Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 13 April 1841

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Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 13 April 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....
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, Hancock Co., IL, to
John M. Bernhisel
23 June 1799–28 Sept. 1881. Physician, politician. Born in Sandy Hill, Tyrone Township, Cumberland Co. (later in Perry Co.), Pennsylvania. Son of Samuel Bernhisel and Susannah Bower. Attended medical lectures at University of Pennsylvania, 1818, in Philadelphia...
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,
New York City
Dutch founded New Netherland colony, 1625. Incorporated under British control and renamed New York, 1664. Harbor contributed to economic and population growth of city; became largest city in American colonies. British troops defeated Continental Army under...
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, New York Co., NY, 13 Apr. 1841; handwriting of
Robert B. Thompson
1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...
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; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notations, endorsement, and docket.

Bifolium measuring 12¾ × 7¾ inches (32 × 20 cm). Embossed in the upper left corner of the first page are a decorative star and “D. & J. Ames, Springfield”, the insignia of a Springfield, Massachussetts, paper mill firm.
1
Whiting, “Paper Making in New England,” 309; Gravell et al., American Watermarks, 235.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Whiting, William. “Paper-Making in New England.” In The New England States: Their Constitutional, Judicial, Educational, Commercial, Professional and Industrial History, edited by William T. Davis, vol. 1, pp. 303–333. Boston: D. H. Hurd, 1897.
Gravell, Thomas L., George Miller, and Elizabeth Walsh. American Watermarks: 1690–1835. 2nd ed. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2002.
The pages are ruled with thirty-five horizontal lines in blue ink. The letter was written on the recto and verso of the first leaf, and then the document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The last page has a 1-inch (3-cm) tear on the edge to the left of the wafer.

Presumably the letter was acquired by the church sometime after
Bernhisel
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’s arrival in
Nauvoo
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, Illinois, in 1843 and has remained in continuous institutional custody. By 1973 it had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
2
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Footnotes
[1]
Whiting, “Paper Making in New England,” 309; Gravell et al., American Watermarks, 235.
Whiting, William. “Paper-Making in New England.” In The New England States: Their Constitutional, Judicial, Educational, Commercial, Professional and Industrial History, edited by William T. Davis, vol. 1, pp. 303–333. Boston: D. H. Hurd, 1897.
Gravell, Thomas L., George Miller, and Elizabeth Walsh. American Watermarks: 1690–1835. 2nd ed. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2002.
[2]
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Historical Introduction
On 13 April 1841 in
Nauvoo
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, Illinois, JS dictated a letter to
John M. Bernhisel
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in
New York City
Dutch founded New Netherland colony, 1625. Incorporated under British control and renamed New York, 1664. Harbor contributed to economic and population growth of city; became largest city in American colonies. British troops defeated Continental Army under...
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in response to a letter from Bernhisel dated 6 March 1841; Bernhisel’s letter is apparently no longer extant. In his letter, Bernhisel, who was a practicing doctor of medicine in New York and a recent convert to 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...
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,
1
“The Late Hon. John M. Bernhisel,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 26 Oct. 1881, 616; New York City Branch History, [18]; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 2 Aug. 1841, 2:499.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
New York City Branch History, no date. In High Priests Quorum Record, 1844–1845. CHL.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
had evidently requested JS’s help in obtaining property in Nauvoo.

Bernhisel
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’s request generated a series of at least nine letters between himself and JS over the course of the next year. Seven of the extant letters deal with property matters and Bernhisel’s relocation.
2
In addition to the letter featured here, see Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841; Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 3 Aug. 1841; Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 18 Aug. 1841; Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 8 Sept. 1841; and Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 16 Nov. 1841. The property arrangements made through their correspondence were finally executed in early 1842. (JS, Nauvoo, IL, to John Bernhisel, New York City, NY, 4 Jan. 1842, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 221.)
Their correspondence confirms that Bernhisel wanted to relocate and join the members of the church living in
Nauvoo
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and that he hoped to secure property before his relocation. Bernhisel received the letter featured here on 10 May and responded to it on 12 July 1841.
3
See Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841.
Footnotes
[1]
“The Late Hon. John M. Bernhisel,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 26 Oct. 1881, 616; New York City Branch History, [18]; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 2 Aug. 1841, 2:499.
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
New York City Branch History, no date. In High Priests Quorum Record, 1844–1845. CHL.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
[2]
In addition to the letter featured here, see Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841; Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 3 Aug. 1841; Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 18 Aug. 1841; Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 8 Sept. 1841; and Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 16 Nov. 1841. The property arrangements made through their correspondence were finally executed in early 1842. (JS, Nauvoo, IL, to John Bernhisel, New York City, NY, 4 Jan. 1842, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 221.)
[3]
See Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841.
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 13 April 1841
ID #
637
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:118–122
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