, Letter, , New York Co., NY, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 18 Aug. 1841; handwriting of ; two pages; BYU. Includes address, postal stamps, postal notations, and docket.
Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm) and ruled with twenty-eight horizontal blue lines that are now faded. An embossed logo for a paper mill appears in the top left corner of the first page and reads “Southworth Co., Springfield”. The letter was written on the recto and verso of the first leaf. The bifolium was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The second leaf was torn, likely when the letter was opened. The letter was later folded for filing.
A docket in the handwriting of , who served in a clerical capacity for JS from 1841 to 1842, appears on the verso of the second leaf. The first page is torn along the top horizontal fold. According to a notation on a photocopy of this document, the letter was acquired at an auction in 1964 by Brigham Young University, where it remains as part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections.
Fullmer, John S. Letterbook, 1836–1881. John S. Fullmer Journal and Letterbook, 1836–1881. CHL.
Historical Introduction
wrote this letter to JS on 18 August 1841 in regarding his intention to buy land near , Illinois. The letter followed up on a previous communication Bernhisel sent to JS on this same subject. In that earlier letter, Bernhisel included a certificate of deposit for $425 to be used for procuring land on his behalf. To confirm JS’s receipt of the deposit, Bernhisel sent the letter featured here and another nonextant communication to an “Elder Kimball,” likely . Though JS answered Bernhisel’s first letter in a communication dated 3 August 1841, evidently Bernhisel had not yet received it. That letter was intended primarily to inform Bernhisel that JS had indeed received his letter and deposit.
A docket in the handwriting of JS’s clerk indicates that JS received this 18 August letter. JS also received an additional letter from less than a month later. JS responded to both letters in mid-November 1841.