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Letter to Edward Hunter, circa August 1842

Source Note

William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

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on behalf of JS, Letter,
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, to
Edward Hunter

22 June 1793–16 Oct. 1883. Farmer, currier, surveyor, merchant. Born at Newtown Township, Delaware Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Edward Hunter and Hannah Maris. Volunteer cavalryman in Delaware Co. militia, 1822–1829. Served as Delaware Co. commissioner. Moved...

View Full Bio
,
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, [ca. Aug. 1842]; handwriting of
William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

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; one page; Edward Hunter, Collection, 1816–1884, CHL. Includes address, docket, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 8 × 9¾ inches (20 × 25 cm). The first page is ruled with twenty-six blue lines below header space, the interior two pages are ruled with twenty-nine blue lines, and the final page is unlined. The letter was inscribed on the recto of the first leaf; the verso of the first leaf and recto of the second leaf are blank. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. Remnants of the wafer are on the verso of the second leaf. It was later folded in half and then trifolded and docketed for filing. The document has undergone conservation.
This document was docketed by
Thomas Bullock

23 Dec. 1816–10 Feb. 1885. Farmer, excise officer, secretary, clerk. Born in Leek, Staffordshire, England. Son of Thomas Bullock and Mary Hall. Married Henrietta Rushton, 25 June 1838. Moved to Ardee, Co. Louth, Ireland, Nov. 1839; to Isle of Anglesey, Aug...

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, who served as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865.
1

Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.


Comprehensive Works Cited

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.

Although it is unclear when
Hunter

22 June 1793–16 Oct. 1883. Farmer, currier, surveyor, merchant. Born at Newtown Township, Delaware Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Edward Hunter and Hannah Maris. Volunteer cavalryman in Delaware Co. militia, 1822–1829. Served as Delaware Co. commissioner. Moved...

View Full Bio
’s correspondence with JS came into the possession of the Church Historian’s Office, it likely occurred in the
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
era shortly after JS’s death or soon after the Saints settled in Utah Territory. The docketing by Bullock suggests that Hunter’s correspondence was referenced in creating JS’s history and may have been considered for inclusion in that history. Later, the Church Historian’s Office included this letter in an Edward Hunter name file containing personal papers, personal business papers, and General Tithing Office records produced by Hunter when he was presiding bishop (1851–1883). By 1976 the document had been included in the Edward Hunter Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
2

See the full bibliographic entry for Edward Hunter, Collection, 1816–1884, in the CHL catalog.


Footnotes

  1. [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. [2]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Edward Hunter, Collection, 1816–1884, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

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, acting on behalf of JS, wrote an undated letter in
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Illinois, to
Edward Hunter

22 June 1793–16 Oct. 1883. Farmer, currier, surveyor, merchant. Born at Newtown Township, Delaware Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Edward Hunter and Hannah Maris. Volunteer cavalryman in Delaware Co. militia, 1822–1829. Served as Delaware Co. commissioner. Moved...

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, also in Nauvoo, regarding a livestock purchase. Hunter was a successful merchant from
Pennsylvania

Area first settled by Swedish immigrants, 1628. William Penn received grant for territory from King Charles II, 1681, and established British settlement, 1682. Philadelphia was center of government for original thirteen U.S. colonies from time of Revolutionary...

More Info
who joined the
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
in 1840. He began building a home in Nauvoo in 1841 but remained in Pennsylvania for a time.
1

See Letter from Edward Hunter, 27 Oct. 1841.


There he assisted JS and other Latter-day Saints with business in the eastern
United States

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

More Info
, including securing money promised to the church and purchasing goods for JS’s Nauvoo
store

Located in lower portion of Nauvoo (the flats) along bank of Mississippi River. Completed 1841. Opened for business, 5 Jan. 1842. Owned by JS, but managed mostly by others, after 1842. First floor housed JS’s general store and counting room, where tithing...

More Info
. With his house nearing completion and business obligations concluded, Hunter moved to Nauvoo by late June 1842.
2

See Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 May 1842; D. Dawley, Receipt, 13 June 1842; William Law, Account Statement for Edward Hunter, 24 June 1842, Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL; and JS, Journal, 25 and 27 June 1842.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.

In the letter,
Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
informed
Hunter

22 June 1793–16 Oct. 1883. Farmer, currier, surveyor, merchant. Born at Newtown Township, Delaware Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Edward Hunter and Hannah Maris. Volunteer cavalryman in Delaware Co. militia, 1822–1829. Served as Delaware Co. commissioner. Moved...

View Full Bio
that a question of ownership had arisen about a cow the church had sold to Hunter at the end of July. The sale was likely completed by Clayton himself, who managed the
recorder’s office

Originally located on first floor of JS’s store in Nauvoo, Dec. 1841. Moved to temple committee’s offices on temple block in Nauvoo, Nov. 1842. Moved to upper rooms of Parley P. Pratt’s store, Nov. 1844. Moved to New York Store one block south of Nauvoo temple...

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on behalf of JS as trustee-in-trust for the church and who, as clerk, oversaw all
tithing

A free-will offering of one-tenth of a person’s annual interest or income, given to the church for its use. The Book of Mormon and JS’s revision of the Bible explained that “even our father Abraham paid tithes of one tenth part of all he possessed.” Additionally...

View Glossary
and donations to the church.
3

Due to the cash-poor nature of the Nauvoo economy, tithing and donations often involved goods, livestock, or labor rather than specie. (See Notice, 8 July 1842; and Notice, 9 July 1842.)


After the sale to Hunter,
Silas Tubbs

ca. 5 Sept. 1822–26 Feb. 1896. Farmer, justice of the peace. Born in Ohio. Son of Amos Tubbs and Lucinda Stanton. Moved to Lee Co., Iowa Territory, by ca. 1841. Accused of stealing cow from “trustee-in-trust” yard in Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois, 26 July...

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claimed that the cow belonged to him. Tubbs had been brought before Justice of the Peace
Ebenezer Robinson

25 May 1816–11 Mar. 1891. Printer, editor, publisher. Born at Floyd (near Rome), Oneida Co., New York. Son of Nathan Robinson and Mary Brown. Moved to Utica, Oneida Co., ca. 1831, and learned printing trade at Utica Observer. Moved to Ravenna, Portage Co....

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on 27 July 1842 on a complaint from
William Walker

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accusing him of stealing the cow from JS, who held it as trustee-in-trust. Robinson dropped the charge because of a lack of evidence; no one appeared against Tubbs in the court proceedings. After this dismissal of charges, Tubbs asked Robinson to give him a certificate of his discharge, which would likely have noted that Tubbs was found not guilty.
4

Docket Entry, between 26 and ca. 27 July 1842, State of Illinois v. Tubbs [J.P. Ct. 1842], Robinson and Johnson, Docket Book, 120.


In the featured letter, it is unclear whether Tubbs was using the judgment to reclaim a stolen cow or if the cow in question was his legitimate property. In the letter, Clayton, relying on Hunter’s business acumen, asked that he interview Tubbs and allow him to keep the cow if Hunter was convinced that he was the rightful owner. In return, Clayton promised to give Hunter another cow.
While
Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
noted that the letter was written on a Wednesday evening, he did not date it. It was addressed to
Hunter

22 June 1793–16 Oct. 1883. Farmer, currier, surveyor, merchant. Born at Newtown Township, Delaware Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Edward Hunter and Hannah Maris. Volunteer cavalryman in Delaware Co. militia, 1822–1829. Served as Delaware Co. commissioner. Moved...

View Full Bio
in
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, indicating that it was written sometime after Hunter moved to Nauvoo in summer 1842. Further, Tubbs’s hearing on the complaint of larceny was held on 27 July 1842, so it seems likely that the letter was written after that date.
5

See Docket Entry, between 26 and ca. 27 July 1842, State of Illinois v. Tubbs [J.P. Ct. 1842], Robinson and Johnson, Docket Book, 120.


Finally, the letter refers to the sale of a cow on 29 July, which was presumably recent, suggesting that the letter was written in August. These conjectures are further supported by Hunter’s actions that summer. After moving to Nauvoo, he probably obtained livestock in an effort to outfit his new property.
6

See William Law, Account Statement for Edward Hunter, 24 June 1842, Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL. Hunter purchased a yoke of oxen from JS on 20 July 1842. (See JS, Daybook, June 1842–Nov. 1843, 20 July 1842, 37.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.

