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Discourse, 21 February 1844

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Discourse, 21 February 1844

Source Note

JS, Discourse, [, Hancock Co., IL], 21 Feb. 1844. Featured version inscribed [ca. 21 Feb. 1844] in Wilford Woodruff, Journal, vol. 5, 1 Jan. 1843–31 Dec. 1844, p. [195]; handwriting of ; Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Discourse, 17 Jan. 1843, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff.

Historical Introduction

On 21 February 1844, JS delivered a discourse to a group of in , Illinois, emphasizing the importance of obeying God’s commandments. Earlier that evening, JS had attended a lecture by a Reverend DeWolf, an Episcopal priest, in the assembly room on the second floor of . Once DeWolf concluded, he requested that JS speak. JS then “spoke to the people to show them that to get salvation we must not only do some things but every thing whi[c]h God had comandd [commanded].”
As DeWolf was lecturing in the assembly room, members of the and others gathered in JS’s , which was also on the second floor of his . Apostle was present at the meeting in JS’s office, and once it had concluded he presumably heard at least some of JS’s closing remarks in the assembly room. Woodruff later recorded them in his journal. The quality of his handwriting suggests that the account in his journal was a fair copy. It is unknown, however, if Woodruff created his account from notes he took during JS’s remarks or whether he reconstructed it from memory.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Woodruff, Journal, 21 Feb. 1844.

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

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 21 Feb. 1844. The priest was probably Erastus DeWolf, an Episcopal minister from Lee County, Illinois. In June 1843, DeWolf conversed with JS and preached in Nauvoo. (Recollections of the Pioneers of Lee County, 85; Stevens, History of Lee County Illinois, 422; JS, Journal, 4 and 11 June 1843; Clayton, Journal, 11 June 1843; Letter to Edward Hunter, 5 Jan. 1842.)

    Recollections of the Pioneers of Lee County. Dixon, IL: Inez A. Kennedy, 1893.

    Stevens, Frank. History of Lee County, Illinois. 2 vols. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1914.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 21 Feb. 1844.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 21 Feb. 1844; Woodruff, Journal, 21 Feb. 1844; Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 21 Feb. 1844; see also Letter to Edward Hunter, 5 Jan. 1842.

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

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Discourse, 21 February 1844
History Draft [1 January–21 June 1844] History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [195]

Among other things said that men may preach & practice evry thing except those things which God commands us to do & will be damned at last we may tithe rue annis [anise] & cummin [cumin] & still not obey the commandments of God the object with me is to obey & teach others to obey God in just what he tells us to do It mattereth not whether the principle is popular or unpopular I will always maintain a true principl even if I stand alone in it [p. [195]]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [195]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, 21 February 1844
ID #
1281
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Wilford Woodruff

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Matthew 23:23.