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Baptismal Certificate for Martha Nelson Goforth, 9 April 1844

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Baptismal Certificate for Martha Nelson Goforth, 9 April 1844

Source Note

JS, Baptismal Certificate, for , , Hancock Co., IL, 9 Apr. 1844; handwriting of ; signature of JS; one page; CHL.
Single leaf of faded blue paper measuring 4¼ × 7 inches (11 × 18 cm). At least two of the four sides, the top and bottom, were unevenly hand cut, suggesting that this certificate was written on a larger leaf. The document was trifolded. Some of the folds have undergone conservation.
The document was presumably received by . It was likely passed down among her descendants for some time. The Church Historical Department (now CHL) acquired the document in 1984 from the descendants of Emmaretta Gabbott Brown, a great-granddaughter of Goforth.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See the full bibliographical entry for JS, Certificate, to Martha Nelson Goforth, 9 Apr. 1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 9 April 1844, JS certified that he had and as a member of the in , Illinois, on Sunday, 7 April 1844. On 5 April, Goforth had accompanied her husband, —a prominent Freemason and physician—to the dedication services of the new in Nauvoo. At the time, the couple lived in Belleville, Illinois, across the from , and were not members of the church, although Martha had a brother who lived in Nauvoo. However, William Goforth sympathized with the Latter-day Saints and JS, who, William determined, had endured “defamitory abuse from the individuals whose names are by some registered within the indisputable fields of Hell’s meritorious environs.”
The Goforths’ visit coincided with the special held in from 6 to 8 April 1844. On Sunday, 7 April, during the intermission from noon to two o’clock, the Goforths accompanied JS to his residence at the and from there went to where Main Street met the , a block from JS’s home. There, Martha and thirty-four others were baptized. Because the featured document is the only extant baptismal certificate from that occasion, it is unclear if JS performed any of the other baptisms.
The remaining conference and meetings likely delayed the production of this certificate, which inscribed and JS signed on 9 April 1844. On that day, JS met with church from eight o’clock in the morning until two o’clock in the afternoon or later, suggesting that the certificate was prepared in the late afternoon. The certificate was presumably given to on or soon after 9 April.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    William Goforth, Letter to the Editor, Belleville (IL) Advocate, 18 Apr. 1844, [2]; see also Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minute Book, 5 Apr. 1844. The Nauvoo Neighbor advertised this event to the “Masonic world” for several weeks and invited “All worthy Brethren of the Fraternity” to participate in the dedication ceremonies. (“Masonic Notice,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 13 and 20 Mar. 1844, [3], emphasis in original; “Masonic Notice,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 27 Mar. and 3 Apr. 1844, [4], emphasis in original.)

    Belleville Advocate. Belleville, IL. 1840–1854.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  2. [2]

    William Goforth to [Editor of the Times and Seasons, Nauvoo, IL], 10 Apr. 1844, 1, CHL; Reynolds, History of the M. W. Grand Lodge of Illinois, 191; History of St. Clair County, Illinois, 188; see also William Goforth, Letter to the Editor, Belleville (IL) Advocate, 18 Apr. 1844, [2]; and William Goforth [Sissimus, pseud.], Nauvoo, IL, 10 Apr. 1844, Letter to the Editor, Nauvoo Neighbor, 1 May 1844, [2]. William Goforth reported this April visit to Nauvoo in a letter to the Times and Seasons. At the point in the handwritten letter where William Goforth referred to Martha Goforth’s brother, Thomas Bullock inserted “Thomas Nelson.”

    Goforth, William. Letter to Times and Seasons, 10 Apr. 1844. CHL. MS 15541.

    Reynolds, John C. History of the M. W. Grand Lodge of Illinois, Ancient, Free, and Accepted Masons, From the Organization of the First Lodge Within the Present Limits of the State, Up to and Including 1850. Springfield, IL: H. G. Reynolds, 1869.

    History of St. Clair County, Illinois. With Illustrations Descriptive of Its Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia: Brink, McDonough and Co., 1881.

    Belleville Advocate. Belleville, IL. 1840–1854.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  3. [3]

    William Goforth to [Editor of the Times and Seasons, Nauvoo, IL], 10 Apr. 1844, 1, CHL.

    Goforth, William. Letter to Times and Seasons, 10 Apr. 1844. CHL. MS 15541.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 4 Mar. and 6–8 Apr. 1844.

  5. [5]

    William Goforth to [Editor of the Times and Seasons, Nauvoo, IL], 10 Apr. 1844, 17, CHL; JS, Journal, 7 Apr. 1844; Hills, Map of the City of Nauvoo, 1842; see also William Goforth [Sissimus, pseud.], Nauvoo, IL, 10 Apr. 1844, Letter to the Editor, Nauvoo Neighbor, 1 May 1844, [2].

    Goforth, William. Letter to Times and Seasons, 10 Apr. 1844. CHL. MS 15541.

    Hills, Gustavus. Map of the City of Nauvoo. New York: J. Child, 1842. CHL.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  6. [6]

    JS, Journal, 7 Apr. 1844; Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 7 Apr. 1844.

  7. [7]

    See JS, Journal, 7–9 Apr. 1844.

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Baptismal Certificate for Martha Nelson Goforth, 9 April 1844
ID #
1632
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
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