Times and Seasons (, Hancock Co., IL), 1 July 1842, vol. 3, no. 17, pp. 831–846; edited by JS. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.
Historical Introduction
The 1 July 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons was the ninth issue published under JS’s editorship. Much of the issue was devoted to the publication of correspondence regarding ’s immoral conduct in , Illinois. This correspondence included a letter that JS wrote telling members about Bennett and describing how church leaders had handled his situation. To corroborate JS’s statements in that letter, the issue included excerpts of correspondence from unidentified individuals and from , who had evidently been sent to verify information about Bennett in . These statements, as well as JS’s letter, had been previously published in the 25 June 1842 issue of the Wasp.
In addition to information about , the 1 July issue contained an article by , excerpts from the “History of Joseph Smith,” an article on the Jews, and a reprint of a letter published in the Dollar Weekly Bostonian recounting a meeting at which “, the Mormon lecturer of the city of ” spoke. Also included were accounts of earthquakes that had occurred in Haiti and in Greece, a letter from to JS, communications from preaching outside of , minutes of in outlying , and a poem by about the . The issue also featured editorial commentary and notices written by the editorial staff. How involved JS was in composing the editorial material is unclear. While assisted him in editing the paper, JS, as editor, assumed primary responsibility for the paper’s content.
Note that only the editorial content created specifically for this issue of the Times and Seasons is annotated here. Articles reprinted from other papers, letters, conference minutes, and notices, are reproduced here but not annotated. Items that are stand-alone JS documents are annotated elsewhere; links are provided to these stand-alone documents.
Capital of the Republic, and formerly contained some 900 stone and brick houses, with a population variously estimated, at from 10 to 20,000.
It is situated on a Cape, at the edge of a plain between the sea and the mountains. The plain is exceedingly fertile, and intersected by broad paved roads, lined with lemon and lime trees.
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Range and Severity of the Late earthquake.—The earthquake which has recently desolated a large portion of St. Domingo, was one of the most severe that has occurred in any part of the world for many years; and perhaps more extensive in the sphere of its operations than any since the earthquake which destroyed Lisbon, in 1755. It appears that on the same day, and very nearly the same hour, the effects of this recent earthquake were felt at various places ranging from Port au Prince to the base of the . The greatest explosion from the force of internal pent up fires was felt at Cape Haytien, St. Domingo, on the 7th instant; here they had three successive and violent shocks; and previous to the first of them a shock of the earthquake was felt at Porto Rico, on the morning of the 7th of May, which as far as we have yet learned, was the most easterly point that the effects of it were felt. The internal fires, it seems, then took a northwesterly direction, struggling to escape from their prison house, and broke out at Cape Haytien. It stretched clear across the breadth of St. Domingo and was felt at Port au Prince on the same day and at nearly the same hour. It also traveled on and was felt at Mayaguez at the same time; then to St. Martinvsille and one or two other places in Louisiana; thence to Van Buren, Arkansas, and clear up to the foot of the ; where it was also felt on the same day. It thus traveled at least 1500 miles, and perhaps was felt even further. It is a sublime and awful thought; here we have proofs of the existence of a body of internal fires 1500 miles long, and probably as many deep.—. Herald.
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EARTHQUAKE IN GREECE.
Letters from Athens of the 28th ult. state that several violent shocks of an earthquake were felt in various parts of the Pelopenesus; on the 18th, at Sparta, the shocks lasted from 25 to 30 seconds each. The inhabitants ran terified out of their houses. On the same day, and in the course of the night, four or five other slighter shocks were experienced. Beyond the Eurotas an immense rock fell from Mount Menelos, near the village Drouchas. An old tower, situate in the town of Magoules was thrown to the ground. At Mistra the soil trembled with more violence than at Sparta, and a portion of the Hellenlo College and several houses were destroyed. The water of the springs and wells became turpid, and an enormous rock, having detached itself from the summit of old Mount Nistra rolled with terrific noise into the town.
At Calames, the first shock, felt at half past nine o’clock, lasted between 40 and 50 seconds, and there were ten others, from that hour until midnight, at intervals of three quarters of an hour. Most of the houses were damaged, and several in the neighborhood actually gave way. Upwards of 50 dwellings were thrown at Areopolis, and 15 towers crumbled at Etylus. Many persons were buried under the ruins of their houses in the province of Maina. At Androusa several churches fell in. On the 25 ult., at about four o’clock A. M. another shock was felt at Patras, which lasted a minute and a half.
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]