Joseph's Swamp

[_beastie]

I can't remember if I shared this quote from Quinn's New Mormon History, in Flander's chapter:

Dream and Nightmare: Nauvoo Revisited, Robert Bruce Flanders


By another accident, however, Smith avoided compounding the Iowa land fiasco by locating himself and the main body of Saints on the Illinois side, just across the river. The main acreage purchased here was from a group of speculators headed by one Horace Hotchkiss of Connecticut. This area, about five hundred acres, constituted much of what was to be the city of Nauvoo, and was subsequently known as the Hotchkiss Purchase. Hotchkiss was shrewd enough to see a city coming on his property, and the price he exacted was enormous--$50,000 principle and $64,500 interest to be paid over twenty years. Considering the fact that the time was one of deep economic depression and that much of the land was malarial swamp unfit for human habitation, the amount would suggest that Smith was duped again. But perhaps both seller and buyer were considering the odds. Land speculation then was a gamble at best, and Hotchkiss like Smith had to hope that the future would bring the payoff. The deal was a land contract with the purchaser having the rights of occupation but not the deed until full payment was made. In the end Hotchkiss received only a fraction of the total due him from the church and had the taxes on a growing city to pay as well, inasmuch as he was still the legal owner. So it is a question as to who took advantage of whom. In any event in order to attempt to meet payments, Joseph Smith was forced into the real estate business in a big way; it was a business filled with care and anxiety, enormously taxing of time and energy. The problem of obtaining a deed to lots and lands which the church sold to the gathering Saints was one that could not be solved.2

In an 1841 letter to Hotchkiss Smith fumed, "I presume you are no stranger to the part of the city plot we bought of you being a sickly hole [and] although we have been keeping up appearances, and holding out inducements to encourage immigration . . . we scarcely think it justifiable in consequence of the mortality that almost invariably awaits those who come." This was one of the rare occasions when Smith did not "keep up appearances" as all real estate promoters must do and alluded to one of Nauvoo's great problems. Endemic malaria was the worst natural scourge of the Mississippi Basin, and Smith had located his town on a wet river bottomland that swarmed in summer with infected mosquitoes. The plague was an annual event of the hot season, and hundreds died, victims of the "unhealthy air." Draining the area helped, but new settlers in particular remained susceptible to infection by mosquitoes breeding in nearby islands and sloughs.

[_Sethbag]

Jersey Girl, it matters not whether Joseph Smith knew the exact vector for the disease. It's pretty clear that he was telling people "scarcely justifiable" things to get them to agree to move onto that land, and he admitted as such in the Hotchkiss letter.

I really don't know what you're fighting about. It's bizarre, really.

[_DonBradley]

I'm still up in the air regarding whether the lower part of Nauvoo was clearly less healthful in early 1843. I think one would have been hard pressed to argue that it was more healthful, which is what Joseph Smith actually said; but, I'd still like further evidence on which to base my judgments.

One the issue of the cause of malaria, I have to agree with Beastie and Sethbag that ignorance of the role played by mosquitos in transmitting the disease would not translate into ignorance that it was associated with wet, swampy environments. The word "malaria" derives from the Italian mala aria--"bad air," because it was thought to arise from the fetid air of marshes and swamps.

For examples of pre-1844 books linking malaria to marshy and swampy conditions, see this GoogleBooks search:
example

Don

[_DonBradley]

Hey all,

Just for your gee-whiz collection, although malaria wasn't proved to be spread by mosquitos till the end of the 19th century, I just looked at a couple 1820s publications (through GoogleBooks) that argued that it was spread in this way.

Don

[_Jersey Girl]

This:

H. Dean Garrett, “Disease and Sickness in Nauvoo"

Was referenced in my reading. Might contribute to figuring out the drainage/malaria questions.

[_beastie]

Yeah, I have a couple of titles that might give leads - but I promised myself I wasn't going to buy anymore books until I read everyone that I already bought when I went on several binges, so it might be a while.

[_Morley]

Bumping this historic thread after CaliforniaKid's link to it. Well worth reading.

[_Drifting]

Hmmm...the story is told slightly differently in Church manuals...

Sickness and a Day of God’s Power
In the summer of 1839 the swamp area on the Nauvoo peninsula had not yet been drained. While the Saints gathered, cleared, drained, built, and planted, they were oblivious to the danger of the Anopheles mosquito. This tiny insect, which bred profusely in the swampland and along the Mississippi riverbank, transmitted parasites to the red blood cells of humans by its bite. The disease this caused, characterized by periodic attacks of chills and fever, is now known as malaria, but people in the nineteenth century called it and diseases with similar symptoms the ague (pronounced `a gyu).

Scores of Church members on both sides of the river fell ill. The residents of the temporary tent city surrounding the Prophet’s home were stricken by the disease as were the Saints staying in his home. Emma nursed the people night and day, while Joseph’s six-year-old son carried water for the sick until he also caught the disease. The pestilence was indiscriminate, affecting all ages and classes. One of the early fatalities in the city was Oliver Huntington’s mother, Zina. The Prophet Joseph invited Oliver to bring his family, who were all ill to his home for needed care. The Whitney family was in a similar situation. Elizabeth Ann reported that they “were only just barely able to crawl around and wait upon each other.” 11 In those circumstances Elizabeth gave birth to her ninth child. When Joseph learned of their plight he insisted that the family move in with him. They accepted his offer and took up residence in a small cottage in Joseph’s yard. By 12 July, Joseph Smith, Sr., was so ill he was near death.

Eventually Joseph Smith also became ill, but after several days confinement he was prompted to arise and extend help to others. The day of 22 July was, in the words of Wilford Woodruff, “a day of God’s power” in Nauvoo and Montrose. 12 That morning the Prophet arose and, being filled with the Spirit of the Lord, administered to the sick in his house and in the yard outside. More sick people were down by the river, and there too he administered with great power to the faithful. One such, Henry G. Sherwood, was near death. Joseph stepped to the door of Brother Sherwood’s tent and commanded him to rise and come out; he obeyed and was healed. Elder Heber C. Kimball and others accompanied the Prophet across the river to Montrose. One by one they visited the homes of the Twelve and administered to those who needed a blessing. Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt, and John Taylor then joined Joseph in his mission of mercy.

http://www.LDS.org/manual/church-histor ... cle+nauvoo

[_beastie]

Bumping this historic thread after CaliforniaKid's link to it. Well worth reading.

Where did CK link to it? I'd be interested in reading the discussion about it. It still is one of the factors that influences me to view Joseph's actions as malignant and narcissistic, without genuine concern for others.

[_beastie]

This:

H. Dean Garrett, “Disease and Sickness in Nauvoo"

Was referenced in my reading. Might contribute to figuring out the drainage/malaria questions.

I actually found this online, but it's almost impossible to read.

http://www.collegiumaesculapium.org/Jou ... Nauvoo.pdf