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Note to James Sloan, circa 30 May 1843

Source Note

JS as mayor, Note, to
James Sloan

28 Oct. 1792–24 Oct. 1886. City recorder, notary public, attorney, judge, farmer. Born in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, Ireland. Son of Alexander Sloan and Anne. Married Mary Magill. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder, ...

View Full Bio
, [
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, ca. 30 May 1843]; handwriting of JS and
James Sloan

28 Oct. 1792–24 Oct. 1886. City recorder, notary public, attorney, judge, farmer. Born in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, Ireland. Son of Alexander Sloan and Anne. Married Mary Magill. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder, ...

View Full Bio
; signature of JS; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes notations and archival marking.
Single leaf measuring 3⅞ × 7⅝ inches (10 × 19 cm) and ruled with ten horizontal blue lines that are now faded. The left and top edges have the square cut of manufactured paper, while the right and bottom edges appear torn. The leaf was folded in half.
This document was presumably kept among
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
city records. In 1845 the city of Nauvoo was disincorporated.
1

“An Act to Repeal the Nauvoo Charter,” 14th General Assembly, 1844–1845, Senate Bill no. 35 (House Bill no. 42), Illinois General Assembly, Enrolled Acts of the General Assembly, 1818–2012, Illinois State Archives, Springfield.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Illinois General Assembly. Enrolled Acts of the General Assembly, 1818–2012. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

Many if not most of the city records were listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) in 1846, when they were packed up with church records that were taken to the Salt Lake Valley.
2

“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

The city records are listed in inventories of church records created in 1855, 1878, and circa 1904.
3

“Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th April 1855,” [1]–[2]; “Index of Records and Journals in the Historian’s Office 1878,” [11]; “Index to Papers in the Historians Office,” ca. 1904, 7, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
4

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


The document’s presumed inclusion with city records listed in several inventories and its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody since the mid-1840s.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “An Act to Repeal the Nauvoo Charter,” 14th General Assembly, 1844–1845, Senate Bill no. 35 (House Bill no. 42), Illinois General Assembly, Enrolled Acts of the General Assembly, 1818–2012, Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

    Illinois General Assembly. Enrolled Acts of the General Assembly, 1818–2012. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

  2. [2]

    “Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

  3. [3]

    “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th April 1855,” [1]–[2]; “Index of Records and Journals in the Historian’s Office 1878,” [11]; “Index to Papers in the Historians Office,” ca. 1904, 7, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

  4. [4]

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

Historical Introduction

On or about 30 May 1843, 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 directed city recorder
James Sloan

28 Oct. 1792–24 Oct. 1886. City recorder, notary public, attorney, judge, farmer. Born in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, Ireland. Son of Alexander Sloan and Anne. Married Mary Magill. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder, ...

View Full Bio
to prepare an order for $6.60 “for Some lime” via a note, to which Sloan subsequently added three notations clarifying JS’s instructions and documenting their implementation. The note is representative of the many routine documents produced by JS and his clerks in the daily course of fulfilling his civic responsibilities. The note to Sloan was the result of a legal case, State of Illinois v. Daniel Brown and Thomas Edwards, over which JS had presided as a justice of the peace in the mayor’s court. On 15 November 1842, JS found insufficient evidence against the defendants to sustain the charge that they had stolen some logs, and he discharged Brown and Edwards from custody. JS ordered the complainant,
William Niswanger

View Full Bio

, to pay the case costs, totaling $6.00.
1

Docket Entry, between 14 and ca. 15 Nov. 1842, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo Mayor’s Court Docket Book, 37; Historical Introduction to State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards..


When Niswanger failed to comply with the judgment, JS issued a
writ of execution

A writ to carry out a legal judgment by commanding a sheriff or marshal to give the plaintiff possession of lands or to deliver property that is the subject of the action; to levy upon the other party’s lands or goods for the plaintiff’s debt or damages and...

View Glossary
on 10 December 1842 ordering the city marshal to levy Niswanger’s property to recover the costs. Nauvoo constable
John D. Parker

22 Nov. 1799–26 Feb. 1891. Farmer, wainwright. Born in Saratoga, Saratoga Co., New York. Son of Abel Parker and Mary Davies. Served in War of 1812 as teamster in General John E. Wool’s company, 1813–1814. Married Harriet Sherwood. Moved to Galway, Saratoga...

