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Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842

Source Note

Times and Seasons, (
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL), 15 June 1842, vol. 3, no. 16, 815–830; edited by JS. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

As editor of the Times and Seasons, JS oversaw the publication of the newspaper’s 15 June 1842 issue.
1

John Taylor assisted JS in editing the Times and Seasons, but JS, as editor, assumed primary responsibility for the content in the issues. (Woodruff, Journal, 19 Feb. 1842; “To Subscribers,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:710.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

The issue opened with an excerpt from the church’s newspaper in
England

Island nation consisting of southern portion of Great Britain and surrounding smaller islands. Bounded on north by Scotland and on west by Wales. Became province of Roman Empire, first century. Ruled by Romans, through 447. Ruled by Picts, Scots, and Saxons...

More Info
, the Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, emphasizing the necessity of a restoration of the gospel. This was followed by the seventh installment of the serialized “History of Joseph Smith” and excerpted articles from several eastern newspapers about JS and the
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
.
2

The first installment of JS’s history was published in the 15 March 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons.


The issue also included a letter from traveling
elder

A male leader in the church generally; an ecclesiastical and priesthood office or one holding that office; a proselytizing missionary. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto...

View Glossary
George J. Adams

7 Nov. 1810–11 May 1880. Tailor, actor, clergyman. Born in Oxford, Sussex Co., New Jersey. Lived in Boston during 1820s and 1830s. Became Methodist lay preacher. Married Caroline. Moved to New York City, before 1840. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of...

View Full Bio
in
New York City

Dutch founded New Netherland colony, 1625. Incorporated under British control and renamed New York, 1664. Harbor contributed to economic and population growth of city; became largest city in American colonies. British troops defeated Continental Army under...

More Info
, who had just returned from his mission in England, and the minutes of a 14 May 1842 church
conference

A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...

View Glossary
held in Grafton, Ohio. The issue concluded with a poem on the
temple

Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...

More Info
by
William W. Phelps

17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...

View Full Bio
and a public notice that the
First Presidency

The highest presiding body of the church. An 11 November 1831 revelation stated that the president of the high priesthood was to preside over the church. JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood on 25 January 1832. In March 1832, JS appointed two...

View Glossary
had withdrawn “the hand of fellowship” from
John C. Bennett

3 Aug. 1804–5 Aug. 1867. Physician, minister, poultry breeder. Born at Fairhaven, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. Son of John Bennett and Abigail Cook. Moved to Marietta, Washington Co., Ohio, 1808; to Massachusetts, 1812; and back to Marietta, 1822. Married ...

View Full Bio
.
3

Although the notice was written on 11 May 1842, it was withheld from publication until this mid-June issue. (See Historical Introduction to Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842; Notice, 11 May 1842; and JS, Journal, 26 May 1842.)


In addition to these items, the issue included editorial content that was presumably written by JS or his editorial staff. This editorial content, which is featured here, includes three items: commentary on a popular book on American antiquities,
4

Priest, American Antiquities, 205–208.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Priest, Josiah. American Antiquities and Discoveries in the West. . . . 5th ed. Albany: Hoffman and White, 1838.

with quotations from the Book of Mormon; a letter to the editor denouncing a pair of missionaries in Tennessee, together with an editorial response; and an article on the
gift of the Holy Ghost

A right or privilege bestowed through the confirmation ordinance. Individuals were confirmed members of the church and received the gift of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands. The Book of Mormon explained that remission of sins requires not only...

View Glossary
.
Note that only the editorial content created specifically for this issue of the Times and Seasons is annotated here. Articles reprinted from other papers, letters, conference minutes, and notices, are reproduced here but not annotated. Items that are stand-alone JS documents are annotated elsewhere; links are provided to these stand-alone documents.
5

See “Editorial Method”.


Footnotes

  1. [1]

    John Taylor assisted JS in editing the Times and Seasons, but JS, as editor, assumed primary responsibility for the content in the issues. (Woodruff, Journal, 19 Feb. 1842; “To Subscribers,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:710.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  2. [2]

    The first installment of JS’s history was published in the 15 March 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons.

