Phelps family correspondence, 1835-1853

Series

Identifier: Vault MSS 810 Series 2

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Contains letters received by William Wines Phelps from other members of the Phelps family such as Phelps' wife Sally, sons William and James. Includes information on the activities of family members. Materials dated from 1835 to approximately 1853.

Dates

1835-1853

Creator

Phelps, James, 1832- (correspondent, Person)
Phelps, Sally, 1797-1874 (correspondent, Person)
Phelps, William Wines, 1792-1872 (recipient, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Originals restricted. Digital copy available online for public use. Photocopies and transcriptions also available for public use.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from William Wines Phelps papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Coordinating Committee.

Biographical History

Stella (Sally) Waterman Phelps (1797-1874) was an early convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, pioneer, and the wife of W.W. Phelps.

Sally Waterman was born on July 24, 1797 in Franklin, New York, to David B. Waterman and Jerusha Case. In 1815 she married William Wines Phelps in New York, and together they had thirteen children. On June 16, 1831, Phelps was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and in 1832 the family moved to Missouri. After mob violence forced the family to leave, they settled in Nauvoo, Illinois. After Joseph Smith died, Phelps and her family joined the members of the Church who were going West, they arrived in Salt Lake Valley in 1848.

She died in Salt Lake City, Utah on January 2, 1874.

Biographical History

William Wines (W.W.) Phelps (1792-1872) was an early member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, publisher, scribe, and pioneer.

W.W. Phelps was born on February 17, 1792, in Hanover, New Jersey, to Enon Phelps and Mehitable Goldsmith. He married Sally Waterman on April 28, 1815, in Smyrna, New York. In June 1831, he traveled to Kirtland, Ohio, met the Prophet Joseph Smith, and was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1832 he moved to Jackson County, Missouri, and began publishing the Church's first periodical, the "Evening and the Morning Star". However, mobs attacked his house and destroyed his printing equipment. Phelps eventually had to escape Jackson County into Clay County and was later called to work in Kirtland.

In 1835, the Church purchased Egyptian mummies and papyrus from Michael H. Chandler; Phelps acted as a scribe for Joseph Smith while the latter translated the manuscripts into what we now know as the Pearl of Great Price. In 1838 Church authorities accused Phelps of reneging on a financial deal for building a temple in Missouri and they excommunicated Phelps. However, he was rebaptized two days later and he regained full membership two years later and was sent on a mission to the eastern United States. He also married two more wives: Laura Stowell and Elizabeth Dunn. After Joseph Smith died in 1844, Phelps embarked on the trek to the West and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1848. In Utah, he was a member of the Utah legislature and an almanac maker.

Phelps died on March 7, 1872, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Biographical History

James Phelps (born 1832) was a Mormon pioneer for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a missionary in Utah.

James Phelps was born on September 22, 1832 in Independence, Missouri to William Wines Phelps and Sally Waterman. After the expulsion of the Church members from Missouri he lived in Nauvoo, Illinois before emigrating to Utah. In 1856 he was sent to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Australia. He was listed in church records as living in 1882, and possibly died in France, but the time and place of death is unknown.