Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 October 1841
-
Source Note
General Conference of the Church, Minutes, and JS, Discourse, , Hancock Co., IL, 1–5 Oct. 1841. Featured version published in “Minutes of a Conference of the Church,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1841, vol. 2, no. 24, 576–580. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.
-
Historical Introduction
In early October 1841 in , Illinois, JS presided over a general of the , the minutes of which were published in the Times and Seasons. The conference was supposed to commence on 1 October but was delayed due to inclement weather that prevented the congregation from assembling at the meeting ground near the Nauvoo . Over the next four days, the conference met each morning and afternoon. The first meeting of the conference, held on the morning of 2 October, was conducted without the members of the , who were attending the cornerstone ceremony for the . JS attended and presided over all the meetings that followed, in which church leaders and members conducted a variety of business. Among the many matters discussed and voted upon were filling vacant church leadership positions, the counsel to to the Nauvoo area and the neglect of some Saints to follow that counsel, and the petitioning of Congress regarding the Saints’ expulsion from .On 3 October, JS gave a discourse at the conference on the church’s practice of for the dead, whereby church members were baptized on behalf of their deceased relatives. In accordance with a January 1841 revelation—which instructed that baptisms for the dead should be performed in the —JS announced, “There shall be no more baptisms for the dead, until the can be attended to in the font of the Lord’s House; and the church shall not hold another general conference, until they can meet in said house.” JS counseled church members to direct their energies to building the house of the Lord.and were appointed as secretaries of the conference. Their notes were apparently combined to create the minutes that were then published in the 15 October 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons.
Footnotes
-
1
For more on the Nauvoo House cornerstone, see Memorandum, 2 Oct. 1841.
-
2
See Letter to the Saints Abroad, 24 May 1841; and Letter from Almon Babbitt, 19 Oct. 1841.
-
3
See Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:29–32].
-
1
Document Transcript
,) | clerks. |
,) |
Footnotes
-
1
For more on the Nauvoo House, see Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124]; and Agreement with William Law, 26 Apr. 1841.
-
2
Hymn 18 begins with the lines, “Jesus from whom all blessings flow, / Great Builder of thy church below; / If now thy spirit moves my breast, / Hear, and fulfill thine own request!” (Hymn 18, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 26–28.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
-
3
Orson Hyde sent two letters that could have been read at this conference. One was dated 15 June 1841 from London, England, and the second was dated 17 July 1841 from Ratisbon (Regensburg), Germany. Hyde’s 15 June 1841 letter was printed in the 1 October 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons in advance of this conference, but the later history of the church states that the letter JS read at this afternoon conference session was “dated Ratisbon July 17. 1841.” (Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841; Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 July 1841; JS History, vol. C-1, 1228.)
-
4
Thompson served as scribe for JS and as clerk for the church before he died on 27 August 1841. He had also assisted in editing the church’s newspaper, Times and Seasons. Thompson’s obituary stated that he “wrote from the mouth of the Prophet, those sacred revelations recently received, and in his dying hour gave a fearless testimony as to the truth of those things in which we believe.” (“Death of Col. Robert B. Thompson,” Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1841, 2:519–520; see also Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
-
5
Sloan had been serving as recorder for the Nauvoo City Council. (See Minutes, 3 Feb. 1841.)
-
6
On 7 August 1841, Don Carlos Smith died unexpectedly at the age of twenty-five. According to Hyrum Smith, his death was caused by “a q[u]ick Consumption.” (Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841; see also “Death of General Don Carlos Smith,” Times and Seasons, 16 Aug. 1841, 2:503; and Ebenezer Robinson, “To the Patrons of the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, 16 Aug. 1841, 2:511.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
-
7
George Miller had served as a bishop in Nauvoo and as trustee and president of the Nauvoo House Association. (See Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:62]; Agreement with William Law, 26 Apr. 1841; and Minutes, 16 Aug. 1841.)
- 8
-
9
A November 1831 revelation presented a hierarchy of priesthood offices ranging from the office of deacon, the lowest office in the priesthood, to the office of high priest. (Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:63–64].)
-
10
JS had earlier instructed the Saints to gather to locations in Hancock County, Illinois, and Lee County, Iowa Territory. (See Letter to the Saints Abroad, 24 May 1841.)
