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Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 3 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
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...

More Info
, New York Co., NY, 3 Aug. 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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; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal stamp, postal notation, and docket.
Bifolium measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm) and ruled with twenty-six horizontal blue lines. The letter was written on the first recto only. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and mailed from the Nauvoo post office on 7 August 1841.
A docket was later added by
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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, who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854.
1

JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].


Comprehensive Works Cited

Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

The letter has presumably remained in institutional custody since its receipt, sometime after
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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’s arrival 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
in 1843, when Richards docketed and filed the letter in JS’s office.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

Historical Introduction

On 3 August 1841 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, JS dictated the following letter to his scribe
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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in response to previous communications from
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...

View Full Bio
in
New York

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...

More Info
. Bernhisel had sent JS a certificate of deposit for $425 as partial payment for some real estate he asked JS to purchase on his behalf in
Hancock County

Formed from Pike Co., 1825. Described in 1837 as predominantly prairie and “deficient in timber.” Early settlers came mainly from mid-Atlantic and southern states. Population in 1835 about 3,200; in 1840 about 9,900; and in 1844 at least 15,000. Carthage ...

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, Illinois, and this letter confirmed the receipt of the money.
1

Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841.


Although JS stated in the letter that he had received a certificate of deposit of $500 from Bernhisel, JS had in fact only obtained the $425 that Bernhisel promised. JS was still awaiting the remaining $75, which Bernhisel stated he would send as soon as possible.
2

Bernhisel sent a certificate of deposit for $425 with his previous letter. After purchasing a lot for Bernhisel in January 1842, JS again verified that he had received $425 through bank deposit and that he had received an additional $40 in September 1841 via Wilford Woodruff. (Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841; Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 8 Sept. 1841; JS, Nauvoo, IL, to John M. Bernhisel, New York City, NY, 4 Jan. 1842, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 221.)


JS sent the letter on 7 August from 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. On 18 August 1841, though
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...

View Full Bio
had not yet received the 3 August letter featured here, he wrote to JS about the land purchase.
3

In his apparent urgency to confirm that JS had received his deposit, Bernhisel also wrote to “Elder Kimball,” presumably Heber C. Kimball, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve who was in Nauvoo at the time. The letter to Kimball is no longer extant, though Bernhisel referred to it in his 18 August letter to JS. (Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 18 Aug. 1841.)


By early September, Bernhisel had received the 3 August letter and responded to it with another letter, written on 8 September 1841.
4

Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 8 Sept. 1841.


Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841.

  2. [2]

    Bernhisel sent a certificate of deposit for $425 with his previous letter. After purchasing a lot for Bernhisel in January 1842, JS again verified that he had received $425 through bank deposit and that he had received an additional $40 in September 1841 via Wilford Woodruff. (Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841; Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 8 Sept. 1841; JS, Nauvoo, IL, to John M. Bernhisel, New York City, NY, 4 Jan. 1842, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 221.)

  3. [3]

    In his apparent urgency to confirm that JS had received his deposit, Bernhisel also wrote to “Elder Kimball,” presumably Heber C. Kimball, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve who was in Nauvoo at the time. The letter to Kimball is no longer extant, though Bernhisel referred to it in his 18 August letter to JS. (Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 18 Aug. 1841.)

  4. [4]

    Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 8 Sept. 1841.

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 3 August 1841
ID #
1961
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:216–217
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