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Letter from John Mills, 1 September 1843

Source Note

John Mills

24 July 1804–20 Mar. 1876. Farmer, carpenter, millwright. Born in Markham, York Co., Upper Canada. Son of Matthew Mills and Hannah. Married Jane Sanford, 13 Mar. 1827, at Markham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by John Taylor, Feb...

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, Letter,
Nashville

Settled by Isaac Galland, 1829. Undeveloped town site purchased by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1839. Laid out and incorporated, 1841, but charter never adopted. Featured one of nine branches within Iowa Stake (later Zarahemla Stake). Branch...

More Info
, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, to JS,
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, 1 Sept. 1843; handwriting of
John Mills

24 July 1804–20 Mar. 1876. Farmer, carpenter, millwright. Born in Markham, York Co., Upper Canada. Son of Matthew Mills and Hannah. Married Jane Sanford, 13 Mar. 1827, at Markham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by John Taylor, Feb...

View Full Bio
; three pages; Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU. Includes address, docket, and archival marking.
Bifolium measuring 12⅜ × 7⅜ inches (31 × 19 cm). The letter was written on the first three pages. It was trifolded twice in letter style and addressed. The letter was later refolded for filing and docketed.
The document was docketed by
William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
, who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and 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
temple recorder from 1842 to 1846.
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.


Comprehensive Works Cited

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.

In late 1844, following JS’s death,
Bishop

An ecclesiastical and priesthood office. JS appointed Edward Partridge as the first bishop in February 1831. Following this appointment, Partridge functioned as the local leader of the church in Missouri. Later revelations described a bishop’s duties as receiving...

View Glossary
Newel K. Whitney

3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...

View Full Bio
became one of the interim church trustees and was appointed “first bishop” among other Nauvoo bishops.
2

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.


Comprehensive Works Cited

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.

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 Whitney kept, was inherited by Newel K. and
Elizabeth Ann Smith Whitney

26 Dec. 1800–15 Feb. 1882. Born at Derby, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Daughter of Gibson Smith and Polly Bradley. Moved to Ohio, 1819. Married Newel K. Whitney, 20 Oct. 1822, at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Shortly after, joined reformed Baptist (later Disciples...

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’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.
3

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


Comprehensive Works Cited

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.

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]

    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 1 September 1843,
Latter-day Saint

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
John Mills

24 July 1804–20 Mar. 1876. Farmer, carpenter, millwright. Born in Markham, York Co., Upper Canada. Son of Matthew Mills and Hannah. Married Jane Sanford, 13 Mar. 1827, at Markham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by John Taylor, Feb...

View Full Bio
wrote a letter from
Nashville

Settled by Isaac Galland, 1829. Undeveloped town site purchased by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1839. Laid out and incorporated, 1841, but charter never adopted. Featured one of nine branches within Iowa Stake (later Zarahemla Stake). Branch...

More Info
, Iowa Territory, to JS 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, concerning a land dispute and his own ongoing poverty. Mills had joined the church in 1837 in
Upper Canada

British colony of Canada divided into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, 1791; reunited 1841. Upper Canada’s boundaries corresponded roughly to portion of present-day Ontario south of Hudson Bay watershed. Population in 1840 about 430,000. Immigrants mainly from...

More Info
,
1

Black, Membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1848, 31:168–169.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Black, Susan Easton, comp. Membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1848. 50 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Department of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University, 1989. Also available as “Membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1848,” LDS Family History Suite: LDS Vital Records Library, CD-ROM ([Provo], UT: Infobases, Inc., 1996).

and he had generously donated money and consecrated his property for the benefit of the church. According to his letter, in 1838 he helped fellow Canadian converts immigrate to the
United States

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

More Info
to join the Saints. After moving to
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
and facing expulsion with other church members, Mills settled his family on church-owned land in southeast
Iowa Territory

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803. First permanent white settlements established, ca. 1833. Organized as territory, 1838, containing all of present-day Iowa, much of present-day Minnesota, and parts of North and South Dakota. Population in...

