Letter to Newel K. Whitney, 12 December 1840

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Letter to Newel K. Whitney, 12 December 1840
Source Note

JS, Letter,
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....
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, Hancock Co., IL, to
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...
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,
Nauvoo
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, Hancock Co., IL, 12 Dec. 1840; handwriting of JS; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket.

One leaf, measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). An illegible paper mill mark is present in the upper left-hand corner of the recto. The top, right, and bottom edges of the recto have the square cut of manufactured paper. The left edge is unevenly cut. The leaf was folded in half and then in fourths, presumably for filing, and has undergone some conservation.

The letter apparently has been in continuous church custody since
Whitney
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received it. It was cataloged in the JS Collection in 1973 by Church Historical Department staff.
1
Johnson, Register of the Joseph Smith Collection, 8..
Comprehensive Works Cited
Johnson, Jeffery O. Register of the Joseph Smith Collection in the Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1973.
Footnotes
[1]
Johnson, Register of the Joseph Smith Collection, 8..
Johnson, Jeffery O. Register of the Joseph Smith Collection in the Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1973.
Historical Introduction
On 12 December 1840, JS wrote a letter to
Newel K. Whitney
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, one of the
bishops
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...
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in
Nauvoo
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, Illinois. The letter requested that the bearer—whose identity is unknown—be given wood for JS’s
office
Term usually applied to JS’s private office, which was located at various places during JS’s lifetime, including his home. From fall 1840 until completion of JS’s brick store, office was located on second floor of a new building, possibly on Water Street ...
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. JS had only recently moved into this office, which was later described by
Howard Coray
6 May 1817–16 Jan. 1908. Bookkeeper, clerk, teacher, farmer. Born in Dansville, Steuben Co., New York. Son of Silas Coray and Mary Stephens. Moved to Providence, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania, ca. 1827; to Williams, Northampton Co., Pennsylvania, by 1830; and...
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as a two-story building, with most of the office work occurring on the second floor.
1
Coray, Autobiographical Sketch, 4, 19.
Coray, Howard. Autobiographical Sketch, after 1883. Howard Coray, Papers, ca. 1840–1941. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2043, fd. 1.
This letter is similar to pay orders JS wrote in 1840 to Whitney and
Oliver Granger
7 Feb. 1794–23/25 Aug. 1841. Sheriff, church agent. Born at Phelps, Ontario Co., New York. Son of Pierce Granger and Clarissa Trumble. Married Lydia Dibble, 8 Sept. 1813, at Phelps. Member of Methodist church and licensed exhorter. Sheriff of Ontario Co. ...
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, both of whom served as proprietors of a “Store of Goods” in Nauvoo that was likely used as a
church
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...
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storehouse
Both a literal and a figurative repository for goods and land donated to the church. The book of Malachi directed the house of Israel to bring “all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house.” In JS’s revision of the Old Testament...
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.
2
Pay Order to Oliver Granger, 15 Apr. 1840; Pay Order to Newel K. Whitney for “Mrs. Young,” 15 June 1840; Pay Order to Newel K. Whitney for George Miller, 18 Sept. 1840.

JS wrote the note himself and signed it. It was taken to
Whitney
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in
Nauvoo
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, who made a notation on the back of the document: “Joseph Smith, Letter for Wood 12 Der. 1840.”
Footnotes
[1]
Coray, Autobiographical Sketch, 4, 19.
Coray, Howard. Autobiographical Sketch, after 1883. Howard Coray, Papers, ca. 1840–1941. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2043, fd. 1.
[2]
Pay Order to Oliver Granger, 15 Apr. 1840; Pay Order to Newel K. Whitney for “Mrs. Young,” 15 June 1840; Pay Order to Newel K. Whitney for George Miller, 18 Sept. 1840.
Page [1]
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Nauvoo
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Dec. 12th 1840

Brother Whitney
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Dear Sir

I am at work in my
office
Term usually applied to JS’s private office, which was located at various places during JS’s lifetime, including his home. From fall 1840 until completion of JS’s brick store, office was located on second floor of a new building, possibly on Water Street ...
More Info
am under the necesity to have some help from time to time to help me along in my calling
1
In June 1840, JS submitted a memorial to the Nauvoo high council asking that he be relieved of “the anxiety and trouble necessarily attendant on business transactions” so that he could focus on “those things connected with the Spiritual welfare of the Saints.” The high council voted to have Henry G. Sherwood be a clerk for the sale of city plots in Nauvoo. JS also employed scribes and clerks to help him with record keeping. (Memorial to Nauvoo High Council, 18 June 1840; Minutes, 3 July 1840; Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 440–458.)
Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.
I therefore desire you to let the bearer of this hav[e]
2
TEXT: JS began writing an “e” at the edge of the page, which was apparently completed off the page.
<some> of that dry wood to burn in the stove of my office and obliege

your hum[b]le
3
TEXT: The ink of the “b” has smeared, obscuring it.
servent

Joseph Smith [p. [1]]
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Document Information
Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Newel K. Whitney, 12 December 1840
ID #
587
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:448–450
Handwriting on This Page
Joseph Smith Jr.
Footnotes
[1]
In June 1840, JS submitted a memorial to the Nauvoo high council asking that he be relieved of “the anxiety and trouble necessarily attendant on business transactions” so that he could focus on “those things connected with the Spiritual welfare of the Saints.” The high council voted to have Henry G. Sherwood be a clerk for the sale of city plots in Nauvoo. JS also employed scribes and clerks to help him with record keeping. (Memorial to Nauvoo High Council, 18 June 1840; Minutes, 3 July 1840; Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 440–458.)
Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.
[2]
TEXT: JS began writing an “e” at the edge of the page, which was apparently completed off the page.
[3]
TEXT: The ink of the “b” has smeared, obscuring it.