Discourse, 9 April 1842, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff

Source Note

JS, Discourse,
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, 9 [Apr. 1842]. Featured version copied [ca. 9 Apr. 1842] in Wilford Woodruff, Journal, vol. 4, 1 Jan. 1841–31 Dec. 1842, pp. [144]–[145]; handwriting of
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
; Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Discourse, 7 Nov. 1841, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff.
Historical Introduction
On Saturday, 9 April 1842, JS delivered a discourse at the funeral of
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
member
Ephraim Marks
12 Feb. 1818–7 Apr. 1842. Son of William Marks and Rosannah R. Robinson. Died in Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois.
View Full Bio
. The son of
William
15 Nov. 1792–22 May 1872. Farmer, printer, publisher, postmaster. Born at Rutland, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of Cornell (Cornwall) Marks and Sarah Goodrich. Married first Rosannah R. Robinson, 2 May 1813. Lived at Portage, Allegany Co., New York, where he...
View Full Bio
and Rosannah Robinson Marks, twenty-four-year-old Ephraim died of an undisclosed cause two days earlier.
1
Woodruff, Journal, 9 Apr. 1842; Huntington, Cemetery Records, [1].
Comprehensive Works Cited
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
On Saturday morning, mourners assembled at the home of William Marks 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
, Illinois, and made their way in a procession to a
grove
Before partial completion of Nauvoo temple, all large meetings were held outdoors in groves located near east and west sides of temple site. Had portable stands for speakers. JS referred to area as “temple stand” due to its location on brow of hill.
More Info
of trees near the
temple
Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...
More Info
for funeral and burial services.
2
JS, Journal, 9 Apr. 1842; Woodruff, Journal, 9 Apr. 1842; Lyman O. Littlefield, “Funeral of Ephraim Marks,” Wasp, 16 Apr. 1842, [4].
Comprehensive Works Cited
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
In his sermon JS reflected on the untimely death of Ephraim Marks, as well as on the difficulty of losing his own brothers
Alvin
11 Feb. 1798–19 Nov. 1823. Farmer, carpenter. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; returned to Tunbridge, before May 1803. Moved to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804, and to...
View Full Bio
and
Don Carlos Smith
25 Mar. 1816–7 Aug. 1841. Farmer, printer, editor. Born at Norwich, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816–Jan. 1817. Moved to Manchester, Ontario Co., 1825. Baptized into Church of Jesus...
View Full Bio
in their youth. JS also considered his own mortality, telling those gathered at the service that he, too, was “liable to die as other men” although his life had been spared on previous occasions so that he could “accomplish such & such things.”

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
, who was in the audience, may have taken notes on the discourse when JS delivered this sermon or shortly thereafter. He later recorded portions of the discourse in his journal. That version is featured here. Woodruff’s text appears to be the earliest surviving version of the 9 April sermon, and it was later copied into JS’s 1838–1856 history.
3
JS History, vol. C-1 Addenda, 43–44.

Footnotes
1. 1
  Woodruff, Journal, 9 Apr. 1842; Huntington, Cemetery Records, [1].
  
  Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
2. 2
  JS, Journal, 9 Apr. 1842; Woodruff, Journal, 9 Apr. 1842; Lyman O. Littlefield, “Funeral of Ephraim Marks,” Wasp, 16 Apr. 1842, [4].
  
  Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
  The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
3. 3
  JS History, vol. C-1 Addenda, 43–44.

Hide editing marks

Joseph Smith spoke upon the occasion with much feelings & interest among his remarks he said it is a vary solomn & awful time I never felt more solomn it calles to mind the death of my oldest who died in & my Youngest Brother who died in It has been hard for me to live on earth & see those young men upon whome we have leaned upon as a support & comfort taken from us in the midst of their youth, yes it has been hard to be reconciled to these things I have sometimes felt that I should have felt more reconciled to have been called myself if it could have been the will of God, yet I know we ought to be still & know it is of God & be reconciled all is right it will be but a short time before we shall all in like manner be called, It may be the case with me as well as you Some has supposed that Br Joseph could not die but this is a mistake it is true their has been times when I have had the promise of my life to accomplish such & such things, but having accomplish[ed] those things I have not at present any lease of my life & am as liable to die as other men [p. [144]]

Joseph Smith spoke upon the occasion with much feelings & interest among his remarks he said it is a vary solomn & awful time I never felt more solomn it calles to mind the death of my oldest who died in & my Youngest Brother who died in It has been hard for me to live on earth & see those young men upon whome we have leaned upon as a support & comfort taken from us in the midst of their youth, yes it has been hard to be reconciled to these things I have sometimes felt that I should have felt more reconciled to have been called myself if it could have been the will of God, yet I know we ought to be still & know it is of God & be reconciled all is right it will be but a short time before we shall all in like manner be called, It may be the case with me as well as you Some has supposed that Br Joseph could not die but this is a mistake it is true their has been times when I have had the promise of my life to accomplish such & such things, but having accomplished those things I have not at present any lease of my life & am as liable to die as other men [p. [144]]

View entire transcript |

Cite this page

Document Information
Editorial Title
Discourse, 9 April 1842, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff
ID #
811
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D9:345–347
Handwriting on This Page
- Wilford Woodruff
Footnotes
1. 1
  Alvin Smith died in Palmyra, New York, on 19 November 1823 at the age of twenty-five. (Morgan, Cemetery Records, Palmyra, Wayne, New York, 2; Joseph Smith Sr., “To the Public,” Wayne Sentinel [Palmyra, NY], 29 Sept. 1824, [3].)
  
  Morgan, Sara, comp. Cemetery Records, Palmyra, Wayne, New York. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society, 1945. Copy at FHL.
  Wayne Sentinel. Palmyra, NY. 1823–1852, 1860–1861.
2. 2
  Don Carlos Smith died in Nauvoo, Illinois, on 7 August 1841 at the age of twenty-five. (“Death of General Don Carlos Smith,” Times and Seasons, 16 Aug. 1841, 2:503.)
  
  Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
3. 3
  See Psalm 46:10; and Revelation, 16–17 Dec. 1833 [D&C 101:16].
4. 4
  In a sermon delivered to the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo three weeks later, JS again candidly expressed sentiments about his own mortality. On a few prior occasions, JS suggested that his life was preserved so that he could accomplish the Lord’s work on earth. In November 1835, for example, JS told the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “I supposed I had established this church on a permanent foundation when I went to the Missourie and indeed I did so, for if I had been taken away it would have been enough, but I yet live, and therefore God requires more at my hands.” (Discourse, 28 Apr. 1842; JS, Journal, 12 Nov. 1835.)

Discourse, 9 April 1842, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff

Cite this page

Request for Documents