Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 15 December 1840
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Source Note
JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to the Quorum of the Twelve, , 15 Dec. 1840; handwriting of ; signature of JS; eight pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes dockets and notations.Bifolium measuring 12¼ × 7¾ inches (31 × 20 cm) when folded. The text was cross-written: wrote horizontally on the first three pages and then returned to the first page and began writing up the page at a right angle, continuing this cross-writing through the recto of the second leaf. In other words, six pages of text were inscribed on one and a half leaves of the document. The document was then trifolded in letter style, with the blank fourth page on the outside, thereby creating an address panel in the middle of the fourth page, with flaps above and beneath the panel. Thompson inscribed text on those two flaps (which together constitute page [7] of the document), then added a postscript and addressing at a right angle over the initial writing (page [8]). Thompson wrote “To the ‘Twelve’” on the address panel. The document was trifolded again in letter style. Folding and wear indicate this was the sent copy. The letter was refolded for filing twice, and each time a docket was added. The earliest docket was written by ; the second docket was written in an unknown hand. Andrew Jenson inscribed two notations.The dockets and the inclusion of the document in a later inventory suggest this letter was in the custody of the Church Historian’s Office by the mid-nineteenth century. In 1973 the document was included as part of the JS Collection.
Footnotes
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1
“Index to Papers in the Historian’s Office,” ca. 1904, draft, 5; “Index to Papers in the Historian’s Office,” ca. 1904, 5, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL. The circa 1904 Historian’s Office inventories listed this item as “President Joseph Smith to the Twelve (published under date of Oct. 19, 1840),” reflecting that the letter had been misdated when transcribed into the multivolume manuscript history of the church and subsequently published under that date in the Deseret News. (See JS History, vol. C-1, 1115–1119; and “History of Joseph Smith,” Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 26 Oct. 1854, [1].)
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
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2
Johnson, Register to the Joseph Smith Collection, 8; see also the full bibliographic entry for the JS Collection in the CHL catalog.
Johnson, Jeffery O. Register of the Joseph Smith Collection in the Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1973.
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1
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Historical Introduction
On 15 December 1840, JS wrote a letter to the members of the then serving a mission in . At the time of this letter, eight of the eleven apostles then making up the were in Great Britain. Seven—, , , , , , and —departed , Illinois, in 1839, and one——was an apostle in April 1840 while in England. and were expected to pass through Great Britain in the coming months on their mission to the Jews in Europe and Palestine, and considered himself too poor to make the journey.By the time of this letter, membership in had increased to over thirty-five hundred. Under the apostles’ direction, missionaries had been sent to Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and the East Indies. The apostles had also published a hymnal and several issues of a new monthly periodical, the Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. They additionally had made significant progress toward republishing the 1837 edition of the Book of Mormon. Since leaving , the apostles had written several letters to JS and received one known letter from him in return, dated 19 July 1840.While JS acknowledged the multiple unanswered letters he had received from the Twelve, he seems to have written this 15 December letter in response to a series of questions and posed in a 5 September 1840 letter. JS responded to what he considered the most pertinent questions, particularly those that asked about the timing of the Twelve’s return to , Illinois; the publication of the scriptures in Great Britain; and the migration of British Saints to Nauvoo. Additionally, JS shared local news, reporting on the plans for the Nauvoo , efforts to get the legislature to pass the Nauvoo city charter, the death of , and recent conversions. He also briefly instructed the apostles on for the dead, a practice instituted the previous August and September in Nauvoo, making this the earliest firsthand source from JS to explain this teaching.The letter is in the handwriting of . The lack of postage markings suggests that it was hand carried rather than mailed to Great Britain. The apostles received the letter by 30 March 1841. A significant excerpt was published in the 1 January 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons and then was reprinted in the Millennial Star in March 1841.
Footnotes
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1
Deceased apostle David W. Patten was not replaced until the April 1841 general conference appointed Lyman Wight as an apostle. (“Minutes of the General Conference,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, 2:387.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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2
Letter from Heber C. Kimball, 9 July 1840; Woodruff, Journal, 14 Apr. 1840.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
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3
Minutes and Discourse, 6–8 Apr. 1840; William Smith, Plymouth, IL, 1 Dec. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 15 Dec. 1840, 2:252–253.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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4
“Minutes of the General Conference,” LDS Millennial Star, Oct. 1840, 1:165–166.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
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5
Letter from Heber C. Kimball, 9 July 1840; “News from the Elders,” Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1840, 2:228–230.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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6
“Minutes of the General Conference,” LDS Millennial Star, July 1840, 1:69.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
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7
See John Tompkins, Estimate, 7 June 1840, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; and Woodruff, Journal, 7 July 1840.
