Times and Seasons, (, 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. The issue opened with an excerpt from the church’s newspaper in , 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 . The issue also included a letter from traveling in , who had just returned from his mission in England, and the minutes of a 14 May 1842 church held in Grafton, Ohio. The issue concluded with a poem on the by and a public notice that the had withdrawn “the hand of fellowship” from .
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, 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 .
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.
displays of the spirit, was exhibited in raising one of the above named ministers who died while on his mission to this place, 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. 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; 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. 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. But this was the deplorable situation of these miserable and unfortunate proselytes when 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; 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.— 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. 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; 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 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 28 persons in Rutherford, Smith, and Putnam counties. Brothers and Linzey 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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].)
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.