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Letter to J. G. Fosdick, 3 February 1834

This item is reproduced by permission of The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
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Letter to J. G. Fosdick, 3 February 1834

Source Note

JS and , Letter, , Kirtland Township, Geauga Co., OH, to [J. G.] Fosdick, [Pontiac, Oakland Co., Michigan Territory], 3 Feb. 1834. Featured version copied [ca. 3 Feb. 1834] in Oliver Cowdery, Letterbook, 23–24; handwriting of ; Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Transcription from digital color image obtained from the Huntington Library in 2011.
Oliver Cowdery, Letterbook, [ca. 30 Oct. 1833–ca. 24 Feb. 1838]; handwriting of , James M. Carrel, and ; ninety-six pages; Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
This letterbook is unbound and consists of four gatherings of twelve leaves each plus an additional three leaves. The paper is horizontally ruled with thirty-five blue lines. All of the leaves together measure 12½ × 7⅞ × ¼ inches (32 × 20 × 1 cm). The first gathering is completely disbound, but all twenty-four pages (twelve leaves) are accounted for. There are clearly matching cut marks on these first twelve leaves, indicating that they were cut at the same time. The first and last leaves of the second and third gatherings are no longer conjugate, but the remainder are. There are five holes for binding. The first and last leaves of the fourth gathering are also disconnected. The third leaf of the fourth gathering is missing; it likely contained writing, as there is a fragment of writing on the cut conjugate page. The fifth and sixth leaves are blank. The three additional leaves appear to have been torn (not cut) from a larger volume. The pages through page 76 (just before the missing leaf) seem to have been numbered as the book was being compiled. Pagination on the remaining leaves was added later in blue ink.
The Huntington Library purchased the letterbook from Carl C. Curtis on 21 November 1931. Curtis was the nephew of , the last scribe in the letterbook; he was living in Pasadena, California, in 1931.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Letterbook, Docket, and Correspondence of Oliver Cowdery, 1833–1894, in the Huntington Library catalog; 1930 U.S. Census, Pasadena, Los Angeles Co., CA, 102; and 1940 U.S. Census, Pasadena, Los Angeles Co., CA, 8775.

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

Historical Introduction

This letter was written in response to a 10 January 1834 letter from J. G. Fosdick regarding Joseph Wood, who had evidently been accused of serious misconduct while laboring as a missionary in the area of Pontiac, Michigan Territory. Fosdick’s letter has not been located and therefore its contents are unknown, but a cover letter penned by to Fosdick on 11 January 1834 refers to Wood spending time “in idleness or pretended study” and as one “who will dishonor the holy cause and bring a [re]proach upon the , and wound the pure in heart.” A March 1834 letter from Cowdery to Fosdick and others indicated that Wood had committed adultery and that by 16 February 1834 he was also questioning the “honesty and righteousness” of church leaders in , Ohio.
In his 10 January 1834 letter, Fosdick evidently inquired about church governance and the extent of authority held by in the of the church. JS’s response in the letter featured here emphasized the authority of local branches over that of individual high priests in disciplinary proceedings and was intended to be a precursor to a fuller treatment on authority to be published later.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Possibly Jabez G. Fosdick, who purchased land in 1833 in Oakland County, Michigan Territory, where Pontiac is located. A “Jabes Fosdick”—probably the same person—baptized Edward Stevenson in the Pontiac area in December 1833. (Oakland Co., MI, Deed Records, 1821–1926, vol. 9, pp. 277–278, 13 Oct. 1833, microfilm 975,564, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Stevenson, Journal, 23 Dec. 1867 and 27 May 1883.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Stevenson, Edward. Journals, 1852–1896. Edward Stevenson, Collection, 1849–1922. CHL. MS 4806, boxes 1–4.

  2. [2]

    According to Edward Stevenson, Wood was preaching in the Pontiac area with Jared Carter by May 1833. Wood may have arrived in the area with Carter as early as January 1833. Sometime before 7 January 1834, Samuel Bent wrote to Oliver Cowdery indicating that Wood was still in Pontiac. (Stevenson, Journal, 23 Dec. 1867 and 27 May 1883; Stevenson, Autobiography, 1, 14; Samuel Bent, Pontiac, Michigan Territory, to “Dear Sir,” 16 Feb. 1833, The Evening and the Morning Star, Apr. 1833, [8].)

