John L. Traughber papers

Collection

Identifier: MS 0666

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The John L. Traughber papers (1854-1910) contain letters, notebooks, memos, journals, notes, and news clippings concerning the LDS Church, its history, and its members. Traughber (1854-1908) was a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ) who researched the history and other aspects of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The first box in the collection contains three notebooks written by William E. McLellin, one of the first twelve apostles of the LDS Church. Much of the information contained in this box provides reminiscent details about the LDS Church in its infancy, including insight into the origins of the priesthood. The original McLellin notebooks were placed in the Manuscripts Division Safe. Notes and essays written by John L. Traughber on LDS Church subjects, as well as news articles and writings he collected, are located in boxes 2-3. Correspondence between Traughber and others can also be found in box 2. Boxes 4-5 contains newspaper photocopies and books.

Dates

1854-1910

Creator

Traughber, John L. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Biographical Sketch

John L. Traughber (1854-1908) was born 23 November 1854 in Carroll County, Missouri, to John Logan Traughber Sr. and Ellen Keziah Ross. Traughber was a school teacher and farmer. He was self-educated and an avid reader. He is most well-known for having received some William E. McLellin papers from McLellin's widow in 1884. After obtaining the McLellin collection, Traughber began writing a book about the LDS Church and doctrine. Traughber married Mattie Elmira Felkins on the 1st of January 1888 in Taney County, Missouri. They had nine children: Earl Augustine, Lucilla Ellen, Albert Ross, Louis Edgar, Charles Orville, Beulah Elenor, Grace Eulah, John Ernest, and Harmon Otis. In 1901, Traughber became ill and offered to sell the William E. McLellin Collection to a Salt Lake City minister, Theodore Schroeder. Schroeder declined the offer. Then in 1908 Traughber sold McLellin's missionary diaries from 1831 to 1836, as well as four notebooks and a copy of the 1833 Book of Commandments for fifty dollars to the LDS Church. Traughber's illness progressed and on the 8th of December 1908 he passed away in Doucette, Tyler County, Texas. When Traughber passed away he left his children and widow penniless. However, Traughber had left his family with his research on the LDS Church and the William E. McLellin Collection. Traughber never completed his book. He had spent over twenty years researching the LDS Church religion, and had a manuscript over three hundred pages. Traughber's widow did not want her late husband's work to go to waste. She tried to have his work published in the Salt Lake Tribune in 1910, but was unsuccessful. After her death in 1954, the William E. McLellin Collection and Traughber's own documents fell into the possession of Traughber's youngest son, Otis. H. Otis Traughber sold the collection to the University of Utah in 1995.

Extent

4.5 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Boxes 1-3 were purchased from H. Otis Traughber in 1995 and boxes 4-5 were donated by Michael and Nela Brown in 1997.

Related Materials

Researchers interested in William E. McLellin should also see the William E. McLellin collection, ACCN 1827.

Separated Materials

Photograph was transferred to the Multimedia Division (P0743) of Special Collections. Orson Pratt's Series of Pamphlets by Orson Pratt (1851), and Charles Bancroft's, Footprints of Time and a Complete Anaylsis of Our American System of Government (1880) were removed to the library's Rare Books Division.