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Letter to James H. Seymour, 16 January 1844

Source Note

on behalf of JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , Lenox Township, Ashtabula Co., OH, 16 Jan. 1844. Featured version drafted 16 Jan. 1844; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket and notation.
Single leaf measuring 8¾ × 7¾ inches (22 × 20 cm). The letter was written on the first page. The second page was left blank. The document was trifolded for filing. A docket and notation were later added.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. The document also features a notation in the handwriting of Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket and notation and its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody.

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]

    Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  3. [3]

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

Historical Introduction

On 16 January 1844, wrote a letter on behalf of JS in , Illinois, to in Lenox Township, Ohio, encouraging him to move to . JS was responding to a 27 December 1843 letter written jointly by Seymour and Newton E. French. Both Seymour and French lived in Lenox and had never met JS. In his portion of the letter, French, who apparently knew little of JS’s religious teachings, expressed sympathy for the persecution JS and the had faced and urged JS to continue his religious work. Seymour’s portion of the letter, which revealed that Seymour better understood JS’s teachings, stated a desire to move to Nauvoo and asked if it was advisable for him to do so. JS replied only to Seymour, wishing him well in his pursuit of righteousness and suggesting that moving to Nauvoo would help in such pursuits. JS also asked Seymour to pay his respects to French.
Acting as a clerk and writing on JS’s behalf, Phelps drafted the reply on 16 January. Clerk made a copy of the letter immediately after Phelps finished drafting it. No copy in Bullock’s handwriting has been located; Bullock’s copy was presumably a fair copy and the version that was sent to Seymour. The draft in Phelps’s handwriting may have been kept as a retained copy. The Phelps version is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letters from Newton E. French and James H. Seymour, 27 Dec. 1843.

Page [1]

Ill. Jan 16, 1844.
Sir: yours of Dec. 2◊th <​27th​> embracing the very respectable complements and remarks of Mr N[ewton] E French, is before me, and to be short, as you must necessarily know my business compels me, please accept my best wishes for your welfare: God bless you and prepare you for every good and glorious undertaking that you desire in rightousness. Remember is the beloved city of the , where all thus mean to serve God, by obedience, and faithfulness to the end, will Come, and all that will, may come: for if you wish to know god: you must come to him: Gather the saints that have made a covenant by sacrifice, Saith the Lord. So farewell,
Ye will Give my respects to the gentleman who wrote and all friends
Respectfully &c
Joseph Smith
by Clerk
Mr )
Lennox, O) [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to James H. Seymour, 16 January 1844
ID #
1588
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • William W. Phelps

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letters from Newton E. French and James H. Seymour, 27 Dec. 1843.

  2. [2]

    Church leaders designated Nauvoo as a gathering place for church members in 1839. (Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839.)

  3. [3]

    See Psalm 50:5.

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