Recommendation for Samuel Bent and George W. Harris, between circa 17 and circa 28 July 1840
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Source Note
JS, , , , , , , , , , , , , and , Recommendation, for and , [, Hancock Co., IL, between ca. 17 and ca. 28 July 1840]. Featured version copied [probably July 1840] in JS Letterbook 2, p. 158; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.
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Historical Introduction
Sometime in the second half of July 1840, JS, , , , and ten members of the signed a letter of recommendation for and , who were the other two members of the high council. On 17 July 1840, the council appointed Bent and Harris to procure funds for printing a new edition of the Book of Mormon, a new hymnal, and JS’s revision of the Bible. The recommendation bears no date but was probably written between the time of this appointment and 28 July.For several months prior to this appointment, leaders had discussed a shortage of copies of the Book of Mormon and of other church publications, particularly in the eastern and abroad, and had carefully considered how to meet the growing demand for books. On 29 December 1839, the high council resolved “that the book of Mormon be printed in this place under the instruction of this as soon as monies can [be] raised to defray the expense of the same.”Raising the funds necessary to publish these books proved difficult. On two separate occasions in spring 1840, printers and unsuccessfully advertised for a loan to print a new edition of the Book of Mormon, first for $1,000, then for $500. That June, Robinson borrowed $145 from a Nauvoo resident and, with JS’s permission, proceeded to with a copy of the 1837 edition of the Book of Mormon apparently containing editorial corrections to commence the process of stereotyping and printing a new edition. In Cincinnati, Robinson contracted on credit the work of printing the book. The production costs totaled $1,050, requiring Robinson and church leaders to raise the sum through subscriptions, donations, and additional loans.This recommendation described the official nature of and ’s mission, urged church members to assist them, and authorized Bent and Harris to borrow money on behalf of the church, if necessary. Although the letter indicates that Bent and Harris were appointed by the First Presidency and the high council of the church, also signed the letter, as did . Bent and Harris presumably carried the letter with them on their trip east. It is unclear when they left Nauvoo, but they were in by 23 September, when they wrote a letter to the First Presidency and the Nauvoo high council reporting the results of their fund-raising efforts. The original recommendation has not been located. most likely copied the document into JS Letterbook 2 sometime in 1840, likely in July, before he copied into the letterbook a letter JS wrote to before 28 July.
Footnotes
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1
Minutes, 17 July 1840; “Books!!!,” Times and Seasons, July 1840, 1:139–140.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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2
Letter to Oliver Granger, between ca. 22 and ca. 28 July 1840.
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3
See, for example, Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 22 Nov. 1839; Editorial, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:25; Letter from Hyrum Smith, 2 Jan. 1840; and Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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4
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 29 Dec. 1839, 39.
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.
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5
“Wanted,” Times and Seasons, Apr. 1840, 1:91; May 1840, 1:112.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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6
Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, May 1890, 258–259. Robinson later recalled that he and JS “compared a copy of the Kirtland edition [1837] with the first edition [1830], by reading them entirely through, and I took one of the Kirtland edition as a copy for the stereotype edition.” The 1837 Kirtland edition Robinson carried to Cincinnati apparently contained editorial notations because the text of the 1840 edition, in addition to containing grammatical alterations, differs from the earlier version in about forty-seven places. (Larson, “Study of Some Textual Variations in the Book of Mormon,” 278–283; Walker, “As Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” 16–18.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
Larson, Stanley R. “A Study of Some Textual Variations in the Book of Mormon Comparing the Original and the Printer’s Manuscripts and the 1830, the 1837, and the 1840 Editions.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1974.
Walker, Kyle R. “‘As Fire Shut Up in My Bones’: Ebenezer Robinson, Don Carlos Smith, and the 1840 Edition of the Book of Mormon.” Journal of Mormon History 36, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 1–40.
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7
At this time, Cincinnati was widely viewed as the center of book publishing in the western United States. By 1841 an estimated one to two million books were published in that city annually, and by 1850 it ranked fourth in the nation in the output of books behind New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. (Teaford, Cities of the Heartland, 13–16; Walker, “As Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” 20.)
Teaford, Jon C. Cities of the Heartland: The Rise and Fall of the Industrial Midwest. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993.
Walker, Kyle R. “‘As Fire Shut Up in My Bones’: Ebenezer Robinson, Don Carlos Smith, and the 1840 Edition of the Book of Mormon.” Journal of Mormon History 36, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 1–40.
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8
Robinson later recalled that he contracted with foundry owners C. K. Gleason and Edwin Shepard to create stereotype plates for $550. Robinson paid $100 up front with a promise to pay “two hundred and fifty dollars more in three months” and “the remaining two hundred dollars within three months after the work was done.” Robinson also purchased on credit $250 worth of paper to print two thousand copies of the Book of Mormon and contracted a bookbinder to bind the copies once they were printed. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, May 1890, 260.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
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9
Minutes, 17 July 1840; “Books!!!,” Times and Seasons, July 1840, 1:139–140; Agreement with Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith, 14 Dec. 1840.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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10
As president of the Nauvoo stake, Marks presided over the Nauvoo high council. Higbee possibly signed the letter as a substitute member of the Nauvoo high council, a position to which he was appointed at the council’s 25 July 1840 meeting. (Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839; Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 25 July 1840, 68.)
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.
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11
Letter from Samuel Bent and George W. Harris, 23 Sept. 1840.
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12
Letter to Oliver Granger, between ca. 22 and ca. 28 July 1840; see also Letter to William W. Phelps, 22 July 1840.
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1
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