-
11
Church leaders in Nauvoo had heard that Almon Babbitt was, among other things, encouraging Saints to gather to Kirtland, Ohio, contrary to the counsel of JS. (See Historical Introduction to Letter from Almon Babbitt, 19 Oct. 1841.)
-
12
The church withdrew fellowship from Almon Babbitt in July 1840 for making disparaging comments about JS and Sidney Rigdon. Babbitt was restored to fellowship in August 1840. (See Letter to Oliver Granger, between ca. 22 and ca. 28 July 1840; and Minutes, 5–6 Sept. 1840.)
-
13
Hymn 124 begins with the lines, “O’er the gloomy hills of darkness, / Look, my soul, be still, and gaze; / All the promises do travail / With a glorious day of grace; / Blessed Jubilee!” (Hymn 124, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 134.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
-
14
Hymn 274 begins with the lines, “Come, let us anew our journey pursue, / Roll round with the year, / And never stand still till our Master appear. / His adorable will let us gladly fulfill, / And our talents improve / By the patience of hope and the labor of love.” (Hymn 274, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 301–302.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
-
15
For more information on baptism for the dead, see Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840; and Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:29–32]. The most recent issue of the Times and Seasons contained a poem on baptism for the dead that treated similarly the doctrinal tenets JS spoke about here. (J. H. Johnson, “Baptism for the Dead,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1841, 2:555; see also Vilate Murray Kimball, Nauvoo, IL, to Heber C. Kimball, London, England, 11 Oct. 1840, photocopy, Vilate Murray Kimball, Letters, CHL; and Phebe Carter Woodruff, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, Manchester, England, 6–19 Oct. 1840, Wilford Woodruff Collection, CHL; “Joseph Smith Documents from February through November 1841.”
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Kimball, Vilate Murray. Letters, 1840. Photocopy. CHL.
Woodruff, Wilford. Collection, 1831–1905. CHL. MS 19509.
-
16
See Obadiah 1:21.
-
17
In a 4 January 1833 letter to Noah C. Saxton, JS enumerated the first principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ: “Repent of all your sins and be baptized in water for the remission of them, in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Ghost, and receive the ordinance of the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power, that ye may receive the holy spirit of God, and this according to the holy scriptures, and of the Book of Mormon; and the only way that man can enter into the Celestial kingdom.” In 1837 the church newspaper Messenger and Advocate identified “faith, repentance, baptism, remission of sin, and . . . the reception of the Holy Ghost” as the five “first principles of the gospel.” (Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 4 Jan. 1833; A. Cheney, “The Gospel,” Messenger and Advocate, May 1837, 3:498–500; see also Letter to the Elders of the Church, 2 Oct. 1835; Acts 2:38; 19:1–6; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 118–119, 508, 514 [2 Nephi 31:5–13; 3 Nephi 27:20; 4 Nephi 1:1].)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
-
18
See Hebrews 1:14; and Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:88]. In June 1839, JS taught Wilford Woodruff and other apostles how to detect the difference between the devil and angels of light. JS made similar remarks in a December 1840 discourse. (Discourse, 27 June 1839; Discourse, Dec. 1840.)
-
19
See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 476–479 [3 Nephi chap. 11]; John 20:11–29; and Luke 24:13–43; see also 1 Peter 3:19.
-
20
See Revelation 1:1. Robert B. Thompson read JS’s explanation of the concept of translated beings at a general church conference a year earlier. (See Instruction on Priesthood, ca. 5 Oct. 1840.)
-
21
A year earlier, JS prepared instructions that included information regarding Adam’s role in the chain of priesthood authority, which were then read at the October 1840 general conference. (See Instruction on Priesthood, ca. 5 Oct. 1840; see also Discourse, between ca. 26 June and ca. 4 Aug. 1839–A.)
-
22
See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 142, 332 [Jacob 7:19; Alma 39:6].
-
23
See Visions, 3 Apr. 1836 [D&C 110]; and Matthew 16:19.
-
24
See John 17:12; and Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:43].
-
25
The biblical Pharisees opposed the teachings of Jesus Christ. (See Matthew chap. 23; Mark 7:1–6; and Luke 11:37–54.)
-
26
See Matthew 9:17; Mark 2:22; and Luke 5:37.
-
27
See Revelation 17:8.
-
28
See Matthew 27:41–43; and Mark 11:27–33; 12:18–27.
-
29
See Ephesians 1:10; and Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:41].
-
30
See Malachi 4:5; see also Visions, 3 Apr. 1836 [D&C 110:13–16].
