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“Church History,” 1 March 1842

Source Note

JS, “Church History,” in Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, vol. 3, no. 9, 706–710. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

In the 1 March issue of the Times and Seasons, JS published a narrative history that included a description of his early visions, of the organization, growth, and migrations of the , and of the persecution the Latter-day Saints endured; it also included a succinct summary of Latter-day Saint beliefs. The document states that , proprietor and editor of the weekly Chicago Democrat, solicited the history on behalf of , a attorney. Barstow was then working on a history of New Hampshire and apparently sought information about JS and the Latter-day Saints for possible inclusion in the book. While it is unclear whether Wentworth or Barstow ever received the information included in this narrative history, JS published the material in the Times and Seasons, the church newspaper printed in , Illinois.
Opportunities to treat the church or its doctrines favorably in publications unaffiliated with the church were rare, and some previous attempts were not entirely successful. On 4 January 1833 JS wrote a letter to , editor of the newspaper American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer. JS told Saxton that he wrote the letter “by the commandment of God” and asked the editor to publish it in its entirety, but Saxton published only an excerpt. JS wrote again on 12 February 1833 asking that the whole of his previous letter be “laid before the public,” but Saxton did not republish it. In 1836, in a volume titled The Religious Creeds and Statistics of Every Christian Denomination in the United States, editor John Hayward included a summary of the Book of Mormon and short excerpts from the Doctrine and Covenants as well as a statement of beliefs that church member furnished, but these materials were bracketed by negative statements from (JS’s father-in-law) and from a skeptical Hayward. In 1839 the editor of the St. Louis Gazette asked church for an article about the church but then declined to print it. Taylor later published the history himself in a tract titled A Short Account of the Murders, Roberies, Burnings, Thefts, and Other Outrages Committed by the Mob and Militia of the State of Missouri, upon the Latter Day Saints.
Though JS had previously produced texts that chronicled the origins and history of the church, the featured historical sketch and statements of belief represent the first time he published that information. Succinctly titled “Church History,” the document was published in the 1 March 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons. No manuscript copy has been located, and it is not known how much of the text JS originally wrote or dictated. In several places the historical narrative parallels other accounts JS produced between 1832 and 1838 or echoes wording from ’s 1840 tract A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions. To produce his thirteen doctrinal statements, JS may have drawn upon several different texts, including the “Articles and Covenants,” drafted when the church was organized in 1830; ’s “broad principles,” published in the October 1834 issue of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate; ’s “leading principles,” published in Hayward’s 1836 Religious Creeds; and Pratt’s Interesting Account, which drew upon a theological summary written by . In addition to consulting these texts, JS may have counseled with trusted associates to compose the document. Whatever his intellectual debt to Cowdery, Pratt, or others, JS took responsibility for “Church History” when it was published in the Times and Seasons. He introduced himself at the beginning of the article as “the founder,” and his name appears at the conclusion as the author. An editorial passage printed above his name further confirms his endorsement: “This paper commences my editorial career, I alone stand responsible for it, and shall do for all papers having my signature henceforward.”
In the featured text JS imparted what he characterized as a “sketch of the rise, progress, persecution, and faith of the Latter-Day Saints.” In this historical narrative, later referred to as the “Wentworth letter,” JS offered a synopsis of his first vision, the reception and production of the Book of Mormon, and the founding and expansion of the church. JS also used the featured text as a medium to describe “the injustice, the wrongs, the murders, the bloodshed, the theft, misery and woe” that Latter-day Saints endured in during the 1830s. Following his historical sketch, JS presented thirteen statements of belief that later became known as “The Articles of Faith.” As he had when he wrote nine years earlier, JS asked that “publish the account entire, ungarnished, and without misrepresentation.”
Following the historical narrative’s publication in the Times and Seasons, several other publications made brief, oblique references to it. The newspaper Quincy Whig noted JS’s historical sketch in conjunction with his new role as editor of the church’s periodical. In Mormonism and the Mormons, pastor Daniel Kidder remarked that JS’s 1842 autobiographical narratives were “nothing but the old story about the and the angel, with a few emendations to save appearances.”
JS’s overview of church history was reproduced in various publications in the succeeding decade. John Hayward incorporated excerpts from the sketch in his 1842 volume The Book of Religions, and church members and published a nearly verbatim copy of the text in an 1844 tract titled Correspondence between Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and Col. John Wentworth. Historian included an augmented version of “Church History”—published as “Latter Day Saints”—in his 1844 work He Pasa Ekklesia: An Original History of the Religious Denominations at Present Existing in the United States; it also appeared in the 1848 edition of the book, published by John Winebrenner and retitled History of All the Religious Denominations in the United States. Additionally, versions of JS’s thirteen doctrinal statements were featured in several missionary tracts or newspapers from 1844 to 1851, as well as in an 1851 history of the Latter-day Saints written by London journalist Henry Mayhew. While serving as president of the British mission in 1851, published the thirteen statements of belief, along with a few revelatory texts JS produced, in a collection titled The Pearl of Great Price—a revised version of which was canonized as church scripture in 1880.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    George Barstow, History of New Hampshire from Its Discovery, in 1614, to the Passage of the Toleration Act, in 1819 (Concord, NH: I. S. Boyd, 1842). Barstow’s initial interest in the church may have been prompted by recent Latter-day Saint missionary activity and church growth in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. (See Letter from Eli Maginn, 22 Mar. 1842; and Williams, “Missionary Movements of the LDS Church in New England,” 128–133, 147–156.)

