Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 October 1839
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.)
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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.)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.)
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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.)

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Edward Johnston | William Allred, |
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Henry Our Bough, | Allen J. Stout, |
Reddin Allred, | Esaias Edwards, |
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Jesse M’Intire, | Daniel Miller, |
James Brown, | Simson I. Comfort, |
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Artemus Johnston, | William Hyde, |
Joseph G. Hovey, | Andrew Hendry, |
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Fields B. Jacamey, | Eli Lee, |
Zadock Bethers, | Hiram W. Maxwell, |
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Sheffield Daniels, | Albert Miner, |
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Pleasant Ewell, | William Helm, |