    Stevenson, Edward. Journals, 1852–1896. Edward Stevenson, Collection, 1849–1922. CHL. MS 4806, boxes 1–4.

    Stevenson, Edward. Autobiography, ca. 1891–1893. Edward Stevenson, Collection, 1849–1922. CHL. MS 4806, box 5, fd. 1.

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

  3. [3]

    Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland Mills, OH, to J. G. Fosdick, Pontiac, Michigan Territory, 4 Feb. 1834, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 25.

    Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

  4. [4]

    Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to J. G. Fosdick et al., Pontiac, Michigan Territory, 7 Mar. 1834, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 28.

    Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

Page 23

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Feb. 3, 1834.
Dear Bro. [J. G.] Fosdick:
Your letter of the 10th. Jan. last is just recd. and this day there has been a regular of & in this place, and the subject spoken of in your letter was, we believe, taken into due consideration. We were very sorry to learn that Bro. J[oseph] Wood had gone so far astray and offered such violence to the pure principles of the Gospel of Christ. But, alas! Such is the depravity of man when lost to a sense of the fear of God and of the ties which bind [e]very virtuous man to the interest and happiness of his follow man.
Every principle inculcated among you which is contrary [t]o virtue, to industry, to wisdom, to good order, to propriety, and in fine, to the pure principles of godliness as contained in the Scriptures of the old and new Testaments, the Book of Mormon and the revelations and of Jesus Christ, which have been given to his in these last days, is entirely foreign from the feelings of our breasts, and is that upon which we look down with feelings of the utmost disapprobation; and as consc[i]encious men who expect to render an impartial account, before [th]e searcher of hearts, of all our transactions here, we cannot [lo]ok upon any principle contrary to the above with any degree [of] allowance.
After some investigation of the case of Bro. Wood, in Council, [it] was decided that he should be cut off from the Church. [Ac]cordingly the Council lifted their hands against him and [he] was excluded from the church on this 3d. day of Feb. 1834. [for] indulging an idle, partial, overbearing and lustful spirit, and [not] magnifying his holy calling whereunto he had been . These things were plainly manifest to the satisfaction [of] [a]ll the council, and the Spirit constrained us to separate him [fro]m the church. Should bro. Joseph Wood, after learning [th]e decission of this council, truly repent of all his sins and bring forth fruit meet to the satisfaction of that of the Church where he has committed the offences, he can be [p. 23]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 23

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to J. G. Fosdick, 3 February 1834
ID #
200
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D3:422–425
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Burdick

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    TEXT: “[Torn edge]very”. Because the left edge of the page is torn, several characters and words are missing from this document. In such places, text has been editorially supplied. Unless otherwise noted, the supplied text here and in the following paragraphs is based on syntax and common spellings.

  2. [2]

    Michigan members of the church could have had access to JS’s revelations in several ways. For example, they could have subscribed to the church’s periodical, The Evening and the Morning Star, which had published about two dozen JS revelations in 1832 and 1833. Church members in Michigan may have also had access to copies of the unfinished Book of Commandments, though these were scarce because a mob in Jackson County, Missouri, had destroyed the printing office in July 1833 while the volume was still being printed. Some church members also had revelations copied for personal use. (See “Joseph Smith–Era Publications of Revelations.”)

  3. [3]

    See Jeremiah 17:10; and Psalms 44:21; 139:23.

  4. [4]

    See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 349 [Alma 45:16]; and Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 1:31].

  5. [5]

    TEXT: “lustful” is underlined three times.

  6. [6]

    According to Cowdery, the decision to excommunicate Wood was not made easily. “None but those who consider the worth of souls [c]an imagine the feelings of our hearts,” Cowdery wrote. “Our sympathies [w]ould have said spare him! had it not been for the [c]onviction of every mind that he could not in justice [s]tand.” (Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland Mills, OH, to J. G. Fosdick, Pontiac, Michigan Territory, 4 Feb. 1834, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 25.)

    Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

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