    Williams, Richard Shelton. “The Missionary Movements of the LDS Church in New England, 1830–1850.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1969.

  2. [2]

    “Mormonism,” American Revivalist, and Rochester (NY) Observer, 2 Feb. 1833, [2]; Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 4 Jan. 1833; Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 12 Feb. 1833.

    American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer. Rochester, NY. 1827–1833.

  3. [3]

    Hayward, Religious Creeds and Statistics, 130–142.

    Hayward, John. The Religious Creeds and Statistics of Every Christian Denomination in the United States and British Provinces. With Some Account of the Religious Sentiments of the Jews, American Indians, Deist, Mahometans, &c. Boston: By the author, 1836.

  4. [4]

    Taylor, Short Account of the Murders, 8.

    Taylor, John. A Short Account of the Murders, Roberies, Burnings, Thefts, and Other Outrages Committed by the Mob and Militia of the State of Missouri, Upon the Latter Day Saints. Springfield, IL: By the author, 1839.

  5. [5]

    See, for example, History, ca. Summer 1832; and JS History, vol. A-1, 1–61.

  6. [6]

    The issue was likely published after 2 March, when JS read the proof sheets. Wilford Woodruff, who worked in the printing office, recorded that he spent the day of 4 March “at the [printing] Office making up the Mails or prepairing papers for it.” (JS, Journal, 2 Mar. 1842; Woodruff, Journal, 4 Mar. 1842.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  7. [7]

    History, ca. Summer 1832; Conversations with Robert Matthews, 9–11 Nov. 1835; JS History, vol. A-1, 1–7. For a comparison between Pratt’s Interesting Account and the featured text, see Orson Pratt, A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, 1840.

  8. [8]

    Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:29–36]; Oliver Cowdery, “Address,” Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:1–2; Hayward, Religious Creeds and Statistics, 139–140; see also Pratt and Higbee, Address; compare Pratt, Late Persecution of the Church, iii–xiii.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

    Hayward, John. The Religious Creeds and Statistics of Every Christian Denomination in the United States and British Provinces. With Some Account of the Religious Sentiments of the Jews, American Indians, Deist, Mahometans, &c. Boston: By the author, 1836.

    Pratt, Parley P., and Elias Higbee. An Address by Judge Higbee and Parley P. Pratt, Ministers of the Gospel, of the Church of Jesus Christ of “Latter-day Saints,” to the Citizens of Washington, and to the Public in General. N.p., 1840.

  9. [9]

    During this period, John Taylor reportedly assisted JS with producing content for the Times and Seasons. (Woodruff, Journal, 19 Feb. 1842.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  10. [10]

    Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:710. When the history was updated and sent to Israel Daniel Rupp for publication, JS was again named as author of the text. (Rupp, He Pasa Ekklesia, 404.)

