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Letter from Unidentified Author, 23 September 1843

Source Note

Unidentified author,
Cahaba

Town in central Alabama, located ninety-two miles west of Montgomery. Situated at confluence of Cahaba and Alabama rivers. Incorporated 3 Dec. 1819. Established as county seat, 13 Dec. 1819. Capital of Alabama, 1820–1825. Due to frequent flooding, state legislature...

More Info
, Dallas Co., AL, 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....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, 23 Sept. 1843; unidentified handwriting; two pages; Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamp, and docket. Included wafer seal (not extant).
Bifolium, first leaf measuring 7⅝ × 7¾ inches (19 × 20 cm) and second leaf measuring 9⅞ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The top 2¼-inch section of the first leaf was excised before the letter was inscribed. The document was inscribed in blue ink on the first and second pages of the bifolium and does not contain a valediction or signature. After the letter was written, the author reversed the bifolium fold so the second leaf covered the first page of inscription—a practice atypical of most letters. The document was then trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. Thus, when the letter was opened to be read, the leaf containing the address block opposed page 2 of the letter. The recto and verso of the second leaf contain wafer residue, and the letter was torn when it was opened. It has undergone conservation.
The document was docketed by
William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
, who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844.
1

JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

In late 1844, following JS’s death,
Bishop

An ecclesiastical and priesthood office. JS appointed Edward Partridge as the first bishop in February 1831. Following this appointment, Partridge functioned as the local leader of the church in Missouri. Later revelations described a bishop’s duties as receiving...

View Glossary
Newel K. Whitney

3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...

View Full Bio
became one of the interim church trustees and was appointed “first bishop” among other Nauvoo bishops.
2

Richards, Journal, 9 Aug. 1844; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:693; see also Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

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

It was presumably during this time that many of the church’s financial and other administrative records passed into his possession. This document, along with some other personal and institutional documents that may have been kept by Whitney, was inherited by Whitney’s great-granddaughter Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, who passed these and other family papers down to her daughter Helen Marian Fleming Petersen. In 1988, shortly after Petersen’s death, this collection was found in a box in her home, and later that year family members donated it to the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
3

See the full bibliographic entry for Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, 1836–1963, in the CHL catalog.


Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.

    Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

  2. [2]

    Richards, Journal, 9 Aug. 1844; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:693; see also Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

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

  3. [3]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Helen Vilate Bourne Fleming, Collection, 1836–1963, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 23 September 1843, an unidentified individual in
Cahaba

Town in central Alabama, located ninety-two miles west of Montgomery. Situated at confluence of Cahaba and Alabama rivers. Incorporated 3 Dec. 1819. Established as county seat, 13 Dec. 1819. Capital of Alabama, 1820–1825. Due to frequent flooding, state legislature...

More Info
, Alabama, wrote a letter 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....

More Info
, Illinois, requesting information about the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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...

View Glossary
. Newspaper reports and proselytizing efforts by missionaries in the region apparently stimulated the author’s interest in JS, the church, and the Nauvoo
temple

Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...

More Info
.
Latter-day Saint missionaries first proselytized in
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
,
Virginia

More Info
, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas during the early 1830s, but they did not penetrate the Deep South until the end of the decade.
1

Berrett, “History of the Southern States Mission,” 47–170.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Berrett, LaMar C. “History of the Southern States Mission, 1831–1861.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960.

In late 1839, missionaries Benjamin Clapp and
Jesse D. Hunter

5 July 1806–27/29 Aug. 1877. Farmer, carpenter, Indian agent. Born in Hopkinsville, Christian Co., Kentucky. Son of Samuel Hunter and Lydia Devinney. Married Keziah Brown, Dec. 1827, in St. Louis. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,...

View Full Bio
traveled south from Tennessee to preach in Tishomingo County, Mississippi.
2

Jesse D. Hunter, “Dear Brethren in the Lord,” Times and Seasons, Feb. 1840, 1:59–60; Berrett, “History of the Southern States Mission,” 167–168.


