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Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 October 1839

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Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 October 1839

Source Note

General Conference Minutes, and JS, Discourses, , Hancock Co., IL, 5–7 Oct. 1839. Featured version published in Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, pp. 30–31. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

On 5–7 October 1839, JS presided over a general of the at , Illinois, that organized the church in the Commerce area. The conference was to convene at ’s home, as determined in a May 1839 general conference. JS’s journal noted that the number of attendees at the conference, the first general conference held at Commerce, was “very large.” By October 1839, the church had purchased several hundred acres of land in the vicinity of Commerce, as well as almost eighteen thousand acres across the in , Iowa Territory. In addition to addressing conference participants about the need for contributions to pay for this land, church leaders used the conference to organize the church in Commerce and , which were experiencing an influx of members. The conference established a in Commerce, complete with a , three , and a . The conference also established a in Iowa, and it designated the Commerce region as “a place of ” for church members.
In addition to conducting other church business, including performing and instructing the Saints, the conference addressed several disciplinary matters involving church members. One of these issues pertained to the cases of and , two of the , who had been “suspended from exercising the functions of their office” at the 4–5 May 1839 general conference until they could personally appear “before the next general conference of the church to give an account of their conduct.” The conference also voted to publish a new edition of the church’s hymnbook to replace an unauthorized edition published by , a church member in .
According to JS’s journal, “a great deal of business was transacted and great instruction given.” Elizabeth Haven, a church member living in , Illinois, who heard reports about the conference, declared that JS was “filled with the Spirit” at the meeting and that “great union” existed among the Saints. The minutes of the meeting featured here were published in the December 1839 issue of the Times and Seasons, the newspaper the church had recently begun publishing in . Sometime after 28 July 1840, a copy of the minutes was recorded in JS Letterbook 2, likely using the Times and Seasons version as the source. Another copy was recorded in the letterbook sometime on or after 15 December 1840. This latter copy appears to be a more polished version of the published minutes and includes information not in the minutes featured here; these additions are identified in the notes.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes, 4–5 May 1839.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 29 Sept.–6 Oct. 1839. Another contemporary report declared that the conference was a “very crow[d]ed assembly.” (Elizabeth Haven, Quincy, IL, to Elizabeth Howe Bullard, Holliston, MA, 21, 28, and 30 Sept. 1839; 6–9 Oct. 1839, Barlow Family Collection, 1816–1969, CHL.)

    Barlow Family Collection, 1816–1969. CHL.

  3. [3]

    See Historical Introductions to Bonds from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A and B; and Lee Co., IA, Land Records, 1836–1961, Deeds (South, Keokuk), vol. 1, pp. 507–509, microfilm 959,238; vol. 2, pp. 3–6, 13–16, microfilm 959,239, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; see also Cook, “Isaac Galland,” 270–275.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Cook, Lyndon W. “Isaac Galland—Mormon Benefactor.” BYU Studies 19 (Spring 1979): 261–284.

  4. [4]

    JS stated in a September 1839 letter to Isaac Galland that “there has quite a number of families gathered up here already and we anticipate a continuance.” (Letter to Isaac Galland, 11 Sept. 1839.)

  5. [5]

    In structure, the branch appears to have been a stake, with a president, bishop, and high council. At this time, the terms stake and branch were sometimes used interchangeably, even though both also had separate meanings. (See “Branch” and “Stake” in the glossary.)

  6. [6]

    Some discussion had been held prior to this time as to the wisdom of gathering the Saints in one place, given the difficulties they had experienced in Missouri. Bishop Edward Partridge, for example, stated in February 1839 that “it was not expedient under present circumstances, to collect together but thought it was better to scatter into different parts and provide for the poor which will be acceptable to God.” Brigham Young and other apostles, however, argued that the gathering was essential. (“Conference in Quincy Feby. 1839,” Far West Committee, Minutes, CHL.)

    Far West Committee. Minutes, Jan.–Apr. 1839. CHL. MS 2564.

  7. [7]

    Minutes, 4–5 May 1839.

  8. [8]

    Pratt, Autobiography, 186; Hyrum Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to Lucian R. Foster, New York City, NY, Jan. 1840, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 83–84; see also Revelation, 12 Nov. 1831 [D&C 70:1–4].

    Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.

  9. [9]

    JS, Journal, 29 Sept.–6 Oct. 1839.

  10. [10]

    Elizabeth Haven, Quincy, IL, to Elizabeth Howe Bullard, Holliston, MA, 21, 28, and 30 Sept. 1839; 6–9 Oct. 1839, Barlow Family Collection, 1816–1969, CHL.

    Barlow Family Collection, 1816–1969. CHL.

  11. [11]

    Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 164–167. The document immediately preceding the minutes in the letterbook is a letter dated 28 July 1840. (Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 28 July 1840.)

  12. [12]

    Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 197–200. The document immediately preceding this copy of the minutes in the letterbook is a letter dated 15 December 1840. (JS to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 15 Dec. 1840, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 190–196.)

