Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 October 1841
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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.
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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
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1
For more on the Nauvoo House cornerstone, see Memorandum, 2 Oct. 1841.
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2
See Letter to the Saints Abroad, 24 May 1841; and Letter from Almon Babbitt, 19 Oct. 1841.
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3
See Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:29–32].
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1
Monday 4th A. M. opened by the choir singing hymn 183 and prayer by Bro. .
Joseph Smith made a lengthy exposition of the condition of the temporal affairs of the , the agency of which had been committed to him at a general conference in —explaining the manner that he had discharged the duties involved in that agency, and the condition of the lands and other property of the church.
On Motion, resolved—That be vested with power of attorney to go, settle, and if possible close a business concern left in an uncertain condition by Elder deceased.
Prayer by Bro. —Adjourned for one hour.
P. M. Conference opened by the choir singing hymn 88 and prayer by Elder .
Bro. spoke at some length on the subject introduced in the former part of the day, and on the old debts and obligations that are freqently brought up from and ; one of which, in the form of a $50 note, he held in his hand and proclaimed as his text.
On Motion, Voted viva voce unanime That the trustee in trust of church property here, be instructed not to appropriate church property to liquidate old claims that may be brought forward either from or .
Pres presented to the notice of conference some embarassment growing out of his signing as security, a certain obligation in in favor of Mr Eaton.
On motion, Voted that church property here shall not be appropriated to liquidate said claim.
Bro. made some appropriate and weighty remarks on the importance of more liberal consecrations and more energetic efforts to forward the work of building &c. After purchasing Bro. ’s text by paying him fifty cents, he tore it in pieces and gave it to the winds, saying “go ye and do likewise.” Choir sung hymn 104 and Pres’t. closed by prayer. Conference adjourned to meet tomorrow morning 9 o’clock.
Tuesday 5th A. M. Conference opened by the choir singing hymn 274 and prayer by Bro. .
Bro. , by request of Pres’t. Joseph Smith, presented and read to the conference a recent letter from Esq, one of the proprietors of the , in reference to some misunderstanding in the adjustment of their claims, and conciliatory of any hard feelings growing out of such misunderstanding.
Bro. spoke on the contents of the letter and expressed his earnest desire that that business might be speedily adjusted, and a proper title obtained by the church. Bro’s. and followed with appropriate remarks.
On motion, Voted that Pres’t. Joseph Smith write an answer to on the subject of his claim.
On Motion—by Pres’t. Joseph Smith—Voted that the write an epistle to the saints abroad to use their influence and exertions to secure, by exchange, purchase, donation &c., a title to the .
Bro. presented an appeal from the ’s against Elder charging him with a breach of the ordinances of the , and of the peace with falsehood and with scismatical conversation and behavior—signed by . After hearing sufficient testimony in his case.
On Motion Conference Voted that Elder be cut off from the church.
Closed by the choir singing 275 hymn, prayer by . Adjourned for one hour.
P. M. Conference opened by the choir singing hymn 104, and prayer by Bro. .
Bro. read to the conference, the minutes of a special conference held in the city of Aug. 16th 1841.
Pres’t. Joseph Smith made remarks explanatory of the importance of the resolutions and votes passed at that time.
On Motion, Voted, that this conference sanction the doings of said special conference.
Bro. proposed to the congregation, that those who would take laborers on the into their houses to board with them while thus laboring should manifest their willingness by ri [p. 579]
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