More Info
. Following JS’s counsel for Saints in Iowa to move to Nauvoo, Mills purchased property there in summer 1841. Much to his dissatisfaction, the land purchase was not properly recorded, and the land was deeded to another party.
2

See Trustees Land Book A, White Purchase, block 161, lot 2.


In an effort to recoup his losses or obtain an alternate parcel of land, Mills contacted JS, who had
William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

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refer Mills to a lot occupied by
John Tidwell

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. Tidwell and Mills could not agree on an arrangement, so Mills requested that JS help him find a different lot.
Mills

24 July 1804–20 Mar. 1876. Farmer, carpenter, millwright. Born in Markham, York Co., Upper Canada. Son of Matthew Mills and Hannah. Married Jane Sanford, 13 Mar. 1827, at Markham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by John Taylor, Feb...

View Full Bio
wrote the letter featured here on 1 September and likely sent it shortly thereafter. The lack of postal markings indicates that Mills either hand delivered the letter or sent it by courier to JS 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
.
Nashville

Settled by Isaac Galland, 1829. Undeveloped town site purchased by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1839. Laid out and incorporated, 1841, but charter never adopted. Featured one of nine branches within Iowa Stake (later Zarahemla Stake). Branch...

More Info
was within five miles of Nauvoo, so the letter could have easily been delivered within a day. The letter was received in Nauvoo, as is evident from a docket added by
Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
, JS’s clerk. There is no known response. Within a few months, however, Mills received a deed to a different lot of land in Nauvoo.
3

Mills had the deed to the land recorded in January 1844. (Nauvoo Registry of Deeds, Record of Deeds, bk. B, p. 55.)


Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Black, Membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1848, 31:168–169.

    Black, Susan Easton, comp. Membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1848. 50 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Department of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University, 1989. Also available as “Membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1848,” LDS Family History Suite: LDS Vital Records Library, CD-ROM ([Provo], UT: Infobases, Inc., 1996).

  2. [2]

    See Trustees Land Book A, White Purchase, block 161, lot 2.

  3. [3]

    Mills had the deed to the land recorded in January 1844. (Nauvoo Registry of Deeds, Record of Deeds, bk. B, p. 55.)

Page [1]

Nashville

Settled by Isaac Galland, 1829. Undeveloped town site purchased by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1839. Laid out and incorporated, 1841, but charter never adopted. Featured one of nine branches within Iowa Stake (later Zarahemla Stake). Branch...

More Info
<​September 1st​> 1843
Brother Joseph Smith <​sir​> I take this way of conveying mind <​my​> mind or wishes to you as a muiltiplisity of business hinders you from hearing me verbaly[.] some time in the summer of 1841 I purchased a fractional lot 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
of Br
Brigham Young

1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...

View Full Bio
and got a deed from you and did not get it recorded immediately for I thought I was perfectly safe and knew no better untill I went to pay my taxes and was greatly disappointed to hear that an other man had a deed of my Lot and it was on record
1

According to the trustee land book, this was fractional lot 2 on block 161. Mills purchased this lot from JS through Brigham Young on either 26 August or 26 October 1841 for $125, but it was not recorded in either the deed records or the trustee land book. On 11 May 1842, JS mistakenly sold it a second time, to Elizer G. Terrall for $53. Mills’s purchase was apparently added to the land book after Mills wrote the featured letter. (Trustees Land Book A, White Purchase, block 161, lot 2.)


and I made you acquainted with the circumstance and you told
Mr Claten [William Clayton]

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
2

As JS’s frequent agent and clerk for financial business, Clayton spent much of his time regulating Nauvoo land transactions and recording them in both city and trustee-in-trust record books. (See, for example, JS, Journal, 9 and 16 July 1842; 7 Mar. 1843; and Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 11 Feb. 1843, 159; see also Trustees Land Books A and B, CHL.)