-
31
This passage appears to paraphrase the January 1841 revelation that called for a baptismal font to be built in the temple so the Latter-day Saints could properly perform baptisms for the dead. (See Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:29–32].)
-
32
Hymn 105 begins with the lines, “We’re not ashamed to own our Lord, / And worship him on earth; / We love to learn his holy word, / And know what souls are worth.” (Hymn 105, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 113–114.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
-
33
Elders and other missionaries were typically given licenses or recommendations attesting to the bearer’s worthiness and authorization to proselytize or perform other duties for the church. (See, for example, Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:11]; License for Frederick G. Williams, 20 Mar. 1833; and Recommendation for Heber C. Kimball, between 2 and 13 June 1837.)
-
34
The Saints had been admonished to devote every tenth day to laboring on the construction of the temple. (See “Ecclesiastical,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1841, 2:296; Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 15 Dec. 1840; and Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
-
35
Since May 1841, Lyman Wight had been traveling around Illinois to raise funds for the Nauvoo House Association and other construction projects in Nauvoo. (William A. Empey, Invoice, 26 May 1841, Nauvoo House Association, Records, CHL; Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:62, 70]; “History of Lyman Wight,” 11, Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861, CHL.)
Nauvoo House Association. Daybook, 1841–1843. Nauvoo House Association, Records, 1841–1846. CHL.
Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.
-
36
This committee was the latest in a series of efforts by the Latter-day Saints to petition Congress for redress. Nearly two years earlier, a committee of three men, led by JS, traveled to Washington DC to ask the federal government for redress for the property and lives the Saints had lost in Missouri in the 1830s. After some discussion of the Saints’ case in the Senate, the Senate Judiciary Committee stated that the federal government did not have jurisdiction and declared that the “petitioners must seek relief in the courts of judicature of the State of Missouri.” Elias Higbee and Robert B. Thompson sent another petition, nearly identical to the first, to the United States Congress on 28 November 1840; it was again referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee and no action was taken beyond printing the petition. (Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; Report of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 4 Mar. 1840; “Latter-day Saints,” Alias Mormons: The Petition of the Latter-day Saints, Commonly Known as Mormons, House of Representatives doc. no. 22, 26th Cong., 2nd Sess. [1840]; Congressional Globe, 26th Cong., 2nd Sess., p. 175 [1841]; see also Lewis Cass, Washington DC, to Sidney Gilbert et al., Liberty, MO, 2 May 1834, William W. Phelps, Collection of Missouri Documents, CHL.)
“Latter-day Saints,” Alias Mormons: The Petition of the Latter-day Saints, Commonly Known as Mormons. House of Representatives doc. no. 22, 26th Cong., 2nd Sess. (1840).
The Congressional Globe, Containing Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Congress. Vol. 8. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1840.
Phelps, William W. Collection of Missouri Documents, 1833–1837. CHL. MS 657.
-
37
Why these three men were selected for this committee is unknown. Elias Higbee had gone with JS on the first trip to petition Congress in 1839–1840. (See Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840.)
-
38
Hymn 125 begins with the lines, “Go, ye messengers of glory, / Run ye legates of the skies, / Go and tell the pleasing story, / That a glorious angel flies, / Great and mighty, / With a message from the skies.” (Hymn 125, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 135.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
-
39
Hymn 183 begins with the lines, “Alas! and did my Savior bleed! / And did my Sov’reign die? / Would he devote that sacred head / For such a worm as I?” (Hymn 183, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 200–201.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
-
40
At a 24 April 1839 conference in Quincy, Illinois, JS was appointed part of a committee to “visit the Iaway Territory immediately” to investigate purchasing property. According to JS’s journal, after this appointment he “went to Ioway made purchases & returned.” On 30 April 1839, church leaders also purchased from Isaac Galland and Hugh White around 189 acres in the area of Commerce, Illinois, which was part of what would later constitute Nauvoo. In June 1839, church leaders acquired nearly 20,000 acres of land in Iowa Territory known as the Half-Breed Tract. In August 1839, JS and his counselors in the First Presidency bought land in Commerce from Horace Hotchkiss, John Gillet, and Smith Tuttle. By June 1840, however, JS sought to be relieved from his land transaction duties. The expansion of the responsibilities of the Quorum of the Twelve at a 16 August 1841 conference was, in part, meant to accomplish that end. (Minutes, 24 Apr. 1839; Minutes, 4–5 May 1839; JS, Journal, 24 Apr.–3 May 1839; Memorial to Nauvoo High Council, 18 June 1840; Minutes, 16 Aug. 1841.)
