Skip to main content

Note from Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844

  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Note from Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844

Source Note

, Note, [, Hancock Co., IL], to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL, 26 June 1844]; handwriting and signature of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes dockets, notation, and archival marking.
Single leaf measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). The leaf was hand cut along the left side of the recto, which suggests that it was removed from a book or larger sheet. The note appears on the leaf’s recto, underneath JS’s 26 June letter to . The document was trifolded twice in letter style and was later refolded for filing.
The document was docketed by , 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. 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. JS’s letter to on which this note from Ford was written was possibly 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 to the document 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 document’s early dockets, its possible listing in the circa 1904 inventory, its notation, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. Letter to Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844.

  2. 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–.

  3. 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.

  4. “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL. The inventory lists three letters from JS to Ford in 1844 without their dates, but there are multiple extant letters from JS to Ford from 1844.

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

  5. 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.

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

Historical Introduction

On the morning of 26 June 1844, governor sent a note to JS at the jail, in , Illinois, from a nearby , responding to JS’s request for a meeting later that day. Shortly after eight o’clock that morning, JS had composed a letter to Ford requesting an interview with him, explaining that he and had been “committed. under a false .” JS stated his anxious desire that all things would soon be “made right” and that he and Hyrum would be released from their incarceration. Jailer delivered JS’s letter to Ford sometime before nine o’clock in the morning.
Upon receiving the letter, wrote a quick reply on the same page. His response is undated, but he composed it within about a half hour of receiving JS’s letter. Ford probably wrote from his temporary headquarters in ’s . His short note indicated that he would meet with JS at his first opportunity that day.
then returned the note to , who delivered the letter to JS at about eight fifty that morning. Ford visited JS at the jail that morning around nine thirty. During the visit, JS offered explanations for the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor’s press and his subsequent decision to call out the . While Ford evidently seemed satisfied with the explanations, he declined to interfere in the legal proceedings, believing such interference to be beyond the scope of his authority.

Footnotes

  1. Letter to Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844.

  2. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844.

  3. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844; John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 17–18, 21–24, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL.

  4. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844; John S. Fullmer, Preston, England, to George A. Smith, [Utah Territory], 27 Nov. 1854, [2], Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL; Ford, History of Illinois, 338.

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

    Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Note from Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844
History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [1]

[See Letter to Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844.]
 
The interview will take place at my earliest leisure to day
[1/2 page blank] [p. [1]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [1]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Note from Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844
ID #
17685
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Ford