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 October 1839
Letterbook 2 Letterbook 2 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

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Proceedings of the general , held at , Hancock County, Illinois, on Saturday the 5th day of October, 1839.
The meeting was opened by prayer, by Joseph Smith Jr. after which he was appointed President and , Clerk of the Conference, by the unanimous voice of the meeting.
The President then spoke at some length upon the situation of the , the difficulties they had had to contend with, and the manner in which they had been led to this place; and wished to know the views of the brethren, whether they wished to appoint this a or not, stating that he believed it to be a good place and suited for the saints.
It was then unanimously agreed upon, that it should be appointed a stake and a place of for the saints. The following officers were then appointed viz:
to be .
, to be of Middle Ward.
, to be bishop of Upper Ward.
to be bishop of Lower Ward.
, ,
, ,
, ,
, ,
, ,
, ,
to be ; who being respectfully called upon, accepted of their appointment.
It was then voted, that a of the Church be established on the other side of the , in the ; over which was appointed President:
, Bishop, and
, ,
, ,
, ,
Richard Howard, ,
, ,
, ,
Were elected high council.
, was elected to be continued as President of the .
to stand in his former office, and to be continued in his standing.
Letters were then read respecting the absence of Members, from ill health.
It was voted, that be suspended until he can have a trial, and in the meantime that he should not act as a President of a branch, or preach.
Voted, that John Daley, and retain their station in the church.
Voted that Ephraim Owen’s confession, for disobeying the be acepted.
Brothers,
William Allred,
, Wm. B. Simmons,
, Wm. W. Edwards sn.
,
Jabez Lake, ,
Benjamin Jones, ,
Henry Our Bough, ,
Reddin Allred, Esaias Edwards,
, John Adams,
Jesse M’Intire, Daniel Miller,
, Simson I. Comfort,
, ,
Artemus Johnston, William Hyde,
Joseph G. Hovey, Andrew Hendry,
, Redick N. Allred,
Fields B. Jacamey, Eli Lee,
Zadock Bethers, Hiram W. Maxwell,
and Thomas S. Edwards, were appointed Elders of the church, who all accepted of their appointment with the exception of Thomas S. Edwards.
, was admitted into the church upon his confession.
Abel Casto was by the .
The meeting then adjourned until Sunday morning after which six were by Joseph Smith Jr.
Sunday morning October the 6th.
The Conference met pursuant to adjournment at 8 o’clock, A. M.
When,
, Reuben Foot,
Orlando D. Hovey, ,
Sheffield Daniels, Albert Miner,
David B. Smith, ,
, ,
Were appointed Elders of the church and were under the hands of , , and .
After some remarks from the Presi [p. 30]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 October 1839
ID #
8631
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:16–24
Handwriting on This Page
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Footnotes

  1. [1]

    These difficulties included the Saints’ expulsion from Missouri and JS’s imprisonment in jails in Richmond and Liberty, Missouri. For an account of these events, see JS, “Extract, from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.,” Times and Seasons, July 1839, 1:2–9.

  2. [2]

    The second copy of the minutes in JS Letterbook 2 inserts “in the providence of God” here. (Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 197.)

  3. [3]

    A May 1839 conference held in Quincy appointed Marks, who had been a member of the high council and president over the church in Kirtland, Ohio, “to preside over the Church at Commerce, Ill.” (Minutes, 6 May 1839; Minutes, 3 Sept. 1837.)

  4. [4]

    Whitney was appointed as a bishop in Kirtland in 1831 and was directed by a July 1838 revelation to move to Adam-ondi-Ahman, Missouri, to serve as bishop there. A May 1839 conference in Quincy instructed Whitney to “go also to Commerce and there act in unison with the other Bishops of the Church.” (Revelation, 4 Dec. 1831–A [D&C 72:7–8]; Revelation, 8 July 1838–E [D&C 117:11]; Minutes, 6 May 1839.)

  5. [5]

    Partridge was appointed as a bishop in February 1831 and was directed soon thereafter to serve as the bishop in Missouri. (Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:9]; Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:7].)

  6. [6]

    Knight was appointed as acting bishop at Adam-ondi-Ahman in 1838. At the May 1839 general conference, participants resolved that Knight should “be appointed or received into the Church in full Bishopric.” (Minutes, 28 June 1838; Minutes, 4–5 May 1839.)

  7. [7]

    Of these individuals, six had prior experience on high councils. Harris, Grover, and Newel Knight were members of high councils in Ohio and Missouri; Bent and Dort participated in high councils in Missouri, although it does not appear they were standing members; and Rich had participated in high councils as well. (Minutes, 2 Jan. 1836; Minutes, 13 Jan. 1836; and Minutes, 7 Nov. 1837; Minute Book 2, 24 Apr. 1837; 1, 5, and 20 Aug. 1837; 24 Feb. 1838; 10 Mar. 1838; 13 Dec. 1838; Minutes, 3 July 1834.)