  11. [11]

    Church historian Brigham H. Roberts was among the first to refer to the featured text as the “Wentworth letter.” Given its lack of a date, salutation, and valediction, the featured text is not a letter, though portions of the text may have been derived from one. (History of the Church, 4:535.)

    History of the Church / Smith, Joseph, et al. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Edited by B. H. Roberts. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1902–1912 (vols. 1–6), 1932 (vol. 7).

  12. [12]

    From early 1839 onward JS and other church leaders encouraged the Latter-day Saints to gather up “knowledge of all the facts and suffering and abuses put upon them by the people of this state [Missouri].” In late 1839 JS, Sidney Rigdon, and others traveled to Washington DC to seek redress from the federal government by presenting a lengthy memorial that described the violence Missouri vigilantes perpetrated against church members. These experiences and the possibility of redress were never far from JS’s mind during this period and beyond. (Letter to Edward Partridge and the Church, ca. 22 Mar. 1839; Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; Minutes and Discourse, 6 Mar. 1840; JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Henry Clay, 4 Nov. 1843, draft, JS Collection, CHL.)

  13. [13]

    From 1844 to 1851 these doctrinal statements appeared in various church-related tracts under different titles, including “Faith and Doctrine of the Latter Day Saints,” “L.D. Saints’ Faith,” “Latter Day Saint’s Faith,” and “Faith of the Latter-Day Saints.” The 1878 version of the Pearl of Great Price referred to the statements as “Articles of our Faith”; the 1902 version added numbers to the statements and referred to them as “The Articles of Faith Of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” ([Gooch], Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram Smith, 9–10; Flanigan, Reply to a Sheet, 7–8; Orson Hyde, “Latter Day Saint’s Faith,” Frontier Guardian [Kanesville, IA], 20 Feb. 1850, [1]; [Mayhew], Mormons, 46–47; Pearl of Great Price, 1878 ed., 63; Pearl of Great Price, 1902 ed., 102–103, emphasis in original.)

    Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram Smith, Who Were Murdered while in Prison at Carthage, on the 27th Day of June, A. D. 1844. Boston: John Gooch, 1844.

    Flanigan, J. H. Reply to a Sheet Entitled, “The Result of Two Meetings between the L.D. Saints and Primitive Methodists,” at Gravely, Cambridgshire. Bedford, England, 1849.

    Frontier Guardian. Kanesville, IA. 1849–1852.

    [Mayhew, Henry]. The Mormons; or, Latter-Day Saints. With Memoirs of the Life and Death of Joseph Smith, the “American Mahomet.” London: Office of the National Illustrated Library, [1851].

    The Pearl of Great Price: Being a Choice Selection from the Revelations, Translations and Narrations of Joseph Smith, First Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Latter-day Saints’ Printing and Publishing Establishment, 1878.

    The Pearl of Great Price: A Selection from the Revelations, Translation, and Narrations of Joseph Smith First Prophet, Seer and Revelator to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1902.

  14. [14]

    Editorial, Quincy (IL) Whig, 12 Mar. 1842, [2].

    Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

  15. [15]

    Kidder, Mormonism and the Mormons, 334. Kidder may have been referring to both “Church History” and the more extensive “History of Joseph Smith” that JS began publishing serially in the 15 March 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons. (Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:726.)

    Kidder, Daniel P. Mormonism and the Mormons: A Historical View of the Rise and Progress of the Sect Self-Styled Latter-Day Saints. New York: G. Lane and P. P. Sandford, 1842.

  16. [16]

    Hayward, Book of Religions, 260–266; Correspondence between Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and Col. John Wentworth, 3–6.

    Hayward, John. The Book of Religions; Comprising the Views Creeds, Sentiments, or Opinions, of All the Principal Religious Sects in the World, Particularly of All Christian Denominations in Europe and America; To Which Are Added Church and Missionary Statistics, Together with Biographical Sketches. Boston: John Hayward, 1842.

