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Letter from Thomas Rawcliff, 24 May 1843

Source Note

Thomas Rawcliff, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 24 May 1843; handwriting and signature presumably of Thomas Rawcliff; six pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address and docket.
Bifolium measuring 12½ × 7½ inches (32 × 19 cm) with an extra slip of paper measuring 5½ × 4⅝ inches (14 × 12 cm). The recto of the first leaf appears to have been ruled with horizontal blue lines, now almost completely faded. The letter was written on the verso of the first leaf, the recto and verso of the second leaf, and then the recto of the first leaf. It was concluded on a separate slip of paper, ruled with sixteen horizontal blue lines and apparently cut from a larger sheet of paper. The slip was inserted into the bifolium. The letter was then trifolded twice for mailing, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. Remnants of the wafer are on both sides of the first leaf. The letter was later refolded for filing.
The letter was docketed by , who served as JS's scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

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

  2. [2]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  3. [3]

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

Historical Introduction

On 24 May 1843, Thomas Rawcliff, a British immigrant living in , Illinois, wrote a letter to JS asking for help in recovering debts owed him by , , and , three prominent members of the and the Nauvoo community. Rawcliff also shared his concern for his fellow British immigrants, who he believed were being exploited through land speculation, lending practices, and employment arrangements. Though his parents joined the church in , Rawcliff was not a Latter-day Saint. After a brief sojourn in in 1841, he came to Nauvoo at the encouragement of friends who lived there. After settling in Nauvoo, he discovered some things that troubled him.
In 1841, British immigrants began arriving in and were in desperate need of employment. Several men found work building the and were dependent upon Nauvoo House funding for their subsistence. Rawcliff asserted that his friends working on the building were underfed and underpaid. This was not an uncommon complaint; on 21 February 1843, —overseer of the Nauvoo House construction—stated that it was difficult to keep workmen on the job because he could not adequately feed or compensate them. At a church in Nauvoo in April 1843, church members approved a motion for the to collect funds for the Nauvoo House. On 19 April, JS directed the apostles to “go in the name of th[e] Lord God & tell [Lucien] Woodworth to put the hands onto the Nauvoo House & be patient till men can be provided.” In addition, JS encouraged British immigrants to find work outside the city because of the lack of employment opportunities in Nauvoo.
Rawcliff went on to express worry that some individuals—one of whom he believed was —were attempting to swindle newly arrived Latter-day Saints. JS generally shared Rawcliff’s concern. On 13 April 1843, JS addressed a group of immigrants assembled at the site and warned them about “specluators who would get away your property.” He encouraged immigrants to rely on church leaders for advice regarding whom they could trust.
JS and other church leaders periodically lectured the Saints against stealing from those not of the faith. Despite these efforts, Rawcliff believed that some church members had no qualms about cheating outsiders. He was especially frustrated because he could not get , a doctor and prominent businessman; , major general of the ; and , a counselor in the , to repay their debts to him. After repeated attempts to collect the money, Rawcliff felt “reluctantly compelled” to seek JS’s help as church president and wrote requesting assistance in recovering his money.
The letter contains no postmarks, which indicates that Rawcliff or a courier delivered it. A later history stated that JS received the letter the same day Rawcliff wrote it. No response to the letter is known, and it is unclear whether JS took any action against the Laws or .

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 26 June 1855, in Northern Islander, 16 Aug. 1855, [3].

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

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 21 Feb. 1843.

  3. [3]

    Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 Apr.–ca. 8 May 1843; see also Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843.

  4. [4]

    Minutes, 19 Apr. 1843.

  5. [5]

    Discourse, 13 Apr. 1843.

  6. [6]

    Discourse, 13 Apr. 1843; JS, Journal, 13 Apr. 1843.

  7. [7]

    Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843; see also “Thieves,” Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1841, 3:615; and Discourse, 10 Apr. 1842.

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

  8. [8]

    JS History, vol. D-1, 1561.

Page [4]

time, and I had got such an opinion of them as to being gentlemen and punctual, that, if an angel had appeared and told me they would not pay me at the time; I could scarcly have beleived it <​him​> I should have been jealous he was a bad one, like your brother said the other sunday, I wish such sermons as your preached were was adhered to a little more, I mean about honesty &c— but I beleive it just goes in at one ear, and then out at the other. but the corruption of this place will soon be its own downfall, for people after being duped out of their money and wages (as it is the universal cry) will not set down patiently and die off to please their deceivers, but they’ll warn others to beware, as it is every ones duty to do. And try to stop such wide spreading ruin and wretchedness, from stalking to thru this the place; just to enrich a few speculators. I should not have wrote this had not the last week after <​me​> going a few times to ask, and beg of them for my money, as I was really in great need of it; not only being a great loss to me in my little way, but likewise stopping two of us from going to , and a man that I was owing some money to, having come 200 miles to receive it. but all this could not reach his righteous soul: for he told me just like as they have done before every time. that they could get no money, and that I need not keep coming for they were as honest men as I was and would pay me as soon as they could get it; so you may judge they [the] state of my mind at present, having made every preparation, to go off to as near as I can, keeping a house a going, and a housekeeper to hire. and another man that has been working for me waiting to go back with me; and the man that has come for the money I owe him; having a wife in that should have come with my friends to last fall. but as they are not coming yet, than they see me, on account of the bad reports that people give of this place, that have gone back to .
So, now Sir, I will conclude with a hope, that you will use that infl[uenc]e of which you are possesed; as it never can be employed in a better cause, than in doing justice to the poor and needy; for I do not no [know] what to do at the present time; my hopes are blasted, and I am fast sinking into despair, for told me if I did not like to wait until they got it, that I might take my own course I suppose they are intending to takeing advantage of the this new and damnable law, for he said they would not sacrifice property under half its value to pay any debt, and they value the hemp field at 100 dollars per acre, and so just to pay this debt, they would condescend to take 50 Dollars for a few acres in cash. so you see the case as it stands: and I know they sold 40 acres of Timber land to , and a man about a fortnight ago, and got half the payment down; and when I told them of it, said it was only a transfer about an old affair that took place in winter, when they [the] man that bought it told me, it was nothing of the kind; but a new bargain, and the money paid right down, A good many mormons and some holding high offices in your church have advised me not to write at all to you, for you were so closely connected with Laws that you will only make a fool of me a on the , for said they you often hear tell of people lending money, but do you ever hear of any getting it back again excepting some of their Land at 10 time its value
To Joseph Smith Esq
Mayor of the City of
Ill. [p. [4]]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [4]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Thomas Rawcliff, 24 May 1843
ID #
1081
Total Pages
6
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:328–342
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Rawcliff

Footnotes

  1. [44]

    This may refer to the discourse against stealing that Hyrum Smith gave at the church’s April conference, although it was given on a Thursday, not a Sunday. (Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843.)

  2. [45]

    TEXT: “infl[page torn]e”.

  3. [46]

    This may refer to a law enacted in Illinois in January 1843 stating that mortgaged property should not be sold for less than two-thirds of its market value. (An Act Entitled “An Act Regulating the Sale of Property on Judgments and Executions” [6 Jan. 1843], Laws of the State of Illinois [1842–1843], p. 186, sec. 1.)

    Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835. Vandalia, IL: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835.

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