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8
This letter is not extant; however, it was documented in a note in JS Letterbook 2. (Note, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 153.)
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9
Letter from Brigham Young and Willard Richards, 5 Sept. 1840.
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10
JS first spoke on baptism for the dead on 15 August 1840. The first baptisms for the dead occurred in the Mississippi River as early as 13 September 1840. (Jane Harper Neyman and Vienna Jaques, Statement, 29 Nov. 1854, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL; Simon Baker, “15 Aug. 1840 Minutes of Recollection of Joseph Smith’s Sermon,” JS Collection, CHL.)
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
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11
On 30 March 1841, Wilford Woodruff wrote, “We also received many letters from Nauvoo [including] one from Br Joseph to the Twelve.” (Woodruff, Journal, 30 Mar. 1841.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
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12
JS, “Extract from an Epistle to the Elders in England,” Times and Seasons, 1 Jan. 1841, 2:258–261; JS, “Extracts from an Epistle to the Elders in England,” LDS Millennial Star, Mar. 1841, 1:265–269.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
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1
Document Transcript
Footnotes
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1
This sentence is an epistolary greeting from the New Testament. (See, for example, 1 Timothy 1:2.)
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2
These letters likely included Letter from Heber C. Kimball and Others, 25 May 1840; Letter from Heber C. Kimball, 9 July 1840; and Letter from Brigham Young and Willard Richards, 5 Sept. 1840.
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3
On 27 February 1835, JS explained the duties of the apostles: “They are to hold the keys of this ministry— to unlock the door of the kingdom of heaven unto all nations and preach the Gospel unto every creation. This is the virtue powr and authority of their Apostleship. . . . It is your duty to go and unlock the kingdom of heaven to foreign nations, for no man can do that thing but yourselves.” (Minutes and Discourses, 27 Feb. 1835.)
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4
In addition to directly receiving letters from members of the Twelve in England, JS would have been familiar with correspondence published in the Times and Seasons, such as a letter Parley P. Pratt, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Orson Pratt wrote to the church in Commerce, Illinois, on 19 February 1840 and a letter Wilford Woodruff addressed to Don Carlos Smith and Ebenezer Robinson on 29 April 1840. JS also would have had the opportunity to discuss the church in Great Britain with British immigrants and a returning missionary, Theodore Turley, who arrived in Nauvoo on 24 November 1840. (Parley P. Pratt et al., New York City, NY, to “the Church of Jesus Christ,” Commerce, IL, 19 Feb. 1840, in Times and Seasons, Mar. 1840, 1:70–71; Wilford Woodruff, Ledbury, England, 29 Apr. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, June 1840, 1:122; Clayton, Diary, 24 Nov. 1840.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Clayton, William. Diary, Jan.–Nov. 1846. CHL.
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5
Psalm 133:1.
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6
Brigham Young and Willard Richards had asked, “Shall we gather up all the saints we can & come over with them next Spring?” (Letter from Brigham Young and Willard Richards, 5 Sept. 1840.)
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7
In a 17 June 1840 letter to his son, George A. Smith, JS’s uncle John Smith stated: “I would advise you to be very Dilligent to warn that People while it is called to Day for I think the time is short according to the working of the spirit in me perscution will rage in England ere long worse then in Missouri and the saints will have to flee out the best way they can.” (John Smith and Clarissa Lyman Smith, Montrose, Iowa Territory, to George A. Smith, Burslem, England, 17 June 1840, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL.)
Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.
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8
See Matthew 9:36.
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9
In the October 1839 general conference, the Commerce area was officially designated as the gathering place for church members. (Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839.)
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10
Many recent converts in Great Britain came from poor, working-class families involved in factory work. In a September 1840 letter, Young and Richards described the shift of British industry from agriculture to manufacturing. “Manufacturing is the business of England,” they wrote, noting that “cotton mills are the most numerous.” (Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840; Letter from Brigham Young and Willard Richards, 5 Sept. 1840.)