    Correspondence between Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and Col. John Wentworth, Editor of “The Chicago Democrat,” and Member of Congress from Illinois; Gen. James Arlington Bennet, of Arlington House, Long Island, and the Honorable John C. Calhoun, Senator from South Carolina. . . . New York: John E. Page and L. R. Foster, 1844.

  17. [17]

    Rupp, He Pasa Ekklesia, 404–410; Winebrenner, History of All the Religious Denominations in the United States, 344–349. In 1843, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, publisher Clyde, Williams & Co. requested that JS submit an article on the Latter-day Saints for inclusion in a book; with the aid of scribe William W. Phelps, JS later supplied them with an expanded version of the historical sketch and doctrinal statements. After receiving a copy of the book, JS offered to furnish Rupp with “further information, at a proper time.” (Clyde, Williams & Co., Harrisburg, PA, to JS and Sidney Rigdon, Nauvoo, IL, ca. 15 July 1843; JS per William W. Phelps, Nauvoo, IL, to Clyde, Williams & Co., Harrisburg, PA, 1 Aug. 1843, copy, JS Collection, CHL; William W. Phelps, Historical Article, Sept. 1843, CHL; JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Israel Daniel Rupp, Lancaster, PA, 5 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL.)

    Winebrenner, John, comp. History of All the Religious Denominations in the United States: Containing Authentic Accounts of the Rise and Progress, Faith and Practice, Localities and Statistics, of the Different Persuasions: Written Expressly for the Work, by Fifty-Three Eminent Authors, Belonging to the Respective Denominations. 2nd ed. Harrisburg, PA: John Winebrenner, 1848.

  18. [18]

    See, for example, [Gooch], Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram Smith, 9–10; The Latter-Day Saints’ Belief (n.p., [1851?]), copy at CHL; Flanigan, Reply to a Sheet, 7–8; “Latter Day Saint’s Faith,” Frontier Guardian (Kanesville, IA), 20 Feb. 1850, [1]; and [Mayhew], Mormons, 46–47.

    Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram Smith, Who Were Murdered while in Prison at Carthage, on the 27th Day of June, A. D. 1844. Boston: John Gooch, 1844.

    The Latter-Day Saints’ Belief. N.p., [1851?]. Copy at CHL.

    Flanigan, J. H. Reply to a Sheet Entitled, “The Result of Two Meetings between the L.D. Saints and Primitive Methodists,” at Gravely, Cambridgshire. Bedford, England, 1849.

    Frontier Guardian. Kanesville, IA. 1849–1852.

    [Mayhew, Henry]. The Mormons; or, Latter-Day Saints. With Memoirs of the Life and Death of Joseph Smith, the “American Mahomet.” London: Office of the National Illustrated Library, [1851].

  19. [19]

    Pearl of Great Price, 1851 ed., 55; Pearl of Great Price, 1878 ed., 63; “Fiftieth Semi-annual Conference,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 13 Oct. 1880, 588.

    The Pearl of Great Price: Being a Choice Selection from the Revelations, Translations, and Narrations of Joseph Smith, First Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1851.

    The Pearl of Great Price: Being a Choice Selection from the Revelations, Translations and Narrations of Joseph Smith, First Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Latter-day Saints’ Printing and Publishing Establishment, 1878.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. Additions to “Church History,” September 1843, Draft “Latter Day Saints,” 1844 *“Church History,” 1 March 1842 Times and Seasons, 1 March 1842 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 709

