TO SMITH TUTTLE
1841 OCTOBER 9

Ls. Joseph Smith, Nauvoo, Illinois, to Smith Tuttle, New Haven, Connecticut, 9 October 1841, 4 pp, in the hand of John S. Fullmer, Illinois State Historical Society.

The largest acquisition of land upon which Nauvoo was to be built occurred in August 1839 when approximately five hundred acres were obtained from Connecticut land speculators Horace R. Hotchkiss, John Gillett, and Smith Tuttle. Under the terms of agreement, the Latter-day Saints were to have immediate use of the land, but no deeds were to be issued until the debt was paid. The purchase amounted to $114,500, to be paid over 20 years. This figure included $3,000 annual interest payments which, along with other monetary demands, created a heavy financial burden for the Saints, who had difficulty meeting the interest payments. At first, the method of making the payments on the Nauvoo land was by soliciting contributions from Church members and from selling town lots. Another means of liquidating the obligation was to encourage Church members in the East to obtain Nauvoo land in exchange for their eastern property, which would then be used as payment to the Hotchkiss, Gillett, and Tuttle syndicate.

In spring 1841, Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland were sent east with means to pay notes that were due and to regulate the eastern land exchange. However, illness soon forced Hyrum to return to Nauvoo, and sometime later in the summer the Prophet learned that Galland had not completed the errand to Hotchkiss. The correspondence between Joseph Smith and members of the Connecticut land syndicate outline the difficult financial problems that faced the Prophet at Nauvoo and his tortured efforts to resolve them. Joseph sent the following letter 9 October 1841 in response to a conciliatory letter Smith Tuttle wrote when a misunderstanding arose over the first interest payment.623

Smith Tuttle Esqr.

Dear Sir,

Your kind letter of Sept. last was rec'd. during our Conference which is just over, containing a full & particular explanation of every thing which gave rise to some feelings of disappointment in relation to our business transactions; and I will assure you, it has allayed, on our part, every prejudise. It breaths the spirit of kindness & truth. I will assure you that we exceedingly regret that there have been any grounds for hardness and disappointment. But so far as I am concerned, I must plead innocence; and you will consider me so, when you come to know all the facts I have done all that I could on my part. I will still do all that I can. I will not leave one stone unturned. Now the facts are these. I sent my Brother Hyrum Smith & Dr. Galland with means in their hands. say, not money, but with power to obtain every property or money which was necessary to enable them to fulfil the contract I made with Mr. Hotchkiss. My brother was under the necessity of returning, in consequence of ill health, to this place, leaving the business in the hands of Dr. Galland, with the fullest expectation that he would make over the property or money to Mr. Hotchkiss, and make every thing square, so far as the interest is concerned, if not the principal. He was instructed to pay the interest that had accrued & would accrue up to the fall of 1842, so as to be in advance of our indebtedness. I had also made arrangements with the eastern Churches, & had it in my power to fork over land for the whole debt; & had expected that an arrangement of that kind would have been entered into. I am well assured that Dr. Galland did not lack <any> means whatever, to pay the interest, at any rate, if not the principal; & why he has not done according to my instructions, God only knows.624 I do not feel to charge him with having done wrong, until I can investigate the matter, and ascertain for a certainty where the fault lies. It [p. 1] may be, that through sickness or disaster, this strange neglect has happened. I would to God the thing had not happened. When I read Mr. Hotchkiss' letter, I learned that he was dissatisfied. I thought he meant to oppress me, & felt exceedingly mortified & sorrowful in the midst of affliction, to think that he should distrust me for a moment, that I would not do all that was within my power. But upon hearing an explanation of the whole matter, my feelings are changed; and I think you all have had cause for complaining; but you will in the magnanimity of y[ou]r good feelings, certainly not blame me when you find I have discharged an honorable duty on my part. I regret exceedingly that I did not know some months since, what I now know, so that I could have made another exertion before it got so late. Cold weather is now rolling in upon us. I have been confined here this season by sickness & various other things that were beyond my control; such as having been demanded by the Governor of Mo. of the Governor of this State, & he not having moral courage enough to resist the demand, although it was founded in injustice & cruelty. I accordingly was taken prisoner, & they put me to some ten or eleven hundred dollars expense & trouble before I could be redeemed from under the difficulty; lawyer's fees, witnesses &c. &c. But I am now clear from them once more, & now in contemplating the face of the whole subject, I find that I am under the necessity of asking a little further indulgence, <say> until next spring, so that I may be enabled to recover myself; and then if God spares my life, & gives me power to do so, I will come in person to y[ou]r country, & will never cease my labors until the whole matter is completely adjusted to the fullest satisfaction of all of you. The subject of your debt was presented fairly before our general Conference, on the first of the month, of some ten thousand people for their decission for the wisest & best course, in relation to meeting your demands. The Twelve, as they are denominated in the [p. 2] "Times & Seasons," were ordered by the Conference to make arrangements in the eastern branches of the Church, ordering them to go to you & turn over their property as you & they could agree, & take up our obligations & bring them here, & receive property here for them. & I have been ordered by the Genl. Conference to write this letter to you, informing you of the measures which are about being taken to make all things right. I would inform you that Dr. Galland has not returned to the western Country as yet. He has a considerable amt. of our money in his hands, which was to have been paid to you as we intended. He is on his way for ought we know, & is retarded in his journey by some misfortune or other. He may return, however, as yet, & give a just and honorable account of himself. We hope this may be the case. I am sorrowful on account of y[ou]r disappointments. It is a great disappointment to me as well as to yourselves. As to the growth of our place, it is very rapid; & it would be more so, were it not for sickness & death. There have been many deaths which leaves a melancholly reflection, but we cannot help it. When God speaks from the heavens to call us hence, we must submit to his mandate. And for yr. your sincerity & friendship, gentlemen, we have not the most distant doubt. We will not harbour any. We know it is for your interest to do us good, & for our happiness & welfare, to be punctual in the fulfilment of all our vows. And we think for the future you will have no cause of complaint. We intend to struggle with all the misfortunes of life, & shoulder them all up handsomely & honorably, even like men. We ask nothing, therefore, but what ought to be <required> granted between man & man, & by those principles which bind man to man by kindred blood, in bearing our own part in everything which duty calls us to do as not inferior to any of the human race, & will be treated as such, although differing with some in matters of opinion in things, (viz: religious matters,) for which we only feel ourselves amenable to the Eternal God. And may God forbid that pride, ambition, a want of humanity [p. 3] or any degree of importance, unjustly should have any dominion in our bosoms. We are the sons of Adam. We are the free born sons of America, and as having been trampled upon, & our constitutional rights taken from us, by a great many who boast themselves of being valient in freedom's cause, which their hearts possess not a spark of its benign & enlivening influence. This will afford a sufficient excuse, we hope, for any harsh remarks that may have been dropped by us, when we thought there was an assumption of superiority designed to gall our feelings. We are very sensitive as a people; we confess it, but we want to be pardoned for our sins, if any we have committed.

With regard to the time when the first payment of interest should be made, it appears we did not understand each other, but it is a matter, which I hope we can amicably adjust when we see each other. I do not intend that it shall prevent our making an arrangement concerning the whole matter, for unless we can accomplish this, it will be useless for us to think of proffiting by the purchase. With sentiments of respect, I remain as ever yours &c.

Joseph Smith

Smith Tuttle Esqr

New Haven,
Ct. [p. 4]