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Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 8 March 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , New York Co., NY, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 8 Mar. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; two pages; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Includes address, postal notations, postal stamp, docket, and archival markings.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The upper left corner bears an embossed, oval-shaped insignia of a paper mill. The paper is ruled with twenty-nine horizontal gray lines per page. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. It was later refolded for filing.
The letter was docketed, likely soon after receipt, by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as temple recorder from 1842 to 1846. In late 1844, following JS’s death, became one of the interim church trustees and was appointed “first bishop” among other Nauvoo bishops. It was presumably during this time that many of the church’s financial and other administrative records passed into his possession. This document, along with many other personal and institutional documents that Newel K. Whitney kept, was inherited by Newel K. and ’s daughter Mary Jane Whitney, who was married to Isaac Groo. The documents were passed down within the Groo family. Between 1969 and 1974, the Groo family donated their collection of Newel K. Whitney’s papers to the J. Reuben Clark Library (renamed Harold B. Lee Library in 1973) at Brigham Young University.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 18, 30–31.

    Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

    Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

  2. [2]

    Willard Richards, Journal, 9 Aug. 1844; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:693; see also Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  3. [3]

    Andrus and Fuller, Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers, 24; Wilkinson et al., Brigham Young University, 4:255.

    Andrus, Hyrum L., and Chris Fuller, comp. Register of the Newel Kimball Whitney Papers. Provo, UT: Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, 1978.

    Wilkinson, Ernest L., Leonard J. Arrington, and Bruce C. Hafen, eds. Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years. Vol. 4. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1976.

Historical Introduction

On 8 March 1843, Latter-day Saint wrote to JS to report on various items of interest related to the in . As of the church in that city since 1841, Bernhisel frequently corresponded with JS to share information relevant to Latter-day Saint interests there. In this 8 March 1843 letter, Bernhisel discussed two prominent men of : attorney and educator and New York Herald editor ; neither was a member of the church. Both men were offered commissions as officers in the in 1842—inspector general and brigadier general, respectively. Bernhisel reported that James Arlington Bennet—in anticipation of the legion’s May 1843 parade—had recently acquired full military regalia, which Bernhisel itemized in the letter with prices, apparently expecting JS to reimburse Bennet. Bernhisel also congratulated JS on his recent discharge from arrest and made a request regarding the payment of taxes on land Bernhisel owned near , Illinois. Bernhisel mailed the letter from New York on 9 March 1843. Mail generally traveled between New York and Nauvoo in two or three weeks. The letter was received in Nauvoo, as evident from a docket added by , and presumably read by JS. However, JS apparently did not respond to the letter, likely because Bernhisel moved to Nauvoo in April or May 1843.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes, 15 Apr. 1841, in Times and Seasons, 2 Aug. 1841, 2:499; see also, for example, Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 13 Apr. 1841; Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841; and Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 1 Oct. 1842.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  2. [2]

    James Arlington Bennet was commissioned inspector general of the Nauvoo Legion on 12 April 1842. James Gordon Bennett was commissioned brigadier general, with the added title of aide-de-camp to the major general, on 2 June 1842. (Certificate, Moses K. Anderson to James Arlington Bennet, Springfield, IL, 30 Apr. 1842, Thomas Carlin, Correspondence, Illinois State Archives, Springfield; James Gordon Bennett, “Rising in the World,” New York Herald [New York City], 13 Aug. 1842, [2].)

    Carlin, Thomas. Correspondence, 1838–1842. In Office of the Governor, Records, 1818–1989. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

  3. [3]

    See Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841; and Historical Introduction to Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 1 Sept. 1842.

  4. [4]

    Lucian R. Foster, Recommendation for John M. Bernhisel, 24 Apr. 1843, John M. Bernhisel, Papers, CHL; Brigham Young and John M. Bernhisel to JS, Bond, 30 May 1843, JS Collection (Supplement), CHL.

    Bernhisel, John M. Papers, 1818–1872. CHL. MS 370.

Page [2]

Although I sincerely sympathised with you, I never entertained a shadow of a doubt of the final issue of the case— I deposited a letter in the post office today for in which I desired him to pay the taxes on my land, lest it be sold— If he has not received my letter, will you be kind enough to say to him that he will greatly oblige me by paying the taxes at his earliest convenience— I hope to be prepared to take my departure from this the latter part of this month, or about the 1st of April—
With unfeigned respect I am yours in the ,
[1/2 page blank] [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 8 March 1843
ID #
1007
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:21–24
Handwriting on This Page
  • John M. Bernhisel

Footnotes

  1. [8]

    On 6 January 1843, the United States Circuit Court for the District of Illinois discharged JS on the grounds that the documents issued by Missouri officials to extradite JS for his alleged complicity in the attempted assassination of former governor Lilburn W. Boggs were defective. (Court Ruling, 5 Jan. 1843.)

  2. [9]

    Bernhisel was likely referring to sixty acres east of Nauvoo that JS purchased on Bernhisel’s behalf on 4 January 1842. Illinois law required landowners who did not pay property taxes to forfeit title to their land. (Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 4 Jan. 1842; An Act to Provide for Raising a Revenue [19 Feb. 1837], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 566, sec. 24.)

    The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.

  3. [10]

    That is, “the new and everlasting covenant.” (See Genesis 17:13; and Revelation, 16 Apr. 1830 [D&C 22:1].)

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