Lot I think can be rented for about $30— or 35 a yr Br Burgess says he does not want it it is larger than he wants he will not want to pay that much for it[.] Mr. Wants to get a house he has no small children he would use it well he wants to Board Students that go to the Seminary to School and school his own children Do with it as you think best
I do not know What would give but I think he would $35 Dollars I think Sister Burges said they did not calculate to live in it another season any how sayed it was altogeather to[o] Larg[e] for their family I thought I would mention it then do as you are a mind Write and let me know about what to do with Br More and all the news there a it makes a great stir here but I Will do whatevr you and Br Joseph thinks best any how let them rage
No more at present
Br Joseph Br Christopher Dixon will take the papers if you are a mind to send them to him and turn 2 Dollars on the money I had of him for the tax also Ira Aviatt will pay $1— for six months if you think best Boath Live in
Sent you a letter with a note [page torn]ast of $550,00 Last Summer Br Hobart Says he wrote the let[ter] inst put the note in it and Directed it to you The last talk I had with he sayed he was calculating to go to the west and he would leave your house with someone that would take good care of it So he Says if you come here in the Spring you shall [have] your house to go into in welcome he says you agreed to come here next Spring he asked me if you was coming I told him I did not know whether you would or not if you was to come you would be received with great Joy by all parties here
<{Paid 25>
< O. Jan 4th}>
Mr. Joseph Smith
Hancock Co.
Illinois [p. [4]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
- [29]
Tate, a church member, was a medical doctor who graduated from the Medical College of Ohio in 1840 and lived in Cass County, Illinois, by 1841. He advertised his services in the Nauvoo publication Wasp. (Martin, History of Cass County, 2:767; Perrin, History of Cass County, Illinois, 84; Nauvoo Temple, Record of Baptisms for the Dead, vol. A, p. 160; “H. Tate, M.D.,” Wasp, 3 Dec. 1842, [3].)
Martin, Charles, ed. History of Cass County. 2 vols. Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, edited by Newton Bateman and Paul Selby. Chicago: Munsell Publishing, 1915.
Perrin, William Henry, ed. History of Cass County Illinois. Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1882.
Nauvoo Temple. Record of Baptisms for the Dead, 1841, 1843–1845. CHL.
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
- [30]
Hyrum Smith’s Kirtland home was built on a one-acre lot located approximately two hundred yards south of the Kirtland temple (part of lot 30 in Kirtland Township). (Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 24, p. 124, 4 Nov. 1836, microfilm 20,240, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
- [31]
Possibly church member Harrison Burgess, who was still living in Kirtland in December 1840. (Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 24 Dec. 1840.)
Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.
- [32]
Likely the Western Reserve Teacher’s Seminary and Kirtland Institute, which was founded in 1838 to train male and female teachers. The institute initially met in the House of the Lord before relocating to the Methodist church. (Alcott, American Annals of Education, for the Year 1838, 429; Mackay and Mackay, “Time of Transition,” 133–134.)
Alcott, William A., ed. American Annals of Education, for the Year 1838. Boston: Otis and Broaders, 1838.
Mackay, Christin Craft, and Lachlan Mackay. “A Time of Transition: The Kirtland Temple, 1838–1880.” John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 18 (1998): 133–148.
- [33]
As agents of the church, Oliver Granger and Reuben McBride were authorized to rent out properties church leaders still owned in Kirtland. For example, former church member Joseph Coe reportedly rented JS’s farm in Kirtland during the early 1840s. (JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Joseph Coe, Kirtland, OH, 18 Jan. 1844, copy, JS Collection, CHL.)
- [34]
Probably church member Ira Oviatt, who lived in Kirtland between 1840 and 1842. (Obituary for Ira Oviatt, Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 15 July 1868, 183; 1840 U.S. Census, Kirtland Township, Lake Co., OH, 92; Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 11 July 1841; “Alphabetical List of Property Assessed in the Fourth Ward,” 1843, Nauvoo block 148, lot 1, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.
Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.
Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.
- [35]
TEXT: The text in this paragraph is written vertically across page [1], beginning at the left margin.
- [36]
Possibly Kirtland church member Otis Hobart, who was sustained as a counselor in the elders quorum presidency in November 1840 and apparently served as clerk of that body through May 1841. (Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 11 Nov. 1840 and 21 May 1841.)
Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.
- [37]
TEXT: “let[page torn]”.
Postage in unidentified handwriting; Lyman Cowdery was the postmaster of Kirtland at this time. (U.S. Post Office Department, Record of Appointment of Postmasters, reel 100, vol. 9, p. 211.)
U.S. Post Office Department. Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832–September 30, 1971. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M841. 145 microfilm reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1977.
Postmark likely written by Lyman Cowdery. (U.S. Post Office Department, Record of Appointment of Postmasters, reel 100, vol. 9, p. 211.)
U.S. Post Office Department. Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832–September 30, 1971. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M841. 145 microfilm reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1977.