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Letter from Thomas Carlin, 27 July 1842

Source Note

, Letter, , Adams Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 27 July 1842; handwriting of ; two pages; JS Materials, courtesy of Community of Christ Archives, International Headquarters, Independence, Missouri. Includes address, dockets, and notations.
Bifolium measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). The verso of the first leaf and recto of the second leaf are ruled with twenty-six lines (now faded). The upper left corner of the recto of each leaf contains the illegible insignia of a paper mill. The letter is written on the first leaf. The recto of the second leaf is blank, and the letter is addressed on the verso of the second leaf. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style for transmission, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. When the letter was opened, two holes were torn in the second leaf, leaving remnants of the wafer. The letter was trifolded again for filing. Marked paper discoloration has occurred on the recto and verso of the first page, as well as in the address block on the verso of the second leaf. The letter has undergone conservation.
The verso of the second leaf bears two notations and two dockets. The notations are in the handwriting of , written in blue ink: “Copied on Page 170” and “To be published in the Wasp”. One of the dockets is in the handwriting of , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844. The other docket is in unidentified handwriting. The letter was probably retained by JS’s descendants. By 1961, the family had donated the letter to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ), and it is now housed in the Community of Christ Library and Archives in Independence, Missouri.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    This letter was copied into JS’s journal in the Book of the Law of the Lord. The letter does not appear to have been published in the Wasp. The letter was also copied into JS Letterbook 2. (Book of the Law of the Lord, 169–170; JS Letterbook 2, pp. 240–241.)

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.

    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.

  3. [3]

    Richard Howard, email to Rachel Killebrew, 5 June 2017, copy in editors’ possession.

Historical Introduction

On 27 July 1842, governor wrote a letter from , Illinois, to JS in , Illinois, acknowledging receipt of a 25 July letter from JS and assuring him that ’s machinations would not endanger Nauvoo citizens. JS’s 25 July letter to Carlin, along with petitions from the men and women of Nauvoo and a report of the court-martial and cashiering of John C. Bennett from the , had been delivered by , , , and . JS’s letter is apparently not extant, but its contents can be derived in part from Carlin’s reply, which quotes from the letter. JS had expressed his concern to Carlin that Nauvoo might be attacked and asked the governor to order that the legion be held in readiness to counter any such attack. In Carlin’s 27 July letter of reply, the governor pledged his willingness to protect the Saints from any attempted violence, but he refused to issue orders for the legion to stand in readiness.
delivered ’s letter to JS by 29 July, when he and the others who had visited Carlin had returned to . JS answered the letter on 30 July. later copied Carlin’s letter into JS Letterbook 2, and made another copy in JS’s journal, probably sometime in August 1842.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Eliza R. Snow, Journal, 29 July 1842; Derr et al., First Fifty Years of Relief Society, 137.

    Snow, Eliza R. Journal, 1842–1844. CHL. MS 1439.

    Derr, Jill Mulvay, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds. The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016.

  2. [2]

    For more information on reasons for JS’s fear of an attack, see Historical Introduction to Letter from Calvin A. Warren, 13 July 1842; and Historical Introduction to Minutes, 22 July 1842.

  3. [3]

    Eliza R. Snow, Journal, 29 July 1842.

    Snow, Eliza R. Journal, 1842–1844. CHL. MS 1439.

  4. [4]

    Letter to Thomas Carlin, 30 July 1842.

  5. [5]

    JS Letterbook 2, pp. 240–241; JS, Journal, Copied Correspondence, 30 June–17 Aug. 1842.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Thomas Carlin, 27 July 1842
Letterbook 2 Journal, December 1841–December 1842 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [1]

July 27th 1842
Dear Sir
Your Communication of the 25th instant, together the petitions of the Citizens of the City of , both male and female, were delivered to me last evening by Brevet Major General . Also a report of Esqr Secty, of the , of the proceedings of a Court Martial of Brevet Major General, had upon Charges had prefered against Major Genl. upon which trial the Court found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to be Cashiered.
All of which have been Considered.
In reply to your expressed apprehensions of “the possibility of an attack, upon the peaceable Inhabitants of the City of and vicinity, through the intrigues and false representations of and others” and your request that I would issue official orders to you, to have the Nauvoo Legion in readiness, to be called out at a moments warning in defence of the peaceable Citizens &c. I must say that I Can not conceive of the least probability, or scarcely possibility, of an attack of violence upon the Citizens of from any quarter whatever— and as utterly impossible that such attack is contemplated by any sufficient number of [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Thomas Carlin, 27 July 1842
ID #
2789
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:314–317
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Carlin

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes, 22 July 1842; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 22 July 1842, 95–97; Nauvoo Female Relief Society, Petition to Thomas Carlin, ca. 22 July 1842, in Derr et al., First Fifty Years of Relief Society, 139–141.

    Derr, Jill Mulvay, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds. The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016.

  2. [2]

    Law, accompanied by Emma Smith, Eliza R. Snow, and Amanda Barnes Smith, delivered the petitions to Carlin, including the one from the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo. According to Eliza R. Snow, Carlin received them “with cordiality, and as much affability and politeness as his Excellency is master of, assuring us of his protection, by saying that the laws and Constitution of our country shall be his polar star in case of any difficulty.” (Eliza R. Snow, Journal, 29 July 1842.)

    Snow, Eliza R. Journal, 1842–1844. CHL. MS 1439.

  3. [3]

    Sloan’s report and the minutes from this court-martial are apparently not extant. According to Hosea Stout, the court-martial occurred “some time in the month of June 1842.” JS’s journal noted that JS testified before a court-martial on Bennett on 30 June, but it does not specify whether Bennett was cashiered on that day. An unspecified statement of charges, in Stout’s handwriting, appears to record the charges issued against Bennett. These charges state that Bennett “made an attempt to commit suicide by taking poison”; that at the funeral of Don Carlos Smith, JS’s brother, he ordered the light infantry to charge a group of women sitting on the stand because he wanted them removed; and that he pursued “a continual course of unofficer and ungentlemanly-like conduct” through his attempted seduction of women. (Hosea Stout, “History of the Nauvoo Legion,” Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL; JS, Journal, 30 June 1842; Nauvoo Legion, Charge against John C. Bennett, 1842, CHL.)

    Stout, Hosea. History of the Nauvoo Legion, Draft 1, ca. 1844–1845. Nauvoo Legion Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430, fd. 10. One of three drafts of the history; includes material dated 4 February 1841 through 22 June 1844. Pages are out of order; in the current order, this draft includes pp. [5]–[8], [15]–[22].

    Nauvoo Legion. Charge against John C. Bennett, 1842. CHL.

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