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

Berrett, LaMar C. “History of the Southern States Mission, 1831–1861.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960.

After Hunter returned to
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....

More Info
, Clapp continued to proselytize in Mississippi and Alabama through at least April 1842.
3

Clapp reportedly baptized Samuel Turnbow in Perry County, Alabama, in March 1840 and preached in Tuscaloosa (located about sixty-five miles northwest of Cahaba) in April 1842; he was also listed as an agent for Times and Seasons in Tuscaloosa during 1842. He may have remained in the vicinity through at least a portion of the following winter before returning to Nauvoo. It appears Clapp returned to Nauvoo for at least a short period in 1841, when his son Benjamin was conceived. (Jesse D. Hunter, “Dear Brethren in the Lord,” Times and Seasons, Feb. 1840, 1:59–60; “A Mormon Preacher,” Independent Monitor [Tuscaloosa, AL], 13 Apr. 1842, [3]; “Agents for the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, 16 May 1842, 3:798; Turnbow, Genealogical and Blessing Book of Samuel Turnbow, 39; Berrett, “History of the Southern States Mission,” 208, 210; Lisonbee, Mormon Nauvoo Area Burials of the 1840s, 110.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

Independent Monitor. Tuscaloosa, AL. 1837–1872.

Turnbow, Samuel. Genealogical and Blessing Book of Samuel Turnbow with Brief Sketch of His Life, 1804–1876. Mormon Diaries, vol. 10, no. 6. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Library, 1940.

Berrett, LaMar C. “History of the Southern States Mission, 1831–1861.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960.

Lisonbee, Janet. Mormon Nauvoo Area Burials of the 1840s: Including Obituaries and Biographical Information. N.p.: By the author, 2011.

In April 1843, church leaders
ordained

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...

View Glossary
a large number of missionaries in Nauvoo and sent them “forth into the vineyard to build up churches.” Among them were Clapp,
John Bair

View Full Bio

,
Wilkinson Hewitt

View Full Bio

, and
Lyman O. Littlefield

21 Nov. 1819–1 Sept. 1893. Printer, compositor, newspaper editor, painter. Born in Verona, Oneida Co., New York. Son of Waldo Littlefield and Mercy Higgins. Moved to Pontiac, Oakland Co., Michigan, between 1830 and 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ...

View Full Bio
, all of whom were appointed to proselytize in Alabama.
4

“Elder’s Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1843, 4:157; Berrett, “History of the Southern States Mission,” 190; JS History, vol. D-1, 1524.


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

Berrett, LaMar C. “History of the Southern States Mission, 1831–1861.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960.

Missionaries
John Brown

?–? Western Cherokee chief. Son of Richard Brown. Elected principal chief of Cherokee Nation West, 1839. Member of Cherokee national council, at Takuttokah, Cherokee Nation (near present-day Tahlequah, Cherokee Co., Oklahoma), 15 and 19 June 1839. Lived at...

View Full Bio
,
James Brown

View Full Bio

,
Haden Church

View Full Bio

, and
Peter Haws

17 Feb. 1796–1862. Farmer, miller, businessman. Born in Leeds Co., Johnstown District (later in Ontario), Upper Canada. Son of Edward Haws and Polly. Married Charlotte Harrington. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Moved to Kirtland...

View Full Bio
also preached in Alabama during summer and fall 1843.
5

Brown, Reminiscences and Journal, bk. A, 9–21; Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 24 Apr. 1843; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 31 May 1843, 37.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Brown, John. Reminiscences and Journals, 1843–1896. CHL. MS 1636.

Historical Department. Journal History of the Church, 1896–. CHL. CR 100 137.

Composed on 23 September 1843, the letter featured here requested that JS answer questions about the history of the church, the construction of the
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....

More Info
temple

Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...