View Full Bio
attempted to serve the writ, but he was unable to locate any of Niswanger’s property. Parker charged the city $0.50 for his attempt to serve the writ.
2

Execution, 10 Dec. 1842, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 14 Jan. 1843, 143.


On 4 April 1843, JS renewed the writ of execution, commanding the city marshal to collect from Niswanger the costs, which now totaled $6.50. After receiving the writ on 26 April, Parker went to Niswanger’s lime kiln and levied $6.50 worth of lime.
3

Execution, 4 Apr. 1843, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; “Lime,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 26 July 1843, [4]. Quicklime was made by burning limestone into powder in a kiln to remove impurities and was primarily used as fertilizer and as mortar for cement. After burning, it was packaged into bushels of approximately eighty pounds. In summer 1843, the Nauvoo Neighbor advertised quicklime as selling in St. Louis for $0.10–0.12 per bushel, meaning that $6.50 purchased between 54 and 65 bushels. (“Lime,” in Morton, Cyclopedia of Agriculture, 2:252–253, 255, 298; “St. Louis Weekly Price Current,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 9 Aug. 1843, [3]; McBride, House for the Most High, 107–108.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Morton, John C., ed. A Cyclopedia of Agriculture, Practical and Scientific; in Which the Theory, the Art, and the Business of Farming, Are Thoroughly and Practically Treated. By Upwards of Fifty of the Most Eminent Practical and Scientific Men of the Day. 2 vols. Glasgow: Blackie and Son, 1855.

McBride, Matthew. A House for the Most High: The Story of the Original Nauvoo Temple. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007.

On 1 May 1843, Parker sold the lime at a public sale to Younger McCaslin, who was apparently unable to pay for it at the time. On 11 May, the lime was sold again, this time to
Shadrach Roundy

1 Jan. 1789–4 July 1872. Merchant. Born at Rockingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Uriah Roundy and Lucretia Needham. Married Betsy Quimby, 22 June 1814, at Rockingham. Lived at Spafford, Onondaga Co., New York. Member of Freewill Baptist Church in Spafford...

View Full Bio
, but he was also apparently not able to pay for it, at least not immediately.
4

Parker made several notations documenting these transactions on the back of the writ of execution. (Execution, 4 Apr. 1843, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)


In this note instructing
Sloan

28 Oct. 1792–24 Oct. 1886. City recorder, notary public, attorney, judge, farmer. Born in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, Ireland. Son of Alexander Sloan and Anne. Married Mary Magill. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder, ...

View Full Bio
to prepare an order for $6.60 “for Some lime,” JS did not specify what type of order, but other sources indicate that the resulting document obligated
Roundy

1 Jan. 1789–4 July 1872. Merchant. Born at Rockingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Uriah Roundy and Lucretia Needham. Married Betsy Quimby, 22 June 1814, at Rockingham. Lived at Spafford, Onondaga Co., New York. Member of Freewill Baptist Church in Spafford...

View Full Bio
to pay for the lime. JS signed the note as
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
’s mayor. He probably produced the note in the mayor’s office, which at this time was also his private
office

Term usually applied to JS’s private office, which was located at various places during JS’s lifetime, including his home. From fall 1840 until completion of JS’s brick store, office was located on second floor of a new building, possibly on Water Street ...

More Info
on the second floor of his
store

Located in lower portion of Nauvoo (the flats) along bank of Mississippi River. Completed 1841. Opened for business, 5 Jan. 1842. Owned by JS, but managed mostly by others, after 1842. First floor housed JS’s general store and counting room, where tithing...

More Info
, located at the southwest corner of Water and Granger streets in Nauvoo.
5

JS, Journal, 28 Mar. 1843.


After receiving the note, Sloan added a notation specifying the correct amount of $6.50. Sloan then prepared the order and delivered it to
Parker

22 Nov. 1799–26 Feb. 1891. Farmer, wainwright. Born in Saratoga, Saratoga Co., New York. Son of Abel Parker and Mary Davies. Served in War of 1812 as teamster in General John E. Wool’s company, 1813–1814. Married Harriet Sherwood. Moved to Galway, Saratoga...

