Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 64

Religious Leaders

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 413		[Christian Maori Broadside, c. 1833]. Printed broadside of Matthew 19:13-15, titled "Children brought to Christ," in English, and "Ka mau-ria nga ta-ma-ri-ki ki Te Ka-rai-ti" in Maori (printed by William Jones, Sydney), 18 x 15¼ in. Presumably for use in Church Mission Society schools. (See Williams, A Bibliography of Printed Maori to 1900). Scattered age toning, else fine. Estimated Value $600 - 800. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 414		Young Brigham. Manuscript Letter Signed as President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, one page, 9½ x 7¾ in., Utah Territory, Great Salt Lake City, Mar. 7, 1861. To Mr. Sylvester Alvord in Homer, Cortland County, New York, regarding Mr. Alvord's search for his brother Truman: "I do not know any man, in this Territory, named Truman Alvord. There is a Benjamin and a Joseph Alvord here, and there may be others of that sir name, for which reason, and to further aid your wishes, I have inserted in the Deseret News an inquiry for your br. Truman. That paper has a very general circulation, and I presume that if your brother is in this country you will ere long be advised of the fact." Written on lined paper; two vertical folds, one traversing the "h" in "Brigham." Young's signature is large and bold. Estimated Value $3,000 - 5,000. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $1,680
Lot 415		Young, Brigham (1801-77) President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death; founder of Salt Lake City, and the first governor of Utah Territory, United States. Letter Signed as President of the Quorum of the Twelve, 3 pages, 13 x 8 inches, Nauvoo, Illinois, April (written over "March") 31, 1845. Also signed by Willard Richards (who was present when Joseph Smith was murdered but escaped the mob) as clerk of the Quorum of the Twelve, and by N.K. Whitney and George Miller, Trustees of the Church. These four men are identified in the letter as the "Committee in behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." The letter is postmarked from Pittsburg, PA, May 21. The reason for this is explained in the letter's postscript: "As many of our communications post marked 'Nauvoo' have failed of their destination and the mails around us have been intercepted by our enemies; we shall send this to some distant office by the hand of a Special Messenger." The letter is in fine condition with a couple of contemporary stains and light toning. After the murders of Joseph Smith and his brother Hirum on June 27, 1844, Brigham Young desperately needed to find a community where the Mormons could reside and where their beliefs and practices would not cause such conflict with the existing communities. In April 1845, poignant letters were sent to the governors of Virginia and other states asking for asylum or alternatively, for their support in relocating to the western regions of North America. This plea for assistance was sent less than a year before the Mormons migrated to Utah. Young and the other members of the committee write to His Excellency James McDowel of Richmond, Virginia. This is only the second letter that we know of from Young's writing campaign to appear on the market. Here is Young's letter in full: "Honorable Sir, Suffer us Sir, in behalf of a disfranchised and long afflicted people to prefer a few suggestions for your serious consideration, in hope of a friendly and unequivocal response, at as early a period as may suit your convenience, and the extreme urgency of the case seems to demand. It is not our present design to detail the multiplied and aggravated wrongs that we have received in the midst of a nation that gave us birth. Some of us have long been loyal citizens of the state over which you have the honor to preside; while others claim citizenship in each of the states of this great confederacy. We say we are a disfranchised people. We are privately told by the highest authorities of this state, that it is neither prudent nor safe for us to vote at the polls; still we have continued to maintain our right to vote, until the blood of our best men has been shed, both in Missouri and the State of Illinois with impunity. You are doubtless somewhat familiar with the history of our extermination from the State of Missouri, wherein scores of our brethren were massacred, hundreds died through want and sickness, occasioned by their unparallelled sufferings; some millions of our property were confiscated or destroyed, and some fifteen thousand souls fled for their lives to the then hospitable and peaceful shores of Illinois, and that the State of Illinois granted to us a liberal charter, for the term of perpetual succession, under whose provisions private rights have become invested, and the largest city in the state has grown up, numbering about 20,000 inhabitants. But, Sir, the startling attitude recently assumed by the State of Illinois forbids us to think that her designs are any less vindictive than those of Missouri. She has already used the Military of the State, with the Executive at their head, to coerce and surrender up our best men to unparallelled murder, and that too, under the most sacred pledges of protection and safety. As a salve for such unearthly perfidy and guilt, she told us, through her highest Executive Officer, that the laws should be magnified, and the murderers brought to justice; but the blood of her innovent victims had not been wholly wiped from the floor of the awful arena, where the citizens of a sovreign state pounced upon two defenceless servants of God, our Prophet and our Patriarch, before the Senate of that State rescued one of the indicted actors in that mournful tragedy from the Sheriff of Hancock county, and gave him an honourable seat in her Hall of Legislation, and all others who were indicted by the Grand Jury of Hancock County, for the murder of General Joseph and Hyrum Smith; are suffered to roam at large, watching for further prey. To crown the climax of those bloody deeds, the state has