Notice, circa 1 June 1841

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Notice, circa 1 June 1841
Source Note

JS, Notice,
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. 1 June 1841. Featured version published in Times and Seasons, 1 June 1841, vol. 2, no. 15, 433. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction
The 1 June 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons contained a notice from JS stating he would not pay the postage on correspondence addressed to him. Before an 1847 federal statute required postage stamps as proof of payment to send letters, the addressee rather than the sender of a letter could be held liable for paying postage.
1
An Act to Establish Certain Post Routes and for Other Purposes [3 Mar. 1847], Statutes at Large, p. 201, sec. 11; see also Summerfield and Hurd, U.S. Mail, 45–46.
Comprehensive Works Cited
The Statutes at Large and Treaties of the United States of America. From December 1, 1845, to March 3, 1851. . . . Edited by George Minot. Vol. 9. Boston: Little, Brown, 1862.
Summerfield, Arthur E., with Charles Hurd. U.S. Mail: The Story of the United States Postal Service. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1960.
Depending on the number of pages and the distance traveled, postage on a letter could cost anywhere from six cents to over a dollar,
2
In the 1830s, a single-page letter sent fewer than 36 miles cost 6 cents. A single-page letter sent between 150 and 400 miles cost 18¾ cents, while the same letter sent more than 400 miles cost 25 cents. A two-page letter cost double the rate of a single-page letter, a three-page letter cost triple the price, and any letter of four pages or more cost quadruple the price. Rates for packages weighing more than an ounce started at one dollar. (Force, National Calendar, 227; An Act to Reduce into One the Several Acts Establishing and Regulating the Post-Office Department [3 Mar. 1825], Public Statutes at Large, vol. 4, p. 105, sec. 13; John, Spreading the News, 121–124, 159.)
Force, Peter. The National Calendar for MDCCCXXIX. Vol. VII. Washington DC: By the author, 1829.Force, Peter. The National Calendar for MDCCCXXX. Vol. VIII. Washington DC: By the author, 1830.
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
John, Richard R. Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995.
and pieces of mail often went unclaimed because the recipient could not or simply refused to pay the postage.
3
See, for example, “List of Letters,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 14 July 1837, [3]; see also Henkin, Postal Age, 21.
Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.
Henkin, David M. The Postal Age: The Emergence of Modern Communications in Nineteenth-Century America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.

Unpaid postage created a burdensome expense for JS.
4
JS, Journal, 5 Dec. 1835.
He had written public letters or notices with requests similar to the one featured here to the editor of 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...
View Glossary
’s newspaper in 1835 and 1837.
5
See Letter to Editor, 5 Dec. 1835; Notice, 24 Jan. 1837; Notice, Messenger and Advocate, July 1835, 1:160; and “Prospectus,” Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1836, 3:386.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Despite those notices, JS continued to receive mail with unpaid postage, an issue possibly compounded by an increasing number of incoming letters from both opponents and supporters in the spring of 1841.

This notice from JS does not bear a date. He likely wrote or dictated the notice on or in the weeks preceding 1 June 1841 and then had it delivered to the office of the Times and Seasons, which was published twice a month.
6
The Times and Seasons regularly printed issues dated the first and the fifteenth, although some issues were evidently published late.
There is no known extant original, and the Times and Seasons preserves the only existing version of JS’s notice.
Footnotes
[1]
An Act to Establish Certain Post Routes and for Other Purposes [3 Mar. 1847], Statutes at Large, p. 201, sec. 11; see also Summerfield and Hurd, U.S. Mail, 45–46.
The Statutes at Large and Treaties of the United States of America. From December 1, 1845, to March 3, 1851. . . . Edited by George Minot. Vol. 9. Boston: Little, Brown, 1862.
Summerfield, Arthur E., with Charles Hurd. U.S. Mail: The Story of the United States Postal Service. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1960.
[2]
In the 1830s, a single-page letter sent fewer than 36 miles cost 6 cents. A single-page letter sent between 150 and 400 miles cost 18¾ cents, while the same letter sent more than 400 miles cost 25 cents. A two-page letter cost double the rate of a single-page letter, a three-page letter cost triple the price, and any letter of four pages or more cost quadruple the price. Rates for packages weighing more than an ounce started at one dollar. (Force, National Calendar, 227; An Act to Reduce into One the Several Acts Establishing and Regulating the Post-Office Department [3 Mar. 1825], Public Statutes at Large, vol. 4, p. 105, sec. 13; John, Spreading the News, 121–124, 159.)
Force, Peter. The National Calendar for MDCCCXXIX. Vol. VII. Washington DC: By the author, 1829.Force, Peter. The National Calendar for MDCCCXXX. Vol. VIII. Washington DC: By the author, 1830.
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
John, Richard R. Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995.
[3]
See, for example, “List of Letters,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 14 July 1837, [3]; see also Henkin, Postal Age, 21.
Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.
Henkin, David M. The Postal Age: The Emergence of Modern Communications in Nineteenth-Century America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.
[4]
JS, Journal, 5 Dec. 1835.
[5]
See Letter to Editor, 5 Dec. 1835; Notice, 24 Jan. 1837; Notice, Messenger and Advocate, July 1835, 1:160; and “Prospectus,” Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1836, 3:386.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
[6]
The Times and Seasons regularly printed issues dated the first and the fifteenth, although some issues were evidently published late.
Page 433
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All persons sending communications to me by letter, are requested to pay postage on the same, otherwise, they will not be taken out of the Post Office—this in consequence of the numerous letters I receive from friends and foes
1
In 1835, JS wrote, “My friends will excuse me in this matter, as I am willing to pay postage on letters to hear from them; but am unwilling to pay for insults and menaces,—consequently, must refuse all, unpaid.” (Letter to Editor, 5 Dec. 1835, italics in original.)

JOSEPH SMITH. [p. 433]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Notice, circa 1 June 1841
ID #
657
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:160–161
Handwriting on This Page
Printed text
Footnotes
[1]
In 1835, JS wrote, “My friends will excuse me in this matter, as I am willing to pay postage on letters to hear from them; but am unwilling to pay for insults and menaces,—consequently, must refuse all, unpaid.” (Letter to Editor, 5 Dec. 1835, italics in original.)