The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Times and Seasons, 15 October 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 Oct. 1842, vol. 3, no. 24, pp. 943–958; edited by JS. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

JS, assisted by
Wilford Woodruff

1 Mar. 1807–2 Sept. 1898. Farmer, miller. Born at Farmington, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of Aphek Woodruff and Beulah Thompson. Moved to Richland, Oswego Co., New York, 1832. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Zera Pulsipher,...

View Full Bio
and
John Taylor

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodist church and was local preacher. Migrated ...

View Full Bio
, served as editor for the 15 October 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons, the twenty-fourth and final issue in the third volume.
1

See Historical Introduction to Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1842.


It is highly unlikely that JS played any significant role in writing editorial content for this particular issue, because he spent much of October in hiding in Henderson County, Illinois.
2

JS, Journal, 7–29 Oct. 1842.


Nevertheless, as the newspaper’s editor, he was ultimately responsible for its content. This was the last issue published under JS’s editorship.
3

Notice, 15 Nov. 1842.


The non-editorial content in the issue, which is not featured here, included an installation of the serialized “History of Joseph Smith” and several articles reprinted from other newspapers on the impact of violence and disease in various places around the world, including the outbreak of cholera in Europe, the slaughter of Chinese forces by British soldiers in China, ongoing labor protests 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
, and the destruction in Cuba caused by a recent storm.
4

“History of Joseph Smith,” “Passing Events,” “Butchery in China,” “Disturbances in the Provinces,” and “Great Gale at Havana,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1842, 3:943–948.


Editorial content in this issue included commentary on biblical history, a rebuttal of rumors that JS had fled to
Canada

In late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Canada referred to British colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Divided into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, 1791; reunited 10 Feb. 1841. Boundaries corresponded roughly to present-day Ontario (Upper...

More Info
, and criticism of published comparisons of the Bible with the writing of William Shakespeare. Additional editorial content included a defense of JS’s decision to hide from law enforcement officials who were seeking his arrest and his extradition to
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
; a passage countering opinions that the Latter-day Saints should flee
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
, Illinois, in order to avoid future persecution; and an article presenting evidence for Christianity’s general falling away from the primitive church described in the New Testament. Furthermore, the editors included comments on reports of
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
’s lectures in
Boston

Capital city of Massachusetts, located on eastern seaboard at mouth of Charles River. Founded by Puritans, 1630. Received city charter, 1822. Population in 1820 about 43,000; in 1830 about 61,000; and in 1840 about 93,000. JS’s ancestor Robert Smith emigrated...

More Info
, a description of a pamphlet
Orson Hyde

8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...

View Full Bio
wrote about the church written in German, an introduction to a brief history of Australia, and a request for church members to renew their subscriptions to the newspaper.
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]

    See Historical Introduction to Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1842.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 7–29 Oct. 1842.

  3. [3]

    Notice, 15 Nov. 1842.

  4. [4]

    “History of Joseph Smith,” “Passing Events,” “Butchery in China,” “Disturbances in the Provinces,” and “Great Gale at Havana,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1842, 3:943–948.

  5. [5]

    See “Editorial Method”.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Times and Seasons, 15 October 1842 *Times and Seasons, 15 October 1842 *Times and Seasons, 15 October 1842 *Times and Seasons, 15 October 1842 *Times and Seasons, 15 October 1842 *Times and Seasons, 15 October 1842 *Notice, 11 October 1842 Times and Seasons, 15 October 1842 History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] “History of Joseph Smith” Letter from “Old Fifty,” 15 October 1842
Times and Seasons, 15 October 1842

Page 953


Editorial Note
The fifth editorial selection is presented in the form of a letter to the editor of the Times and Seasons, titled “Cold Comfort,” from an unidentified correspondent writing under the pseudonym “Old Fifty.” The letter is a defense of 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
against claims made in an article that had appeared in the Quincy Whig nearly a month earlier.
38

“Joe Smith,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 24 Sept. 1842, [2].


Comprehensive Works Cited

Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

The article also spoke about the opposition JS and the church were experiencing in
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
and argued that the Saints should consider leaving
Illinois

Became part of Northwest Territory of U.S., 1787. Admitted as state, 1818. Population in 1840 about 480,000. Population in 1845 about 660,000. Plentiful, inexpensive land attracted settlers from northern and southern states. Following expulsion from Missouri...

More Info
altogether and relocating west. The letter featured here may have been written by a member of the newspaper’s editorial team. Even though the author’s identity is unclear, the letter’s tone and substance (including references to JS in the third person) clearly indicate that the letter was intended less as personal correspondence to JS,
Taylor

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodist church and was local preacher. Migrated ...

