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Letter from Mephibosheth Sirrine, 25 May 1842

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Letter from Mephibosheth Sirrine, 25 May 1842

Source Note

, Letter, , Wayne Co., MI, to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 25 May 1842. Featured version published in Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842, vol. 3, no. 17, 838–839. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

On 25 May 1842, member wrote from , Michigan, to JS in , Illinois, updating him on the state of the church in and around Canton and reporting on his proselytizing efforts. Sirrine had left in 1838 to preach in southeastern , where he organized a . By 1840, he was still living in Michigan with his wife, Mariah Wheeler, and three children. In 1841, Sirrine presided over a church in Michigan. As indicated in this May 1842 letter, he relocated with his family to , Illinois, sometime between June 1841 and February 1842, after which he returned to Michigan to proselytize.
In the letter featured here, ’s proselytizing report focused on a public debate he had recently had with a Methodist minister. Sirrine’s letter was published in the 1 July 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons and was one of several letters reporting on missionary work that JS, during his tenure as editor, published in the church newspaper. The original letter from Sirrine is apparently not extant.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Mephibosheth Sirrine, [Washtenaw Co., MI], 8 Feb. 1840, Letter to the Editors, Times and Seasons, Mar. 1840, 1:73–74.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  2. [2]

    1840 U.S. Census, Superior, Washtenaw Co., MI, 92.

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

  3. [3]

    Rufus Beach, Livonia, MI, 2 Mar. 1841, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1841, 2:366.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  4. [4]

    Sirrine had previously debated a Baptist, a Methodist, and two Universalist ministers in January 1840. (Mephibosheth Sirrine, [Washtenaw Co., MI], 8 Feb. 1840, Letter to the Editors, Times and Seasons, Mar. 1840, 1:73–74.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  5. [5]

    See, for example, Letter from William Appleby, ca. Mar. 1842.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Mephibosheth Sirrine, 25 May 1842
Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842

Page 838

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, Wayne co Mich. May 25, 1842.
President Smith—Dear Sir:—I sit down to write a few lines to you to inform you of the spread of truth in this .
I left the town of Hancock co. on the 15th of February in company with C[randell] Dunn, and after a journey of three weeks, preaching occasionally on the way, arrived at Br. [Ira] Rice’s town of Superior, Washtenaw co. Michigan. I then visited the different in this part of the , and found them in a prosperous condition generally speaking. I then fell in company with Elder , who had been laboring in this for about five months, we then commenced to hold two days meetings on Saturdays and Sundays, in several counties in this part of the ; great excitement began to prevail in the minds of the people, prejudice gave way, and many believed and obeyed the truth, and we have more or less at all our meetings, during this time the priests of the various orders were howling an[d] [p. 838]
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Source Note

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Page 838

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Mephibosheth Sirrine, 25 May 1842
ID #
806
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:94–97
Handwriting on This Page
  • Printed text

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Tax records indicate that Sirrine owned land in La Harpe in 1842. (Nauvoo, Hancock Co., IL, Tax Lists for District no. 3, Tax Record for 1842, p. 181, microfilm 7,706, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  2. [2]

    In the fall of 1839, while Crandell Dunn was living in or near Livonia, Michigan, he heard Latter-day Saint teachings for the first time when he attended a sermon by apostle Orson Pratt. On two occasions during the next six months, Dunn listened to Sirrine debate theology with Universalist and Methodist preachers. Sirrine baptized Dunn in July 1840 in Superior, Michigan. Dunn moved to Illinois in the summer of 1841, arriving in La Harpe in July. He was ordained an elder in October 1841 and set off with Sirrine on his first mission the following February. (Dunn, Journal, vol. 1, pp. 2–6.)

    Dunn, Crandell. Journals, 1842–1858, 1878–1880, 1881–1882. Crandell Dunn, Papers, 1842– 1895. CHL.

  3. [3]

    See Dunn, Journal, vol. 1, p. 6; and 1840 U.S. Census, Superior, Washtenaw Co., MI, 94. Rice joined the church sometime around 1840. (Rice and Rice, Footprints of Ira Rice, 9.)

    Dunn, Crandell. Journals, 1842–1858, 1878–1880, 1881–1882. Crandell Dunn, Papers, 1842– 1895. CHL.

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

    Rice, Eva A., and Loretta C. Rice. Footprints of Ira Rice. Logan: Utah State University, 1973.

  4. [4]

    William Burton and his wife, Elizabeth Oates, were baptized in December 1837, and in the fall of 1838 they moved to Illinois. Burton served two missions in 1840 and 1841, preaching in Illinois, Indiana, Canada, Michigan, and Ohio. Beginning in fall 1841, he began to focus his labors in Michigan. In 1842, he and Sirrine preached at the same meeting on various occasions. (Burton, Autobiography, 1–4; Burton, Journal, Nov. 1839–Mar. 1840; Aug. 1841–Oct. 1843; Joseph Wood, Perry, IL, 26 Mar. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, Apr. 1840, 1:87.)

    Burton, William. Autobiography, no date. William Burton, Papers, ca. 1837–1851. CHL.

    Burton, Wiliam. Journals, 1839–1840, 1841–1846, 1848, 1850–1851. William Burton, Papers, ca. 1837– 1851. CHL.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

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