More Info
, and the origins of the word Mormon. The letter was mailed from the
Cahaba

Town in central Alabama, located ninety-two miles west of Montgomery. Situated at confluence of Cahaba and Alabama rivers. Incorporated 3 Dec. 1819. Established as county seat, 13 Dec. 1819. Capital of Alabama, 1820–1825. Due to frequent flooding, state legislature...

More Info
post office on 28 September and may have reached Nauvoo in mid- or late October 1843. A docket in the handwriting of JS’s clerk
William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
confirms that the letter was received in Nauvoo and notes that there was “No signature.” The letter was presumably read by JS, but there is no known reply. The author’s lack of signature may have precluded a response from JS.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Berrett, “History of the Southern States Mission,” 47–170.

    Berrett, LaMar C. “History of the Southern States Mission, 1831–1861.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960.

  2. [2]

    Jesse D. Hunter, “Dear Brethren in the Lord,” Times and Seasons, Feb. 1840, 1:59–60; Berrett, “History of the Southern States Mission,” 167–168.

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

    Berrett, LaMar C. “History of the Southern States Mission, 1831–1861.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960.

  3. [3]

    Clapp reportedly baptized Samuel Turnbow in Perry County, Alabama, in March 1840 and preached in Tuscaloosa (located about sixty-five miles northwest of Cahaba) in April 1842; he was also listed as an agent for Times and Seasons in Tuscaloosa during 1842. He may have remained in the vicinity through at least a portion of the following winter before returning to Nauvoo. It appears Clapp returned to Nauvoo for at least a short period in 1841, when his son Benjamin was conceived. (Jesse D. Hunter, “Dear Brethren in the Lord,” Times and Seasons, Feb. 1840, 1:59–60; “A Mormon Preacher,” Independent Monitor [Tuscaloosa, AL], 13 Apr. 1842, [3]; “Agents for the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, 16 May 1842, 3:798; Turnbow, Genealogical and Blessing Book of Samuel Turnbow, 39; Berrett, “History of the Southern States Mission,” 208, 210; Lisonbee, Mormon Nauvoo Area Burials of the 1840s, 110.)

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

    Independent Monitor. Tuscaloosa, AL. 1837–1872.

    Turnbow, Samuel. Genealogical and Blessing Book of Samuel Turnbow with Brief Sketch of His Life, 1804–1876. Mormon Diaries, vol. 10, no. 6. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Library, 1940.

    Berrett, LaMar C. “History of the Southern States Mission, 1831–1861.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960.

    Lisonbee, Janet. Mormon Nauvoo Area Burials of the 1840s: Including Obituaries and Biographical Information. N.p.: By the author, 2011.

  4. [4]

    “Elder’s Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1843, 4:157; Berrett, “History of the Southern States Mission,” 190; JS History, vol. D-1, 1524.

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

    Berrett, LaMar C. “History of the Southern States Mission, 1831–1861.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1960.

  5. [5]

    Brown, Reminiscences and Journal, bk. A, 9–21; Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 24 Apr. 1843; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 31 May 1843, 37.

    Brown, John. Reminiscences and Journals, 1843–1896. CHL. MS 1636.

    Historical Department. Journal History of the Church, 1896–. CHL. CR 100 137.

Page [2]

also the time of the foundation and probable cost of your Magnificient Mormon
Temple

Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...

More Info
4

The final cost of building the Nauvoo temple was variously estimated to be between $800,000 and $1,000,000. (John S. Fullmer, Nauvoo, IL, to H. H. Blackwell, 24 Apr. 1846, in Fullmer, Letterbook, 250–251; Lanman, Summer in the Wilderness, 32; “The Temple in the Market,” Hancock Eagle [Nauvoo, IL], 8 May 1846, [2].)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Fullmer, John S. Letterbook, 1836–1881. John S. Fullmer Journal and Letterbook, 1836–1881. CHL.

Lanman, Charles. A Summer in the Wilderness; Embracing a Canoe Voyage up the Mississippi and around Lake Superior. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1847.

