RICK
GRUNDER – BOOKS
Lafayette,
New York
MORMON - RELATED MATERIAL
Click on any item for description or illustrations . . .
Latest Catalog, MORMON LIST 69,
March 2012CLICK HERE for the complete ILLUSTRATED CATALOG (.pdf file, 19 MB)
Or CLICK HERE for a smaller, Microsoft Word version, 10 MB.Or CLICK HERE for dial-up version (no illustrations, small file Microsoft Word document, 178 KB).
THE FARMER'S ORACLE. The hand of Industry makes the Desert to bud, bloom and bear fruit, and rears the proudest structures of Earth. Spring Lake Villa, Utah County, Utah [Territory], Friday, January 15, 1864 [Volume I, issue No. 16].
$1,250
Utah's first country newspaper. So colorful (literally!). and rare. Click here - or on the picture - for a detailed illustrated description.
Not just anybody's kid! Do you recognize who this is?
A rare and precious original photograph of Joseph and Emma's youngest child - artist, poet, missionary, and eventual tragic figure.
Click on the picture or the link above to go to the detailed illustrated description. $2,750
[MISSOURI] Two 1830s MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENTS SIGNED by substantial western Missouri citizens who once attempted to help the Mormons.
the two documents: $850
• STOLLINGS, Jacob (Missouri merchant who assisted Mormons to settle in Daviess County by extending credit until they burned his home and plundered his record books). MANUSCRIPT ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT SIGNED with one Weekly DALE for the construction of a wool carding machine. Missouri (probably Clay or Ray County), 27 February 1836.
31 X 19½ cm. One page (verso blank) with blank conjugate leaf. Medium wear, the signatures very good.
When Daviess and Caldwell Counties, Missouri, were separated from Ray in late 1836, it was understood that Caldwell was for the Mormons, and Daviess for non-Mormons. There was no legally-binding agreement, of course, and some Mormons chose to settle in Daviess by the good grace and permission of its non-Mormon pioneer residents. It was an act of trusting kindness as much as good business, therefore, when Jacob STOLLINGS, a merchant in the town of Gallatin in central Daviess County, befriended newly-arrived Saints to the point of extending them credit for groceries and merchandise against anticipated crops to be harvested the following year. (Stephen C. LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri [Columbia, Missouri, 1987], p. 27). In those times of cash-poor economy, a storekeeper's record books were a legal document by which customers became indebted to him. Such books were as important as stocks or bonds, - essential to the survival of a business.
Tragically, when the Mormon War escalated in the fall of 1838, Mormon vigilantes raided and plundered the non-Mormons of Gallatin. "Some of the Missourians who were threatened or had their homes plundered and burned," according to LeSueur, "were actually friends of the Mormons. Jacob Stollings, a Gallatin merchant, had sold goods to the Saints on credit, to be paid for when their crops were harvested. When Captain Patten's company attacked Gallatin, they plundered and burned Stollings' store and confiscated his receipt books, which he never recovered." (p. 186).
Stollings' indispensable records of Mormon indebtedness were never returned. He became so desperate that on April 12, 1839, he wrote Joseph Smith (who had just been transferred from Liberty, Missouri, to the jail in Gallatin), enclosing a signed agreement to forgive all Mormon debts if only the Mormons would return his books (which naturally would have contained the obligations of all Stollings' customers, Mormon and non-Mormon alike). (HC III:316). Hardly in a mood to care, Joseph Smith mused . . .
A curious idea, that I who had been a prisoner many months should be called upon to hunt up lost property, or property most likely destroyed by the mob; but it is no more curious than a thousand other things that have happened; and I feel to do all I can to oblige any of my fellow creatures. [HC III:317]
The Mormons claimed that the depredations on Stollings' property had been committed by anti-Mormons trying to ruin the Mormons' good name, and Joseph advised Stollings to see if Sampson Avard had the missing books. There are further references to Stollings in Church history of this period. In summary, he never got his books, and was at times seen participating in anti-Mormon activities.
