Letter from William W. Phelps, with Appended Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 29 June 1840
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Source Note
, Letter, , Montgomery Co., OH, to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 29 June 1840, with appended letter from and , [, Montgomery Co., OH], to JS, , and , [, Hancock Co., IL], 29 June 1840. Featured version copied [ca. 22 July 1840] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 155–157; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.
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Historical Introduction
On 29 June 1840, wrote a letter to JS asking to be forgiven for past transgressions and to have his membership restored. Phelps had been one of the church’s leading figures for several years, serving as a printer and as a member of the church in . In 1837 and 1838, however, he clashed with other church leaders, mainly over issues with church finances and the sale and control of land in and counties, Missouri. In March 1838, he was excommunicated. Sometime thereafter his membership was restored, and a July 1838 revelation stated that if he was to be saved he should be an and sent out to preach. But Phelps evidently continued to have difficulties with the church. In November 1838, during hearings held in , Missouri, for JS and other church leaders charged with treason, Phelps testified against the men, stating, among other things, that they intended to kill any sheriff trying to serve writs on them and that they wanted to declare the church independent from earthly governments. Phelps was again excommunicated in March 1839.’s testimony and excommunication created hard feelings on both sides. In December 1838, JS called Phelps and other dissenters from the church “so very ignorant that they cannot appear respectable in any decent and civilized society” and accused the dissenters of having eyes “full of adultery.” Phelps wrote disparagingly of church leaders in a May 1839 letter to his wife, , stating the were unable to see “the saw log in their own eyes while they are endeavoring to pull the slab out of the neighboring nations.” Despite the contention, in spring 1839, Phelps offered to sell a mill in on behalf of JS told Phelps to mind his “own affairs” because JS had “already experienced much over officiousness at your [Phelps’s] hand.”By summer 1840, ’s views toward the church had softened. Having relocated to , Ohio, Phelps followed the counsel of apostles and , who were preaching in the area, and wrote this 29 June 1840 letter, expressing contrition for his past actions and seeking forgiveness. Hyde and Page appended a note to Phelps’s letter, explaining to JS and his counselors in the that they believed Phelps’s repentance to be genuine. The original letter has not been located, but JS received it and wrote a reply to Phelps on 22 July 1840, accepting Phelps’s apology. At some point around 22 July 1840, copied both letters into JS Letterbook 2.
Footnotes
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1
Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:11]; Minutes and Discourse, ca. 7 July 1834.
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2
Letter to Wilford Woodruff, ca. 18 June 1838; Minute Book 2, 7 Apr. 1837 and 10 Mar. 1838.
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3
Revelation, 8 July 1838–B. A July 1838 entry in JS’s journal called Phelps a brother, suggesting he was back in the church by then. (JS, Journal, 26 July 1838.)
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4
William W. Phelps, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Jud. Cir. 1838), in State of Missouri, “Evidence.”
Missouri, State of. “Evidence.” Hearing Record, Richmond, MO, 12–29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. Joseph Smith et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Cir. Ct. 1838). Eugene Morrow Violette Collection, 1806–1921, Western Historical Manuscript Collection. University of Missouri and State Historical Society of Missouri, Ellis Library, University of Missouri, Columbia.
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5
“Extracts of the Minutes of Conferences,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:15.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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7
William W. Phelps, Far West, MO, to Sally Waterman Phelps, St. Louis, MO, 1 May 1839, CHL.
Phelps, William W. Letter, Far West, MO, to Sally Waterman Phelps, St. Louis, MO, 1 May 1839. CHL.
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8
William W. Phelps, Far West, MO, to John P. Greene, Quincy, IL, 23 Apr. 1839, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 7; Letter to William W. Phelps, 22 May 1839.
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9
In the letter they appended to Phelps’s, Orson Hyde and John E. Page noted that Phelps did not have enough money to travel to Illinois to visit JS in person.
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11
A note dated 4 July 1840 preceded Phelps’s letter in the letterbook. (Note, 4 July 1840, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 154.)
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Document Transcript
Footnotes
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1
See Luke 15:11–32.
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2
JS pronounced this blessing on Phelps in September 1835. (Blessing to William W. Phelps, 22 Sept. 1835.)
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3
See Ruth 1:16.
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4
See John 14:2; and Revelation, 6 Aug. 1833 [D&C 98:18].
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5
See Matthew 7:3–5; Luke 6:41–42; and Book of Mormon, 1837 ed., 510 [3 Nephi 14:3–4].
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6
In January 1836, several church leaders, presumably including Phelps, were anointed with “holy oil” in “the loft of the printing office” in Kirtland, Ohio. This anointing prepared individuals for the endowment of power they were to receive in the Kirtland House of the Lord. (JS, Journal, 21 Jan. 1836; Partridge, Journal, 21 Jan. 1836; William W. Phelps to Sally Waterman Phelps, [18 Jan. 1836], William W. Phelps, Papers, BYU.)
Partridge, Edward. Journal, Jan. 1835–July 1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fd. 2.
Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.
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7
Hyde and Page, left Nauvoo, Illinois, in mid-April 1840 to serve a mission to the Jews in New York, Europe, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. Hyde reported in July 1840 that they “preached in the court house to crowded congregations; and also in the grove” in Dayton but baptized “only five persons there.” Hyde continued, however, that they had “left a great harvest for some faithful elders to reap.” (Orson Hyde and John E. Page, Quincy, IL, 28 Apr. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, June 1840, 1:116–117; Minutes and Discourse, 6–8 Apr. 1840; Orson Hyde, Franklin, OH, 7 July 1840, in Times and Seasons, Aug. 1840, 1:156.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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8
See Revelation, 30 Oct. 1831 [D&C 65:2]; Revelation, between ca. 8 and ca. 24 Mar. 1832; and Revelation, 2 Aug. 1833–A [D&C 97:14].
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9
In The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Macedonians, and Grecians, Charles Rollin attributed these words to Themistocles, an exiled Athenian political leader who was petitioning his former enemy—the Persian king Artaxerxes—for protection around 471 BC. It was largely through Themistocles’s machinations that Greece defeated Persia around 480 BC after Persia invaded Greece. (Rollin, Ancient History, 427–429.)
Rollin, Charles. The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Macedonians, and Grecians. Vol. 2. London: Longman, 1839.
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10
See James 5:20.
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11
Hyde himself issued an affidavit against JS and other church leaders in October 1838 and was dropped from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He later sought forgiveness and was restored to his former standing in June 1839. (Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde, Affidavit, Richmond, MO, 24 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City; Historical Introduction to Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
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12
See Revelation 22:17.