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Pay Order to Lucien Woodworth, 17 August 1843

Source Note

JS, Pay Order, to , [for ], , Hancock Co., IL, 17 Aug. 1843; handwriting of JS; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes endorsement and notation.
Single leaf measuring 2⅞–3½ × 7⅞ inches (7–9 × 20 cm). The top and left sides of the leaf have the square cut of manufactured paper; the bottom and right sides are torn. The featured text is inscribed on the recto, and the verso was endorsed, likely by .
The early custodial history of the pay order is unknown. A graphite inscription—“C 4758”—written in the upper right corner of the verso suggests that the document was sold by an auction house at some point. It was apparently then sold or donated to the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department). By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).

Footnotes

  1. [1]

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

Historical Introduction

On 17 August 1843, JS issued a pay order instructing the architect, , to provide a parcel of lumber to , Illinois, resident . As architect, Woodworth had access to the lumber that came from the ’s lumber operation on the in . Though the lumber was intended for the construction of the Nauvoo House and the Nauvoo , the reportedly used it to build houses for church leaders, temple workers, and newly settled migrants in Nauvoo. , who was in charge of the , later stated that to his “great mortification” much of the lumber harvested prior to 1844 was “used for other purposes than those intended.” Specifically, Miller complained that the temple committee members “had become house builders” rather than builders of the temple or Nauvoo House.
was a schoolteacher in Vinalhaven, Maine, before he and his wife, Lurena Hopkins Luce, migrated to with members of their extended family in late 1841. Shortly after settling in Nauvoo, Daniel Luce and his father, , purchased a parcel of land from JS and ; the men purchased additional plots of land in or near Nauvoo in 1842 and 1843. It is possible that Daniel Luce earned a livelihood by farming his land, teaching at a local school, or laboring on the or Nauvoo . It is unclear why JS provided the pay order for Luce; JS may have asked Woodworth to give Luce the lumber as payment for labor or service, to satisfy a debt, or as a charitable act.
After receiving the pay order, apparently presented it to . An unidentified individual (likely Woodworth) endorsed it, supplied Luce with 250 feet of lumber, and charged the transaction to JS’s account.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See JS, Journal, 21 Feb. 1843; and Woodruff, Journal, 21 Feb. 1843.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  2. [2]

    See, for example, Historical Introduction to Note from Willard Richards, 22 Sept. 1843.

  3. [3]

    George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 27 June 1855, in Northern Islander, 23 Aug. 1855, [1]. Appointed in 1840, the temple committee comprised Reynolds Cahoon, Elias Higbee, and Alpheus Cutler. The committee helped acquire building materials for the Nauvoo temple and managed its construction. (“Minutes of the General Conference,” Times and Seasons, Oct. 1840, 1:186; see also Lucien Woodworth and Peter Haws, Nauvoo, IL, to George Miller and Henry Miller, Black River, Wisconsin Territory, 10 May 1843, Nauvoo House Association, Records, CHL.)

    Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.

    Nauvoo House Association. Records, 1841–1846. CHL. MS 2375.

  4. [4]

    Vinalhaven, Hancock Co., ME, Town and Vital Records, 1785–1892, vol. 2, Marriages, p. 310, microfilm 12,274, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Dec. 1837 and 14 Nov. 1841.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  5. [5]

    Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. K, pp. 94–95, 1 Nov. 1841; pp. 143–144, 30 Mar. 1842, microfilm 954,599; vol. 20P, pp. 26–27, 15 July 1843, microfilm 954,602, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  6. [6]

    Though there are no extant records of Luce teaching in Nauvoo in 1843, Wilford Woodruff noted that Luce was “keeping school in the masonic Hall” when Woodruff visited Nauvoo in 1848. (Woodruff, Journal, 10 July 1848.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  7. [7]

    With limited access to specie (gold and silver coin) or other forms of currency, Nauvoo residents often transacted business through barter during this period. In 1843, JS and others apparently used lumber as a form of payment. (See Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 10 Mar. 1842; Letter to Edward Hunter, 9 and 11 Mar. 1842; “State Bank of Illinois,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:728–729; Clayton, Journal, 2 and 19 May 1843; George Miller to JS for H. McNeal, Pay Order, 24 July 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; and JS to C. D. Stevens for “Mr. Howard,” Pay Order and Receipt, 6 Oct. 1843, JS Collection, CHL.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

Page [2]

<​250 ft Lumber per Charge to Jos Smith​> [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Pay Order to Lucien Woodworth, 17 August 1843
ID #
1144
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:54–57
Handwriting on This Page
  • Lucien Woodworth

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    TEXT: Endorsement presumably in the handwriting of Lucien Woodworth.

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