repealed all those chartered rights by which we might have defended ourselves against aggressors. If we defend ourselves hereafter against violence, whether it comes under the shadow of law or otherwise (for we have reason to expect it both ways) we shall then be charged with treason & suffer the penalty, and if we continue passive and non-resistant we must certainly expect to perish, for our enemies have sworn it. And here, Sir, permit us to state, that Gen. Joseph Smith, during his short life was arraigned at the bar of his country about fifty times, charged with criminal offences, but was acquitted every time, by his country, his enemies, or rather his religious opponents, almost invariably being his judges --and we further testify that as a people we are law-abiding, peacable and without crime, and we challenge the world to prove the contrary; and while other less cities in Illinois have had special courts instituted to try their criminals, we have been stript of every source of arraigning marauders & murderers who are prowling around to destroy us, except the common magistracy. With these facts before you, Sir, will you write to us without delay, as a father and friend, and advise us what to do? …Our fathers, may, some of us, have fought and bled for our country, and we love her constitution dearly. In the name of Israel's God, and by virtue of multiplied ties of kindred and country, we ask your friendly interposition in our favor. Will it be too much for us to ask you to convene a special session of your State Legislature, and furnish us an asylum where we can enjoy our rights of conscience and religion unmolested? Or, will you, in a special message to that body, when convened, recommend a remonstrance against such unhallowed acts of oppression and expatriation as this people have continued to receive from the States of Missouri and Illinois? Or will you favor us by your personal influence, & by your official rank? Or, will you express your views concerning what is called the "Great Western measure" of colonising the Latter Day Saints in Oregon, the Northwestern Territory, or some location remote from the States, where the hand of oppression shall not crush every noble principle, and extinguish every patriotic feeling. And now, Hon. Sir, having reached out our imploring hands to you with deep solemnity, we would importune with you, as a father, a friend, a patriot and statesman, by the constitution of American liberty, by the blood of our fathers who have fought for the independence of this republic; by the blood of the martyrs which has been shed in our midst; by the wailings of the widows and orphans; by our murdered fathers and mothers; brothers and sisters, wives and children; by the dread of immediate destruction from secret combinations now forming for our overthrow; and by every endearing tie that binds man to man, and renders life bearable, and that too, for aught we know, for the last time, that you will lend your immediate aid to quell the violence of mobocracy, and exert your influence to establish us, as a people, in our civil and religious rights, where we now are, or in some part of the United States, or at some place remote therefrom, where we may colonise in peace and safety, as soon as circumstances will permit." We sincerely hope that your future prompt measure towards us will be dictated by the best feelings that dwell in the bosom of humanity -- and the blessings of a grateful people, and of many, ready to perish, will come upon you." Young would note later, in an 1862 speech recorded in the church paper, "Milennia Star," that he had received only five responses to his letters, all of them rejections. On July 24, 1847, Young led the first Mormon settlers into the Salt Lake Valley. Estimated Value $100,000 - 150,000. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 416		Young, Brigham. Manuscript Letter Signed as President of the Mormon Church, President's Office, Gt. Salt Lake City, February 26, 1867, one page, 8 x 5 in. To W.S. Godbe: "Dear Brother: It will be convenient for me to meet Professor Ward and yourself at my Office at 2 p.m. to-day. Your Brother, Brigham Young." The Ward mentioned was probably the sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward, who did a bust of Young around this time. Affixed at left edge to a larger sheet of paper. Very fine. Estimated Value $3,000 - 5,000. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 417		[Mormon Currency] Kirtland, OH. Kirtland Safety Society Bank, $10.00 Feb. 7, 1837. PCGS Choice New 63PPQ. A lovely uncirculated example of this popular issue that was signed by Joseph Smith, Jr. This is one the finest examples of the series and denomination graded by PCGS Currency to date, and has perhaps the best margins that this cataloger can recall seeing on a Kirkland note in the past two decades. Similar examples have brought strong mid-four figure prices at recent auctions, and we expect no less when the hammer falls on this spectacular note. Estimated Value $4,000 - 5,000. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $3,422
Lot 418		[Mormon Currency] Salt Lake City, UT. The Drovers Bank, $3.00 July 1, 1856. PCGS New 62. Very few $3s survive on this bank, and this high grade piece is one of the finest this cataloger has seen. It is beautiful, with original paper surfaces and the penned signatures of B. Hunter and R. Cermally. The only flaw present, which likely cost the note a point or so in grade, is some darkening of the iron-gall ink in the right signature. This note was printed by famed engraver W.L. Ormsby. Estimated Value $1,250 - 1,750. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $1,151
Lot 419		[Mormon Currency] Salt Lake City, UT. Salt Lake City Corporation, $1.00 Nov. 22, 1868. PCGS Good 4. This is a scarce Utah Territorial piece that is payable in U.S. currency. Doug Nyholm states in Mormon Currency 1837 - 1937 that the majority of $1 and $2 notes that are available today are well worn. The current example is no exception, although it is fully intact. Estimated Value $150 - 200. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $120