This item is reproduced by permission of Chicago History Museum, Chicago, Illinois.
The Papers
Reference
About
Letter to Emma Smith, 20–25 January 1840
Source Note
Source Note
JS, Letter, , PA, to , , Hancock Co., IL, 20[–25 Jan.] 1840; handwriting of JS; one page; Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, Chicago History Museum. Includes addressing, postal markings, and archival markings.
One leaf, measuring 12 × 7½ inches (30 × 19 cm). The document was folded for mailing and was sealed with a red adhesive wafer.
presumably retained possession of the letter until she died in 1879. Following her death, found the letter in Emma’s old home. According to archival markings on the document, he presented it to the Chicago Historical Society (now Chicago History Museum) on 12 June 1885, and the letter was included in the Charles Gunther Collection after the collection was purchased by the society in 1920. As early as 1962, the letter was moved to the Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons.
Footnotes
- [1]
Motley, “Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954.” A 12 June 1885 letter from Joseph Smith III states, “I enclose to you a letter from my father to my mother, dated 1840, which if of any value to the archives of your society, please accept. In a late visit to my old home Nauvoo I discovered this and one or two others, and thought one would be acceptable to you.” (Joseph Smith III, Lamoni, IA, to Albert D. Hager, Chicago, IL, 12 June 1885, Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954, Chicago History Museum.)
Motley, Archie. “Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954.” Unpublished descriptive inventory, 1962 (with later revisions), for collection held at Chicago History Museum. Accessed 17 Apr. 2017. http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/M-M /Mormons-inv.htm.
Chicago Historical Society, Collection of Mormon Materials, 1836–1886. Microfilm. CHL. MS 8136.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
In early 1840, JS wrote his wife a letter—one of the few surviving letters written entirely in JS’s hand—in part to update her on his plans to return home from the eastern . JS did not include a complete date, writing only “20th 1840.” The letter’s postal markings and text indicate that the intended date was 20 January 1840. The corrected place name in the date line suggests that JS started composing the letter on 20 January while in and continued writing it several days later while in , Pennsylvania. JS spent his time in Chester County visiting members while awaiting word that the church’s petition for redress had been brought before the Senate. JS had been away from Emma and their children for nearly three months; in this letter he expressed his hope to be reunited with his family as soon as possible.
Postal markings on the letter indicate that JS mailed it to on 29 January 1840. It is unknown when Emma received the correspondence, but mail between the church delegates and their correspondents in , Illinois, usually arrived in three to four weeks.
Footnotes
- [1]
JS left Philadelphia for Chester County around 20 January and remained there until returning to Philadelphia on 25 January. (Smith, “History of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Branch,” 366; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 25 Jan. 1840, 2.)
Smith, Walter W. “The History of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Branch.” Journal of History 11, no. 3 (July 1918): 358–373.
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