The manuscript now offered here for sale does not relate to the Mormons, but comes from the right time and place for one interested in owning his signature and an interesting example of his orderly business dealings! This is a fascinating contract, detailed if somewhat informal, carefully specifying the conditions for Mr. Dale to make the machine Stollings requires, with ". . . 1 Main Cylinder about 36 in . . ." Stollings agrees to provide the cards, wheel & drum to run the machine, along with other parts. Mr. Dale agrees to start construction of the device "in a workman like manner . . . by the 20th of June next (provided the castings & cards get on in time) . . ." Once the machine is built, Stollings promises to haul it all the way home to Gallatin from Dale's house in Clay County! It will cost Stollings $275, and we can only wonder if this was part of the property which was eventually destroyed by the Mormons to whom he had agreed to lend a hand about a year after he signed this very paper.
PROVENANCE: Accompanying this manuscript agreement is a signed, notarized statement of provenance from the previous owner, a respected collector known to me personally for more than thirty years, certifying that he obtained the item from a named (non-Mormon) dealer in 1977.
:: TOGETHER WITH ::
• RYLAND, John F. (Missouri judge who tried to assist Mormons and stop civil violence in 1834). AUTOGRAPH DOCUMENT SIGNED in relation to a civil suit involving Jacob STOLLINGS. Ray County, Missouri. Early June 1832.
33½ X 21 cm. One page; verso blank but for filing docket. Very good, with a few discreet archival tissue repairs on the blank verso; the signature very good.
If "John Ryland" is not a household word today, the name was certainly familiar to beseiged Latter-day Saints in 1834 Missouri! Ryland tried to be fair to the Mormons, and he later received considerable, favorable attention in Joseph Smith's History of the Church, B. H. Roberts' Comprehensive History of the Church, the Times and Seasons history of the Missouri period, and in many later historical works. He should not be confused with Judge E. M. Ryland (whose communications precipitated Governor Boggs' extermination order against the Mormons in 1838).
The document offered here did not involve Mormons, but it is a nice early Missouri piece written to help ajudicate a lawsuit involving "Jacob Stollings vs. Washington Huffaker, . . . Ray Circuit Court, June Term 1832." The entire tall page appears to be in Ryland's somewhat distinctive hand.
Rather than to summarize the complex Mormon events which occured in Missouri shortly after this document was signed there, and which can be studied in depth in the sources mentioned above, I will simply quote two letters below (obviously NOT included for sale here) which are transcribed in Joseph Smith's History of the Church . . .
. . . Judge Ryland wrote the following:
RICHMOND, June 10, 1834.
Mr. A. S. Gilbert:
SIR—Deeply impressed with a desire to do all in my power to settle or allay the disturbances between the Mormons and the citizens of Jackson county, I have concluded that it might have some tendency to effectuate this object by having the Mormons called together at Liberty next Monday, and there explain to them my notions and views of their present situation, and of the circumstances attendant. I therefore request you, sir, to use all your influence with your brethren, to get them to meet me next Monday in Liberty. I much fear and dread the consequences that are yet to ensue, unless I should succeed in my wishes to restore peace. It is the duty of all good men to use all proper and laudable means to establish peace. I expect a deputation of some of the most respectable citizens of Jackson county will meet me on Monday next at Liberty. I call upon you, in the name of humanity, therefore, to leave no efforts untried to collect your brethren at Liberty as requested. Should my efforts to make peace fail of success, there can be no wrong, sir, in the attempt, and I shall enjoy the consolation of having done my duty as a man, as well as a Christian.
I hope, sir, you will duly appreciate the motive which prompts me to address this letter to you, and will aid me with all your influence with your brethren in the prosecution of an object so much to be desired by all good men and citizens.
Yours very respectfully,
JOHN F. RYLAND.
. . . . .
