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Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 25 August 1841

Source Note

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
Horace Hotchkiss

15 Apr. 1799–21 Apr. 1849. Merchant, land speculator. Born in East Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Heman Hotchkiss and Elizabeth Rowe. Moved to New Haven, New Haven Co., by 1815. Married Charlotte Austin Street, 22 Feb. 1824, in East Haven. Purchased...

View Full Bio
,
New Haven

Significant port city in Connecticut, four miles from Long Island Sound. Settled by company from London, 1638. United with Connecticut Colony, 1662. Population in 1830 about 10,000. Population in 1840 about 13,000. JS corresponded with Horace Hotchkiss and...

More Info
, New Haven Co., CT, 25 Aug. 1841; handwriting of
George Miller

25 Nov. 1794–after July 1856. Carpenter, mill operator, lumber dealer, steamboat owner. Born near Stanardsville, Orange Co., Virginia. Son of John Miller and Margaret Pfeiffer. Moved to Augusta Co., Virginia, 1798; to Madison Co., Kentucky, 1806; to Boone...

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; address in handwriting of
John S. Fullmer

21 July 1807–8 Oct. 1883. Farmer, newsman, postmaster, teacher, merchant. Born at Huntington, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Fullmer and Susannah Zerfass. Moved to Nashville, Davidson Co., Tennessee, spring 1832. Married Mary Ann Price, 24 May 1837...

View Full Bio
; four pages; Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, Springfield, IL. Includes address, postal stamp, postal notation, and docket.
Two leaves (at one time a bifolium but now separated), each measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The letter was written on all four pages. It was then addressed, trifolded twice in letter style, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and stamped at the Nauvoo post office. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The custodial history of the letter is unknown before it came into the possession of the Abraham Lincoln Bookshop in Chicago, Illinois, which sold it in 1972 to the Illinois State Historical Library (now the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum).

Historical Introduction

On 25 August 1841, JS wrote a 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 his creditor
Horace Hotchkiss

15 Apr. 1799–21 Apr. 1849. Merchant, land speculator. Born in East Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Heman Hotchkiss and Elizabeth Rowe. Moved to New Haven, New Haven Co., by 1815. Married Charlotte Austin Street, 22 Feb. 1824, in East Haven. Purchased...

View Full Bio
in
Fair Haven

Village in south-central Connecticut, located on Quinnipiac River. Population in 1853 about 3,000.

More Info
, Connecticut, discussing JS’s debts. JS’s letter was a response to a communication a month earlier, wherein Hotchkiss expressed his confusion and dissatisfaction that JS had not paid his debts through his
agent

A specific church office and, more generally, someone “entrusted with the business of another.” Agents in the church assisted other ecclesiastical officers, especially the bishop in his oversight of the church’s temporal affairs. A May 1831 revelation instructed...

View Glossary
Isaac Galland

15 May 1791–27 Sept. 1858. Merchant, postmaster, land speculator, doctor. Born at Somerset Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Matthew Galland and Hannah Fenno. Married first Nancy Harris, 22 Mar. 1811, in Madison Co., Ohio. Married second Margaret Knight, by 1816....

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, as had been arranged.
1

Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 24 July 1841.


Although JS commissioned Galland to obtain deeds to land in the eastern
United States

15 May 1791–27 Sept. 1858. Merchant, postmaster, land speculator, doctor. Born at Somerset Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Matthew Galland and Hannah Fenno. Married first Nancy Harris, 22 Mar. 1811, in Madison Co., Ohio. Married second Margaret Knight, by 1816....

View Full Bio
and transfer them to Hotchkiss as payment for the debts, Galland never accomplished the task. By July, Galland informed Hotchkiss that he was returning to Nauvoo.
2

Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 24 July 1841.


