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Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840

Source Note

, Letter, , Herefordshire, England, to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 7 May 1840. Featured version copied [between ca. June 1840 and 27 Aug. 1841] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 151–153; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction

On 7 May 1840, wrote a letter from , England, to JS in , Illinois. Young had arrived in a month earlier, in company with fellow , , , and . Young wrote to the from the nearby town of only eight days before he composed this letter, reporting on a 15 April general of the held in , England. As in his previous letter, Young in this 7 May letter requested direction on the management of church affairs in England, specifically asking about publishing the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. He also inquired about the leadership role of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and asked where immigrating Saints were to settle in the Nauvoo area.
The original letter has not been located. copied the letter into JS Letterbook 2 sometime before his death in August 1841, and possibly in June or July 1840. At the end of the letter, Thompson included a note, probably inscribed at the same time he copied the letter: “The Answer was sent by which gave them permission to publish the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and covenants and Hymn Book, but not to any into the of the , and likewise some general instructions. the letter was sent on the 19th day of July 1840—.” The response Thompson summarized was not copied into JS’s letterbooks, and no other version has been located.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    These apostles arrived in Liverpool on 6 April 1840 along with Reuben Hedlock, a member of the Seventy. (George A. Smith, Autobiography, 9 Mar. and 6 Apr. 1840, 92.)

    Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Brigham Young, 29 Apr. 1840.

  3. [3]

    “Death of Col. Robert B. Thompson,” Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1841, 2:519–520. The letter is followed by items dated June and July 1840. (See Minutes, 2 July 1840, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 154; and Letter from William W. Phelps, with Appended Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 29 June 1840.)

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

  4. [4]

    Note, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 153. Snow arrived in England, carrying JS’s letter, on either 21 or 22 October 1840. (JS History, vol. C-1, 1119; Lorenzo Snow, London, England, to “E. McConougley,” [1841], in Snow, Letterbook, [15].)

    Snow, Lorenzo. Letterbook, ca. 1839–1846. CHL.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840 Letterbook 2 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 153

If we could go four ways at a time we could not fill all the calls we have for preaching. I shall expect such council from you about the comming as you shall think necessary for us and them to have. I wish to know what the prospect is about the goverment’s doing any thing for us. When we left I thought there was but a poor chance for us: concerning being called to the and sent to other countries I should like to know whether it would be propper to them to that office or not while here Had any of us better come back this fall, I suppose that some that came over with us will return Brothers and — and if he gets at liberty. I suppose you have heard that he is in prison. he has been there ever since my arrival in in and how long he will remain there the Lord only knows, he was put there through the influence of a priest as nigh as I can learn, for some old pretended claim but no one can find out what that claim is. I have just met with he tells me that the in this region of country numbers between three and four hundred, it is only about three months since commenced to labor here I have just received a letter from which stated he expected to leave his place the next day. sends his respects. I am as ever:
To Joseph Smith [p. 153]
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Source Note

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Page 153

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840
ID #
541
Total Pages
3
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:276–280
Handwriting on This Page
  • Robert B. Thompson

Footnotes

  1. [14]

    On 4 March 1840, less than a week before Young and his companions left New York for England, the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary returned to Congress their recommendation that the federal government no longer consider the Mormons’ request for redress and reparations for losses incurred in Missouri. (George A. Smith, Autobiography, 9 Mar. 1840, 92; Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; Report of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 4 Mar. 1840.)

    Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.

  2. [15]

    Turley led the second company of Saints to emigrate from England to the Nauvoo area (and the first company to arrive in Illinois), departing Liverpool on 8 September 1840. Clark led a company of Saints that departed Liverpool for the United States on 7 February 1841, and Hedlock departed Liverpool on 20 April 1841. (Clayton, Diary, 8 and 9 Sept. 1840; 24 Nov. 1840; Neibaur, Journal, 6–7 Feb. 1841; Woodruff, Journal, 20 Apr. 1841.)

    Clayton, William. Diary, Vol. 1, 1840–1842. BYU.

    Neibaur, Alexander. Journal, 1841–1862. CHL. MS 1674.

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

  3. [16]

    Turley had left unpaid debts in England when he immigrated to Canada seventeen years earlier. He was imprisoned in Staffordshire on 16 March 1840 and was released on 8 May 1840. (Turley, Journal, 8 May 1840; Allen et al., Men with a Mission, 129–130.)

    Turley, Theodore. Reminiscences and Journal, Sept. 1839–July 1840. Photocopy. CHL. MS 1950.

    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.

  4. [17]

    Woodruff had actually been in Herefordshire for only two months, having arrived at the farm of John and Jane Holmes Benbow near Ledbury on 4 March 1840. At the 15 April 1840 conference in Preston, Woodruff reported 158 converts in Herefordshire, with “nearly 200 souls ready to be baptized,” 30 of whom were baptized prior to Woodruff’s return from the conference. (Woodruff, Journal, 4 Mar. and 14–16 Apr. 1840.)

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

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