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Executive Committee memorandum to W. H. Hooper, 1871 April 29

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 18
Identifier: MSS 843

Scope and Contents

Three-page document from the executive committee of the National Immigration Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, addressed to William H. Hooper, U.S. Representative from Utah Territory. The memorandum summarizes recent Congressional measures pertaining to immigration, and requests Hooper's support of these laws being passed to improve immigration to the United States. Endorsed by William C. Staines, Utah Emigration Agent on a back panel. Endorsement dated April 29, 1871.

Dates

  • 1871 April 29

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company records must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical / Historical

Dr. Edward Morwitz was born on June 12, 1815, in Danzig, Prussia, to parent Rebecca Morwitz. He graduated with a medical degree from the University of Berlin in 1840 and practiced medicine until the Prussian Revolutions of 1848. Due to his political participation in the revolutions, Morwitz felt his life was endangered and led him to immigrate to the United States.

Once in the United States, he purchased a German newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania called "Philadelphia Demokrat” in 1853 and became an important political activist. He aided in organizing the German Press Association of Pennsylvania in 1862 and helped in raising funds for German soldiers of the Franco-Prussian War. He participated in many organizations including being the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Immigration Convention.

Morwitz died December 13, 1893, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and buried in the Jewish cemetery of Mt. Sinai.

Biographical / Historical

Mark Richard Mucklé was born September 10, 1825 to Michael Muckle and Mary Kaiser in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the general manager of the "Public Ledger," a daily Philadelphia newspaper. He was appointed to Governor Bigler's staff as the rank of a Colonel in 1853. He was an activist and founded the German Hospital in 1860, was Vice President of the German society, treasurer of the Relief Society during the Franco-German War, and Chairman of the Memorial Committee in relation to the National Immigration Convention. He was involved with countless other organizations and their founding such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the German-American Title and Trust Company. He raised $50,000 dollars for the German soldiers’ relief, and was awarded the Order of the Crown the Military Order of the Red Eagle by Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany.

Mucklé married Caroline Seiser and had 3 children. He died on March 30, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Biographical / Historical

The National Immigration Convention (1870-1871) was called by the Governors of the North-Western and Western states in 1870, to create better measure of protection for the emigrants into the United States from fraud and imposition.

Biographical / Historical

William Carter Staines was born on September 26, 1818 in Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, England to Henry Staines and Blanch Freeman. He was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on November 9, 1841. He immigrated to the United States and trekked to Utah with the pioneers. He was a merchant but laid aside his practice to serve many missions and callings, including the following: Ponca Indians Mission, British Mission, member of the Quorum of the Seventy and Immigration agent for Utah in New York. Staines practiced polygamy and therefore married many times while in Utah.

William Carter Staines died on August 3, 1881 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Biographical / Historical

William Hooper was born on December 25, 1813 in Cambridge, Dorchester County, Maryland to Henry Hooper and Mary Noel Price. In 1835, he moved to Illinois where he engaged in merchant trading on the Mississippi River. He married Elects Jane Harris there in 1836. She had two duaghters before pasisng away in 1844. In 1850, Hooper trekked to Salt Lake City, Utah where he then married Mary Ann Knowlton on December 24, 1852. Together they had 9 children. Through his first few years in Utah he learned about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was baptized a member in 1854.

William Henry Hooper was deeply involved in the politics of Utah and served the state through years of political service. He was the secretary of the Territory in 1857 and 1858, then was elected as a Democrat to Congress from 1859-1861. Hooper was then elected to the Senate in 1862 and reelected to Congress from 1865-1873. After finishing his last term, Hooper reentered the business force as superintendent of Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution from 1873-1877 and as its President from 1877-1882.

William Henry Hooper was also the President of the Deseret National Bank, from 1872 until his death on December 30, 1882 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Extent

1 folder (3 pages)

Language of Materials

English

Other Finding Aids

File-level inventory for original collection available online. http://files.lib.byu.edu/ead/XML/MSS843.xml

Custodial History

Purchased by The University Companies from the Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, New York City as part of Lot 62A being sold on January 28-30, 1975.

Purchased by Brigham Young University in 2017.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased; The University Companies; 2017.

Related Materials

The cover letter for this item is in Box 1, Folder 10, "Perpetual Emigration Fund Company material from National Immigration Convention, 1871 May 4."

General

Formerly cataloged as "Executive Committee memorandum to W. H. Hooper" (MSS 9066).

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States