Meanwhile, JS had not been informed that Galland, upon whom JS and 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
were relying, had apparently abandoned his assignment. JS had even begun to place increased trust in Galland—in a May 1841 letter, he asked his primary agent,
Oliver Granger

7 Feb. 1794–23/25 Aug. 1841. Sheriff, church agent. Born at Phelps, Ontario Co., New York. Son of Pierce Granger and Clarissa Trumble. Married Lydia Dibble, 8 Sept. 1813, at Phelps. Member of Methodist church and licensed exhorter. Sheriff of Ontario Co. ...

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, to turn his responsibilities over to Galland.
3

Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841.


The lack of payment particularly displeased
Hotchkiss

15 Apr. 1799–21 Apr. 1849. Merchant, land speculator. Born in East Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Heman Hotchkiss and Elizabeth Rowe. Moved to New Haven, New Haven Co., by 1815. Married Charlotte Austin Street, 22 Feb. 1824, in East Haven. Purchased...

View Full Bio
because he had deferred the first interest payment on the debt for two years. According to the bond and promissory notes from the initial purchase in 1839, JS was to pay an annual interest of $3,000 for twenty years, after which the principal would be due.
4

Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A.


However, according to the letter featured here, JS believed that Hotchkiss had agreed to defer the first five interest payments and accept lands as payment for both the principal and the interest. Hotchkiss’s September response reveals that he remembered agreeing to accept land payments for the interest only.
5

Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 13 Sept. 1841.


The miscommunication was frustrating for both parties, but in the ensuing correspondence, JS and Hotchkiss renegotiated the agreement to pay the debt with the eastern lands.
George Miller

25 Nov. 1794–after July 1856. Carpenter, mill operator, lumber dealer, steamboat owner. Born near Stanardsville, Orange Co., Virginia. Son of John Miller and Margaret Pfeiffer. Moved to Augusta Co., Virginia, 1798; to Madison Co., Kentucky, 1806; to Boone...

View Full Bio
made a copy of the 25 August letter before it was sent. That copy was retained in JS’s
office

Term usually applied to JS’s private office, which was located at various places during JS’s lifetime, including his home. From fall 1840 until completion of JS’s brick store, office was located on second floor of a new building, possibly on Water Street ...

More Info
.
6

JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Horace Hotchkiss, New Haven, CT, 25 Aug. 1841, copy, JS Collection, CHL.


The original was mailed on 28 August through 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
post office and is the version featured here.
Hotchkiss

15 Apr. 1799–21 Apr. 1849. Merchant, land speculator. Born in East Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Heman Hotchkiss and Elizabeth Rowe. Moved to New Haven, New Haven Co., by 1815. Married Charlotte Austin Street, 22 Feb. 1824, in East Haven. Purchased...

View Full Bio
received the letter and responded three weeks later with a letter recounting his various attempts to accommodate JS’s repayment efforts—efforts that had been unsuccessful thus far.
7

Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 13 Sept. 1841.


Hotchkiss presumably showed the letter featured here to his business partner,
Smith Tuttle

12 Mar. 1795–7 Mar. 1865. Shipping merchant, land speculator. Born in East Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Christopher Tuttle and Abigail Luddington. Moved to Wallingford, New Haven Co., by 1810. Married first Rachel Gillett. Married second Amarilla...

View Full Bio
, who then also wrote a letter to JS.
8

Letter from Smith Tuttle, ca. 15 Sept. 1841. A filing docket added to the letter indicates that Hotchkiss received it.


Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 24 July 1841.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 24 July 1841.

  3. [3]

    Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841.

  4. [4]

    Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A.

  5. [5]

    Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 13 Sept. 1841.

  6. [6]

    JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Horace Hotchkiss, New Haven, CT, 25 Aug. 1841, copy, JS Collection, CHL.

  7. [7]

    Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 13 Sept. 1841.

  8. [8]

    Letter from Smith Tuttle, ca. 15 Sept. 1841. A filing docket added to the letter indicates that Hotchkiss received it.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 25 August 1841
Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 25 August 1841, Copy History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [1]

George Miller handwriting begins.