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11
JS addressed this topic in a 19 July 1840 letter carried to Great Britain by Lorenzo Snow, who arrived in Liverpool on either 21 or 22 October 1840. While no copy of this letter has been located, a note in JS’s letterbook states that the letter authorized the apostles to publish the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and a hymnal. (Note, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 153; JS History, vol. C-1, 1119; Lorenzo Snow, London, England, to Charlotte Granger, 25 Feb. 1841, in Snow, Letterbook, [3]–[4].)
Snow, Lorenzo. Letterbook, ca. 1839–1846. CHL.
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12
The Twelve had published a hymnbook by 6 July 1840. Copies of the new hymnal likely arrived in Nauvoo in November 1840 with British Saints who departed Liverpool on 8 September 1840. The apostles were concerned about JS’s response to the hymnbook, likely because of controversy over David W. Rogers’s publication of an unauthorized hymnal in 1838. (“Minutes of the General Conference,” LDS Millennial Star, July 1840, 1:69; Clayton, Diary, 8 Sept. and 24 Nov. 1840; Letter from Brigham Young and Willard Richards, 5 Sept. 1840; Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839; Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:82–83.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
Clayton, William. Diary, Jan.–Nov. 1846. CHL.
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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13
JS had been misinformed; many of the steps toward publication of the Book of Mormon had been completed in Great Britain, but the book was not yet printed. The apostles contracted with a printer on 17 June 1840 and purchased paper on 7 July 1840. (John Tompkins, Estimate, 7 June 1840, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; Brigham Young, Manchester, England, to Willard Richards, Ledbury, England, 17 June 1840, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL; Woodruff, Journal, 7 July 1840.)
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14
In a May 1840 letter, Orson Hyde and John E. Page asked JS whether they were authorized to translate the Book of Mormon into German. JS replied, “I entirely approve of the same; and give my consent.” (Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 1 May 1840; Letter to Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 14 May 1840.)
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15
In a September 1840 letter, Brigham Young and Willard Richards asked, “Shall we print the doctrins & Covena[n]ts here or not? or will the D. & C. be printed & go to the nations, as it now is or not? or will it be revised & pr[i]nted for the nation?” (Letter from Brigham Young and Willard Richards, 5 Sept. 1840.)
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16
Several of the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve dissented from the church in 1837 and 1838, which may have caused JS increasing concern about unity within that quorum. On 2 July 1839, JS instructed the Twelve in preparation for their mission, telling them to “be humble & not be exalted & beware of pride & not seek to excell one above another but act for each others good & pray for one & another & honour our brother or make honourable mention of his name.” (Discourse, 2 July 1839.)
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17
One of these unanswered issues, posed by Young, related to ordaining men to the priesthood office of seventy. JS also did not respond to a few of the specific questions Young and Richards asked in their September 1840 letter, including whether they should forward copies of the Millennial Star to Nauvoo and whether they should copy portions of hieroglyphics kept in the British Museum, which the missionaries had visited. (Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840; Letter from Brigham Young and Willard Richards, 5 Sept. 1840.)
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18
TEXT: Cross-writing begins over page [1].
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19
Realizing he would need to stay in England significantly longer than the rest of the Twelve in order to manage the church’s publishing efforts, Pratt requested shortly after his arrival in England on 6 April 1840 that his family join him. After learning that members of his family had contracted scarlet fever, Pratt traveled to New York and escorted them to England, arriving in October 1840. Pratt’s family consisted of his wife, Mary Ann Frost Pratt; his sister-in-law, Olive Frost; his stepdaughter, Mary Ann Stearns, age seven; and his two sons, Parley Parker Pratt Jr. and Nathan Pratt, ages three and two. (Parley P. Pratt, Liverpool, England, to Mary Ann Frost Pratt, New York City, NY, 6 Apr. 1840, Parley P. Pratt, Papers, CHL; Pratt, Autobiography, 342–343; “Records of Early Church Families,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 27 [July 1936]: 106, 109; Woodruff, Journal, 7 July 1840.)
Pratt, Parley P. Papers, 1837–1844. CHL.
Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.
“Records of Early Church Families.” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 27 (July 1936): 102–116.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
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20
Pratt had served as the editor of the Millennial Star since its first issue was printed in May 1840. ([Parley P. Pratt], “Prospectus,” LDS Millennial Star, May 1840, 1:1–2.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
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21
The mortality rate in Nauvoo in 1840 had decreased since the previous year. While the community had increased by an estimated seven hundred since 1839, there were only two additional deaths recorded in 1840. (Ivie and Heiner, “Deaths in Early Nauvoo,” 165, 171.)
