Letter from George J. Adams, 21 April 1842
-
Source Note
, Letter, , New York Co., NY, to [JS], [, Hancock Co., IL], 21 Apr. 1842. Featured version published in “Letter from Elder George J. Adams,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842, vol. 3, no. 16, 826–828. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.
-
Historical Introduction
On 21 April 1842 addressed a letter to JS, whom he called a “Beloved Brother in Christ,” documenting his fourteen-month mission to . Adams apparently wrote the letter for publication in the Times and Seasons, which regularly featured missionary reports. At the time Adams wrote the letter, JS had served as editor of the paper for two months.On 13 February 1841 accompanied to aboard the packet ship United States. Hyde and Adams arrived in on 3 March 1841. For a month Adams visited cities in northwest England. In April the decided that Adams should relocate southeast “to Bedford & Northampton and labour in that region.” He was appointed to serve as the president of the Bedford . Four days later, at a in , he was a . He departed for Bedford on 9 April, stopping to preach in Birmingham for eight days.The need for additional support in Bedford was identified in August 1840 by , who was a member of the mission presidency before the Quorum of the Twelve arrived. Bedford was Fielding’s birthplace. He believed the had not given the area “a fair chance” as they had in other places in where more growth was apparent. Bedford received little attention from traveling elders after and John Goodson served as the city’s first missionaries in 1837. In 1841 missionary Joseph Brotherton described the congregation in Bedford as “feeble.” Fielding understood that residents of Bedford felt a “great dissatisfaction about religion,” creating an opportunity for missionaries to share their message. During ’s ministry, the branch membership steadily increased.In December 1841 boarded the Mersey, which was bound for . After eight weeks at sea, a series of storms forced the vessel to return to . On 16 March 1842 Adams departed again, this time on the Sheridan, and arrived in New York one month later, on 16 April.Writing to JS five days later, provided a triumphant narrative of his mission, focusing on his many successes in converts. He detailed public debates and sermons before large audiences in and while at sea. Adams also described his difficult journey from Liverpool to New York.The original letter is not extant. The featured version was published in the 15 June 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons.
Footnotes
-
1
See Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841. Hyde was originally appointed to travel across the ocean with John E. Page.
-
2
Woodruff, Journal, 2 Apr. 1841.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
-
3
“Conference Minutes,” Millennial Star, Apr. 1841, 1:303–304.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
4
“News from the Elders,” Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1840, 2:230; Richards, Journal, 31 July 1837–5 Mar. 1838.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.
-
5
Joseph Brotherton, Manchester, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 2 Mar. 1842, in Millennial Star, Mar. 1842, 2:172.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
6
“News from the Elders,” Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1840, 2:230.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
-
7
Adams reported that the branch had fewer than thirty members when he arrived. A month later he reported “68 members, 8 priests, 1 teacher, and one deacon.” (George J. Adams, Northampton, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 22 June 1841, in Millennial Star, July 1841, 2:33; Lorenzo Snow, London, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 25 May 1841, in Millennial Star, June 1841, 2:32.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
1
Document Transcript
Footnotes
-
1
Adams was living in New York City at the time. (“List of Agents,” Times and Seasons, 15 Jan. 1841, 2:288.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
-
2
At the April 1840 general conference, Hyde and John E. Page were appointed to serve a mission among the Jews in Europe and Palestine. By January 1841 the men were still endeavoring to obtain funds for their trip across the Atlantic. That month, the Times and Seasons published a notice informing Hyde and Page “that the Lord is not well pleased” because of their delay. Hyde then proceeded with the voyage to England, and Page remained behind in the United States. Hyde seems to have invited Adams as a travel companion to replace Page. (Minutes and Discourse, 6–8 Apr. 1840; Minutes and Discourses, 6–8 Apr. 1842; Notice, Times and Seasons, 15 Jan. 1841, 2:287.)
-
3
Adams married Caroline Youngs around 1832. (Caroline Youngs Adams, New York City, NY, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, ca. 15 Jan. 1843, JS Collection [Supplement], CHL.)
-
4
See Luke 2:10.
-
5
Hyde described the voyage as “a good passage but a rough one.” (Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 Apr. 1841.)
-
6
In January 1840 the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles assigned Taylor and Joseph Fielding to labor in Liverpool. In February 1841 Taylor estimated that the Liverpool congregation comprised 160 members. (Woodruff, Journal, 17 Jan. 1840; Letter from John Taylor, 3 Feb. 1841.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
-
7
Hyde proselytized in Preston from July 1837 to April 1838. (“Mission to England,” Millennial Star, Apr. 1841, 1:290, 295.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
8
Fielding, for example, recalled that “there was no Soul on Earth that I should have been more pleased to see than Bro Hyde.” (Fielding, Journal, Feb.–Oct. 1841, 9.)
