JS, Letter, [, Hancock Co., IL], to , [, New Haven Co., CT], 10 Mar. 1842. Featured version copied [ca. 10 Mar. 1842] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 230–231; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.
Historical Introduction
On 10 March 1842 JS wrote to in regarding various land transaction proposals. In August 1839 JS, , and , informally acting on behalf of the , agreed to purchase approximately four hundred acres of land in , Illinois, from Hotchkiss and his business partners, and . The land comprised much of the north half of what subsequently became the city of . While the principal owed for this large purchase was not due for nearly two more decades, interest payments of $3,000 per year had begun accruing. To pay the first year’s interest two weeks earlier, the church—through —transferred some property in to Hotchkiss, Tuttle, and Gillet.
As had notified JS of the partnership’s willingness to accept land in lieu of cash, JS wrote to Hotchkiss in early March with additional proposals of land transfers. One of these involved a sizeable property near , Indiana, owned by Dr. . The value of this property and similar properties that could be made available in short order, JS reported, was enough to cover the $50,000 principal of the purchase, concluding the 1839 sale if Hotchkiss and his colleagues agreed to take it.
JS closed his letter by describing the plight of the State Bank of Illinois, suggesting that without reliable paper money in circulation, land transfers would be the most efficient and profitable way for and his partners to receive payment for the property. Though Hotchkiss responded to JS’s letter the following month, he did not directly address the significant offer of ’s land.
The original letter is apparently not extant. inscribed the original and later copied it into JS Letterbook 2, probably around the time the letter was written.
<2nd.> I have also received a communication from Dr Barton Robinson who has property in the neighbourhood of to the amount of $5,000. and proposes an exchange for property in , and I understand is willing to take the property. If it meet your approbation, please let me know.
<3rd.> I would also make mention of of , Ia, who proposes to pay over to you property to the amount of $20,000 or $50,000 real Estate, in & around & now Sir, if this and such like property will answer your purpose I shall be able to satisfy all your demands immediately or as soon as the transfers can be effected.—
If you are agreed to s taking any or all of the property specified as above & will please inform him of the same and he will receipt the property to the individual of whom he receives it, that receipt together with your letter of approval will be a sufficient voucher for me to settle with those who shall thus help to liquidate your claim on me
This Sir, is the most encouraging communication I am able to make to you, for the State Bank of is down, or rather the public have ceased to take her notes & there is no money in circulation & all business is transacted by barter; and I see no prospect of any better <times> or any prospect of our being able to render you any better compensation than that above stated, if I could I would gladly do so.— But for your interest, as an honest man I must recommend you to get your pay the first chance that offers.—
I assure you Sir— that the very kind feelings manifested in your letter are reciprocated on my part and that nothing that I can do shall be wanting to accomplish every thing to your satisfaction
Gillet lived in Lake Fork, Logan County, Illinois. (John Gillet, Lake Fork, IL, to Smith Tuttle, Fair Haven, CT, 10 June 1841, Gillett Family Papers, 1736–1904, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.)
Gillett Family Papers, 1736–1904. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.
In his History of Illinois, former governor Thomas Ford wrote, “In February, 1842, the State Bank, with a circulation of three millions of dollars, finally exploded with a great crash, carrying wide-spread ruin all over the State, and into the neighboring States and territories.” Ford attributed the failure of the bank to the federal government’s refusal to accept state bank specie for public lands, the bank’s excessive lending to the state legislature (to the amount of $294,000 by the time Ford came to office), and the bank’s printing of small denominations of paper money (one-, two-, and three-dollar notes). These factors combined to catastrophically devalue the banknotes in circulation. (Ford, History of Illinois, 223–227; see also “State Bank of Illinois,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:728–729.)
Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.
In addition to containing friendly closing remarks, Hotchkiss’s 7 February letter included the following note: “I see by the public prints that you are progressing in population wealth and improvements beyond any precident and this state of things aside from any pecuniary consideration can give no person greater pleasure than myself.” (Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 7 Feb. 1842.)