Petition from Richard Savary and Others, circa 2 February 1842
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Source Note
and others, Petition, , Allegheny Co., PA, to the (including JS) and , [, Hancock Co., IL, ca. 2 Feb. 1842]. Featured version published in “Petition,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1842, vol. 3, no. 11, 742. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.
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Historical Introduction
In early February 1842, twenty-three citizens of signed a petition addressed to the and in , Illinois, requesting that apostle be allowed to return to Pittsburgh after reporting to Nauvoo. Page visited Pittsburgh while traveling from to Nauvoo, where leaders expected him to explain why he had not yet embarked on his overseas mission. After being assigned in April 1840 to proselytize in Europe and Palestine, he and fellow apostle journeyed together from to but then separated in an effort to accrue more monetary donations. In early 1841, after both men were rebuked in the Times and Seasons for delaying their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, Hyde sailed to . Page arrived in New York, intending to make the voyage in the near future, but he soon received word that church leaders wanted him to return to Nauvoo to report on his delay.When arrived in on 26 December 1841, a missionary effort was beginning to take shape under , who had arrived in the city four days earlier. At Gee’s request Page began to preach in the area, and he attracted large audiences, including several prospective converts. On 30 December, Gee wrote to JS that he had persuaded Page to remain in Pittsburgh to assist with proselytizing. After Gee died on 20 January 1842, Page was the only church leader in the city. Ten days later, four Latter-day Saints who had relocated to the city from wrote a letter to the First Presidency, informing them that Gee had died and requesting that Page serve as Gee’s replacement. A few days later, on 2 February, made the same request in a letter to JS. Soon after, Savary and others, none of whom were members of the church, signed the featured petition.The petition is not dated but was likely both written and signed in early February 1842. was the first signatory, and the substance of the petition reflects the content of his 2 February letter, suggesting that he composed or helped compose the petition. At the time he wrote the main body of his letter, Savary was unaware that would have to return to . However, in a postscript added presumably later that day, Savary noted that Page had informed him that he would have to return. Since Savary and the other petitioners requested that Page be allowed to return to after his visit to Nauvoo, the petition was likely written around the same time as the postscript. However, it is possible it was produced later in February or in March.may have hand delivered the original petition when he arrived in in spring 1842, but the original is no longer extant. The featured version was published in the 1 April 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons; below the published petition was a brief editorial response that noted approval of the petition’s tone, expressed hope in gaining converts in , and announced that the petition would be discussed at a special church scheduled for April. This petition likely influenced the conference’s decision to assign Page to return to Pittsburgh.
Footnotes
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1
This was one of at least four documents requesting that Page be permitted to stay in or return to Pittsburgh to continue his ministry. (Letter from George Gee, 30 Dec. 1841; Letter from Levick Sturges et al., 30 Jan. 1842; Letter from Richard Savary, 2 Feb. 1842.)
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3
Notice, Times and Seasons, 15 Jan. 1841, 2:287; Letter from George J. Adams, 21 Apr. 1842. Hyde sailed to England aboard the United States on 13 February 1841.
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4
Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841; Minutes and Discourses, 6–8 Apr. 1842.
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6
“Poetry,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1843, 4:128.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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1
Page 742
PETITION,
From a number of Inhabitants of the city of .
To the of the ; and the , Greeting:—
We, the undersigned citizens of , have heard the gospel preached by , and we know that he is doing great good in this , especially to the honest in heart, and all men whose minds are not biased by the various bigoted and superstitious doctrines of the day, who make confusion the word of God, and consequently the spreading of infidelity.
We are pained to learn that he is about to leave us no more to return, unless you in your wisdom think proper. We, the undersigned, not members of the church, but seekers of truth, know that has ingratiated himself highly into the estimation of all good men for his urbanity of manners, his wisdom and understanding, and above all for the simplification of the scriptures, so that we can know them by our senses and appreciate their meanings. We, therefore, do hope and pray (if it is not incompatible with the interests of your church) that he may be permitted to return unto us and reap the fruit of the good seed he has sown.
| , | |
| ROBERT L. CASWELL, | |
| J. W. SMITH, | |
| JAMES SPRATLEY, | |
| MATHEW SMITH, | |
| JOHN PRINCE, | |
| DENNIS SAVARY, | |
| BENJ. CHAPMAN, | |
| JOSEPH DUDLEY, | |
| L. ALLBEYA, | |
| THOMAS CRAWFORD, | |
| ARTHN MOON, | |
| GEORGE AVERY, | |
| WM. CAMPION, | |
| THOMAS J. LANYON, | |
| JOHN MACDONALD, | |
| JOHN SMITH, | |
| DAVID POTTS, | |
| JOHN STEEL, | |
| C. SEICWIRT, | |
| THORNELL CRADDOCK, | |
| JAMES SMITH, | |
| JOSEPH HARPER. |
[p. 742]
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