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
August 25th. 1841
Horace R Hotchkiss

15 Apr. 1799–21 Apr. 1849. Merchant, land speculator. Born in East Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Heman Hotchkiss and Elizabeth Rowe. Moved to New Haven, New Haven Co., by 1815. Married Charlotte Austin Street, 22 Feb. 1824, in East Haven. Purchased...

View Full Bio
Esqr
Dr Sir
Yours of the 24th ulto., came to hand this day,
1

A later docket in the handwriting of Thomas Bullock indicates that JS received Hotchkiss’s 24 July letter on 23 August, while JS’s response notes that Hotchkiss’s letter was received “this day” of 25 August. (See Source Note for Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 24 July 1841.)


The contents of which I duly appreciate I presume you are well aware of the difficulties that occurred before, and at, The execution of the writings in regard of the landed transactions between us,
2

Here, JS may be referencing the difficulties the Saints faced when they were forced from Missouri in 1838–1839 and then relocated to Illinois and Iowa Territory in 1839. The August 1839 purchase of land in Nauvoo from Hotchkiss, Tuttle, and Gillet followed this time of transition and hardship. It also coincided with mass sickness in summer 1839 among the Saints in Illinois and Iowa. (See Introduction to Part 3: 4 Nov. 1838–16 Apr. 1839; Introduction to Part 4: 24 Apr.–12 Aug. 1839; and Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A.)


touching the annual payments of the interest, If you have forgotten I will here remind you; You verbally agreed, on our refusal, and hesitancy to execute the notes for the payment of the Land, That you would not exact the payment, of the interest that would accrue on them under five years, and that you would not coerce the payment even then, To all this you pledged your honor, and upon an after arrangement, you verbally agreed, to take Land in some one of the Atlantic States that would yield Six per cent interest (to you,) both for the principal and interest,
3

There are no extant records to corroborate JS’s memory of this verbal agreement. Hotchkiss disagreed with JS’s recollection of their repayment agreement. (Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A; Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 13 Sept. 1841.)


and in view of that matter I deligated my Bro.
Hyrum [Smith]

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

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& Doctor
Isaac Galland

15 May 1791–27 Sept. 1858. Merchant, postmaster, land speculator, doctor. Born at Somerset Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Matthew Galland and Hannah Fenno. Married first Nancy Harris, 22 Mar. 1811, in Madison Co., Ohio. Married second Margaret Knight, by 1816....

View Full Bio
to go east and negociate for Lands, with our friends, and pay you off for the whole purchase that we made of you,
4

See Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 Feb. 1841.


But upon an interview with you they learned that you were unwilling to enter [p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 25 August 1841
ID #
676
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:236–240
Handwriting on This Page
  • George Miller

Footnotes

  1. new scribe logo

    George Miller handwriting begins.

  2. [1]

    A later docket in the handwriting of Thomas Bullock indicates that JS received Hotchkiss’s 24 July letter on 23 August, while JS’s response notes that Hotchkiss’s letter was received “this day” of 25 August. (See Source Note for Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 24 July 1841.)

  3. [2]

    Here, JS may be referencing the difficulties the Saints faced when they were forced from Missouri in 1838–1839 and then relocated to Illinois and Iowa Territory in 1839. The August 1839 purchase of land in Nauvoo from Hotchkiss, Tuttle, and Gillet followed this time of transition and hardship. It also coincided with mass sickness in summer 1839 among the Saints in Illinois and Iowa. (See Introduction to Part 3: 4 Nov. 1838–16 Apr. 1839; Introduction to Part 4: 24 Apr.–12 Aug. 1839; and Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A.)

  4. [3]

    There are no extant records to corroborate JS’s memory of this verbal agreement. Hotchkiss disagreed with JS’s recollection of their repayment agreement. (Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A; Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 13 Sept. 1841.)

  5. [4]

    See Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 Feb. 1841.

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