In answer to Judge Ryland, the Elders wrote as follows:
NEAR LIBERTY, June 14, 1834.
Hon. J. F. Ryland:
DEAR SIR—Your communication of the 9th instant from Richmond was duly received, and at a public meeting of our society this day its contents were made known. Our brethren unanimously tender their thanks for the laudable disposition manifested on your part to effect peace between our society and the inhabitants of Jackson county and as many as conveniently can will be present on Monday next. Entertaining some fears that your honor, in your zeal for peace, might unwarily recommend a sale of our lands in Jackson county, we have thought it expedient to give you reasonable notice, that no such proposition could possibly be acceded to by our society.
We have not heard that it was the intention of your honor to urge any such measure, but our enemies in Jackson county have long been trying to effect this object. In a letter from the governor to us, he says: "I have been requested to advise the Mormons to sell out and move away; but believing that it would have no good effect, I have withheld my advice." We give this quotation from the governor's letter to disprove the statement made in the Upper Missouri Enquirer of last Wednesday, and conclude by adding that "home is home," and that we want possession of our homes—from which we have been wickedly expelled—and those rights which belong to us as native free-born citizens of the United States.
Very respectfully, your friends and servants,
JOHN CORRILL, Chairman.
A. S. GILBERT, Secretary.The foregoing was enclosed in the following letter to their lawyers:
GENTLEMEN—Will you be so good as to read the enclosed, then seal and hand it to the judge? We have given him an early hint, fearing that he might be induced by the solicitations of our enemies to propose a sale of our lands, which you well know would be like selling our children into slavery; and the urging of such a measure would avail nothing unless to produce an excitement against us in this county. As requested last Thursday, we hope you will be present on Monday.
Your friends and servants,
JOHN CORRILL,
A. S. GILBERT.To Messrs. Doniphan and Atchison.
. . . . .
On . . . June 16th, the citizens of Clay county, to the number of eight hundred or a thousand, among whom were the brethren, assembled at the court house in Liberty, in accordance with the request of Judge Ryland . . . [HC 2:89-92, 96]
PROVENANCE: Accompanying this 1832 document is a copy of a signed letter to me from the previous owner in Oak Grove, Missouri, a doctor whom I have known for some twenty years, recalling that he obtained the item from an antique dealer in Richmond, Missouri, about 1982, and providing general background detail of the transaction.
His brother Hiram shared the same fate.
Richards, a leading Mormon, was badly wounded. There our intelligence ends—
what took place after this, God only knows. Mormons immediately left for Nauvoo to carry the news . . ."Death of the Mormon Prophet, and his Brother Hiram. FRIDAY MORNING , 3 o'clock." Article in THE TEMPERANCE ADVOCATE AND STANDARD (newspaper, Philadelphia) for Saturday, July 13, 1844 [III:37].
Folio, [4] pages (complete issue). Even toning. Neatly trimmed, a bit closely in places, leaving the two leaves loose and separate. Several short tears into the top, blank margins do not affect the text, and are not close to the Mormon article.
$225
fills more than twelve column inchesVERY RARE, if not unique. OCLC (the ONLINE COMPUTER LIBRARY CENTER, world's largest bibliographic database, combining cataloging records from libraries worldwide) finds no example of this newspaper issue in any library. Only Yale University is shown as having some issues, but not the July 13, 1844 issue offered here.
The first portion of the report is taken "From the Quincy Herald" (a very rare newspaper), but the latter, pro-Mormon portion is added here from another, unspecified source. The entire article fills more than twelve inches of columns 4-5 on the third page.
This lengthy report is of course highly dramatic, and tells the story from both the Mormon and non-Mormon points of view, and is very fair to the Latter-day Saints in this regard. Here are brief portions from both sides . . .
Joe and his Mormon fellow prisoners it seems had provided themselves with pistols, and commenced firing upon the guard within. He then attempted to escape from the window, when a hundred balls entered his body, and he fell a lifeless corpse.
