Letter to the Saints Abroad, 24 May 1841
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Source Note
JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to “the Saints Abroad,” 24 May 1841. Featured version published in Times and Seasons, 1 June 1841, vol. 2, no. 15, 434. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.
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Historical Introduction
On 24 May 1841, JS wrote an open letter addressed to all members residing outside , Illinois, and , Iowa Territory, encouraging them to relocate and gather primarily in , Illinois. The concept of church members together to build temples and unified societies can be found in the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Revelations as early as 1830 called church members to gather to one place. At the October 1839 general , the church unanimously agreed that Nauvoo “should be appointed a and a place of gathering for the saints.” Though JS affirmed in 1840 that the Saints from the eastern could still congregate in , Ohio, by early 1841 he and his counselors in the began to encourage Latter-day Saints everywhere to move to the Nauvoo area. At the April 1841 general conference of the church in Nauvoo, church leaders again spoke strongly about the need for the Saints to assemble there.This 24 May letter appears to have been written in accordance with a March 1841 revelation that called for the Saints to “gather themselves together unto the places which I shall appoint unto them by my servant Joseph, and build up cities unto my name.” That revelation specifically named and locations in , Iowa Territory, as places for the Saints to settle. The Times and Seasons and other sources indicate that, at the time JS wrote the letter featured here, there were at least eleven church organizations called in , , and . JS’s letter disbanded all stake organizations except for those in and Lee County, though not all stakes immediately ceased their activities.JS’s original letter is apparently not extant. The letter was published in the Times and Seasons.
Footnotes
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1
See, for example, Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:7–8]; Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:4]; and Revelation, 16–17 Dec. 1833 [D&C 101:13].
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2
Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839. In addition to creating a stake in Nauvoo, JS continued to authorize the creation of other new stakes in Illinois. (See, for example, Letter to Crooked Creek, IL, Branch, ca. 7 or 8 July 1840.)
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3
Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840; Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841.
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4
Minutes, 7–11 Apr. 1841; Report of the First Presidency to the Church, ca. 7 Apr. 1841. Hyrum Smith also gave “some beneficial instructions relative to the saints gathering at Nauvoo, at present, instead of any other stake of Zion” during a conference held in Philadelphia in April. (Philadelphia, PA, Minutes and Records, 6 Apr. 1841.)
Philadelphia, PA, Minutes and Records, 1840–1854. CCLA.
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5
Revelation, ca. Early Mar. 1841 [D&C 125:2].
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6
The stakes of the church at this time included the Lee County, Iowa Territory, stake, which was also called a branch until this 24 May 1841 letter was circulated, and the following stakes in Illinois: Nauvoo, Springfield, Lima, Quincy (sometimes called Adams County stake), Ramus (sometimes called Crooked Creek stake), Bear Creek (located in Knowlton), Freedom (located in Payson), Pleasant Vale (located in New Canton), and Mount Hope. The Kirtland stake in Ohio remained a functioning church unit at this time as well. One Vermont newspaper placed the number of stakes at twelve, “corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel,” though the newspaper did not name the locations of the stakes. (Iowa Stake, Record, CHL; Letter to Crooked Creek, IL, Branch, ca. 7 or 8 July 1840; Certificate for Foutz Family, 10 Jan. 1841, in Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1841, 2:309; “Notice,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1841, 2:358; Minutes, Freedom, IL, 20 Feb. 1841, in Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1841, 2:372; Minutes, Kirtland, OH, 22–23 May 1841, in Times and Seasons, 1 July 1841, 2:458–460; “Mormonism,” Vermont Chronicle [Windsor], 14 July 1841, 109.)
Iowa Stake, Record. / Iowa Stake. “Church Record,” 1840–1841. CHL. LR 7817 21.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Vermont Chronicle. Bellows Falls, VT. 1826–1828; Windsor, VT. 1828–1862.
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7
Almon Babbitt, the president of the Kirtland stake, considered the instruction to disband the stakes to be contradictory to other instructions JS had given to him. Consequently, Babbitt did not immediately instruct the Kirtland Saints to gather to the Nauvoo area. The number of church members in the Kirtland stake continued to grow by at least one hundred between late May and mid-October 1841. (Minutes, Kirtland, OH, 22–23 May 1841, in Times and Seasons, 1 July 1841, 2:458–460; Letter from Almon Babbitt, 19 Oct. 1841.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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