Ivie, Evan L., and Douglas C. Heiner. “Deaths in Early Nauvoo, 1839–46, and Winter Quarters, 1846–48.” Religious Educator 10, no. 3 (2009): 163–173.
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22
On 26 August 1840, the Cincinnati Daily Chronicle estimated that the population of Nauvoo was approximately twenty-eight hundred. (“The Mormons,” Daily Chronicle [Cincinnati], 26 Aug. 1840, [2].)
Daily Chronicle. Cincinnati. 1839–1850.
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23
On 9 July 1840, a stake was organized at Ramus, Illinois. On 3 October 1840, a general conference in Nauvoo appointed Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, and Almon Babbitt to “organize stakes between this place and Kirtland.” On that same day, the conference resolved to organize a stake in Adams County, Illinois. (Letter to Crooked Creek, IL, Branch, ca. 7 or 8 July 1840; Macedonia Branch, Record, 9 July 1840, 8; Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840.)
Macedonia Branch, Record / “A Record of the Chur[c]h of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Macedonia (Also Called Ramus),” 1839–1850. CHL. LR 11808 21.
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24
The temple’s construction was announced during the October 1840 general conference, the minutes of which were published in the October 1840 issue of the Times and Seasons. (Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840.)
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25
Devoting every tenth day to labor on the temple complied with the resolution adopted in the October 1840 general conference that “every tenth day be appropriated for the building of said house.” (Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840.)
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26
The temple was “situated on the brow of the most prominant part of the bluff, which extends a short distance in the advance of the bluff, either to the right or to the left so that it commands a complete view of the majestic river for several miles, both north and south; and completely overlooks the flat which constitutes the western part of the city, and is so curiously formed by the extraordinary bend of the river.” (Benjamin Winchester, Nauvoo, IL, to Lorenzo Snow, 12 Nov. 1841, in Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1841, 3:605.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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27
An August 1833 revelation provided the dimensions for the House of the Lord in Kirtland, Ohio: “It shall be fifty five by sixty five in the width thereof and in the length therof— in the inne[r] court.” On 6 October 1840, Phebe Carter Woodruff reported the proposed dimensions of the Nauvoo temple were “100 feet by 120.” (Revelation, 2 Aug. 1833–B [D&C 94:4]; Phebe Carter Woodruff, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, 6–19 Oct. 1840, digital scan, Wilford Woodruff, Collection, CHL; see also Discourse, ca. 19 July 1840.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Collection, 1831–1905. CHL. MS 19509.
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28
In July 1840, JS predicted that Nauvoo’s poor would “be fed by the curious who shall come from all parts of the world to see this wonderful temple.” (Discourse, ca. 19 July 1840.)
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29
“A Seminary” refers to the planned “University of the City of Nauvoo.” Webster’s 1841 dictionary defined a seminary as “a place of education; any school, academy, college or university, in which young persons are instructed in the several branches of learning.” (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; “Seminary,” in American Dictionary [1845], 739–740.)
An American Dictionary of the English Language; Exhibiting the Origin, Orthography, Pronunciation, and Definitions of Words. Edited by Noah Webster. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1845.
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30
During the October 1840 general conference, a committee was organized to draft a charter for the incorporation of the city of Nauvoo. By the time of this letter, both the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives had passed the bill, which was signed into law on 16 December, the day after JS wrote this letter. (Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840; Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)
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31
A funeral sermon given for Joseph Smith Sr., who died 14 September 1840, was included in the September 1840 issue of the Times and Seasons. (Robert B. Thompson, “An Address Delivered at the Funeral of Joseph Smith Sen.,” Times and Seasons, Sept. 1840, 1:170–173.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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32
According to Vilate Murray Kimball, Joseph Smith Sr. “ordai[ned] his sons Hiram to be a Patriarch, and pronounced great blessing upon all his children before he died.” (Vilate Murray Kimball, Nauvoo, IL, to Heber C. Kimball, 11 Oct. 1840, photocopy, Vilate Murray Kimball, Letters, 1840, CHL.)
Kimball, Vilate Murray. Letters, 1840. Photocopy. CHL.
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33
These converts included John C. Bennett, quartermaster general of the Illinois militia; Isaac Galland, a major property owner in the region of Hancock County, Illinois; James Adams, a probate judge in Sangamon County, Illinois; Sidney Knowlton, a prominent citizen of Hancock County and “scientific Farmer”; and three doctors: Robert D. Foster of Adams County; Lenox Knight of Putnam County, Indiana; and a Dr. Green of Shelby County, Illinois. (Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841; Letter Extract, Times and Seasons, Feb. 1840, 1:61.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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34
Elam Luddington and Eli Terrill were apparently then proselytizing in New Orleans. They wrote a letter to JS on 4 January 1841, in which they requested additional assistance in the city. (“Summary,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1841, 2:339.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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35
The first organized company of British converts, comprising forty-one individuals, departed from Liverpool on 6 June 1840 and arrived in New York City on 20 July 1840. They would not arrive in Nauvoo until mid-April 1841. A second company of two hundred Saints, under the direction of Theodore Turley, departed Liverpool on 8 September 1840, reached New York on 11 October 1840, and arrived in Nauvoo beginning on 24 November 1840. (JS History, vol. C-1, 1061; William Clayton, Penwortham, England, to Brigham Young and Willard Richards, Manchester, England, 19 Aug. 1840, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; “Book of the Life of Hugh Moon,” 25–26; Clayton, Diary, 8 Sept. 1840; 11 Oct. 1840; 24 Nov. 1840.)
Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.
“The Book of the Life of Hugh Moon.” In Biographical Sketches of the Moon Family of Malad, Idaho, compiled by Deseret Moon, Elva E. Moon, Ellen Greer Rees, and Lavern Ward, 23–38. Provo, UT, 1955. Copy at BYU.
Clayton, William. Diary, Vol. 1, 1840–1842. BYU.
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36
William Clayton, a member of Turley’s company, recorded in his journal that the group traveled variously by steamboat, canal boat, and wagon. After arriving at New York City, the group traveled to Nauvoo via the Hudson River, the Erie Canal, the Great Lakes, the Rock River, and the Mississippi River. At Buffalo the company encountered steamboat fares double what they had anticipated, which compelled those unable to afford their passage to leave the group and stay in Kirtland for the winter. (Clayton, Diary, 13 Oct.–24 Nov. 1840.)
Clayton, William. Diary, Vol. 1, 1840–1842. BYU.
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37
Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, and George A. Smith, Manchester, England, 12 Oct. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 15 Dec. 1840, 2:250–252.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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38
On 20 July 1840, George A. Smith wrote, “I have had the pleasure of ordaining an Elder (William Barratt) a day after my return from Conference, who is now on his way for South Australia.” Brigham Young and Parley P. Pratt ordained William Donaldson an elder in June 1840. Donaldson, an English soldier, was assigned to go “to the east Indies” so that he could “carry the gospel to that People.” (“News from the Elders,” Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1840, 2:228–229; Woodruff, Journal, Note after entry for 6 July 1840.)
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.
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39
JS’s revision of the Bible included added material regarding Enoch, such as a panoptic vision in which the Lord “told Enck [Enoch] all the doings of the children of men wherefore Enoch knew and looked upon their wickedness and their misary and wept and stretched forth his arms & his heart swelled wide as eternity.” (Old Testament Revision 1, p. 17 [Moses 7:41].)
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40
1 Corinthians 1:7.
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41
See Romans 8:14.
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42
Members of the Twelve had received at least two letters that documented the teaching of the doctrine in Nauvoo. (Phebe Carter Woodruff, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, 6–19 Oct. 1840, digital scan, Wilford Woodruff, Collection, CHL; Vilate Murray Kimball, Nauvoo, IL, to Heber C. Kimball, 11 Oct. 1840, photocopy, Vilate Murray Kimball, Letters, 1840, CHL; Woodruff, Journal, 3 Dec. 1840.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Collection, 1831–1905. Digital scans. CHL. Originals in private possession.
Kimball, Vilate Murray. Letters, 1840. Photocopy. CHL.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
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43
Vilate Murray Kimball reported that “by Revelation” JS had “received a more full explaination” of baptism for the dead than what was in the Bible. (Vilate Murray Kimball, Nauvoo, IL, to Heber C. Kimball, 11 Oct. 1840, photocopy, Vilate Murray Kimball, Letters, 1840, CHL.)
