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Letter to the Presidency in Kirtland, 29 March 1838

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Letter to the Presidency in Kirtland, 29 March 1838

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Caldwell Co., MO, to “the Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Kirtland,” , Geauga Co., OH, 29 Mar. 1838. Featured version copied [ca. mid- or late Apr. 1838] in JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, pp. 23–26; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes use marks. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838.

Historical Introduction

About two weeks after JS’s arrival in , Missouri, he wrote the following letter to the of the church in , Ohio: , president, and and , assistant presidents. In the letter, JS recounted the difficulties of the journey from Kirtland in the middle of winter, his safe arrival in Far West, and information regarding and his family, who had stopped traveling for several days because of illness. JS and his family had pushed on, arriving in Far West on 14 March. , Rigdon’s son-in-law, arrived two weeks later, on 28 March, with news that Rigdon would probably arrive soon.
JS’s letter to the presidency also reported that the problems with and , former members of the presidency, had been recently “a[d]justed” by and in collaboration with the . JS conveyed expressions of friendship for those in Kirtland and relayed a vision he had seen of , which JS interpreted as an indication that God would deliver Marks from his enemies. JS requested that the Saints migrating to bring seeds for vegetables, fruit trees, and hay and bring well-bred cattle and horses. With the letter, JS enclosed a copy of the “Motto of the Church of Christ of Latterday Saints,” which he had composed for the church upon arriving in .
Although the original letter sent to the presidency is apparently not extant, made a copy of the letter in JS’s “Scriptory Book.” Robinson apparently made this transcript from a retained copy of the letter sometime in mid- or late April.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    John Smith and Clarissa Lyman Smith, Kirtland, OH, to George A. Smith, Shinnston, VA, 1 Jan. 1838, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; Hepzibah Richards, Kirtland, OH, to Willard Richards, Bedford, England, 18–19 Jan. 1838, Willard Richards, Papers, CHL.

    Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.

    Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL.

  2. [2]

    Motto, ca. 16 or 17 Mar. 1838.

  3. [3]

    The letter references the enclosure of the motto, stating that the motto was transcribed in the Scriptory Book. This indicates that the Scriptory Book, which begins in and is almost entirely in Robinson’s handwriting, was started sometime between Robinson’s arrival in Far West on 28 March and JS’s composition of the letter on 29 March. Although Robinson began the book at this time, with an account of JS’s arrival in Far West and a copy of the motto, he apparently did not add anything further to the book until the middle of April, at the time of the excommunications of Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer. The title page of the Scriptory Book is dated 12 April 1838, the date of Cowdery’s church trial, and editorial notes between the various documents that Robinson transcribed into the book explain how the events documented in the various transcripts led up to the excommunications of Cowdery and Whitmer. (JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, pp. 15–32.)

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to the Presidency in Kirtland, 29 March 1838 Journal, March–September 1838 History, 1838–1856, volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838] “History of Joseph Smith”
escort of bretheren from the Who were & severel others of the faithfull of the West Who received us with open armes and warm hearts and welcomed us to the bosom of their sosciety [society] On our arrival in the we wire [were] greeted on every hand by the saints who bid us welcom; Welcome; to the land of their inheritance. Dear bretheren you may be assured that so friendly a meeting & reception paid us Will [well] for our long seven years of servictude persecution & affliction in the midst of our enimies in the land yea verily our hearts were full and we feel greatfull to Almighty God for his kindness unto us. The particulars of our Journey brotheren cannot weell be writen but we trust that the same God who has protected us will protect you also, and will sooner or later grant us the privilege of seeing each other face <​to​> face & of rehersing of all our sufferings We have herd of the destruction of the which we presume to believe must have been occasioned by the Parrishites or more properly the Aristocrats or Anarchys as we believe, The saints here have provided a room for us and daily necessary’s which is brought in from all parts of the to make us comfortable, so that I have nothing to do but to attend to my spiritual concerns or the spiritual affairs of the The difficulties of the Church had been ajusted before arrival here by a Judicious With & who acted as Pres. Pro. Tem. of the Church of being appointed by the voice of the Council & Church & having been cut off from the Church, remains as yit The saints at this time are in union & peace & love prevails throughout, in a word Heaven smiles upon the saints in . Various & many have been the falshoods writen from thence [p. 24]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to the Presidency in Kirtland, 29 March 1838
ID #
382
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D6:56–61
Handwriting on This Page
  • George W. Robinson

Footnotes

  1. [3]

    These men from Far West met JS’s party in Caldwell County at John Barnard’s home, where the party had stopped for the night. (JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, p. 16.)

  2. [4]

    In 1831, JS dictated revelations that designated Missouri as the “land of your [the Saints’] inheritance.” (Revelation, 6 June 1831 [D&C 52:42]; Revelation, 14 June 1831 [D&C 55:5]; see also Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57].)

  3. [5]

    See Psalm 110:2.

  4. [6]

    JS moved to Kirtland in February 1831.a Several of JS’s revelations referred to Kirtland Township or the Kirtland area as the “Land of Kirtland.”b

    (aJS History, vol. A-1, 92; [Matthew S. Clapp], “Mormonism,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 15 Feb. 1831, [1]–[2]. bSee, for example, Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:21]; see also Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, 191.)

    Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.

    Bushman, Richard Lyman. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. With the assistance of Jed Woodworth. New York: Knopf, 2005.

  5. [7]

    En route to Missouri, JS, Rigdon, and their families endured severe cold and several difficult river crossings. (JS History, vol. B-1, 780; JS, Journal, 29 Dec. 1842; Historian’s Office, Brigham Young History Drafts, 16–17.)

    Historian’s Office. Brigham Young History Drafts, 1856–1858. CHL. CR 100 475, box 1, fd. 5.

  6. [8]

    Warren Parrish had served as JS’s personal scribe from fall 1835 to spring 1837 and was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. He had also served as the clerk of the Kirtland Safety Society and later as its cashier.a After questioning JS’s leadership and decisions as president of the church, Parrish renounced church leaders and led a group of dissenters in an effort to establish a new church.b

    (aNotice, ca. Late Aug. 1837; Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 465–466, 480, 600. bIntroduction to Part 6: 20 Apr.–14 Sept. 1837; Backman, Heavens Resound, 327–329; Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 535, 600.)

    Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.

    Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.

  7. [9]

    Within the prior two weeks, JS had composed a church motto, which denounced “tyrants, Mobs, Aristocracy, Anarchy and Toryism.” (Motto, ca. 16 or 17 Mar. 1838.)

  8. [10]

    JS’s Scriptory Book notes that upon arriving in Far West, his family was “immediately received under the hospitable roof of George W. Harris who treated us with all kindness possible.” (JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, p. 16.)

  9. [11]

    See Minute Book 2, 20 Jan. and 10 Mar. 1838; and Letter from Thomas B. Marsh, 15 Feb. 1838.

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