Report of the First Presidency, 4 October 1840
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Source Note
First Presidency (including JS), “Report from the Presidency,” [, Hancock Co., IL], to the Church, 4 Oct. 1840. Featured version published in “Report from the Presidency,” Times and Seasons, Oct. 1840, 187–188. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.
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Historical Introduction
On the morning of 4 October 1840, read this report from the as part of the 3–5 October general held in , Illinois. The statement was likely written for the First Presidency by Thompson, as evidenced by wording similar to language in an editorial he wrote in July 1840. At least the opening portion of this report was apparently written (or rewritten) after the conference began because it comments on the “unpropitious” weather and strong attendance at the conference.The report described the ’s circumstances at the time, emphasizing positive developments in . In the report, the First Presidency mainly sought assistance in paying off the church’s debts from land purchases in , Illinois, and , Iowa Territory. Highlighting this purpose, the minutes of the general conference refer to the document as “the report of the presidency, in relation to the city plot.” This document echoed an earlier April 1840 report that dealt with church leaders’ “proceedings in purchasing lands and securing a place of gathering for the saints.”In addition to addressing land purchases in , the October report relayed news about the church’s missionary efforts. According to the report, members of the continued to many people in Great Britain. As of October 1840, church membership there totaled well over three thousand, and the first stream of convert immigration to the and Nauvoo was under way, with the first company of Saints departing in June 1840. The apostles had also turned their attention to publishing, having printed a monthly periodical, the Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, since May 1840 and a hymnbook in July 1840. In addition to the apostles’ efforts in Great Britain, missionaries were also making strides in the southern United States. With more people joining the church, the First Presidency announced that a new edition of the Book of Mormon had been printed in , which would resolve the shortage of copies in Nauvoo and elsewhere.The original report is not extant, but a copy was published in the October 1840 issue of the Times and Seasons. It was republished in the Millennial Star in January 1841.
Footnotes
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1
Robert B. Thompson, Nauvoo, IL, 10 July 1840, Editorial, Times and Seasons, Aug. 1840, 1:150–154.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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2
Bonds from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A and B; Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. 12-G, p. 274, 30 Apr. 1839, microfilm 954,195; 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; 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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5
“Minutes of the General Conference,” LDS Millennial Star, Oct. 1840, 1:165–166; Historian’s Office, Brigham Young History Drafts, 40; see also Letter from Heber C. Kimball and Others, 25 May 1840.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Historian’s Office. Brigham Young History Drafts, 1856–1858. CHL. CR 100 475, box 1, fd. 5.
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6
Letter from Brigham Young and Willard Richards, 5 Sept. 1840; “From England,” Times and Seasons, June 1840, 1:120–121; Letter from Brigham Young, 29 Apr. 1840; Woodruff, Journal, 20 May 1840; John Tompkins, Estimate, 7 June 1840, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:108–113, 121–124, 148–151, 304–305.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.
Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.
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7
“Report,” LDS Millennial Star, Jan. 1841, 1:227–229.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
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