Kimball, Vilate Murray. Letters, 1840. Photocopy. CHL.
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44
1 Corinthians 15:29.
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45
JS preached this funeral sermon on 15 August 1840. He provided further instruction on the ordinance during the October 1840 general conference held in Nauvoo. (Jane Harper Neyman and Vienna Jaques, Statement, 29 Nov. 1854, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL; Simon Baker, “15 Aug. 1840 Minutes of Recollection of Joseph Smith’s Sermon,” JS Collection, CHL; Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840.)
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
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46
Phebe Carter Woodruff explained that JS taught that the Saints could be baptized “for their children, parents, b[r]others, sisters, grandparents, uncles, & aunts— but not for acquaintances unless they send a ministering spirit to their friends on earth.” (Phebe Carter Woodruff, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, 6–19 Oct. 1840, digital scan, Wilford Woodruff, Collection, CHL.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Collection, 1831–1905. Digital scans. CHL. Originals in private possession.
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47
According to a record of a January 1836 vision, JS heard the voice of the Lord pronounce that “all who have died with[out] a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it, if they had been permited to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God— also all that shall die henseforth, without a knowledge of it, who would have received it, with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom.” (Visions, 21 Jan. 1836 [D&C 137:8].)
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48
See 1 Peter 3:19. In 1838 JS explained that “all those who have not had an opportunity of hearing the gospel, and being administered to by an inspired man in the flesh, must have it hereafter, before they can be finally judged.” ([JS], Editorial, Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 43.)
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49
In a letter dated 11 October 1840, Vilate Murray Kimball explained to her husband, “There is a perticlelar [particular] order that the Elders have to adminester [baptism for the dead] in, and to presurve this order it was President Smiths advise that it should not be attended to only in” Nauvoo. (Vilate Murray Kimball, Nauvoo, IL, to Heber C. Kimball, 11 Oct. 1840, photocopy, Vilate Murray Kimball, Letters, 1840, CHL.)
Kimball, Vilate Murray. Letters, 1840. Photocopy. CHL.
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50
TEXT: Cross-writing stops; horizontal writing resumes. This page of the letter, page [7], was written after the page had been trifolded. The trifolding created an address panel and two flaps. This page is inscribed on the two flaps.
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51
This letter is apparently not extant.
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52
In April 1840, Hyde and Page departed on a mission to “visit the Jews in New York, London, Amsterdam, and then visit Constantinople and the Holy Land.” Toward the end of August, Hyde left Page in Cincinnati with the understanding that Page would continue to raise funds for the mission and join him shortly thereafter. (Minutes and Discourse, 6–8 Apr. 1840; Orson Hyde and John E. Page, Quincy, IL, 28 Apr. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, June 1840, 1:116–117; Letter from Orson Hyde, 28 Sept. 1840.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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53
See Psalm 102:13.
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54
Young and Richards asked in their 5 September letter, “What is the Lords will concerning Bro Richards? Shall he take his family to America next season? or shall he tary here with them awhile longer? what shall he do?” (Letter from Brigham Young and Willard Richards, 5 Sept. 1840.)
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55
Thompson, then serving as JS’s personal secretary, was married to Fielding’s sister, Mercy Fielding Thompson. Robert Thompson was in the process of building Fielding a home in Nauvoo. (Fielding, Journal, Dec. 1843, 8.)
Fielding, Joseph. Journals, 1837–1859. CHL. MS 1567.
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56
Along the Mississippi River, more people contracted malaria in the summer months. In the mid-nineteenth century, this increase in malaria cases was seen as a result of seasonal miasmas, or vapors caused by “the decomposition of vegetable or animal matter.” (“Westminster Medical Society,” 849–851.)
“Westminster Medical Society, Saturday, February 23rd, 1839.” Lancet 1 (2 Mar. 1839): 849–851.
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57
In their 5 September 1840 letter, Young and Richards asked, “We have heard by the bye that Brothers Joseph & Hyram are coming to England next season. Is this good news true? May we look for you?” (Letter from Brigham Young and Willard Richards, 5 Sept. 1840.)
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Signature of JS.
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58
TEXT: The following text is cross-written over the text of page [7].
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59
Shortly after the Twelve Apostles were first appointed, JS explained that they were to function as “a travelling, presiding high council.” (Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107:33].)
