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Letter from Lorenzo D. Wasson, 30 July 1842

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Letter from Lorenzo D. Wasson, 30 July 1842

Source Note

, Letter, , Philadelphia Co., PA, to JS and , [, Hancock Co., IL], 30 July 1842. Featured version published in Times and Seasons, 15 Aug. 1842, vol. 3, no. 20, 891–892; edited by JS. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

On 30 July 1842, wrote a letter from to JS and in , Illinois, reporting on a mission he had undertaken to that area and expressing concern for the effects ’s “disclosures” were having on members in Philadelphia. Wasson was JS’s nephew, the son of Emma Smith’s sister Elizabeth Hale Wasson. He had been into the church in March 1842 in Nauvoo and had then departed on a mission to the eastern , during which he preached in Philadelphia and the southern part of . Although much proselytizing had been done in other parts of New Jersey, including , , and Ocean counties, Wasson declared that he and his mission companion were the first to preach in southern New Jersey. Wasson’s letter also referred to the opposition he faced, along with others who were preaching in the area, and he pointed specifically to debates between church member and George Montgomery West, an avowed critic of the Latter-day Saints.
In addition, mentioned difficulties the Saints were experiencing because of ’s accusations, which were getting a great deal of exposure in newspapers at that time. Wasson offered to help in any way he could to diminish Bennett’s influence.
’s original letter, which likely took a couple of weeks to reach , is apparently not extant. The text featured here was published in the 15 August 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons, which was evidently printed several days after 15 August.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For more information on Bennett’s “disclosures,” see “Joseph Smith Documents from May through August 1842.”.

  2. [2]

    Recollections of the Pioneers of Lee County, 57; Wilford Woodruff, “Sabbath Scene in Nauvoo,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1842, 3:752. When Wasson departed from Nauvoo is not clear, but it was sometime after his baptism and before mid-June, since this letter states he spent four weeks in New Jersey.

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

  3. [3]

    Benjamin Winchester began preaching in New Jersey in 1838, proselytizing in towns such as Hornerstown, New Egypt, and Toms River in Monmouth County. Erastus Snow also preached extensively in New Jersey in 1841, and William Appleby labored there as well. (Benjamin Winchester, Payson, IL, 18 June 1839, Letter to the Editors, Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:9–11; Snow, Journal, 1838–1841, 102–113; Letter from William Appleby, ca. Mar. 1842; see also Fleming, “Early Mormonism in the Pine Barrens,” 73–88.)

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

    Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.

    Fleming, Stephen J. “‘Sweeping Everything Before It’: Early Mormonism in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.” BYU Studies 40 (2001): 72–104.

  4. [4]

    One newspaper reported that in June 1842, West preached “that Infidelity is identical with Mormonism.” (Tyler Parsons, Boston, MA, 14 June 1842, Letter to the Editor, Boston Investigator, 15 June 1842, [3].)

    Boston Investigator. Boston. 1831–1904.

  5. [5]

    By the end of July 1842, the Sangamo Journal in Springfield, Illinois, had published four of Bennett’s letters.a The New York Herald reprinted some of the letters in July, and other eastern newspapers, including Philadelphia’s North American and Daily Advertiser, referenced the letters and the falling-out between Bennett and JS.b

    (aJohn C. Bennett, Nauvoo, IL, 27 June 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 8 July 1842, [2]; John C. Bennett, Carthage, IL, 2 July 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal, 15 July 1842, [2]; John C. Bennett, Carthage, IL, 4 July 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal, 15 July 1842, [2]; John C. Bennett, St. Louis, MO, 15 July 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal, 22 July 1842, [2]. bSee, for example, “Important from the Far West,” New York Herald, 21 July 1842, [2]; “Excommunication Extraordinary,” North American and Daily Advertiser [Philadelphia], 8 July 1842, [2]; and “A Row among the Mormons,” Sun [Baltimore], 22 July 1842, [2].)

