Although Snider was appointed on 22 December 1841 to serve a mission to Europe, he had not left by 28 January 1842, at which time the Quorum of the Twelve directed him to go. He returned from England 23 January 1843. (JS, Journal, 22 Dec. 1841; 28 Jan. 1842; 23 Jan. 1843.)

Wilford Woodruff reported that JS said on this occasion that the Bible supported the concept of baptism for the dead and that if persons living could be baptized, those who were deceased could receive the same privilege. Although JS’s discourse was on baptism for the dead, at least some of the baptisms performed this day were rebaptisms for living people—including Woodruff and John Taylor. Following the baptisms, the Saints assembled, as on the 20 March occasion, near the temple for confirmations. (Woodruff, Journal, 27 Mar. 1842.)

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

According to The Wasp, the Aeriel carried “some hundred and fifty or two hundred emigrants . . . from Eng[l]and, accompanied by Elder Lyman Wight and eighty or ninety more from Mississippi.” Wight later recalled returning to Nauvoo with “47,500 lbs of sugar & molasses and 10 sacks of coffee, a small quantity of dry goods and 100 mormon passengers.” (“Emigration,” The Wasp, 16 Apr. 1842, [2]; Lyman Wight, Mountain Valley, TX, to Wilford Woodruff, [Salt Lake City, Utah Territory], 24 Aug. 1857, p. 11, Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880, CHL.)

The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.

Pratt, who was presiding over the church’s congregations in England, forwarded by the hand of Stephen Nixon seven donations, totaling $250, from church members there. (Book of the Law of the Lord, 103.)

The minutes of the Female Relief Society mistakenly indicate that the meeting was held on 30 March. The “Epistle,” recorded following the minutes of the Relief Society meeting on 28 September 1842, cautioned the sisters to be wary of immoral individuals who claimed authority from JS or other church leaders to commit sin. The epistle may have been the “article” that the minutes report Emma Smith as reading during the afternoon meeting. In JS’s afternoon discourse, he explained that the society should be “separate from all the evils of the world, choice, virtuou[s] and holy” and that they should be careful to determine the worthiness of those admitted into the society. (Relief Society Minute Book, [31] Mar. 1842, 86–88.)

TEXT: “April” is triple underlined.

Possibly the final payment for 153½ acres of land in the northeast quarter of Section 8 and northwest quarter of Section 9 within Township 6 North, Range 8 West, that JS contracted to buy from Erie Rhodes on 16 September 1841 for $3,000. Hugh Rhodes was the administrator for the estate of Erie Rhodes, who died October 1841. (Hancock Co., IL, Bonds and Mortgages, vol. 1, pp. 228–229, microfilm 954,776, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Hancock Co., IL, Probate Record, vol. A, p. 119, microfilm 954,481, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

After the death of Edward Lawrence in November or December 1839, JS was appointed on 4 June 1841 as guardian of the Lawrence children and received title to their assets. Margaret Lawrence, Edward’s widow, married Butterfield on 24 December 1840. (Madsen, “Joseph Smith as Guardian,” 172–173, 179, 181–187.)

Madsen, Gordon A. “Joseph Smith as Guardian: The Lawrence Estate Case.” Journal of Mormon History 36, no. 3 (2010): 172–211.

A promissory note written by JS on this date stated he would “pay Wm. Marks or bearer Two hundrd and eighty nine dollars in goods at the brick store from time to time as my circumstances will admit.” (Promissory note, JS to William Marks, 4 Apr. 1842, JS Collection, CHL.)

William Niswanger paid $800 on this date for land in block seventy-one of the Hotchkiss purchase. (Trustees Land Book A, Hotchkiss Purchase, block 71, lot 2, [124].)

This was the first day of a three-day conference held 6–8 April 1842. The conference was not termed a “general conference” because JS announced in October 1841 that there would not be another “general” conference until the completion of the temple in Nauvoo. (“Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1842, 3:761–763; see also JS, Journal, 29 Dec. 1841.)

Hyrum Smith.

In April 1840, Hyde and Page were appointed to serve a mission to London, Amsterdam, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and “other places” to “converse with the priests, rulers and Elders of the Jews, and obtain from them” the “present views and movements of the Jewish people.” After “obtain[ing] from them all the information possible,” they were to “communicate the same to some principal paper for publication, that it may have a general circulation throughout the United States.” The two men started their mission together but separated after a time—Hyde continuing on to Jerusalem and Page eventually returning to Nauvoo. At the April 1842 conference, Page explained that he and Hyde separated during their fund-raising activities and Hyde left for Europe earlier than they had originally intended. After Page’s remarks, JS stated there was no great harm done in the separation, and a vote of the conference affirmed that Page was to remain in full fellowship. (JS, “To All People unto Whom These Presents Shall Come,” Times and Seasons, Apr. 1840, 1:86; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1842, 3:761–763.)

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

Hyde and Page evidently made a covenant of secrecy with each other, although the conference minutes do not record a statement by Page to that effect. JS responded that such a covenant was wrong, as it “created a lack of confidence for two men to covenant to reveal all acts of secrecy or otherwise to each other.” (“Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1842, 3:762.)