-
41
Granger died in August 1841. He had served as JS’s agent for land and financial transactions, focusing on resolving debts in Kirtland. The “business concern left in an uncertain condition” could refer to a number of matters, but the latest letter from JS to Granger suggested that the most pressing issue involved a Mr. Davenport from New York City. (See, for example, Letter to Oliver Granger, between ca. 22 and ca. 28 July 1840; and Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841; see also Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841; and Power of Attorney to Reuben McBride, 28 Oct. 1841.)
-
42
Hymn 88 begins with the lines, “Great God, attend, while Zion sings / The joy that from thy presence springs; / To spend one day with thee on earth / Exceeds a thousand days of mirth.” (Hymn 88, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 97–98.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
-
43
This fifty-dollar note was likely a Kirtland Safety Society note, which was worthless at that time. (See Kirtland Safety Society Notes, 4 Jan.–9 Mar. 1837. For more on Kirtland debts, see Introduction to Part 5: 5 Oct. 1836–10 Apr. 1837.)
-
44
A Latin phrase loosely meaning unanimous by oral vote.
-
45
That is, JS. (See Appointment as Trustee, 2 Feb. 1841.)
-
46
About ten days after this general conference ended, Brigham Young, Lyman Wight, and others of the Twelve sent an epistle inviting Saints for “many miles distant around us to send in their teams for drawing stone, lumber, and materials for the buildings; and at the same time load their waggons with all kinds of grain and meat, provision and clothing; and hay and provinder in abundance, that the laborer faint not, and the teams be made strong; also that journeymen, stonecutters &c. come bringing their tools with them, and enlist in the glorious enterprize.” (Brigham Young et al., “An Epistle of the Twelve,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1841, 2:567–568.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
-
47
See Luke 10:37.
-
48
Hymn 104 begins with the lines, “My soul is full of peace and love, / I soon shall see Christ from above; / And angels too, the hallow’d throng, / Shall join with me in holy song.” (Hymn 104, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 112–113.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
-
49
Hymn 274 was sung two days earlier at the morning meeting on 3 October and begins with the lines, “Come, let us anew our journey pursue, / Roll round with the year, / And never stand still till our Master appear. / His adorable will let us gladly fulfill, / And our talents improve / By the patience of hope and the labor of love.” (Hymn 274, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 301–302.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
- 50
-
51
The next letter JS sent to Hotchkiss was dated 10 December 1841. Prompted by this motion, however, JS wrote a letter to Hotchkiss’s business partner Smith Tuttle on 9 October 1841. (See JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Horace Hotchkiss, Fair Haven, CT, 10 Dec. 1841, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 216; Letter to Smith Tuttle, 9 Oct. 1841.)
-
52
See Brigham Young et al., “An Epistle of the Twelve,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1841, 2:567–569.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
-
53
John A. Hicks, the president of the elders quorum in Nauvoo, was “objected to” for unspecified reasons at the April general conference six months earlier. (See Minutes, 7–11 Apr. 1841.)
-
54
Hymn 275 begins with the lines, “An Angel from on high, / The long, long silence broke— / Descending from the sky, / These gracious words he spoke: / Lo! in Cumorah’s lonely hill / A sacred record lies concealed.” (Hymn 275, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 302–303.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
-
55
Hymn 104 was sung at the afternoon meeting the previous day and begins with the lines, “My soul is full of peace and love, / I soon shall see Christ from above; / And angels too, the hallow’d throng, / Shall join with me in holy song.” (Hymn 104, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 112–113.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
- 56
-
57
JS may have spoken, as he did on 16 August, about the Twelve managing the “affairs of the kingdom.” (See Minutes, 16 Aug. 1841.)
-
58
Hymn 284 begins with the lines, “Hail the day so long expected, / Hail the year of full release, / Zion’s walls are now erected, / And the watchmen live in peace / From the distant courts of Zion, / The shrill trumpet loudly roars.” (Hymn 284, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 312–313.)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
-
59
The conference was adjourned for an indefinite period in accordance with JS’s instruction that another general meeting would not occur until the baptismal font in the temple was completed and the meeting could be held inside the temple.