View Full Bio
, or
Woodruff

1 Mar. 1807–2 Sept. 1898. Farmer, miller. Born at Farmington, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of Aphek Woodruff and Beulah Thompson. Moved to Richland, Oswego Co., New York, 1832. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Zera Pulsipher,...

View Full Bio
and more as an open letter to the readership of the Times and Seasons.

To the Editor of the Times and Seasons.
COLD COMFORT.
Dear Sir: Necessity frequently compels us to resort to means for self defence, which propriety, gentleness, meekness, and honor would gladly omit. It was said by the Lord, after the flood, that “the imagination of man’s heart was evil from his youth,”
39

See Genesis 8:21.


—and every century’s, every year’s.—yea, every day’s experience, shows the continued reality of his prophetic declaration. Perhaps I am somewhat selfish, when I read the papers of the day and observe such a multiplicity of abuse, low cunning and hypocricy, so lavishly bestowed upon the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

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
;—when I say that it seems to me that the whole library of the regions of darkness and death was in the hearts of conspiring men to hinder, frustrate, or annihilate the closing dispensation of righteousness. I have a notable case in point, from the Quincy Whig of September 24, or properly speaking, the “Tools” who endeavor to manage that paper for official dignity.
40

The editor of the Quincy Whig was Sylvester Bartlett. (Masthead, Quincy [IL] Whig, 24 Sept. 1842, [1]; Asbury, Reminiscences of Quincy, Illinois, 74–75.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

Asbury, Henry. Reminiscences of Quincy, Illinois, Containing Historical Events, Anecdotes, Matters concerning Old Settlers and Old Times, Etc. Quincy, IL: D. Wilcox and Sons, 1882.

I shall have to take up the subject by piece meal, and make such remarks as the nature of the sophistical case may require. The first strain is thus:—
Joe Smith.—The last account we have of this person, he was on his way north, it was supposed for
Canada

In late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Canada referred to British colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Divided into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, 1791; reunited 10 Feb. 1841. Boundaries corresponded roughly to present-day Ontario (Upper...

More Info
, by the way of
Galena

County seat. Originally known as the Point; laid out and named Galena, 1826. Principal town in lead-mine country. Population in 1840 about 1,800. Population in 1845 about 4,000. Several Saints worked in mines while Nauvoo temple was being built.

More Info
,
Chicago

Settled by Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, 1779. U.S. Fort Dearborn established, 1804. Town organized, 10 Aug. 1832. Incorporated as city, May 1837. Population in 1837 about 4,200; in 1840 about 4,500; and in 1844 about 11,000. Twenty-six members of Church ...

More Info
, &c. But we place no confidence in the account; we believe Joe is yet in or about the ‘
City of the Saints

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
,’ and occasionally comes forth from his hiding place when he can do so with impunity. He is too cunning for the
Governor

18 July 1789–14 Feb. 1852. Ferry owner, farmer, sheriff, politician. Born in Fayette Co., Kentucky. Son of Thomas Carlin and Elizabeth Evans. Baptist. Moved to what became Missouri, by 1803. Moved to Illinois Territory, by 1812. Served in War of 1812. Married...

View Full Bio
or any of his officers, and he has deliberately put the laws of the
State

Became part of Northwest Territory of U.S., 1787. Admitted as state, 1818. Population in 1840 about 480,000. Population in 1845 about 660,000. Plentiful, inexpensive land attracted settlers from northern and southern states. Following expulsion from Missouri...

More Info
at defiance.
41

“Joe Smith,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 24 Sept. 1842, [2].


Comprehensive Works Cited

Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

There is nothing very cunning in the above paragraph, though the sense, probity, and sagacity, &c., of heralding Mr. Smith into
Canada

In late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Canada referred to British colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Divided into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, 1791; reunited 10 Feb. 1841. Boundaries corresponded roughly to present-day Ontario (Upper...

More Info
, and then, in the next breath, “place no confidence,” in their own statement, are lost, and leaves the minds of reflecting people as vacant of real information, as an unfurnished house is of furniture. Again hear:—
If he will listen to a word from us, we would advise him to locate his new Jerusalem, away to the far West, in the
Oregon country

Lewis and Clark expedition wintered in area, 1805–1806. Treaty of 1818 between U.S. and England provided decade of joint rights to area. Major immigration to area from existing U.S. states commenced, 1839. Oregon Trail used as main route to area, beginning...