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

    North American and Daily Advertiser. Philadelphia. 1839–1845.

    Sun. Baltimore. 1837–2008.

  6. [6]

    The issue contains a notice dated 20 August 1842. (“Books of Mormon,” Times and Seasons, 15 Aug. 1842, 3:894.)

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Lorenzo D. Wasson, 30 July 1842
Times and Seasons, 15 August 1842

Page 891

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, July 30, 1842.
Dear Uncle and :—
With feelings of no ordinary character, and under peculiar circumstances, I now attempt to break the seeming long silence that has not been interrupted since I left your hospitable cottage, and the society of those rendered dear to me by their virtues, their benevolence and their glorious institutions. That, with the assistance of my heavenly Father, has formed my character and habits for the society of saints and angels.
I am in the enjoyment of good health, and I believe entirely free from that miserable, contemptible disease that destroys the constitution of man, (namely ague and fever,) and what causes me greater rejoicing, I have, by the grace of God, abolished the more dangerous malady—one that binds the mind of man in midnight darkness, and obscures their future destiny and eternal happiness in mistic clouds of uncertainty and doubt, namely, sectarian cupidity. I have just returned to this from a short excursion of four weeks through the south part of . Brother I. Ivins and myself were the first that ever proclaimed the everlasting gospel in that region of country; and to the disappointment of the people, and consternation of hireling priests, we preached Christ, and him crucified, and presented new and important truths from their own bibles that they never saw or heard of before. The people of this section are principally Methodists and Presbyterians, but they were inclined to believe the truth as it was presented, until the decrees of their long robed gods went forth commanding them not to hear or entertain these impostors, as we were called—O delusion! O blind philosophy! how long will thy unfortunate dupes be gulled by the ipse dixit of learned fools and holy knaves?
We were frequently obliged to leave the scriptures, or subject under consideration and give lessons on good manners, and advise disorderly priests not to disgrace their parents by showing their bad breeding. We held a discussion with a college bred advocate of Calvinism on the 23d; he would not show that Mormonism was false, as he had stated, so we took him up on Calvinism, and I assure you he found himself in poor picking before we got through. We left many believing [p. 891]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Lorenzo D. Wasson, 30 July 1842
ID #
896
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:324–328
Handwriting on This Page
  • Printed text

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Wasson left his family’s home in Amboy, Illinois, in October 1840 and moved to Nauvoo, where he lived with JS and Emma Smith. (Recollections of the Pioneers of Lee County, 57–58; Letter to David Hale, 12–19 Feb. 1841.)

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

  2. [2]

    Since the Saints began settling Nauvoo in the summer of 1839, they had been afflicted by outbreaks of mosquito-borne malaria—which they called “the ague.” Although draining the marshes in and around Nauvoo helped, some still suffered in 1842. On 16 July 1842, JS informed John E. Page that although “the health of our city continues good,” there were still “some few cases of sickness.” (“Joseph Smith Documents from September 1839 through January 1841”; Letter to John E. Page, 16 July 1842.)

  3. [3]

    “Brother I. Ivins” is almost certainly Israel Ivins, a twenty-seven-year-old member of the church from Toms River, New Jersey. Ivins had been baptized in March 1838 by Benjamin Winchester. (Erdman, Israel Ivins, 1–3.)

    Erdman, Kimball Stewart. Israel Ivins: A Biography. [Slippery Rock, PA]: By the author, [1969].

  4. [4]

    See 1 Corinthians 2:2.

  5. [5]

    Benjamin Winchester similarly noted that after preaching in Hornerstown, New Jersey, in 1839, “the priests were engaged in fumbling over their old news paper files, and hunting up all the old stories that was told a number of years ago, probably thinking that this would be the most effectual way to stop the spread of truth.” He continued by saying that “three priests, a Methodist, Baptist and Universalist, united, Pilate and Herod like, to combat the truth.” (Benjamin Winchester, Payson, IL, 18 June 1839, Letter to the Editors, Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:10.)

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

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