View Full Bio
, who made a corresponding notation on the writ of execution that he “Received order by order of the Mayor for 6,50.” The order is apparently not extant, although it evidently constituted a “Demand” upon Roundy to pay for the lime. Parker further noted on the execution that the order was “Given to Shadrich [Shadrach] Roundy this 30th Day of May 1843.”
6

Parker referred to the order as a “Demand” in his tabulation of fees on the back of the writ of execution. (Execution, 4 Apr. 1843, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)


Roundy apparently agreed at this time to split the cost for the lime with
Henry G. Sherwood

20 Apr. 1785–24 Nov. 1867. Surveyor. Born at Kingsbury, Washington Co., New York. Son of Newcomb Sherwood and a woman whose maiden name was Tolman (first name unidentified). Married first Jane J. McManagal (McMangle) of Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, ca. 1824...

View Full Bio
.
7

Sherwood wrote in his personal account book in May 1843 that he had received from Parker two orders “for lime,” both for $3.25, suggesting that it had already been arranged for the $6.50 to be divided evenly between him and Roundy. (Sherwood, Record Book, May 1843.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Sherwood, Henry G. Record Book, ca. 1838–1844. CHL.

However, rather than pay outright for the lime, Roundy and Sherwood arranged with Sloan to have the $6.50 deducted from the fees owed them by the city for their services as night watchmen.
8

Roundy filed a claim with the city on 23 February 1843 asking for $12, or $1.50 per night for eight nights. The claim also requested the same amount for Sherwood and Alexander Mills. (Shadrach Roundy, Claim, Nauvoo, IL, 23 Feb. 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; see also Mayor’s Order to City Watch, 20 May 1842.)


Sloan added a second notation to JS’s note, dated 30 May, explaining this arrangement.
9

Sloan also added a corresponding notation on the writ of execution stating that “the above $6,50 is to be deducted out of a claim of Shadrach Roundy & H. G. Sherwood, agst the City, as night Watch, & sd. claim is now before the City Council.” (Execution, 4 Apr. 1843, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)


On 1 June 1843, the city council approved the claims made by
Roundy

1 Jan. 1789–4 July 1872. Merchant. Born at Rockingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Uriah Roundy and Lucretia Needham. Married Betsy Quimby, 22 June 1814, at Rockingham. Lived at Spafford, Onondaga Co., New York. Member of Freewill Baptist Church in Spafford...

View Full Bio
and
Sherwood

20 Apr. 1785–24 Nov. 1867. Surveyor. Born at Kingsbury, Washington Co., New York. Son of Newcomb Sherwood and a woman whose maiden name was Tolman (first name unidentified). Married first Jane J. McManagal (McMangle) of Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, ca. 1824...

View Full Bio
of $12 each for their service as night watchmen. As part of this approval, the council specified that “the sum of $6,50 is to be deducted from Sherwood & Roundys claims, (one half from each,) being for Lime bought by them, under sale by Execution, at suit of the City of
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
against
Wm. Niswanger

View Full Bio

, for that amt. of costs.”
10

Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 1 June 1843, 17.


Sloan

28 Oct. 1792–24 Oct. 1886. City recorder, notary public, attorney, judge, farmer. Born in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, Ireland. Son of Alexander Sloan and Anne. Married Mary Magill. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder, ...

View Full Bio
accordingly wrote two pay orders, each for $8.75, for the night watchmen.
11

Pay Order to Shadrach Roundy, 1 June 1843; Pay Order to Henry G. Sherwood, 1 June 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.


He then added a third notation to JS’s note indicating that the $6.50 had been “charged” by the city council on 1 June 1843.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Docket Entry, between 14 and ca. 15 Nov. 1842, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo Mayor’s Court Docket Book, 37; Historical Introduction to State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards..

  2. [2]

    Execution, 10 Dec. 1842, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 14 Jan. 1843, 143.