an exterminating order was issued by , and under the sanction of law an organized banditti ranged through the country, robbed us of our cattle, sheep, horses, hogs &c., many of our people were murdered in cold blood, the chastity of our women was violated, and we were forced to sign away our property at the point of the sword, and after enduring every indignity that could be heaped upon us by an inhuman, ungodly band of maurauders, from twelve to fifteen thousand souls men, women, and children were driven from their own fire sides, and from lands that they had warrantee deeds of, houseless, friendless, and homeless (in the depth of winter,) to wander as exiles on the earth or to seek an asylum in a more genial clime, and among a less barbarous people.
Many sickened and died, in consequence of the cold, and hardships they had to endure; many wives were left widows, and children orphans, and destitute. It would take more time than is allotted me here to describe the injustice, the wrongs, the murders, the bloodshed, the theft, misery and woe that has been caused by the barbarous, inhuman, and lawless, proceedings of the state of .
In the situation before alluded to we arrived in the state of in 1839, where we found a hospitable people and a friendly home; a people who were willing to be governed by the principles of law and humanity. We have commenced to build a city called “” in Hancock co., we number from six to eight thousand here besides vast numbers in the around and in almost every county of the . We have a city charter granted us and a charter for a the troops of which now number 1500. We have also a charter for a university, for an agricultural and manufacturing society, have our own laws and administrators, and possess all the privileges that other free and enlightened citizens enjoy.
Persecution has not stopped the progress of truth, but has only added fuel to the flame, it has spread with increasing rapidity, proud of the cause which they have espoused and conscious of their innocence and of the truth of their system amidst calumny and reproach have the of this gone forth, and planted the gospel in almost every state in the ; it has penetrated our cities, it has spread over our villages, and has caused thousands of our intelligent, noble, and patriotic citizens to obey its divine mandates, and be governed by its sacred truths. It has also spread into , Ireland, Scotland and Wales: in the year of 1839 where a few of our missionaries were sent over five thousand joined the standard of truth, there are numbers now joining in every land.
Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in , Palestine, New Holland, the East Indies, and other places, the standard of truth has been erected: no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing, persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done.
We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in his son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
We believe that men will be punished for their own sins and not for Adam’s transgression.
We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and of the Gospel.
We believe that these ordinances are 1st, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; 2d, Repentance; 3d, by immersion for the remission of sins; 4th, for the .
We believe that a man must be called of God by “prophesy, and by laying on of hands” by those who are in authority to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church, viz: apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists &c.
We believe in the gift of tongues, prophesy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues &c.
We believe the bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we be [p. 709]
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“Church History,” 1 March 1842
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Footnotes

  1. [20]

    Boggs charged the state militia with restoring peace to northwest Missouri and later issued an order that “the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state.” (Lilburn W. Boggs, Jefferson City, MO, to John B. Clark, Fayette, MO, 27 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City.)

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  2. [21]

    In a December 1838 petition to the Missouri legislature, church members asserted that after they had surrendered to militiamen in Far West, the soldiers proceeded to plunder homes, burn building materials and outbuildings, steal horses, and kill cattle, sheep, and hogs. (Edward Partridge et al., Petition, 10 Dec. 1838, copy, Edward Partridge, Papers, CHL.)

    Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892.

  3. [22]

    On 30 October 1838 more than two hundred vigilantes attacked a settlement of approximately thirty Latter-day Saint families at Hawn’s Mill, Caldwell County, Missouri. Vigilantes killed ten men and boys and fatally injured seven others. One contemporary report estimated that as many as forty people were killed in late 1838. (Greene, Facts relative to the Expulsion, 23–24; David Lewis, Affidavit, in Sidney Rigdon et al., “To the Publick,” ca. Sept. 1838–Oct. 1839, draft, JS Collection, CHL; Baugh, “Call to Arms,” chap. 9, appendixes I–J; John B. Clark, Jefferson City, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 29 Nov. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City; see also Rockwood, Journal, 11 Nov. 1838.)

    Greene, John P. Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, from the State of Missouri, under the “Exterminating Order.” By John P. Greene, an Authorized Representative of the Mormons. Cincinnati: R. P. Brooks, 1839.

    Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

    Rockwood, Albert Perry. Journal Entries, Oct. 1838–Jan. 1839. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2606.

  4. [23]

    Various accounts indicate that once the church members were disarmed, militiamen committed acts of sexual violence, including rape, against Latter-day Saint women. (American Anti-slavery Society, American Slavery as It Is, 191–192; Murdock, Journal, 29 Oct. 1838, 103–104; Hyrum Smith, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, pp. 13, 24, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

    American Slavery as It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses. New York: American Anti- Slavery Society, 1839.