More Info
, and there to build his temple and govern the Saints in his own way. In that case the advantages would be two-fold: for himself and followers, he would procure peace and quietness, for there would be no danger of their molestation in the enjoyment of their peculiar notions in that distant country;—to the Government, the location of himself and followers would be an advantage, because it greatly needs settlers in that region; and doubtless, Government would do something right handsome for Joseph, in the grant of a gift of lands, &c. if he would guarantee the emigration of any number of settlers.
42

“Joe Smith,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 24 Sept. 1842, [2].


Comprehensive Works Cited

Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

So much hypocrisy, so barefaced an attempt at wholesale murder, has not even been contemplated by any other paper in the
United States

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

More Info
, however servile, mean, debased, or licentious. Locate the Mormons in
Oregon

Lewis and Clark expedition wintered in area, 1805–1806. Treaty of 1818 between U.S. and England provided decade of joint rights to area. Major immigration to area from existing U.S. states commenced, 1839. Oregon Trail used as main route to area, beginning...

More Info
, only think of it! After the society have lost in
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
some one or two millions of dollars,
43

A memorial church leaders submitted to the United States Congress estimated the value of lost property in Missouri at $2 million. (Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840.)


besides many valuable lives;
44

A November 1838 report estimated that forty church members died during the fighting in Missouri. (John B. Clark, Jefferson City, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 29 Nov. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

after they have builded a
Temple

JS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...

More Info
in
Ohio

French explored and claimed area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Northeastern portion maintained as part of Connecticut, 1786, and called Connecticut...

More Info
, at a cost of sixty or seventy thousand dollars;
45

John Corrill estimated that construction of the Kirtland, Ohio, temple cost approximately $40,000. (Corrill, Brief History, 21.)


and after they have commenced a beautiful
city

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
at an expense of at least two or three millions of dollars, in
Illinois

Became part of Northwest Territory of U.S., 1787. Admitted as state, 1818. Population in 1840 about 480,000. Population in 1845 about 660,000. Plentiful, inexpensive land attracted settlers from northern and southern states. Following expulsion from Missouri...

More Info
;
46

The cost of building the city of Nauvoo to this date is unknown. However, in 1839 church leaders purchased the land on which the city was to be built for $136,500.


when their numbers in all parts of the world amount to probably between one and two hundred thousand persons,
47

There is no precise accounting of the total membership of the church in 1842. Several contemporary observers estimated that the number of church members driven from Missouri in 1839 ranged anywhere between eight and fifteen thousand, which represented the bulk of the global population of church members. Thousands more men and women had joined the church by 1842, but this estimate of one to two hundred thousand church members seems unrealistically high. One scholarly estimate suggests that there were at least thirty thousand members of the church in 1846, but during the 1840s, sources frequently repeated these exaggerated claims of a church membership of more than one hundred thousand. (Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; May, “Demographic Portrait of the Mormons,” 122–123; “Important from Washington,” Times and Seasons, Mar. 1840, 1:74; “The Mormon Prophet,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1845, 6:854; William Smith, “Patriarchal,” Times and Seasons, 15 May 1845, 6:904–905.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

May, Dean L. “A Demographic Portrait of the Mormons, 1830–1980.” In After 150 Years: The Latter-day Saints in Sesquicentennial Perspective, edited by Thomas G. Alexander and Jessie L. Embry, 38–69. [Provo, UT]: Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, 1983.

Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

without the least possible chance, under the depreciated state of the currency, and the general stagnation of business,
48

Currency depreciation severely affected the Illinois economy following the collapse of the State Bank of Illinois in January 1842. It also prevented JS from making payments on both personal and church debts. (“State Bank of Illinois,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:728–729; Letter to Edward Hunter, 9 and 11 Mar. 1842; Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 13 May 1842.)


to dispose of any property, but never mind, go to
Oregon

Lewis and Clark expedition wintered in area, 1805–1806. Treaty of 1818 between U.S. and England provided decade of joint rights to area. Major immigration to area from existing U.S. states commenced, 1839. Oregon Trail used as main route to area, beginning...

More Info
! Take your journey, men, women and children, on horses, mules and asses, for wagons will not pass over the
Rocky Mountains

Mountain chain consisting of at least one hundred separate ranges, commencing in present-day New Mexico and continuing about 3,000 miles northwest to northern Canada. Determine flow of North American rivers and streams toward Atlantic or Pacific oceans. First...

