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Letter to Presendia Huntington Buell, 15 March 1839

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Clay Co., MO, to , , MO, 15 Mar. 1839. Featured version copied [16 Dec. 1854]; handwriting of ; two pages; inserted in JS History, 1838–1856, vol. C-1, p. 898; Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882, CHL. Includes docket and redactions.
Single leaf measuring 12½ × 8 inches (32 × 20 cm), with thirty-five printed lines per page. The top, bottom, and right edges have the square cut of manufactured paper; the left edge is unevenly cut. After the document was folded for filing, added a docket. At an unknown date, a wafer was used to attach the top right corner of the verso to page 898 of JS History, 1838–1856, volume C-1. The top right corner of both the recto and the verso of the letter were inscribed in graphite with “898”. At some point, cellophane tape was applied where the paper had torn away from the adhesive wafer.
Little is known about the custodial history of the original letter, which is apparently not extant. It presumably remained in ’s possession for much of her life. On 16 December 1854, Buell temporarily loaned it to , a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office, for copying. Bullock’s copy was likely filed in the Church Historian’s Office for some time before it was inserted into volume C-1, as evidenced by wear along the copy’s folds. It was added to that volume by 1905. Volume C-1 has remained in the custody of the Church Historian’s Office and successor institutions since its creation, as noted in inventories of church records.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See History of the Church, 3:285.

    History of the Church / Smith, Joseph, et al. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Edited by B. H. Roberts. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1902–1912 (vols. 1–6), 1932 (vol. 7).

  2. [2]

    See “Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1]; “Inventory. Historians Office. G. S. L. City April 1. 1857,” [1]; “Index of Records and Journals in the Historian’s Office 1878,” [6], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

Historical Introduction

On 15 March 1839, JS wrote from the in , Missouri, to , a who was also living in the county. noted in his journal that earlier in the day, Buell visited the jail with her father, , as well as , , and . Presumably, the purpose of the visit was for the four men to sign JS’s petition for a writ of . While there, Buell requested to converse with the prisoners privately, but the jailer would not permit it.
On the afternoon or evening of 15 March 1839, after the visitors departed and the petition was completed, JS wrote this letter to . While imprisoned in , JS often relied on his fellow prisoners to act as scribes for lengthy documents created for a general church audience or for the government, but he personally wrote short communications to his wife . Because the original letter to Buell is apparently not extant, it is unknown who acted as the scribe. However, at the conclusion of this letter, JS stated that “I wanted to communicate something and I wrote this,” suggesting he penned the letter himself. Believing that Buell desired counsel as to whether she and her husband, , should remain in or with the in , JS advised the latter. He also offered encouragement, quoted liberally from scripture, and expressed his desire to once again be with church members and teach them the gospel. The address, “To Mrs. Norman Buel | Clay Co. | Mo.,” suggests that JS completed the letter after Buell left the and that he had someone carry the letter to her home.
A copy of the letter was made on 16 December 1854 by . Bullock’s inclusion of the address at the bottom of the letter strongly suggests that Bullock had access to the original letter rather than a subsequent copy. In 1877, writer Edward Tullidge published a copy of the letter. It is unknown whether he copied the original letter or a subsequent version. Bullock’s version is featured here because it was presumably copied much earlier (when the original may have been more legible), because it is unknown whether Tullidge’s published version depended upon an intermediate printer’s manuscript, and because Tullidge may have edited his version for publication. Significant textual variants between Bullock’s and Tullidge’s versions are noted in annotation.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “A Venerable Woman,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 Jan. 1883, 123; 1 Mar. 1883, 147.

    Woman’s Exponent. Salt Lake City. 1872–1914.

  2. [2]

    Hyrum Smith, Diary, 15 Mar. 1839; Petition to George Tompkins, between 9 and 15 Mar. 1839; Tullidge, Women of Mormondom, 209–210.

    Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.

    Tullidge, Edward W. The Women of Mormondom. New York: Tullidge and Crandall, 1877.

  3. [3]

    See, for example, Petition to George Tompkins, between 9 and 15 Mar. 1839; Letter to Edward Partridge and the Church, ca. 22 Mar. 1839; Letter to Emma Smith, 4 Nov. 1838; and Letter to Emma Smith, 21 Mar. 1839.

  4. [4]

    Historian’s Office, Journal, 16 Dec. 1854, 17:252.

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

  5. [5]

    Tullidge, Women of Mormondom, 210–212.

    Tullidge, Edward W. The Women of Mormondom. New York: Tullidge and Crandall, 1877.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to Presendia Huntington Buell, 15 March 1839 * History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842]

Page [2]

Beloved we see that perilous times have truly come and the things which we have so long expected have at last began to usher in but when you see the fig tree begin to put forth its leaves you may know that the Summer is nigh at hand there will be a short work on the Earth it has now commenced I suppose there will soon be perplexity all over the Earth do not let our hearts faint when these things come upon us for they must come or the word cannot be fulfilled I know that something will soon take place to stir up this generation to see what they have been doing and that their fathers have inherited lies and they have been led captive by the Devil to no profit but they know not what they do do not have any feelings of enmity towards any Son or Daughter of Adam I believe I shall be let out of their hands some way or another and shall see good days we can not do any thing only stand still and see the Salvation of God he must do his own work or it must fall to the ground we must not take it in our hands to avenge our wrongs Vengeance is mine saith the Lord and I will repay I have no fears I shall stand unto death God being my helper I wanted to communicate something and I wrote this &c Write to us if you can
J. Smith Jr.
To
Mo. [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Presendia Huntington Buell, 15 March 1839
ID #
429
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D6:352–356
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Bullock

Footnotes

  1. [16]

    See 2 Timothy 3:1.

  2. [17]

    See Matthew 24:32.

  3. [18]

    See Romans 9:28.

  4. [19]

    See Luke 21:25.

  5. [20]

    See Matthew 24:6; and Luke 21:9.

  6. [21]

    See Jeremiah 16:19; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 255, 334–335 [Alma 12:11; 40:13].

  7. [22]

    See Luke 23:34.

  8. [23]

    See Exodus 14:13.

  9. [24]

    See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 111 [2 Nephi 27:21].

  10. [25]

    See Romans 12:19; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 524, 533 [Mormon 3:15; 8:20].

  11. [26]

    See Psalm 30:10; and Hebrews 13:6.

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