Smith, Joseph. Daybook, 1842–1844. Iowa Masonic Library, Cedar Rapids. Microfilm copy at CHL.

He also reached a financial settlement with JS for the goods he had purchased and for other resources he had secured for JS in the eastern
United States

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

More Info
. Their financial settlement, which was finalized in mid-September 1842, may have included livestock, such as the cow and a calf Hunter received from Clayton in July.
7

See Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 May 1842. JS met with Clayton and Newel K. Whitney on 6 September 1842 “concerning a settlement with brother Edward Hunter.” He concluded that settlement with Hunter on 13 September. (JS, Journal, 6 and 13 Sept. 1842.)


Hunter’s extant personal papers further support an 1842 creation date.
8

Hunter’s extant papers for 1842 are far more complete than those for 1843 and include both correspondence and financial records for 1842. By contrast, his 1843 records are sparse and notably lack correspondence. (See Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL; Edward Hunter, Correspondence, BYU; and Edward Hunter, Papers, Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.

Hunter, Edward. Correspondence, 1725–1965. BYU.

“A Few Items from a Discourse Delivered by the Prophet Joseph Smith July 11th 1840.” Edward Hunter, Papers. J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

The letter contains minimal addressing and no postal markings, suggesting it was hand carried to
Hunter

22 June 1793–16 Oct. 1883. Farmer, currier, surveyor, merchant. Born at Newtown Township, Delaware Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Edward Hunter and Hannah Maris. Volunteer cavalryman in Delaware Co. militia, 1822–1829. Served as Delaware Co. commissioner. Moved...

View Full Bio
in
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
. No action on Hunter’s part or letter of reply is known.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Letter from Edward Hunter, 27 Oct. 1841.

  2. [2]

    See Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 May 1842; D. Dawley, Receipt, 13 June 1842; William Law, Account Statement for Edward Hunter, 24 June 1842, Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL; and JS, Journal, 25 and 27 June 1842.

    Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.

  3. [3]

    Due to the cash-poor nature of the Nauvoo economy, tithing and donations often involved goods, livestock, or labor rather than specie. (See Notice, 8 July 1842; and Notice, 9 July 1842.)

  4. [4]

    Docket Entry, between 26 and ca. 27 July 1842, State of Illinois v. Tubbs [J.P. Ct. 1842], Robinson and Johnson, Docket Book, 120.

  5. [5]

    See Docket Entry, between 26 and ca. 27 July 1842, State of Illinois v. Tubbs [J.P. Ct. 1842], Robinson and Johnson, Docket Book, 120.

  6. [6]

    See William Law, Account Statement for Edward Hunter, 24 June 1842, Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL. Hunter purchased a yoke of oxen from JS on 20 July 1842. (See JS, Daybook, June 1842–Nov. 1843, 20 July 1842, 37.)

    Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.

    Smith, Joseph. Daybook, 1842–1844. Iowa Masonic Library, Cedar Rapids. Microfilm copy at CHL.

  7. [7]

    See Letter from Edward Hunter, 10 May 1842. JS met with Clayton and Newel K. Whitney on 6 September 1842 “concerning a settlement with brother Edward Hunter.” He concluded that settlement with Hunter on 13 September. (JS, Journal, 6 and 13 Sept. 1842.)

  8. [8]

    Hunter’s extant papers for 1842 are far more complete than those for 1843 and include both correspondence and financial records for 1842. By contrast, his 1843 records are sparse and notably lack correspondence. (See Edward Hunter, Collection, CHL; Edward Hunter, Correspondence, BYU; and Edward Hunter, Papers, Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.)

    Hunter, Edward. Collection, ca. 1798–1965. Photocopy and typescript. CHL.

    Hunter, Edward. Correspondence, 1725–1965. BYU.

