Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 August 1841

In March 1841, Hyrum Smith met with Almon Babbitt and William W. Phelps during his trip to the eastern United States with Isaac Galland. He and Galland had been sent as agents for JS, and they asked Babbitt for help in executing some land transactions.a Hyrum Smith also apparently conversed with Babbitt and Phelps about the future of Nauvoo and of Kirtland, which had long been the central gathering place for church members. Apparently there existed some ambiguity concerning the future of Kirtland. As early as 1838, Wilford Woodruff recorded in his journal that he had heard JS prophesy of a scourge over Kirtland.b A revelation in January 1841 similarly pronounced “a scourge prepared for the inhabitants” of Kirtland, but only after stating that the Lord would “build up Kirtland.” The same revelation declared, “Let all my saints, [come] from afar” and reinforced Nauvoo’s designation as the central stake and gathering place for church members.c In May the First Presidency published a charge instructing church members to discontinue all stakes outside Hancock County, Illinois, and Lee County, Iowa Territory. Members outside those areas were specifically directed to relocate to Hancock County.d Phelps and Babbitt were unsure whether they should maintain their stake of the church in Kirtland or discontinue the stake and move to Nauvoo. Babbitt expressed his desire to follow the First Presidency but felt he deserved clarification regarding the future of the Kirtland stake. Recalling his meeting with Hyrum Smith, Babbitt wrote in October 1841, “I do not want to be rebelous the Lord Knows my heart . . . but I want somthing tangeable to act upon if you want all the bretheren to leave this place Say it in so many words.”e  

Sarah Granger Kimball was a daughter of Oliver and Lydia Dibble Granger and had married Hiram Kimball in 1840. (Sarah Granger Kimball, “Auto-biography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1883, 12:51.)  

Woman’s Exponent. Salt Lake City. 1872–1914.

In addition to commanding the Saints to build a temple, a revelation received in January 1841 also directed them to build a “boarding house,” called the Nauvoo House, to accommodate travelers. During the general conference of the church in October 1841, JS announced that there would not be another conference until the Saints could meet in the temple, implying that construction was expected to move quickly enough that the building would be sufficiently advanced to use as a meeting place by the time of the next general conference six months later. On 2 October 1841, the First Presidency laid the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House, signaling that construction on that building had begun in earnest. (Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:23, 56, 60]; Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841.)  

See Revelation, 23 July 1837 [D&C 112:24].