Edward Hunter was perhaps the wealthiest convert to early Mormonism.[1] His coming to Nauvoo was a major boon to Joseph Smith as he set up a factory and brought a lot of store goods.[2]  ?My wife and myself had made up our minds to let Joseph have all of our means,” Hunter wrote in his autobiography, “until Joseph came to me and said, ?Keep it.??[3]  The following unsigned and undated letter seems to confirm that narrative.  It seems to have been written by a dissenter who was irritated by Hunter’s consecration.

Mr. Hunter, This morning I had a manifestation from some source you may think from the Devil for aught I care?what was the cause of your Apostacy.  It is the fact that you surrendered your judgment and prosperity to Joseph Smith, in consequence of which your prosperity is in such a situation that you cannot dispose of it to your own advantage, and this view is sustained by the revelation to Joseph, where he is told that is not qualified for the management of the temporal business, but that his work was to attend entirely to the spiritual part of the Kingdom.  I know he labored mighty hard to prove to the contrary, with that too, against the plain declaration that the Bishop shall attend to the Temporal business, had Bishop Whitny had the care of all the Church property hundreds and thousands of Dollars would saved for the church, but poor blind men worshippers like you all in Nauvoo are suffered themselves to be led by the nose [2] one word in regard to those rascals  that are seeking my life if their God has more power than mine they may accomplish their designs, now Mr. Hunter what do you think of a set of men who have their captain of stealing company, and murdering club &c. as I told Bishop Whitney in a letter sent to him, I tell you there are men in your midst who are supporting the views of the 12, and with all their mighty power with the Devil they cannot discern nor discover them but they put as much confidence in them as they do in each other, and the time will come soon when their [sic] will be one of the greatest revelation published from Nauvoo that has been seen lately, so keep a look out for big discoveries God knows Mr Hunter that there are many men in Nauvoo with whom I can sympathize, but you are not deserve no sympathy for you have an abundance to make you and your family comfortable if you must sacrifice ¾ of your property, and therefore under greater condemnation?I should like to see you and try to reason with you once more if you are not ashamed to call & see me.  I can tell you thing you little dream of.

So who do you think wrote this? The writer makes clear that his/her biggest beef with Joseph was the Prophet’s financial meddling. Evidence suggests that this was a concern of Law and his faction.[4] There also seems to have been some competition between Law and Hunter over factory building.[5] Furthermore, when was the written? The statement “I tell you there are men in your midst who are supporting the views of the 12” sounds like a reference to succession, but the letter also seems to refer to Joseph in the present tense. Guesses?

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[1] On Hunter’s wealth see my ??Congenial to Nearly Every Shade of Radicalism?: The Delaware Valley and the Success of Early Mormonism? Religion and American Culture, 17, no. 1 (2007): 129-64.

[2] Robert Bruce Flanders, Nauvoo: Kingdom on the Mississippi (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1965), 161-63.

[3] Edward Hunter, ?Autobiography of Edward Hunter,? in William E. Hunter, Edward Hunter: Faithful Steward, edited by Janath Russell Cannon (1976), 318-19.

[4] Richard Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Knopf, 2005), 529.

[5] Glen M. Leonard, Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, A People of Promise (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2002), 156.