    “A Few Items from a Discourse Delivered by the Prophet Joseph Smith July 11th 1840.” Edward Hunter, Papers. J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

Page [1]

Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
Wednesday Eve—
Mr
E[dward] Hunter

22 June 1793–16 Oct. 1883. Farmer, currier, surveyor, merchant. Born at Newtown Township, Delaware Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Edward Hunter and Hannah Maris. Volunteer cavalryman in Delaware Co. militia, 1822–1829. Served as Delaware Co. commissioner. Moved...

View Full Bio
D[ea]r Sir/— I am sorry to be obliged to trouble you at this time but I cannot help it. We sold you a Cow on the 29th. July viz a Black Cow and Calf. The cow had been taken from our pen we believe and was fetched back as stolen property.
1

William Walker brought a charge of petit larceny against Silas Tubbs on 26 July 1842, arguing that Tubbs had “stolen a cow from the yard of Joseph Smith, ‘Trustee in Trust for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.’” Although the charge against Tubbs was dismissed, the cow in question may have been returned to the trustee-in-trust’s office. The disappearance of livestock, through theft or defective fencing, was apparently a common occurrence in Nauvoo In May, June, and July 1842, the recorder’s office, which was responsible for keeping track of tithing, published notices in the Wasp about livestock donated as tithing that had strayed from the pen. (Docket Entry, between 26 and ca. 27 July 1842, State of Illinois v. Tubbs [J.P. Ct. 1842], Robinson and Johnson, Docket Book, 120; “Strayed,” Wasp, 21 May 1842, [3]; Notice, 9 July 1842.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

The bearer says he can prove the cow is his property having bought her from the gentleman who accompany’s him. I have thought best to let him hire have the Cow if the other person will swear that she [he] sold her to
[Silas] Tubbs

ca. 5 Sept. 1822–26 Feb. 1896. Farmer, justice of the peace. Born in Ohio. Son of Amos Tubbs and Lucinda Stanton. Moved to Lee Co., Iowa Territory, by ca. 1841. Accused of stealing cow from “trustee-in-trust” yard in Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois, 26 July...

View Full Bio
who says he owns her. I have not time to say more at present. You will therefore let them see the Cow and if the person says he will swear to her you can let him have her and we will let you have another. You will ask of him the description before he sees her and you will know how to act—
2

Clayton’s intention here is unclear. He may have intended that Hunter require the alleged owners simply to describe the cow in question, or he may have wanted Hunter to examine reference markings found on the cow. In order to distinguish livestock, distinctive branding or other markings were often used. Such marking could be recorded with the county, but extant records show that few residents in Hancock County and no Latter-day Saints went to the trouble and cost of having their livestock markings officially recorded. (See Hancock Co., IL, Marks and Brands, 1829–1973, microfilm 954,296, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

Yours in haste
Wm. Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
for J. Smith [6 lines blank] [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Edward Hunter, circa August 1842
ID #
4116
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:460–462
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    William Walker brought a charge of petit larceny against Silas Tubbs on 26 July 1842, arguing that Tubbs had “stolen a cow from the yard of Joseph Smith, ‘Trustee in Trust for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.’” Although the charge against Tubbs was dismissed, the cow in question may have been returned to the trustee-in-trust’s office. The disappearance of livestock, through theft or defective fencing, was apparently a common occurrence in Nauvoo In May, June, and July 1842, the recorder’s office, which was responsible for keeping track of tithing, published notices in the Wasp about livestock donated as tithing that had strayed from the pen. (Docket Entry, between 26 and ca. 27 July 1842, State of Illinois v. Tubbs [J.P. Ct. 1842], Robinson and Johnson, Docket Book, 120; “Strayed,” Wasp, 21 May 1842, [3]; Notice, 9 July 1842.)

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

  2. [2]

    Clayton’s intention here is unclear. He may have intended that Hunter require the alleged owners simply to describe the cow in question, or he may have wanted Hunter to examine reference markings found on the cow. In order to distinguish livestock, distinctive branding or other markings were often used. Such marking could be recorded with the county, but extant records show that few residents in Hancock County and no Latter-day Saints went to the trouble and cost of having their livestock markings officially recorded. (See Hancock Co., IL, Marks and Brands, 1829–1973, microfilm 954,296, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

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