  3. [3]

    Execution, 4 Apr. 1843, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; “Lime,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 26 July 1843, [4]. Quicklime was made by burning limestone into powder in a kiln to remove impurities and was primarily used as fertilizer and as mortar for cement. After burning, it was packaged into bushels of approximately eighty pounds. In summer 1843, the Nauvoo Neighbor advertised quicklime as selling in St. Louis for $0.10–0.12 per bushel, meaning that $6.50 purchased between 54 and 65 bushels. (“Lime,” in Morton, Cyclopedia of Agriculture, 2:252–253, 255, 298; “St. Louis Weekly Price Current,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 9 Aug. 1843, [3]; McBride, House for the Most High, 107–108.)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

    Morton, John C., ed. A Cyclopedia of Agriculture, Practical and Scientific; in Which the Theory, the Art, and the Business of Farming, Are Thoroughly and Practically Treated. By Upwards of Fifty of the Most Eminent Practical and Scientific Men of the Day. 2 vols. Glasgow: Blackie and Son, 1855.

    McBride, Matthew. A House for the Most High: The Story of the Original Nauvoo Temple. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007.

  4. [4]

    Parker made several notations documenting these transactions on the back of the writ of execution. (Execution, 4 Apr. 1843, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

  5. [5]

    JS, Journal, 28 Mar. 1843.

  6. [6]

    Parker referred to the order as a “Demand” in his tabulation of fees on the back of the writ of execution. (Execution, 4 Apr. 1843, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

  7. [7]

    Sherwood wrote in his personal account book in May 1843 that he had received from Parker two orders “for lime,” both for $3.25, suggesting that it had already been arranged for the $6.50 to be divided evenly between him and Roundy. (Sherwood, Record Book, May 1843.)

    Sherwood, Henry G. Record Book, ca. 1838–1844. CHL.

  8. [8]

    Roundy filed a claim with the city on 23 February 1843 asking for $12, or $1.50 per night for eight nights. The claim also requested the same amount for Sherwood and Alexander Mills. (Shadrach Roundy, Claim, Nauvoo, IL, 23 Feb. 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; see also Mayor’s Order to City Watch, 20 May 1842.)

  9. [9]

    Sloan also added a corresponding notation on the writ of execution stating that “the above $6,50 is to be deducted out of a claim of Shadrach Roundy & H. G. Sherwood, agst the City, as night Watch, & sd. claim is now before the City Council.” (Execution, 4 Apr. 1843, State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

  10. [10]

    Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 1 June 1843, 17.

  11. [11]

    Pay Order to Shadrach Roundy, 1 June 1843; Pay Order to Henry G. Sherwood, 1 June 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

Page [1]

JS handwriting begins.


Br Sloane [James Sloan]

28 Oct. 1792–24 Oct. 1886. City recorder, notary public, attorney, judge, farmer. Born in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, Ireland. Son of Alexander Sloan and Anne. Married Mary Magill. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder, ...

View Full Bio
give an order of six dollars and sixty cents for Some lime which will be explained
Joseph Smith
Mayor

JS handwriting ends; James Sloan begins.


Sh[oul]d have been $6,50.—
Shadrach Roundy

1 Jan. 1789–4 July 1872. Merchant. Born at Rockingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Uriah Roundy and Lucretia Needham. Married Betsy Quimby, 22 June 1814, at Rockingham. Lived at Spafford, Onondaga Co., New York. Member of Freewill Baptist Church in Spafford...

View Full Bio
&
H[enry] G. Sherwood

20 Apr. 1785–24 Nov. 1867. Surveyor. Born at Kingsbury, Washington Co., New York. Son of Newcomb Sherwood and a woman whose maiden name was Tolman (first name unidentified). Married first Jane J. McManagal (McMangle) of Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, ca. 1824...

View Full Bio
to be charged with this in their claim upon the
City

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
as Night Watch. so soon as their Claim is allowed.
May 30th. 1843.—
charged, June 1st. 1843,— see City Council Book of that date.—
1

Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 1 June 1843, 179.


[p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Note to James Sloan, circa 30 May 1843
ID #
1082
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:351–353
Handwriting on This Page
  • Joseph Smith Jr.
  • James Sloan

Footnotes

  1. new scribe logo

    JS handwriting begins.

  2. new scribe logo

    JS handwriting ends; James Sloan begins.

  3. [1]

    Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 1 June 1843, 179.

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