Fielding, Joseph. Journals, 1837–1859. CHL. MS 1567.
-
9
Adamswas baptized eight days after he heard Kimball preach in February 1840. (George J. Adams, New York, 7 Oct. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1840, 2:220.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
-
10
Preston, Farington, and Southport are in Lancashire.
-
11
This conference was held on 6 April 1841 at Carpenter’s Hall in Manchester. (“Conference Minutes,” Millennial Star, Apr. 1841, 1:301–305.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
12
Snow was selected as the president of the London Conference on 14 February 1841. (Woodruff, Journal, 14 Feb. 1841.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
-
13
In June 1841 Adams reported that he baptized three while in Birmingham and that “a number of others were believing.” He continued, “I have no doubt but the time is nigh when a great work will be accomplished in that place.” (George J. Adams, Northampton, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 22 June 1841, in Millennial Star, July 1841, 2:33.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
14
Before Adams’s arrival the congregation in Bedford numbered fewer than thirty. (George J. Adams, Northampton, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 22 June 1841, in Millennial Star, June 1841, 2:33.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
15
The branch at Honeydon “consisted of about fifteen or eighteen members.” (George J. Adams to Parley P. Pratt, 22 June 1841, in Millennial Star, July 1841, 2:33.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
16
The congregation in Bedford normally met in a small room, but Adams arranged to hold this meeting at a rented hall, which he identified as “Mr. Mayle’s large room.” (George J. Adams, Northampton, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 22 June 1841, in Millennial Star, July 1841, 2:33.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
17
For an account of Hyde’s participation in the Bedford debates, see “The Mormons,” Cambridge Independent Press, and Huntingdon, Bedford, and Peterborough Gazette, 5 June 1841, [3]. Hyde visited Bedford intending to finish writing the pamphlet that was later translated into German and published as Ein Ruf aus der Wüste (A cry out of the wilderness). (Lorenzo Snow, London, England, to Brigham Young et al., 26 May 1841, in Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1841, 2:544; Orson Hyde, Ein Ruf aus der Wüste, eine Stimme aus dem Schoose der Erde [Frankfurt: Im Selbstverlage des Verfassers, 1842].)
Cambridge Independent Press, and Huntingdon, Bedford, and Peterborough Gazette. Cambridge, England. 1838–1866.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Hyde, Orson. Ein Ruf aus der Wüste, eine Stimme aus dem Schoose der Erde: Kurzer Ueberblick des Ursprungs und der Lehre der Kirche “Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” in Amerika, gekannt von Manchen unter der Benennung: “Die Mormonen.” Frankfurt: Im Selbstverlage des Verfassers, 1842. Also available with English translation in Dean C. Jessee, ed., The Papers of Joseph Smith, vol. 1, Autobiographical and Historical Writings (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989), 402–425.
-
18
Hyde left Bedford on 7 June 1841, departing England later that month and journeying through other European countries en route to Jerusalem before arriving on 21 October 1841. (Orson Hyde, London, England, to George J. Adams, Bedford, England, 7 June 1841, in Page, Spaulding Story, 10; Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 July 1841; Hyde, Voice from Jerusalem, 8.)
Page, John E. The Spaulding Story, concerning the Origin of the Book of Mormon, Duly Examined, and Exposed to the Righteous Contempt of a Candid Public. Pittsburgh: By the author, 1843.
Hyde, Orson. A Voice from Jerusalem, or a Sketch of the Travels and Ministry of Elder Orson Hyde, Missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to Germany, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. Liverpool: P. P. Pratt, 1842.
-
19
These communities are in southeast England.
-
20
Woolwich is located on the outskirts of London, whereas Ramsgate is approximately eighty miles east.
