on behalf of JS, Letter, , Caldwell Co., MO, to , Vinalhaven, Fox Islands, Waldo Co., ME, [ca. 18 June 1838]. Written on a copy of “Prospectus for the Elder’s Journal, of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints”; handwriting of ; four pages; Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, CHL. Includes address in the handwriting of , a stamped postmark and manuscript postage in red ink, a docket in ink in the handwriting of , and an archival call number in graphite.
Bifolium measuring 16 × 10¼ inches (41 × 26 cm). The letter was written on a published prospectus for the issues of the Elders’ Journal. The document was trifolded twice in letter style and then postmarked in red ink. The letter was later refolded for archival filing and then docketed. The folds are weakened and partially separated. Adhesive wafers that sealed the letter created holes in the paper when the letter was opened, resulting in some loss of inscription. The document has undergone some conservation.
In addition to the signatures of , the letter includes a docket in ’s handwriting: “Thomas B Marsh | April 30. 1838”. Woodruff apparently donated the letter to the LDS church as part of his collected papers, possibly during his tenure as assistant church historian (1856–1883) or church historian (1883–1889).
“Contents of the Historian and Recorder’s Office. G. S. L. City July 1858,” 6, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; Turley, “Assistant Church Historians,” 20–21; see also Park, “Developing a Historical Conscience,” 115–134.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
Turley, Richard E., Jr. “Assistant Church Historians and the Publishing of Church History.” In Preserving the History of the Latter-Day Saints, edited by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Steven C. Harper, 19–47. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010.
Park, Benjamin E. “Developing a Historical Conscience: Wilford Woodruff and the Preservation of Church History.” In Preserving the History of the Latter-day Saints, edited by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Steven C. Harper, 115–134. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010.
Historical Introduction
Sometime in mid- or late spring 1838, JS assigned to write a letter to , who was proselytizing in the northeastern . In the letter, Marsh responded to a 9 March 1838 missive that Woodruff and two fellow missionaries addressed to , JS and his counselors in the , and the Saints in . Woodruff, the primary author of the letter, reported on his proselytizing efforts, challenges, and successes in the , located off the coast of . He also requested that publication of the Elders’ Journal be recommenced in Missouri because missionaries desperately needed church literature to counter false information being circulated about the church. Woodruff concluded by expressing loyalty to JS and the church and by admonishing the Saints in Missouri to avoid making the mistakes church members in had made. It is unclear when Woodruff’s letter arrived in , Missouri, but later in the year, correspondence between Marsh and Woodruff traveled through the mail in less than four weeks, suggesting that this letter arrived sometime in early or mid-April.
JS apparently read the letter or heard it read and assigned to reply. Marsh was of the and therefore held ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the apostles, , and all traveling —including —which made Marsh an appropriate person to respond to Woodruff. Marsh acknowledged that the letter had arrived “some day’s since” and explained that the bishop and First Presidency had been busy with church affairs.
wrote to on a copy of the prospectus for the issues of the Elders’ Journal. The prospectus, which requested that traveling elders such as Woodruff enlist subscribers for the newspaper, was printed at the top of the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium, with Marsh’s letter beginning below the prospectus. Marsh ended his letter on the top half of the verso of the second leaf, slightly compressing his last few lines to leave room for the address, which he added after folding the letter as an envelope. As with the copy of the prospectus Marsh used, other copies of the prospectus may have been printed on bifolia, inscribed with personal notes, and then folded and mailed to Mormon missionaries who were proselytizing outside of Missouri. Marsh wrote the letter sometime between 30 April, which was the publication date of the prospectus, and 18 June, the date of the postmark stamped on the letter. The postscript Marsh added suggests he may have written the letter over more than one day, apparently completing it on or shortly before 18 June. Marsh may have written the letter at his home in .
The letter to has two parts. The first part of the letter explains the disaffection of and other Latter-day Saints in . The second part of the letter explains church members’ dissatisfaction with and , as well as the excommunication of Phelps, John Whitmer, , , and . Marsh concluded his letter by noting that with the excommunications, internal opposition had been removed from the church in , that JS and had moved to Zion, and that the Elders’ Journal would soon be published again. Marsh’s postscript describes the April revelation designating as a holy place of in which to build a city of Zion and a .
Because knew the church newspaper would soon be reestablished, he may have written the letter with the intention of responding to personally and of publishing the letter in the newspaper to explain to a broader audience the recent developments in and . Or, Marsh may have determined after writing the letter that it could be published as a report on recent events. A revised version of the letter, apparently based on a retained copy, appeared in the July issue of the Elders’ Journal. Before mailing the letter, Marsh made some revisions that softened the antagonism he originally expressed toward the Kirtland dissenters, perhaps to make the letter more suitable for publication. Some of the substantive changes Marsh made in the version he sent to Woodruff do not appear in the Elders’ Journal version, suggesting that Marsh further revised the letter to Woodruff after making the retained copy. Marsh also revised the retained copy before publishing it.
The letter, mailed on 18 June, probably reached the post office in Vinalhaven, Maine, in mid- or late July. The letter was apparently received by one of ’s converts on the , as Woodruff had been on the mainland since late April. When he returned to the islands on 7 August 1838, he visited fellow Latter-day Saints Ephraim Luce, Stephen Luce, and a “Brother Sterretts,” and one of them apparently gave Woodruff the letter.