  3. [3]

    Although the notice was written on 11 May 1842, it was withheld from publication until this mid-June issue. (See Historical Introduction to Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842; Notice, 11 May 1842; and JS, Journal, 26 May 1842.)

  4. [4]

    Priest, American Antiquities, 205–208.

    Priest, Josiah. American Antiquities and Discoveries in the West. . . . 5th ed. Albany: Hoffman and White, 1838.

  5. [5]

    See “Editorial Method”.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842 *Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842 *Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842 *Letter from George J. Adams, 21 April 1842 Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842 *Notice, 11 May 1842 Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842 *Letter from John D. Lee and Others, 18 May 1842 Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842

Page 821

displays of the spirit, was exhibited in raising one of the above named ministers who died while on his mission to this place,
21

Alfred Young later reported raising only Daniel Hunt’s cousin from death at the cousin’s home in Smith County, Tennessee. (Young, Autobiography, typescript, BYU.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Young, Alfred. Autobiography, no date. Typescript. BYU.

and in performing this operation as well as many others trange [other strange] manoeuvers, they would act as the spir◊i [spirit] dictated, and when satan would approach them they would wind up his bands—this they did to prevent his influence over them—by a motion of the hands and accompanied with words uttered in a harsh heavy tone, this was the second revolution performed. They have some tremendous combats with the devil in order to prepare for the contest, they would take off their coats and hats and roll up their sleeves, as though they had a Golia[t]h to encounter, and after an engagement of several hours, they would finally succeed in divesting the room of these demons; but frequently after the doors were closed great exertion was made to prevent their returning again. These were some of the effects of that spirit which animated the bosom of these counterfeit Mormons.
22

Lee recorded that he spoke to the people in Kentucky who had been administered to by the Young brothers; he told them that “this fanaticism which they had witnessed during the last few days was not to be fathered upon Joseph Smith or upon the Mormons.” (Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 129.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Lee, John D. Mormonism Unveiled. St. Louis, MO: Sun Publishing Company, 1882.

They taught their converts to contend for the same spirit which they possessed, and when they obtained it and were impelled by it, it produced a change of countenance depicted with horror; a trembling, twitching, falling down and wallowing in the mud; others would snort like wild beasts, bark as dogs, run through the creek, pretending to sing and speak in tongues, crying prophecy, prophecy; others would lie in a swoon for several hours, and springing to their feet again, state that the spirit had commanded them to chastise certain characters who were present, and would then fall upon them with all their strength as though they were to be exterminated in reality;
23

Similar ecstatic displays across diverse denominations in antebellum America challenged witnesses’ ability to describe and explain the causes of the behavior. (See Taves, Fits, Trances, and Visions, 3–5.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Taves, Ann. Fits, Trances, and Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.

one of these young ladies fell on her knees before me, and said, although I was a stranger yet she loved me because I was a preacher, and attempted to put her arms around my neck; I put forth my hand and rebuked the evil spirit by which she was actuated, and she immediately fell to the earth and wept with shame.
24

Lee later recalled that the young woman had approached him and stated, “You are a preacher of the true Church, and I love you.” Lee then “stretched forth [his] hand and rebuked the evil spirit that was in her” by “virtue of the holy priesthood.” (Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 127–128.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Lee, John D. Mormonism Unveiled. St. Louis, MO: Sun Publishing Company, 1882.

Those gentlemen I have not seen who introduced these principles into this neighborhood, they left here some time in the month of March, and directed their course for the western district of Tennessee.
25

Lee later recounted meeting Alfred and William Young at the home of a local merchant in Indian Creek, Tennessee, where Lee attempted to “reason with them from the scriptures.” The Young brothers then reportedly “began to whistle and dance, and jumped on to their horses and left.” (Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 128.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Lee, John D. Mormonism Unveiled. St. Louis, MO: Sun Publishing Company, 1882.