. . . . .
There is no knowing where this dreadful affair will end. Many have expressed fears that our city is in danger, because most of the Warsaw families have taken refuge here–but we believe there is no danger, we are too far from the scene of action.
Messenger have just left for Hannibal and the towns below for the purpose of arousing the Missourians. The excitement in our city is intense, and the anxiety to hear the fate of Governor Ford and his men is very great.
. . . . .
The Mormon story as to the manner and circumstances under which their leader met with his death is somewhat different from the one we published from the Quincy Herald. They say that there was no attempt to rescue the prisoners; that, all the guard but ten or a dozen having been dismissed, from fifty to a hundred men, in disguise, suddenly rushed on the jail; . . . Richards, his secretary, was not injured. . . .
The Mormons at Nauvoo were much exasperated, but expressed a determination to keep the peace, and not resort to arms except in self-defence.
White Indians, and Mormons
page 289 (February 15, 1855) and facing
"VIEW OF THE BATTERY, NEW YORK, FROM THE BAY."THE UNITED STATES MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE, ART, MANUFACTURES, AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE AND TRADE. VOLUME I. New-York: J. M. Emerson and Company; London: Trubner & Co. May 15, 1854 - April 15, 1855 [I:1-12]
11¾ X 9 inches (binding). 384 pp. + preliminary leaves and numerous plates. Twelve monthly issues, most with a full-page engraved plate at the front, plus numerous fine engravings in the text. Not collated, and apparently LACKING at least one plate called for in the table of contents. Orig. blind-decorated green cloth. Binding tight but with medium wear and some dampstain to front board; moderate dampstain to the first pages. Generally quite pleasing, and the engravings well done.
$125
Lamazow 621a, noting that, "For a time, it strived to compete with Harper's New Monthly . . ." I would say it did well, at least in this first issue, with articles and illustrations on subjects worldwide, including a lengthy article with pictures of printing presses and the manufacture of printing equipment. Much on Russia, including a few excellent views of Moscow. Also, New York views throughout. Portrait of Sam Houston, p. 141 ("This brave but somewhat eccentric man . . ."); "Interior of I. M. Singer & Co.'s Sewing Machine Manufactory," full-page engraving facing p. 161; "Winter Palace, Residence of the Imperial Family, St. Petersburg," full page on bright yellow paper facing 224; article stating that Eucador [sic] has sold the Galapagos Islands to the United States for $3,006,000, p. 277; "Ancient American Battle-Mound," full page on light yellow paper, showing large numbers of ancient combatants fighting on tiers of a sort of steppe pyramid, facing p. 353; "Copy of an Inscription in Phoenician Characters on a Sarcophagus, Disinterred within a mile of the city of Sidon, on the 19th of January, 1855, made by Dr. C. V. A. Van Dyck," facsimile of the transcription, two full pages, 380-31.
"MORMON DIFFICULTIES! POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY." Article in the December 15, 1854 issue [I:8] taken from the Ohio State Journal fills approx. nine column inches of page 250, and discusses the runaway judges. Brigham is settled into his position as Governor, and it will require the military to remove him. He is quoted from the Deseret News of March 10, preaching as follows:
"Every man that comes to impose on this people, no matter by whom they are sent, or who they are that are sent, they lay the axe at the root of the tree to kill themselves. They had better be careful how they come here, lest I should bend my little finger."
This looks very much like a declaration of war against the rest of the Union. It is at least a defiance that is full of evil omen for the future peace and well-being of that Territory. . . .Indeed, in less than three years, Federal forces had entered the Territory, and the Utah War was in full bloom. Ironic to Book of Mormon interest, the article immediately preceding this (eight column inches on pp. 249-50) describes "WHITE INDIANS OF THE SIERRA NEVADAS" who "have a tradition . . . that their fathers came from across the great waters . . ." (p. 250).
CLICK HERE for other, recent additions