Hancock Eagle. Nauvoo, IL. 1846.

and Time to consumate Its completion
5

Church members began digging the Nauvoo temple’s cellar in February 1841 and laid its cornerstone that April. Hundreds of volunteers provided the labor for the temple’s construction, including stonecutters, who worked on the edifice’s foundation and exterior walls, and lumberjacks and mill workers, who cut and manufactured wood for the floors, roof, and interior finishing. By the end of fall 1843, the temple had a basement with a baptismal font, a first-story floor, and walls “as high as the arches of the first tier of windows all round.” (Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 5–6, 15, 23, 32, 41; “Celebration of the Anniversary of the Church,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, 2:375–377; “The Church and Its Prospects,” Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1841, 2:543; George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 26 June 1855, in Northern Islander, 16 Aug. 1855, [4].)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

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

Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.

Also what word of Language the name of your Religion is taken from and what the Word Mormon Implies
6

Eber D. Howe, a vocal critic of the church and the author of the 1834 publication Mormonism Unvailed, asserted that the word Mormon came from the “English termination of the Greek word ‘Mormoo.’” In a letter printed in the 15 May 1843 issue of Times and Seasons, JS refuted this idea and stated that the word was revealed through the “true spirit of prophesy” and “stands independent of the learning and wisdom of this generation.” He further indicated that the word meant “more good.” Though the official name of the church during this period was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, some contemporaries referred to it as the “Mormon” or “Mormonite” church because of the church’s recognition and use of the Book of Mormon as part of its scriptural canon. During the mid-1830s, some church members viewed these nicknames as derogatory. By the late 1830s, however, members themselves, including JS, used the terms Mormon and Mormonism to describe church members and their religion. (Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 21; Letter to Editor, ca. 20 May 1843; Revelation, 26 Apr. 1838 [D&C 115:4]; Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., title page; “The Saints,” The Evening and the Morning Star, May 1834, 158; “An Appeal,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Aug. 1834, 183; Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839; Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 8 Sept. 1842; Discourse, 23 July 1843.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Howe, Eber D. Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators, and a Full Detail of the Manner in Which the Famous Golden Bible Was Brought before the World. To Which Are Added, Inquiries into the Probability That the Historical Part of the Said Bible Was Written by One Solomon Spalding, More Than Twenty Years Ago, and by Him Intended to Have Been Published as a Romance. Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834.

The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

My Reason for thus advising you is this I have heard . . . <​&​> Seen so many fales [false] and contradictory reports respecting all these that In order to come at the facts I have ask[ed] this from your own pen when I am certain you Will give me facts that may be fully relied on
one of your preache[r]s pass[ed] through this county last winter I did not See him myself but got a favorable report both of the man and his doctrine here
7

The identity of the preacher is unknown; it may have been Benjamin Clapp. Clapp reportedly preached in Tuscaloosa in April 1842 and was also listed as an agent for the Times and Seasons during that period. He may have remained in the vicinity through at least a portion of the following winter before returning to Nauvoo. The unidentified preacher could also have been Samuel Turnbow, a convert baptized by Clapp in 1840, who lived in and reportedly helped build up a branch of the church in nearby Perry County around this time. (“A Mormon Preacher,” Independent Monitor [Tuscaloosa, AL], 13 Apr. 1842, [3]; “Agents for the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, 16 May 1842, 3:798; Turnbow, Genealogical and Blessing Book of Samuel Turnbow, 39.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Independent Monitor. Tuscaloosa, AL. 1837–1872.

Turnbow, Samuel. Genealogical and Blessing Book of Samuel Turnbow with Brief Sketch of His Life, 1804–1876. Mormon Diaries, vol. 10, no. 6. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Library, 1940.

In the South we are in a measure In darkness respecting both your principles and progress of your
Temple

Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...

