Letter to William Marks and Newel K. Whitney, 8 July 1838
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Source Note
, JS, and , Letter, , Caldwell Co., MO, to and , [, Geauga Co., OH], 8 July 1838; copy, [ca. Aug. 1838]; handwriting of ; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes redaction and docket.One leaf measuring 12½ × 7¾ inches (32 × 20 cm). The top, right, and bottom edges of the leaf have the square cut of manufactured paper, whereas the left edge is uneven, suggesting it was cut from a blank book or a larger sheet. The letter includes a redaction in graphite. The letter was folded for filing and docketed in graphite. In various places, the paper has separated at the folds. The document has undergone conservation.It is not known how or when ’s copy came into the possession of the LDS church. The church’s Historical Department processed the letter as part of the JS Collection in 1973.
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Historical Introduction
On 8 July 1838, JS and his counselors in the wrote a letter to and , conveying a revelation JS dictated that morning. The revelation directed Marks and Whitney to relocate from , Ohio, to before winter and then preside over the Saints—with Marks as the of the church in and with Whitney as a in . To expedite their move, the revelation directed , who had recently traveled from Kirtland to , Missouri, to return to Kirtland and continue settling the debts of the First Presidency.In addition to including the full text of the revelation in the letter, the First Presidency expressed confidence that and would follow the direction in the revelation. The presidency also encouraged all in to migrate to . The letter may have been written on behalf of the First Presidency by , the first signatory.and apparently received the letter, as the extant copy is in Whitney’s handwriting. Marks and Whitney moved from later in the year but did not reach northwestern before Missouri governor called for the expulsion of the Latter-day Saints from the state. As directed, continued his efforts in Kirtland to settle the debts of the First Presidency.
Footnotes
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1
See Revelation, 8 July 1838–E [D&C 117].
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2
Whitney heard of the expulsion en route to Missouri and therefore waited for a time in St. Louis.a Marks left Kirtland in October, before he could have heard of the expulsion.b They eventually rejoined the Latter-day Saints in Commerce, Illinois, where Marks was appointed president of the stake and Whitney became bishop of the Middle Ward.c
(a[Elizabeth Ann Smith Whitney], “A Leaf from an Autobiography,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 Nov. 1878, 91. bGeauga Co., OH, Deed Record, 1795–1921, vol. 27, pp. 149–150, 1 Oct. 1838, microfilm 20,242, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Letter from William Perkins, 29 Oct. 1838. cMinutes, 6 May 1839; see also Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30–31.)
Woman’s Exponent. Salt Lake City. 1872–1914.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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3
See Authorization for Oliver Granger, 13 May 1839; JS History, vol. C-1 Addenda, 11–12; Thomas Griffith and John Seymour, Letter of Introduction, Painesville, OH, for Oliver Granger, 19 Oct. 1838, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 40; Horace Kingsbury, Letter of Introduction, Painesville, OH, for Oliver Granger, 26 Oct. 1838, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 40; and Letter of Introduction from John Howden, 27 Oct. 1838.
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