to look me out another Lot that would suit me as well and
Mr Claten

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
cited me to a Lot where
Mr. [John] Tidwell

View Full Bio

lives
3

Tidwell entered a bond to purchase the northeast quarter of lot 1 in block 158 in Nauvoo in January 1840, and on 9 March 1843, JS deeded the property to him. (JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith to John Tidwell, Bond, Nauvoo, Hancock Co., IL, 20 Jan. 1840, CHL; Nauvoo Registry of Deeds, Record of Deeds, bk. B, p. 1.)


and I asked him a half acre in exchange for mine and he refused untill he could see you and I waited a while and went to him again and he said you gave him no satisfaction as you was huried with business and he told me to go to you myself and I accordingly did and you gave me no better satisfaction and now if I can get another Lot I would like to get it and build on it so as to move in to
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
as soon as I can for I feel as if I lived on the
half breed land

Tract consisted of 119,000 acres located in southeastern Iowa between Des Moines and Mississippi rivers. In 1824, U.S. Congress set aside tract for offspring of American Indian mothers and white fathers. Subsequent act passed, 1834, relinquishing Congress...

More Info
,
4

An 1824 treaty between the United States and the Sauk and Meskwaki nations (designated by Euro-Americans as the Sac and Fox tribe) set aside about 119,000 acres of land between the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers, just south of Fort Madison in Lee County, Iowa Territory, for the mixed-race children of white soldiers and Sauk and Meskwaki women. The land was referred to as the “Half-Breed Tract.” (Treaty with the Sock and Fox Indians [4 Aug. 1824], Public Statutes at Large, vol. 7, p. 229, art. 1.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

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.

I will tell you <​my​> reasons for neglecting to get my deed on record
I Joined the
church of Latter day saints

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
in
U[pper] Canada

British colony of Canada divided into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, 1791; reunited 1841. Upper Canada’s boundaries corresponded roughly to portion of present-day Ontario south of Hudson Bay watershed. Population in 1840 about 430,000. Immigrants mainly from...

More Info
and was posessed of about 1500 dollars of money and property and was directed that the [p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John Mills, 1 September 1843
ID #
1155
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:97–101
Handwriting on This Page
  • John Mills

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    According to the trustee land book, this was fractional lot 2 on block 161. Mills purchased this lot from JS through Brigham Young on either 26 August or 26 October 1841 for $125, but it was not recorded in either the deed records or the trustee land book. On 11 May 1842, JS mistakenly sold it a second time, to Elizer G. Terrall for $53. Mills’s purchase was apparently added to the land book after Mills wrote the featured letter. (Trustees Land Book A, White Purchase, block 161, lot 2.)

  2. [2]

    As JS’s frequent agent and clerk for financial business, Clayton spent much of his time regulating Nauvoo land transactions and recording them in both city and trustee-in-trust record books. (See, for example, JS, Journal, 9 and 16 July 1842; 7 Mar. 1843; and Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 11 Feb. 1843, 159; see also Trustees Land Books A and B, CHL.)

  3. [3]

    Tidwell entered a bond to purchase the northeast quarter of lot 1 in block 158 in Nauvoo in January 1840, and on 9 March 1843, JS deeded the property to him. (JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith to John Tidwell, Bond, Nauvoo, Hancock Co., IL, 20 Jan. 1840, CHL; Nauvoo Registry of Deeds, Record of Deeds, bk. B, p. 1.)

  4. [4]

    An 1824 treaty between the United States and the Sauk and Meskwaki nations (designated by Euro-Americans as the Sac and Fox tribe) set aside about 119,000 acres of land between the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers, just south of Fort Madison in Lee County, Iowa Territory, for the mixed-race children of white soldiers and Sauk and Meskwaki women. The land was referred to as the “Half-Breed Tract.” (Treaty with the Sock and Fox Indians [4 Aug. 1824], Public Statutes at Large, vol. 7, p. 229, art. 1.)

    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.

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