More Info
and religion [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Unidentified Author, 23 September 1843
ID #
1489
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:119–122
Handwriting on This Page
  • Unidentified

Footnotes

  1. [4]

    The final cost of building the Nauvoo temple was variously estimated to be between $800,000 and $1,000,000. (John S. Fullmer, Nauvoo, IL, to H. H. Blackwell, 24 Apr. 1846, in Fullmer, Letterbook, 250–251; Lanman, Summer in the Wilderness, 32; “The Temple in the Market,” Hancock Eagle [Nauvoo, IL], 8 May 1846, [2].)

    Fullmer, John S. Letterbook, 1836–1881. John S. Fullmer Journal and Letterbook, 1836–1881. CHL.

    Lanman, Charles. A Summer in the Wilderness; Embracing a Canoe Voyage up the Mississippi and around Lake Superior. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1847.

    Hancock Eagle. Nauvoo, IL. 1846.

  2. [5]

    Church members began digging the Nauvoo temple’s cellar in February 1841 and laid its cornerstone that April. Hundreds of volunteers provided the labor for the temple’s construction, including stonecutters, who worked on the edifice’s foundation and exterior walls, and lumberjacks and mill workers, who cut and manufactured wood for the floors, roof, and interior finishing. By the end of fall 1843, the temple had a basement with a baptismal font, a first-story floor, and walls “as high as the arches of the first tier of windows all round.” (Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 5–6, 15, 23, 32, 41; “Celebration of the Anniversary of the Church,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, 2:375–377; “The Church and Its Prospects,” Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1841, 2:543; George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 26 June 1855, in Northern Islander, 16 Aug. 1855, [4].)

    Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

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

    Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.

  3. [6]

    Eber D. Howe, a vocal critic of the church and the author of the 1834 publication Mormonism Unvailed, asserted that the word Mormon came from the “English termination of the Greek word ‘Mormoo.’” In a letter printed in the 15 May 1843 issue of Times and Seasons, JS refuted this idea and stated that the word was revealed through the “true spirit of prophesy” and “stands independent of the learning and wisdom of this generation.” He further indicated that the word meant “more good.” Though the official name of the church during this period was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, some contemporaries referred to it as the “Mormon” or “Mormonite” church because of the church’s recognition and use of the Book of Mormon as part of its scriptural canon. During the mid-1830s, some church members viewed these nicknames as derogatory. By the late 1830s, however, members themselves, including JS, used the terms Mormon and Mormonism to describe church members and their religion. (Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 21; Letter to Editor, ca. 20 May 1843; Revelation, 26 Apr. 1838 [D&C 115:4]; Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., title page; “The Saints,” The Evening and the Morning Star, May 1834, 158; “An Appeal,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Aug. 1834, 183; Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839; Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 8 Sept. 1842; Discourse, 23 July 1843.)

    Howe, Eber D. Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators, and a Full Detail of the Manner in Which the Famous Golden Bible Was Brought before the World. To Which Are Added, Inquiries into the Probability That the Historical Part of the Said Bible Was Written by One Solomon Spalding, More Than Twenty Years Ago, and by Him Intended to Have Been Published as a Romance. Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  4. [7]

    The identity of the preacher is unknown; it may have been Benjamin Clapp. Clapp reportedly preached in Tuscaloosa in April 1842 and was also listed as an agent for the Times and Seasons during that period. He may have remained in the vicinity through at least a portion of the following winter before returning to Nauvoo. The unidentified preacher could also have been Samuel Turnbow, a convert baptized by Clapp in 1840, who lived in and reportedly helped build up a branch of the church in nearby Perry County around this time. (“A Mormon Preacher,” Independent Monitor [Tuscaloosa, AL], 13 Apr. 1842, [3]; “Agents for the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, 16 May 1842, 3:798; Turnbow, Genealogical and Blessing Book of Samuel Turnbow, 39.)

    Independent Monitor. Tuscaloosa, AL. 1837–1872.

    Turnbow, Samuel. Genealogical and Blessing Book of Samuel Turnbow with Brief Sketch of His Life, 1804–1876. Mormon Diaries, vol. 10, no. 6. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Library, 1940.

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