More Info
these many years to come,
49

By summer 1836, Americans traveling to Oregon proved that certain passes over the Continental Divide could accommodate wheeled vehicles. Yet the perception that the Rocky Mountains prohibited travel by wagon persisted in much of the country. It was not until 1842, when the federal government started actively promoting settlement in Oregon territory, that news spread throughout the country that the mountains were not as formidable an obstacle to overland travel as once thought. Indeed, in September 1845, the Nauvoo Neighbor reported on John C. Frémont’s published account of his exploration of Alta California and Oregon territory, which indicated that “Capt. F[rémont] crossed them at four different places.” Brigham Young remarked to the Council of Fifty a week earlier that “it has been proved that there is not much difficulty in sending people beyond the mountains.” (Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 711–714; “Western Mountains and Rivers on the Route to Oregon,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 17 Sept. 1845, [1]; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 9 Sept. 1845.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

and a passage round Cape Horn, of twenty thousand miles, would be too long a trip and too expensive; therefore go on horseback and muleback, and those who are fortunate enough to escape famine and flood, will have an excellent chance to fight among the thirty or forty tribes of Indians: and should any get to
Oregon

Lewis and Clark expedition wintered in area, 1805–1806. Treaty of 1818 between U.S. and England provided decade of joint rights to area. Major immigration to area from existing U.S. states commenced, 1839. Oregon Trail used as main route to area, beginning...

More Info
, there are from ten to twenty thousand, breeds of all nations; Americans, English, Russians, French, Spanish, New Hollanders, Otaheitans, Chinese, &c.,
50

Men and women from various countries—including Russia, Spain, and France—settled in the Pacific Northwest, because each of the governments of these respective countries claimed a right to the territory in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. (Twiss, Oregon Territory, 199–200, 211.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Twiss, Travers. The Oregon Territory, Its History and Discovery; Including an Account of the Convention of the Escurial, Also, the Treaties and Negotiations between the United States and Great Britain. . . . New York: D. Appleton, 1846.

who are every thing but refined society, and they will settle the matter of Mormonism forever, and we, the editors of the Quincy Whig and all that believe as we do, will live on the plunder you leave behind, as has our cotemporaries in
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
. Go to
Oregon

Lewis and Clark expedition wintered in area, 1805–1806. Treaty of 1818 between U.S. and England provided decade of joint rights to area. Major immigration to area from existing U.S. states commenced, 1839. Oregon Trail used as main route to area, beginning...

More Info
, and “doubtless Government will do something right handsome for Joseph.” This probably would take place when the English, Russian and American Governments, after fifty or sixty years negociation, happen to make a treaty, and settle the national right of territory,
51

Disputes between the United States and Great Britain over borders in the Pacific Northwest were heated in the early 1840s, and American political leaders disagreed on how best to stake their claim to the land that became Oregon territory. In 1818 the United States and Great Britain negotiated a joint occupation treaty for the northwest coast of North America. The treaty was designed to last ten years, but in 1827 the two nations extended the treaty indefinitely. By the 1840s, however, American politicians began calling for an end to the treaty. (Twiss, Oregon Territory, 224–248.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Twiss, Travers. The Oregon Territory, Its History and Discovery; Including an Account of the Convention of the Escurial, Also, the Treaties and Negotiations between the United States and Great Britain. . . . New York: D. Appleton, 1846.

but nevertheless, as the Latter Day Saints are likely to increase, go to
Oregon

Lewis and Clark expedition wintered in area, 1805–1806. Treaty of 1818 between U.S. and England provided decade of joint rights to area. Major immigration to area from existing U.S. states commenced, 1839. Oregon Trail used as main route to area, beginning...

More Info
! Hear again—
It is becoming more plainly evident every day, that the Mormons cannot live at
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
in tranquility any great length of time—for there is a jealousy growing up between them and their neighbors of an opposite faith, which is rapidly approximating to hatred on both sides, and will eventually lead to popular outbreaks and violations of law. It is hardly to be expected, that a community of men so clannish as the Mormons, and so bigoted and selfish in their religious belief—and so willing to obey [p. 953]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 953

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Times and Seasons, 15 October 1842
ID #
8158
Total Pages
16
Print Volume Location
JSP, D11:155–174
Handwriting on This Page
  • Printed text

Footnotes

  1. [38]

    “Joe Smith,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 24 Sept. 1842, [2].

    Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

  2. [39]

    See Genesis 8:21.

  3. [40]

    The editor of the Quincy Whig was Sylvester Bartlett. (Masthead, Quincy [IL] Whig, 24 Sept. 1842, [1]; Asbury, Reminiscences of Quincy, Illinois, 74–75.)

    Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

    Asbury, Henry. Reminiscences of Quincy, Illinois, Containing Historical Events, Anecdotes, Matters concerning Old Settlers and Old Times, Etc. Quincy, IL: D. Wilcox and Sons, 1882.

  4. [41]

    “Joe Smith,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 24 Sept. 1842, [2].

    Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

  5. [42]

    “Joe Smith,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 24 Sept. 1842, [2].

    Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

  6. [43]

    A memorial church leaders submitted to the United States Congress estimated the value of lost property in Missouri at $2 million. (Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840.)

  7. [44]

    A November 1838 report estimated that forty church members died during the fighting in Missouri. (John B. Clark, Jefferson City, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 29 Nov. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City.)

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  8. [45]

    John Corrill estimated that construction of the Kirtland, Ohio, temple cost approximately $40,000. (Corrill, Brief History, 21.)

  9. [46]

    The cost of building the city of Nauvoo to this date is unknown. However, in 1839 church leaders purchased the land on which the city was to be built for $136,500.

  10. [47]

    There is no precise accounting of the total membership of the church in 1842. Several contemporary observers estimated that the number of church members driven from Missouri in 1839 ranged anywhere between eight and fifteen thousand, which represented the bulk of the global population of church members. Thousands more men and women had joined the church by 1842, but this estimate of one to two hundred thousand church members seems unrealistically high. One scholarly estimate suggests that there were at least thirty thousand members of the church in 1846, but during the 1840s, sources frequently repeated these exaggerated claims of a church membership of more than one hundred thousand. (Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; May, “Demographic Portrait of the Mormons,” 122–123; “Important from Washington,” Times and Seasons, Mar. 1840, 1:74; “The Mormon Prophet,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1845, 6:854; William Smith, “Patriarchal,” Times and Seasons, 15 May 1845, 6:904–905.)

    May, Dean L. “A Demographic Portrait of the Mormons, 1830–1980.” In After 150 Years: The Latter-day Saints in Sesquicentennial Perspective, edited by Thomas G. Alexander and Jessie L. Embry, 38–69. [Provo, UT]: Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, 1983.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  11. [48]

    Currency depreciation severely affected the Illinois economy following the collapse of the State Bank of Illinois in January 1842. It also prevented JS from making payments on both personal and church debts. (“State Bank of Illinois,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:728–729; Letter to Edward Hunter, 9 and 11 Mar. 1842; Letter to Horace Hotchkiss, 13 May 1842.)

  12. [49]

    By summer 1836, Americans traveling to Oregon proved that certain passes over the Continental Divide could accommodate wheeled vehicles. Yet the perception that the Rocky Mountains prohibited travel by wagon persisted in much of the country. It was not until 1842, when the federal government started actively promoting settlement in Oregon territory, that news spread throughout the country that the mountains were not as formidable an obstacle to overland travel as once thought. Indeed, in September 1845, the Nauvoo Neighbor reported on John C. Frémont’s published account of his exploration of Alta California and Oregon territory, which indicated that “Capt. F[rémont] crossed them at four different places.” Brigham Young remarked to the Council of Fifty a week earlier that “it has been proved that there is not much difficulty in sending people beyond the mountains.” (Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 711–714; “Western Mountains and Rivers on the Route to Oregon,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 17 Sept. 1845, [1]; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 9 Sept. 1845.)

    Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  13. [50]

    Men and women from various countries—including Russia, Spain, and France—settled in the Pacific Northwest, because each of the governments of these respective countries claimed a right to the territory in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. (Twiss, Oregon Territory, 199–200, 211.)

    Twiss, Travers. The Oregon Territory, Its History and Discovery; Including an Account of the Convention of the Escurial, Also, the Treaties and Negotiations between the United States and Great Britain. . . . New York: D. Appleton, 1846.

  14. [51]

    Disputes between the United States and Great Britain over borders in the Pacific Northwest were heated in the early 1840s, and American political leaders disagreed on how best to stake their claim to the land that became Oregon territory. In 1818 the United States and Great Britain negotiated a joint occupation treaty for the northwest coast of North America. The treaty was designed to last ten years, but in 1827 the two nations extended the treaty indefinitely. By the 1840s, however, American politicians began calling for an end to the treaty. (Twiss, Oregon Territory, 224–248.)

    Twiss, Travers. The Oregon Territory, Its History and Discovery; Including an Account of the Convention of the Escurial, Also, the Treaties and Negotiations between the United States and Great Britain. . . . New York: D. Appleton, 1846.

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06