But this was the deplorable situation of these miserable and unfortunate proselytes when
Dr. Young

23 Sept. 1805–ca. 30 Jan. 1864. Born in Smith Co., Tennessee. Son of John Young and Abey Bibb Witcher. Married Nancy Robinson, 21 Feb. 1829, in Sumner Co., Tennessee. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by Dec. 1840. Moved to Nauvoo...

View Full Bio
and myself came to their relief. This course of conduct, you are well aware, produced great opposition to the faith of the Latter Day Saints, particularly by those who were watching for iniquity, in so much that we were threatened with mobs if we did not leave the neighborhood immediately, stating that Mormonism had already destroyed the peace of some of their citizens;
26

Lee recorded in his journal that he and his companions were threatened with a mob “if we did not leave immediately” and that “2 messengers were dispatched to inform us that we must leave by ten o. clock the following morning.” (Lee, Journal, 24 Apr. 1842.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Lee, John D. Journal, Mar. 1842–Aug. 1843. CHL. MS 2092.

however, we did not regard threats, and knowing most asuredly if we should shrink from our duty and not proclaim against such proceedings, and discard all such conduct and folly as was exhibited in this place by these impostors, that we would not stand acquitted before that God to whom we must, as well as all men, render an impartial account of our stewardship.—
27

In a revelation dictated in May 1831, members of the church were instructed to “proclaim against” any “spirit manifested that ye cannot understand.” (Revelation, 9 May 1831 [D&C 50:31–32].)


Under these considerations I determined to try to remove the veil of obscurity, that sin should be reproved, and truth vindicated; so I frankly told them that the spirit by which they were actuated, emenated from Lucifer, the prince of darkness, and that its delusive influence would ultimately prove destructive to all the souls that were influenced by it if they did not resist it immediately.
Elder

A male leader in the church generally; an ecclesiastical and priesthood office or one holding that office; a proselytizing missionary. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto...

View Glossary
Samuel Frost

View Full Bio

came to my assistance a few days after I arrived here, and has been laboring diligently with me ever since to remove the prejudice and erroneous notions that were imbibed by many in consequence of false teachings; and truly the Lord has blessed us, and confirmed the word by signs following;
28

See Mark 16:17, 20; Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:64]; and Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–A [D&C 68:10].


for the sick have been restored immediately by the prayer of faith through the atoning blood of the covenant, in the name of Jesus. Unclean spirits, also, have been subject to the
priesthood

Power or authority of God. The priesthood was conferred through the laying on of hands upon adult male members of the church in good standing; no specialized training was required. Priesthood officers held responsibility for administering the sacrament of...

View Glossary
through our administration in a number of instances, the most of those that were possessed of the evil spirit have been restored to their proper mind, indeed I never realized so sensibly the worth of the power of the priesthood since I have been called to the mintstry, as I did on this occasion. I have
baptized

An ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...

View Glossary
28 persons in Rutherford, Smith, and Putnam counties.
29

In his journal, Lee recorded the names of twenty-four people converted on 12 April, mostly from the Young, Smith, and McCollough households. Those baptized included William Carlin, who was a nephew of Illinois governor Thomas Carlin, and apparently two “servants Belonging to Mark Young.” (Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 130; Lee, Journal, 12 Apr. 1842.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Lee, John D. Mormonism Unveiled. St. Louis, MO: Sun Publishing Company, 1882.

Lee, John D. Journal, Mar. 1842–Aug. 1843. CHL. MS 2092.

Brothers
Frost

View Full Bio

and Linzey
30

Although Lee added the initials “A. J.” before the surname Linzey in his journal, it is unclear who this individual was. (Lee, Journal, 5 May 1842.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Lee, John D. Journal, Mar. 1842–Aug. 1843. CHL. MS 2092.

have baptized 22 in Knox county. We have many calls to preach, as prejudice has given way to a great extent, and I think there is not only a possibility, but a probability, of effecting a considerable work in this place.
We remain, as ever yours,
In the everlasting gospel of peace,
JOHN D. LEE

6 Sept. 1812–23 Mar. 1877. Farmer, courier, riverboat ferryman, policeman, merchant, colonizer. Born in Kaskaskia, Randolph Co., Illinois Territory. Son of Ralph Lee and Elizabeth Doyle. Served in Black Hawk War, 1831. Married Agatha Ann Woolsey, 23 July ...