-
21
On 5 August 1841 a correspondent wrote that after Adams arrived in London he “held two public discussions, and is going to hold another to-morrow evening—he is obliged to get a large place to hold it in, as the meeting place is not half large enough—he has preached twice in the Regent Park, and is to preach there again next Sunday.” (“Extract from a Letter to Elder H. C. Kimball,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1841, 2:557.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
-
22
Snow reported baptizing twenty-three individuals during his three-week stay in Bedford. (News Items, Millennial Star, Sept. 1841, 2:76.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
23
Kimball, Smith, and Woodruff began their missionary labors in London on 18 August 1840 and spent the majority of their time there during the next several months. Smith departed for Staffordshire on 10 November 1840 because of declining health. Kimball and Woodruff left London in late February 1841. Kimball visited Woolwich in mid-December 1840. (JS History, vol. C-1, 1123; Heber C. Kimball, Nauvoo, IL, 4 Aug. 1841, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 16 Aug. 1841, 2:507–510; Woodruff, Journal, 26 Feb. 1841.)
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.
-
24
Brotherton arrived in Bedford on 6 June 1841. (George J. Adams, Northampton, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 22 June 1841, in Millennial Star, July 1841, 2:37.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
25
In an October 1841 letter, Adams wrote that seventeen were confirmed on 3 October and that hundreds attended his farewell address that evening. (George J. Adams, Bedford, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 5 Oct. 1841, in Millennial Star, Jan. 1842, 2:144.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
26
Birmingham and West Bromwich are in the West Midlands region of England.
-
27
In a 14 December 1841 letter, Adams stated that he arrived in Liverpool on 28 October 1841. (George J. Adams, Liverpool, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 14 Dec. 1841, in Millennial Star, Jan. 1842, 2:141.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
28
The meeting that evening was arranged prior to Adams’s arrival and was advertised via “large placards . . . posted through the town.” (George J. Adams, Liverpool, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 14 Dec. 1841, in Millennial Star, Jan. 1842, 2:141.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
29
Historian R. J. Broadbent described the Music Hall as “a plain brick edifice” on “Bold Street at the corner of Concert Street.” Constructed in 1786, the building once served primarily as a concert hall. In February 1841 John Taylor reported that he arranged for the Saints to hold their meetings in the Music Hall for twelve months. (Broadbent, Annals of the Liverpool Stage, 334; Letter from John Taylor, 3 Feb. 1841.)
Broadbent, R. J. Annals of the Liverpool Stage from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Together with Some Account of the Theatres and Music Halls in Bootle and Birkenhead. Liverpool: Edward Howell, 1908.
-
30
These five meetings included a three-evening debate on the Book of Mormon with “Mr. J. B. Philips, of the Church of England,” at the Queen’s Theatre; two discussions in Liverpool, including a debate with “Mr. M’Intosh, a Socialist lecturer,” at the Hall of Science in Liverpool; and a two-evening debate with “Mr. Stevenson, a Wesleyan minister.” Adams’s fifth public discussion may have been his response to a “Mr. Brindley,” who gave a lecture against the church. (George J. Adams, Liverpool, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 14 Dec. 1841, in Millennial Star, Jan. 1842, 2:141–143.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
31
Adams delivered his farewell address “on the subject of restoration” on the evening of Sunday, 5 December 1841. According to Adams, he “had the largest congregation ever assembled in the hall with the saints.” Approximately twenty-five hundred individuals attended. (George J. Adams, Liverpool, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 14 Dec. 1841, in Millennial Star, Jan. 1842, 2:143.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
32
The Sheridan was a very large packet ship built in 1837. (Clark, Clipper Ship Era, 40–41.)
Clark, Arthur H. The Clipper Ship Era: An Epitome of Famous American and British Clipper Ships, Their Owners, Builders, Commanders, and Crews, 1843–1869. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1911.
-
33
On 13 March 1842 Pratt informed JS that Adams’s ship was “Blown Back” and that Adams had converted “many of the Ship Company.” (Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 13 Mar. 1842.)
-
34
On 14 March 1842, 230 Latter-day Saints departed Liverpool for New Orleans aboard the Hanover, a vessel chartered by church agents Parley P. Pratt and Amos Fielding. (Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 13 Mar. 1842; “Emigration,” Millennial Star, Mar. 1842, 2:176.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
-
35
The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles arranged for missionaries to be sent to Scotland, Ireland, the East Indies, and Australia. (Letter from Heber C. Kimball, 9 July 1840.)
-
36
In summer 1840 Curtis arrived in England from Nauvoo. By 25 May 1841 he was proselytizing in Cheltenham. Richards arrived in England from Nauvoo in October. He proselytized in several locations in western England. (“News from the Elders,” Millennial Star, Sept. 1840, 1:135; News Items, Millennial Star, June 1841, 2:24; Richards, Diary, 18–31 Oct. 1840.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
Richards, George F. Diaries, 1883–1950. George F. Richards, Papers, 1883–1950. CHL.