    Murdock, John. Journal, ca. 1830–1859. John Murdock, Journal and Autobiography, ca. 1830–1867. CHL. MS 1194, fd. 2.

    Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

  5. [24]

    In the years after their forced expulsion from Missouri, church leaders offered different estimations of the number of members who had lived in the state; the number was likely between eight thousand and ten thousand. (Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839; Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 4 Mar. 1845; Leonard, Nauvoo, 31, 671n33; LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 35–36.)

    Leonard, Glen M. Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002.

    LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.

  6. [25]

    Many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Quincy, Illinois, located nearly 150 miles east of Far West, along the Mississippi River.

  7. [26]

    This may be an overstatement of the Nauvoo population. Although some estimates ran even higher (an article in the 1 October 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons described “a population of 14 or 15,000”), a circa February 1842 church census listed 3,413 Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo. (“Nauvoo,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:936–937; Platt, Nauvoo, vii; Leonard, Nauvoo, 179.)

    Platt, Lyman De. Nauvoo: Early Mormon Records Series, 1839–1846. Vol. 1. Highland, UT, 1980.

    Leonard, Glen M. Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002.

  8. [27]

    In December 1840 the Illinois legislature passed a bill titled “An Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo.” The act included explicit provisions for the city council to organize a university and a unit of the state militia. The agricultural and manufacturing association was incorporated in February 1841. (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo Agricultural and Manufacturing Association, in the County of Hancock [27 Feb. 1841], Laws of the State of Illinois [1840–1841], 139–141.)

    Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Twelfth General Assembly, at Their Session, Began and Held at Springfield, on the Seventh of December, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty. Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1841.

  9. [28]

    Under JS’s direction, apostles Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde and others undertook a proselytizing mission to England from June 1837 to May 1838. On 8 July 1838 JS dictated a revelation directing the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to prepare for a mission “over the great waters” the following spring. Most of the quorum, along with several other missionaries, left Commerce, Illinois, in 1839, arriving in England in April 1840. They proselytized throughout the British Isles until April 1841, gaining approximately five thousand converts. (Historical Introduction to Recommendation for Heber C. Kimball, between 2 and 13 June 1837; Revelation, 8 July 1838–A [D&C 118:4]; Allen et al., Men with a Mission, chaps. 4–9, 12.)

    Allen, James B., Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker. Men with a Mission, 1837–1841: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992.

  10. [29]

    Although this description of global missionary work reflected assignments and endeavors that had begun by this time, the effort was still in its infancy. After being appointed to fulfill a mission to the Jews, Orson Hyde traveled to London, Amsterdam, and Munich. Hyde’s mission culminated in the city of Jerusalem, where on 24 October 1841 he dedicated the land in preparation for the gathering of “Judah’s scattered remnants.” In July 1840 English convert William James Barratt emigrated to New Holland (now Australia) after being ordained an elder by George A. Smith. The Times and Seasons noted that “Elder William Donaldson, member of the army” was “bound for the East Indies.” (Orson Hyde, “Interesting News from Alexandria and Jerusalem,” Millennial Star, Jan. 1842, 2:132–136; Hyde, Voice from Jerusalem, 28–32; Devitry-Smith, “William James Barratt,” 53–66; “News from the Elders,” Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1840, 2:229.)

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

    Hyde, Orson. A Voice from Jerusalem, or a Sketch of the Travels and Ministry of Elder Orson Hyde, Missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to Germany, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. Liverpool: P. P. Pratt, 1842.

    Devitry-Smith, John. “William James Barratt: The First Mormon ‘Down Under.’” BYU Studies 28 (Summer 1988): 53–66.

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

  11. [30]

    See 1 Timothy 4:14.

  12. [31]

    See Ephesians 4:11.

  13. [32]

    A passage in the Book of Mormon stated that “plain and precious things” had been taken out of the “book of the Lamb of God” (that is, the Bible). Between 1830 and 1833 JS made revelatory revisions to about thirty-four hundred verses contained in the King James Version of the Bible, a project then referred to as the “New Translation.” (Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 31 [1 Nephi 13:28]; Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 3–5.)

    Faulring, Scott H., Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews, eds. Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2004.

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