Marion J. Shelton Correspondence

Transcription | 𐐓𐑉𐐰𐑌𐑅𐐿𐑉𐐮𐐹𐑇𐐲𐑌

About the Correspondence | 𐐈𐐺𐐵𐐻 𐑄 𐐗𐐱𐑉𐐯𐑅𐐹𐐱𐑌𐐼𐐯𐑌𐑅

Marion J. Shelton’s surviving correspondence provides an unusually direct record of the Deseret Alphabet in private use. The letters emphasized here were written in 1859 and 1860 from Orayvi and Harmony and were addressed to apostle George A. Smith, a group of associates whom Shelton called his “Beloved Brothers,” and Brigham Young. They are preserved in the George A. Smith Papers and the Brigham Young Office Files at the Church History Library.

Shelton generally wrote these letters in a formal Deseret block hand, or scriptura quadrata. The manuscripts preserve ligatures, decorative capitals, unusual spellings, and abbreviations that show the alphabet functioning as a practical medium of correspondence rather than merely as a printed or classroom script.

Shelton’s earlier proposal to Brigham Young concerning the redesign and teaching of the alphabet is discussed separately on the Shelton–Young letter page. The present page concentrates on his other surviving Deseret Alphabet letters and on the networks, places, and writing practices they document.

Letters from Orayvi | 𐐢𐐯𐐻𐐯𐑉𐑆 𐑁𐑉𐐱𐑋 𐐄𐑉𐐴𐐺

On 13 November 1859 Shelton wrote from Orayvi to apostle George A. Smith. The letter is written in scriptura quadrata and contains several conspicuous ligatures, including forms joining the letters represented by 𐐒𐐢, 𐐑𐐢, and 𐐓𐐢. Shelton also used an elaborate majuscule 𐐆 and distinctive spellings for geographical names, including Utah, Colorado, and ruins. His use of ult. for “last” shows Roman epistolary abbreviation surviving within a document otherwise written in Deseret.

A companion letter dated the same day is addressed to Shelton’s “Beloved Brothers.” He names John Lyman Smith, Richard Bentley, Robert Campbell, “J. J.,” “J. V.,” and others. Shelton expected a circle of correspondents, rather than a single specialist, to receive and read material written in the alphabet.

Shelton also sent a short letter from Orayvi to Brigham Young on 13 November 1859. Its spelling distinguishes the surname Young, written with the lot vowel, from the adjective young, written with the strut vowel. The contrast may reflect a deliberate treatment of the proper name, a convention observed in other Deseret Alphabet writing to or about Brigham Young.

Harmony Letter | 𐐐𐐪𐑉𐑋𐐲𐑌𐐮 𐐢𐐯𐐻𐐯𐑉

Shelton’s letter of 3 April 1860 was written from Harmony in Washington County, Utah Territory. Like the Orayvi correspondence, it is a holograph manuscript in scriptura quadrata. It includes a schwa glyph, continuing Shelton’s interest in representing reduced or medial vowel sounds within the Deseret system.

The letter is especially important for its postscript. Writing in Deseret, Shelton tells Brigham Young that he intends to present him with “that portion of the language that I have reduced to writing.” This statement points to his larger project to document the Hopi language. The postscript presents Shelton as an active compiler and systematizer rather than merely an experimental correspondent.

Read alongside the Orayvi letters, the Harmony letter shows sustained use of the alphabet across different places and purposes. Shelton carried the script into personal and administrative correspondence while continuing to adjust its phonetic resources and written forms.

Historical Context | 𐐐𐐮𐑅𐐻𐐱𐑉𐐨𐐿𐐲𐑊 𐐗𐐱𐑌𐐻𐐯𐐿𐑅𐐻

Shelton’s correspondence belongs to a period when the Deseret Alphabet was being tested in handwriting, education, translation, and print. His manuscripts show that users did not necessarily regard the alphabet as a fixed system. They combined letters, varied vowel notation, devised ornamental forms, and adapted familiar epistolary conventions to a new script.

The letters also place Deseret writing within the administrative and missionary networks of the Latter-day Saint community. Apostle George A. Smith was a major institutional correspondent, serving at the time as Church Historian. The “Beloved Brothers” letter reached a broader group of associates (clerks and other scriveners at Church headquarters), while the letters sent to Brigham Young connected Shelton’s work to the senior leadership most closely associated with the alphabet’s promotion.

Orayvi and Harmony are central to the documentary context. The letters demonstrate that Deseret writing circulated outside Great Salt Lake City and could be used in geographically dispersed communities. Their survival provides evidence not merely of theoretical interest in phonetic reform, but of the alphabet’s practical use by an individual correspondent over an extended period.

Correspondence | 𐐗𐐱𐑉𐐯𐑅𐐹𐐱𐑌𐐼𐐯𐑌𐑅

Repository abbreviations: BYOF/GCI = Brigham Young Office Files, General Correspondence Incoming; GASP/GCI = George A. Smith Papers, General Correspondence Incoming; CHL = Church History Library.