Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840

Source Note

Brigham Young
1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...
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, Letter,
Lugwardine
Village in western England. Located on River Lugg. Population in 1831 about 660. Population in 1851 about 670.
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, Herefordshire, England, to JS, [
Nauvoo
Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....
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, 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
Robert B. Thompson
1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...
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; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.
Historical Introduction
On 7 May 1840,
Brigham Young
1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...
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wrote a letter from
Lugwardine
Village in western England. Located on River Lugg. Population in 1831 about 660. Population in 1851 about 670.
More Info
, England, to JS in
Nauvoo
Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....
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, Illinois. Young had arrived in
England
Island nation consisting of southern portion of Great Britain and surrounding smaller islands. Bounded on north by Scotland and on west by Wales. Became province of Roman Empire, first century. Ruled by Romans, through 447. Ruled by Picts, Scots, and Saxons...
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a month earlier, in company with fellow
apostles
Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...
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Heber C. Kimball
14 June 1801–22 June 1868. Blacksmith, potter. Born at Sheldon, Franklin Co., Vermont. Son of Solomon Farnham Kimball and Anna Spaulding. Married Vilate Murray, 22 Nov. 1822, at Mendon, Monroe Co., New York. Member of Baptist church at Mendon, 1831. Baptized...
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,
Parley P. Pratt
12 Apr. 1807–13 May 1857. Farmer, editor, publisher, teacher, school administrator, legislator, explorer, author. Born at Burlington, Otsego Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Traveled west with brother William to acquire land, 1823....
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,
Orson Pratt
19 Sept. 1811–3 Oct. 1881. Farmer, writer, teacher, merchant, surveyor, editor, publisher. Born at Hartford, Washington Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Moved to New Lebanon, Columbia Co., New York, 1814; to Canaan, Columbia Co., fall...
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, and
George A. Smith
26 June 1817–1 Sept. 1875. Born at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York. Son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Joseph H. Wakefield, 10 Sept. 1832, at Potsdam. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio,...
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.
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.)
Comprehensive Works Cited
Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.
Young wrote to the
First Presidency
The highest presiding body of the church. An 11 November 1831 revelation stated that the president of the high priesthood was to preside over the church. JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood on 25 January 1832. In March 1832, JS appointed two...
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from the nearby town of
Ledbury
Market town in western England; situated at southern end of Malvern Hills. Population in 1831 about 4,000. Population in 1841 about 4,500. Wilford Woodruff baptized 158 people near town, spring 1840.
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only eight days before he composed this letter, reporting on a 15 April general
conference
A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...
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of the
church
The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
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held in
Preston
Town located on River Ribble, approximately 216 miles northwest of London. Population in 1831 about 33,000. Population in 1841 about 35,000. First Latter-day Saint mission to England established, 1837–1838, with most efforts concentrated in town and surrounding...
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, England.
2
Letter from Brigham Young, 29 Apr. 1840.
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.
Robert B. Thompson
1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...
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copied the letter into JS Letterbook 2 sometime before his death in August 1841, and possibly in June or July 1840.
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.)
Comprehensive Works Cited
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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
Lorenzo Snow
3 Apr. 1814–10 Oct. 1901. Schoolteacher. Born in Mantua, Portage Co., Ohio. Son of Oliver Snow and Rosetta Leonora Pettibone. Attended Oberlin College. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by John F. Boynton, 19 June 1836, in Kirtland...
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which gave them permission to publish the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and covenants and Hymn Book, but not to
ordain
The conferral of power and authority; to appoint, decree, or set apart. Church members, primarily adults, were ordained to ecclesiastical offices and other responsibilities by the laying on of hands by those with the proper authority. Ordinations to priesthood...
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any into the
quorum
An organized group of individuals holding the same office in the Melchizedek priesthood or the Aaronic priesthood. According to the 1835 “Instruction on Priesthood,” the presidency of the church constituted a quorum. The Twelve Apostles also formed a quorum...
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of the
Seventies
A priesthood office with the responsibility to travel and preach and assist the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, similar to the seventy in the New Testament. In February and March 1835, the first members of the Seventy were selected and ordained. All of those...
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, and likewise some general instructions. the letter was sent on the 19th day of July 1840—.”
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].)
Comprehensive Works Cited
Snow, Lorenzo. Letterbook, ca. 1839–1846. CHL.
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.

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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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Document Information
Editorial Title
Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840
ID #
541
Total Pages
3
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.

Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840

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