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Letter to John R. Wakefield, 23 June 1844

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Letter to John R. Wakefield, 23 June 1844

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , [, Des Moines Co., Iowa Territory], 23 June 1844. Featured version copied [ca. 23 June 1844]; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes dockets, use mark, notations, and archival marking.
Single leaf measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). The letter’s top, right, and bottom edges have the square cut of manufactured paper. The left edge of the recto is rough, which suggests that the leaf was torn from a book or larger sheet. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style and was later refolded, both times for storage. The document has undergone conservation.
A docket and filing notation were inscribed by , who served as a clerk for JS in 1844. It was also 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 was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. The graphite notation “A. J” was added by Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office 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 letter’s dockets and filing notation, its listing in the circa 1904 inventory, its additional notation, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. See JS History, vol. F-1, 133; Nauvoo Registry of Deeds, Record of Deeds, bk. B, pp. 213–214; Source Note for Ordinance, 10 June 1844; and Source Note for Military Order to Jonathan Dunham, 10 June 1844.

  2. 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.

  3. “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  4. 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.

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

Historical Introduction

On 23 June 1844, JS wrote a letter from , Illinois, to , who lived in , Iowa Territory, requesting him to appear as a witness in JS’s defense at a hearing scheduled to take place the next day in , Illinois. Wakefield, a traveling dentist, had moved from to Burlington not long before. Earlier in June, he visited Nauvoo for the first time, arriving no later than 4 June and taking up temporary residence at the , where he intended to provide dental services to Nauvoo citizens. Wakefield was not a member of the .
While in , witnessed the of the Nauvoo Expositor’s press on 10 June 1844, which had been executed by the Nauvoo city marshal, , upon the order of JS as mayor. On 11 June an arrest warrant was issued for JS and seventeen others, alleging that they committed a by destroying the press “unlawfully & with force.” At a 12 June hearing for JS in Nauvoo, Wakefield testified to confirm testimony by that the press was destroyed in an orderly and peaceable manner, not in a riotous manner. Two days later Wakefield wrote to governor verifying JS’s account of the press’s abatement written to Ford the same day and vouching for JS’s character. On 17 June, at a hearing before Nauvoo alderman and justice of the peace in Nauvoo, Wakefield appeared as a witness again, testifying that the destruction was executed “in perfect order, as peaceably as people move on a Sunday.” Having intended to stay in Nauvoo for only a few days, Wakefield presumably left on 18 June after JS asked him to carry a letter to attorney in .
After JS agreed to answer the original charge of riot in , he sent letters on Sunday, 23 June, to attorneys and requesting legal assistance. JS sent a similar request that day to , written sometime after five o’clock in the afternoon. JS may have petitioned Wakefield because he was not a member of the church and resided in . Wakefield’s outsider status might have lent credibility to his testimony. The letter indicated that the hearing of JS’s case was scheduled for midday on 24 June. The letter also informed Wakefield that the carrier would provide further details, presumably about traveling to Carthage or testifying in JS’s behalf. JS apparently directed his clerk to write the letter to Wakefield on his behalf. Richards also made a retained copy of the letter before the original was sent.
, who might have carried JS’s letters to and , possibly delivered this letter as well, since all recipients were presumably residing in . The messenger likely carried this letter from on Sunday evening, and he was at first unsuccessful in delivering it, attempting to do so at ’s home in . Wakefield possibly received this letter either in the evening of 23 June or on 24 June, probably in , Iowa Territory, which is apparently where he was at the time, caring for his sick wife. Wakefield responded to JS on or around 24 June, informing him that he would not be able to testify.
The original letter is apparently not extant. ’s retained copy is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. “A Card,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 5 June 1844, [3]; John R. Wakefield, Nauvoo, IL, to Thomas Ford, Springfield, IL, 14 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL. The Nauvoo Neighbor, announcing Wakefield’s arrival, reported, “He is prepared to insert his incorruptible teeth, on gold plates, in a superior manner, and warrant them to be useful in mastication. Decayed teeth filled with gold foil, and preserved through life. Extracting done with little pain, with improved instruments.”

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  2. “For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 21 June 1844, [1]; Historical Introduction to Mayor’s Order to Nauvoo City Marshal, 10 June 1844.

  3. Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 12 June 1844.

  4. Trial Report, Nauvoo, IL, between ca. 12 and 20 June 1844, State of Illinois v. JS for Riot on Habeas Corpus [Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844], p. 2, draft, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; see also Historical Introduction to Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 12 June 1844; and Historical Introduction to Docket Entry, ca. 13 June 1844.

  5. John R. Wakefield, Nauvoo, IL, to Thomas Ford, Springfield, IL, 14 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL; see also Letter to Thomas Ford, 14 June 1844.

  6. JS, Journal, 17 June 1844; “For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 21 June 1844, [1]; see also Historical Introduction to Statement, 17 June 1844.

  7. “A Card,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 5 June 1844, [3]; Letter to Henry T. Hugins, 18 June 1844.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  8. “Joseph Smith Documents from 16 May through 28 June 1844”; Letter to Edward Johnstone, 23 June 1844; Letter to Henry T. Hugins, 23 June 1844. JS and others left Nauvoo for Iowa Territory during the early hours of 23 June to avoid being taken to Carthage for an examination on the riot charge. Around midday on 23 June, JS decided to return to Nauvoo and surrender himself for trial at Carthage. He arrived in Nauvoo, later that day. (Clayton, Journal, 22–23 June 1844; Historical Introduction to Letter to Thomas Ford, 23 June 1844; Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  9. On 22 June, JS informed Illinois governor Thomas Ford that he would be able to provide testimony “to prove every point by disinterested persons, strangers, who were here all the time.” (Letter to Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844.)

  10. JS may have intended for Wakefield to travel with him to Carthage. In his 23 June letter to Illinois governor Thomas Ford, JS indicated that he would travel to Carthage with the defense witnesses. (Letter to Thomas Ford, 23 June 1844.)

  11. Historical Introduction to Letter to Edward Johnstone, 23 June 1844; Historical Introduction to Letter to Henry T. Hugins, 23 June 1844.

  12. Letter from John R. Wakefield, ca. 24 June 1844. Mount Pleasant was approximately a twenty-five-mile journey northwest from Burlington. Because Johnstone, who resided in Fort Madison, received his letter in the evening, it is possible that the bearer attempted to deliver Wakefield’s letter to Burlington or Mount Pleasant either that evening or the next day. (Mitchell, Iowa, map; History of Henry County, Iowa, 333, 504; Historical Introduction to Letter to Edward Johnstone, 23 June 1844; Letter from Edward Johnstone, 23 June 1844.)

    Mitchell, Samuel Augustus. Iowa. 1846. In A New Universal Atlas, Containing Maps of the Various Empires, Kingdoms, States and Republics of the World. Philadelphia: By the author, 1846. Digital image at David Rumsey Map Collection, accessed 17 June 2022, https://www.davidrumsey.com.

    The History of Henry County, Illinois, Its Tax-Payers and Voters; containing also a Biographical Directory. . . . Chicago: H. F. Kett, 1877.

  13. Letter from John R. Wakefield, ca. 24 June 1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to John R. Wakefield, 23 June 1844 History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”
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Editorial Title
Letter to John R. Wakefield, 23 June 1844
ID #
1438
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
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