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Notice, circa 1 February 1844

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Notice, circa 1 February 1844

Source Note

JS and , Notice, [, Hancock Co., IL, ca. 1 Feb. 1844]. Featured version published in “Notice,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1844, vol. 5, no. 13, 423. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

The 1 February 1844 issue of the Times and Seasons, the newspaper published in , Illinois, included a notice from JS and alleging that an named Hiram Brown was teaching the doctrine of “polygamy and other false and corrupt doctrines” while serving a proselytizing mission in . Since 1841, JS had been practicing plural marriage in Nauvoo and had invited a select group of men and women to participate in the practice. Brown, who had previously lived in Nauvoo, may have heard about plural marriage there. Information regarding Brown’s teachings in Michigan had apparently reached JS and his brother Hyrum, who was both the church and a member of the .
In the newspaper notice, JS and directed Brown to return to to respond to ecclesiastical charges during the church’s upcoming special in early April 1844. Despite this request, there is no evidence that Brown attended the conference. Brown’s alleged preaching of plural marriage was one of many reports that prompted Hyrum Smith to instruct elders of the church that missionaries were only to teach the gospel and that they would lose their licenses to preach if they did otherwise.
If any earlier drafts of this notice were written, they are no longer extant.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation, 12 July 1843 [D&C 132]; “Joseph Smith Documents from May through August 1842.”

  2. [2]

    Very little is known about Brown. According to the 1842 Nauvoo stake census, he lived alone in the Third Ward. Beyond the information in the notice from JS and Hyrum Smith, details concerning Brown’s mission are unknown. (Nauvoo Third Ward Census, [23], Nauvoo Stake, Ward Census, CHL.)

    Nauvoo Stake. Ward Census, 1842. CHL.

  3. [3]

    The conference was held from Saturday, 6 April, to Monday, 8 April. Nauvoo high council minutes kept during this time do not discuss Brown’s case. (See JS, Journal, 6–8 Apr. 1844; and Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 30 Mar.–13 Apr. 1844.)

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

  4. [4]

    Hyrum Smith told the gathering, “Every Elder who teaches such stuff ought to have his nose wrung— his name will be pub[lishe]d. & if found guilty his licence shall be taken.” (Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 6–9 Apr. 1844, 30.)

    Historian’s Office. General Church Minutes, 1839–1877. CHL

Page 423

NOTICE.
As we have lately been credibly informed, that an of the , by the name of Hiram Brown, has been preaching Polygamy, and other false and corrupt doctrines, in the county of Lapeer, state of Michigan.
This is to notify him and the Church in general, that he has been cut off from the church, for his iniquity; and he is further notified to appear at the Special , on the 6th of April next, to make answer to these charges.
JOSEPH SMITH,
.
of said Church. [p. 423]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 423

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Notice, circa 1 February 1844
ID #
1262
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Printed text

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Stephen Post, who served a proselytizing mission in Michigan, helped organize a branch in Lapeer, Michigan, in 1839. The Times and Seasons printed a report about a January 1843 conference for the missionaries and members of several branches of the church in Lapeer County, suggesting that missionary activity continued in this area. (Stephen Post, Detroit, MI, 18 Sept. 1839, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, Jan. 1840, 1:39; Minutes, Times and Seasons, 15 Feb. 1843, 4:111.)

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