Revelation, 20 March 1841
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Source Note
Revelation, , Hancock Co., IL, 20 Mar. 1841. Featured version copied [between ca. 20 Mar. 1841 and 7 Apr. 1841] in Book of the Law of the Lord, p. 15; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124].
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Historical Introduction
JS dictated a revelation on 20 March 1841, directing William Allred and to assist in the effort to build the . The revelation was given at a time when JS was trying to consolidate settlement in and around , Illinois, and focusing efforts on constructing the Nauvoo and the Nauvoo House in accordance with a January 1841 revelation. JS dictated this 20 March revelation in response to a specific question from Allred and Miller. Though recorded 20 March as the date of the revelation, he did not record the precise date Allred and Miller made their inquiry, listing only “March” and leaving a space for the exact date to be written later. It is possible the two men posed their question several days before the revelation was dictated.A few weeks after this revelation was dictated, the cornerstones of the were laid during a ceremony preceding a general church . During the conference, JS spoke on the necessity of building not only the temple but also “the , that suitable accommodations might be afforded for the strangers who might visit this city.” At that same conference meeting, the charter for the was read.The revelation’s appointment of Allred and to assist the Nauvoo House Association anticipated the eventual dissolution of the of and Freedom, where Allred was a and Miller was a stake . In a 24 May 1841 letter, JS instructed members that “all the stakes, excepting those in this county [], and in , Iowa, are discontinued, and the saints instructed to settle in this county as soon as circumstances will permit.” In accordance with the revelation featured here, on 10 April 1841 Miller and Allred received $4,000 and $500, respectively, in stock certificates “to sell and account for.”
Footnotes
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1
See Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124].
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3
Letter to the Saints Abroad, 24 May 1841. Despite this clear directive that the stakes be dissolved, some stake organizations apparently continued. In September 1841, William Draper wrote Brigham Young, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, to report on the “proceedings of a conference held in our stake” in Pleasant Vale, Illinois. The stake in Kirtland, Ohio, also continued to function after receiving this directive. (William Draper, Pleasant Vale, IL, to Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, 25 Sept. 1841, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; Letter from Almon Babbitt, 19 Oct. 1841.)
Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.
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4
Henry Miller and William Allred, Receipt, Nauvoo, IL, to Nauvoo House Association, 10 Apr. 1841, Nauvoo House Association, Records, CHL.
Nauvoo House Association. Records, 1841–1846. CHL. MS 2375.
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