  8. [8]

    John Smith, JS’s uncle, had earlier served as the president of the Kirtland high council and in the presidency of the Kirtland church. He had also been an assistant president to JS. (Minutes, 17 Aug. 1835; JS, Journal, 21 Jan. 1836; Minutes, 3 Sept. 1837; “Ecclesiastical Organizational Charts: Spring–Summer 1838.”)

  9. [9]

    Ripley had served on the committee supervising the Saints’ removal from Missouri to Illinois. (“Proceedings of Meeting No 1 Jany 26th 1839”; “Proceedings of Meeting No 2 Jany 29th 1839,” Far West Committee, Minutes, CHL.)

    Far West Committee. Minutes, Jan.–Apr. 1839. CHL. MS 2564.

  10. [10]

    On 15 January 1836, Don Carlos Smith was appointed as president of the high priests in Kirtland. Charles C. Rich was appointed to be president of the high priests in Zion on 20 August 1837. (JS, Journal, 15 Jan. 1836; Minute Book 2, 20 Aug. 1837.)

  11. [11]

    Hyde had become disaffected from the church in fall 1838 because, he stated, he no longer believed that God was with the Saints or that the Lord was “the mover of their schemes and projects.” Hyde prepared an affidavit with Thomas B. Marsh that, according to Wilford Woodruff, gave “fals testimony against the presidency & of the Church,” leading to the muster of “thirty thousand of the Militia against the Church.” The exact nature of what William Smith did is uncertain, but later accounts state that when JS was confined in jail at Liberty, Missouri, William, who had a volatile relationship with his brother, “publicly expressed the hope” that JS “would never get out of the hands of his enemies alive.” Though the May general conference instructed Smith and Hyde to present their cases in October, the matters were handled before that time, perhaps because of the pleadings of Heber C. Kimball and Hyrum Smith in behalf of Hyde, who they believed had strong “feelings of repentance, and desire to return to the Church.” In June, Hyde “was restored to the Church and the quorum of the Twelve in full fellowship by a full vote of the Council, after making an humble confession & acknowledgement of his sins.” The prior month, JS had conferred with the Twelve Apostles about William Smith and dismissed his case. (Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde to Lewis Abbott and Ann Marsh Abbott, 25–30 Oct. 1838, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 18–19; Woodruff, Journal, 25 and 27 June 1839; 13 Feb. 1859; Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde, Affidavit, Richmond, MO, 24 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City; Brigham Young et al., “Hearken, O Ye Latter-day Saints,” Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 23 Aug. 1865, 372; Kimball, “History,” 103; JS, Journal, 25 May and 7 July 1839.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

    Kimball, Heber C. “History of Heber Chase Kimball by His Own Dictation,” ca. 1842–1856. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 2.

  12. [12]

    In summer 1839, an outbreak of sickness struck the Saints living in Commerce. Parley P. Pratt remembered that “many” church members “were lying sick and at the point of death” because of disease, which appears to have been malaria. (JS, Journal, 8–20 July 1839; Pratt, Autobiography, 324.)

    Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.

  13. [13]

    Redfield, who may have been functioning as the president of a church branch in Pittsfield, Illinois, was accused of “aiding McLellen [William E. McLellin] and others in Plundering the House of Joseph Smith” while JS was imprisoned in Missouri. Redfield denied he had done this. However, when the high council considered his case on 20 October 1839, Redfield confessed to committing “certain inadvertant imprudent (not evil meaning) acts that he sorrowed for.” The high council voted to forgive Redfield and restore him to “his former official standing and fellowship the same and as fully as if no such evil insinuation had been brought against him.” (Journal of Jesse Nathaniel Smith, 6; Caroline Clark et al., Statement, 1839, Statements against William E. McLellin and Others, ca. 1838–1839, CHL; Harlow Redfield, Provo, Utah Territory, to Editor of the Deseret News, 7 Sept. 1854, Deseret News Office, Editor’s Files, 1850–1854, CHL; Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 20 Oct. 1839, 23–24; see also Henry G. Sherwood, “Notice,” Times and Seasons, Jan. 1840, 1:47–48.)

    Journal of Jesse Nathaniel Smith: The Life History of a Mormon Pioneer, 1834–1906. Salt Lake City: Jesse N. Smith Family Association, 1953.

    Statements against William E. McLellin and Others, ca. 1838–1839. CHL.

    Deseret News Office. Editor’s Files, 1850–1854. CHL.

    Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  14. [14]

    Andrus had been assigned to serve a mission in Canada but had been prevented from fulfilling this assignment because of fighting occurring between the Canadians and the British. He instead preached in Ohio. James Daley was his brother-in-law and John Daley was his father-in-law. (Andrus, Autobiography, 32, 35; Martin, Story of the John Daley Jr. Family, 7–10.)

    Andrus, Milo. Autobiography, 1875. Private possession. Photocopy at CHL. MS 6533.

    Martin, James D. The Story of the John Daley Jr. Family: Westward Pioneers. [Ogden, UT]: By the author, 2000. Copy at FHL.

  15. [15]

    The second copy of the minutes in JS Letterbook 2 has this name as “Henry Curbough.” (Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 198.)

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