Woodruff left the Fox Islands on 28 April 1838. Regarding his return on 7 August, Woodruff wrote, “I received a letter from ElderThomas B. Marsh from Zion in answer to the one I wrot to the Bishop & Presidency & Saints in Zion.” The following day, Woodruff visited the post office to obtain further mail, which indicates that he received Marsh’s letter from one of the members he visited before he went to the post office. (Woodruff, Journal, 28 Apr. and 7–8 Aug. 1838.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
How blind and infatuated are the minds of men, when once turned from Rigteousness to wickedness? They did not understand, that by taking upon them the name of , did not do away that of the Church of Christ. Neither did they consider, that the ancient church, was the Church of Christ, and that they were Saints. And again, it appears that they did not consider the Prophesy, of Daniel, which <says> saith; “The saints shall take the King[d]om” &c “Again, “the Kingdom, and the greatness of the Kingdom, under the whole Heaven, was given to the people, (the Saints) of the most High” &c And the Saints here alluded to, were certainly Latterday Saints; inas much, as the above prophesy is to be fulfilled, in the Last days; and is yet future, as all professed readers of the bible will confess. We have of late learned, that , and the most of this wicked band <combination>, have openly renounced the Book of Mormon, and <and> be[c]ome deists—— I will now Leave , and give you some acount of the movement of things here, as they are and have been.
You, undoubtedly, will remember the visit, which I, in company with , made to the Churches in Kentucky and Tennessee, in the summer of 1836. You also may reecollect, the nature and result, of our visit. We came to solisit assistance, for Poorbleedingzion: And we obtained, through the goodness of the Children of God, in those regeons, the sum of fourteen hundred and fifty dollars, which we delivered unto & , on our arrival to this place. But these men, instead of laying out the money for the benefit of Poorbleedingzion, purchased Land for their own emolument. They generally did their business, independant<ly> of the aid, or council of <either> the or . This gave some uneasiness to the two authorities of : not only because they purchased land with Church funds, in their own name, for their own agrandisement, but because they selected the place of the City and appointed the spot for the to be built on, drew the plan of said , and appointed and ordained a committee to build the same, without asking or seeking council, at the hand of either , High Council, or ; when it was well understood that these authorites wer <appointed> for the purpose of counciling on all important matters pertaining to the saints of God.
These two presidents also managed to get the town plott into their own hands, that they that they might reap the avails ariseing from the sale of the lots. In consequence of these, with many other things, the Council met by themselves on the 3d. day of April 1837, and resolved to meet on the 5 invite the two president<s>, the and his council, and the two , namely and , to meet with them, on the 5th. inst. to which time they adjourned. Acordingly the above named authorites met, on the [p. [2]]
The vision of Daniel culminated with all nations dissolving and with the people of God receiving everlasting dominion over the earth. (Daniel chap. 7.)
Early American Deists believed in a singular creator god and rejected all shades of polytheism, including Trinitarian theology. They tended to believe that the creator god was the architect of the universe, who after setting the stars and planets in motion withdrew from any further intervention. Deists rejected miracles, spiritual gifts, and any form of supernatural revelation, including those described in the Bible. They criticized classical Christian theology and espoused in its place a commonsense morality. (Holifield, Theology in America, 162–170.)
Holifield, E. Brooks. Theology in America: Christian Thought from the Age of the Puritans to the Civil War. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.
Phelps and Whitmer purchased the original square mile for Far West in August 1836 and used the money raised by Marsh and Groves to purchase additional land in the vicinity in November 1836. Because the church was not incorporated in Missouri, church leaders could hold church property in their own names only. The use and administration of such property, however, was often subject to the deliberations of church councils. (Caldwell Co., MO, Original Land Entries, 1835–1859, p. 11, microfilm 2,438,695, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Minute Book 1, 2 Apr. 1836.)
When the Zionhigh council was organized in 1834, JS told the council members “that he now had done his duty in organizing the High Council, through which Council the will of the Lord might be known on all importent occasions in the building up of Zion.” (Minutes and Discourse, ca. 7 July 1834.)
Among their various holdings, Phelps and Whitmer owned the land for the platted town of Far West. Marsh may have been specifically referring to a map of Far West that was used for allotment—possibly a certified copy of the Far West plat. (“Description of Far West Plat,” BYU Church History and Doctrine Department, Church History Project Collection, CHL.)
BYU Church History and Doctrine Department. Church History Project Collection, 1977–1981. Photocopy. CHL.
Most other members of the Quorum of the Twelve lived in Ohio or were on proselytizing missions. (See Thomas B. Marsh and David W. Patten, Far West, MO, to Parley P. Pratt, Toronto, Upper Canada, 10 May 1837, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 62–63.)
According to the minutes of the meeting, the council prepared a list of questions for the two men, challenging the presidents’ authority to unilaterally select and purchase the land for the new settlement, sell lots in the city plat for their own profit, designate the temple site, appoint a committee to help build the temple, and take other actions. Two of the questions focused on whether the land and proceeds from selling lots should remain in the hands of Phelps and Whitmer or whether some should be distributed to other church leaders as compensation for their services. (Minute Book 2, 3 Apr. 1837.)