View Full Bio
,
A[lphonso] YOUNG

23 Sept. 1805–ca. 30 Jan. 1864. Born in Smith Co., Tennessee. Son of John Young and Abey Bibb Witcher. Married Nancy Robinson, 21 Feb. 1829, in Sumner Co., Tennessee. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by Dec. 1840. Moved to Nauvoo...

View Full Bio
,
SAMUEL B. FROST

View Full Bio

. [p. 821]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842
ID #
8150
Total Pages
16
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:146–162
Handwriting on This Page
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Footnotes

  1. [21]

    Alfred Young later reported raising only Daniel Hunt’s cousin from death at the cousin’s home in Smith County, Tennessee. (Young, Autobiography, typescript, BYU.)

    Young, Alfred. Autobiography, no date. Typescript. BYU.

  2. [22]

    Lee recorded that he spoke to the people in Kentucky who had been administered to by the Young brothers; he told them that “this fanaticism which they had witnessed during the last few days was not to be fathered upon Joseph Smith or upon the Mormons.” (Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 129.)

    Lee, John D. Mormonism Unveiled. St. Louis, MO: Sun Publishing Company, 1882.

  3. [23]

    Similar ecstatic displays across diverse denominations in antebellum America challenged witnesses’ ability to describe and explain the causes of the behavior. (See Taves, Fits, Trances, and Visions, 3–5.)

    Taves, Ann. Fits, Trances, and Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.

  4. [24]

    Lee later recalled that the young woman had approached him and stated, “You are a preacher of the true Church, and I love you.” Lee then “stretched forth [his] hand and rebuked the evil spirit that was in her” by “virtue of the holy priesthood.” (Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 127–128.)

    Lee, John D. Mormonism Unveiled. St. Louis, MO: Sun Publishing Company, 1882.

  5. [25]

    Lee later recounted meeting Alfred and William Young at the home of a local merchant in Indian Creek, Tennessee, where Lee attempted to “reason with them from the scriptures.” The Young brothers then reportedly “began to whistle and dance, and jumped on to their horses and left.” (Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 128.)

    Lee, John D. Mormonism Unveiled. St. Louis, MO: Sun Publishing Company, 1882.

  6. [26]

    Lee recorded in his journal that he and his companions were threatened with a mob “if we did not leave immediately” and that “2 messengers were dispatched to inform us that we must leave by ten o. clock the following morning.” (Lee, Journal, 24 Apr. 1842.)

    Lee, John D. Journal, Mar. 1842–Aug. 1843. CHL. MS 2092.

  7. [27]

    In a revelation dictated in May 1831, members of the church were instructed to “proclaim against” any “spirit manifested that ye cannot understand.” (Revelation, 9 May 1831 [D&C 50:31–32].)

  8. [28]

    See Mark 16:17, 20; Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:64]; and Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–A [D&C 68:10].

  9. [29]

    In his journal, Lee recorded the names of twenty-four people converted on 12 April, mostly from the Young, Smith, and McCollough households. Those baptized included William Carlin, who was a nephew of Illinois governor Thomas Carlin, and apparently two “servants Belonging to Mark Young.” (Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 130; Lee, Journal, 12 Apr. 1842.)

    Lee, John D. Mormonism Unveiled. St. Louis, MO: Sun Publishing Company, 1882.

    Lee, John D. Journal, Mar. 1842–Aug. 1843. CHL. MS 2092.

  10. [30]

    Although Lee added the initials “A. J.” before the surname Linzey in his journal, it is unclear who this individual was. (Lee, Journal, 5 May 1842.)

    Lee, John D. Journal, Mar. 1842–Aug. 1843. CHL. MS 2092.

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