Letter from Moses Martin, 7 November 1841
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Source Note
, Letter, La Porte, LaPorte Co., IN, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 7 Nov. 1841; handwriting of ; three pages; BYU. Includes addressing and docket.Bifolium measuring 12½ × 7½ inches (32 × 19 cm). The pages are ruled with thirty-five horizontal blue lines. The letter was written on the first three pages and then addressed and trifolded twice in letter style. A red adhesive wafer is still adhered to the first page, and the last page was torn, likely when the letter was opened. The bottom three inches of the second leaf are missing, having been torn along the fold.The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. The Church Historical Department received a photocopy of this document in 1982 from a private collector. The original is currently housed in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, which has no available provenance information for this item.
Footnotes
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1
JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News, 16 Mar. 1854, [2].
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
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Historical Introduction
On 7 November 1841, wrote a letter to JS from La Porte, Indiana, reporting on his mission to the eastern . Likely at the August 1841 of the , Martin had been appointed to serve a mission to the eastern states. Within days of receiving this assignment, Martin left his home in , Iowa Territory, traveling northeast through and then through northern , where he stopped to write this letter.As he traveled, visited the thriving of the in Knox and Stark counties in , where he experienced some proselytizing success. Prior to Martin’s preaching, local Congregationalist minister Samuel G. Wright had urged “some man competent to manage public discussions” to combat the growing influence of Latter-day Saints in the region. As the letter featured here indicates, Martin encountered challenges to his missionary efforts in the regions around , where local ministers and newspapers vocally opposed Latter-day Saint efforts.While preaching in Will County, Illinois, learned that a week after his departure, the had published an epistle instructing all missionaries then “in the vineyard” to immediately write to the Twelve, detailing “their situations, designs, and all things relating to their ministry.” The epistle directed all missionaries to return quickly to , Illinois, where the would give them further instructions regarding their proselytizing duties. Sometime around 25 September, Martin wrote to , the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, for further instructions regarding the mission that he, Martin, had only recently undertaken. With Young’s approval, Martin continued his journey east.While ’s letters to solicited direction regarding his mission, his letter to JS offered a report of his mission thus far. The contents of the letter also suggest that Martin may have been concerned about his family’s health in . At the time of his departure, sickness had been rampant throughout the settlement. Martin presumably sent the letter to from La Porte, Indiana. The lack of postal markings on the envelope suggests that Martin may have sent the letter via an unnamed courier. Extant records do not indicate any reply from JS.
Footnotes
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1
The minutes of the conference do not mention Martin’s mission assignment, though the timing of the assignment suggests it was issued at the conference. (Iowa Stake, Record, 7–9 Aug. 1841, 101–104; Moses Martin, Will Co., IL, to Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, 25 Sept. 1841, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL.)
Iowa Stake, Record. / Iowa Stake. “Church Record,” 1840–1841. CHL. LR 7817 21.
Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.
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2
Samuel G. Wright, Henderson, IL, to Milton Badger, New York City, NY, 16 Mar. 1841; Samuel G. Wright, Henderson, IL, to Milton Badger, New York City, NY, 18 June 1841, American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, reel 18, CHL.
American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, 1816–1898. Microfilm. CHL.
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3
Brigham Young et al., “An Epistle of the Twelve, to the Saints Scattered Abroad,” Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1841, 2:520.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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4
Moses Martin, Will Co., IL, to Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, 25 Sept. 1841, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; see also Moses Martin, Will Co., IL, to Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, 29 Sept. 1841, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL.
Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.
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5
See Clayton, Diary, 1 July 1841; 8 and 17 Aug. 1841; 11 Sept. 1841.
Clayton, William. Diary, Vol. 1, 1840–1842. BYU.
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Document Transcript
Footnotes
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“Breatherin” likely refers to the leaders of the Iowa Stake. In a letter to Brigham Young, Martin reported that he had been appointed to serve a mission by the “preasident and Bishop” of the Iowa stake, going “east as fair [far] as New hampshire.” (Moses Martin, Will Co., IL, to Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, 25 Sept. 1841, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL.)
Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.
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2
Martin completed a short mission to Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1834, following his return to Kirtland after the Camp of Israel expedition. (Martin, Journal, 10 Aug.–23 Oct. 1834.)
Martin, Moses. Journal, 1834. CHL. MS 1986.
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3
Walnut Grove, a township in Knox County, Illinois, had a sizable branch of the church at this time, consisting of ninety-two members, with one high priest, ten elders, two priests, two teachers, and two deacons. (Walnut Grove Branch, Minutes, 10 July 1841, William Burton, Papers, CHL.)
Burton, William. Papers, ca. 1837–1851. CHL.
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4
La Fayette is a township in Stark County, Illinois, that was surveyed and settled in 1836. (Hall, Stark County, Illinois, 1:125, 260.)
Hall, J. Knox. Stark County, Illinois, and Its People: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement. 2 vols. Chicago: Pioneer Publishing, 1916.
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In June 1842, Reverend Samuel G. Wright, a Protestant minister in the area, described a Latter-day Saint branch near La Fayette as consisting of “between 30, & 40 members.” The branch met at the home of Latter-day Saint convert and Stark County resident James McClenahan. (Samuel G. Wright, Rochester, IL, to Milton Badger, New York City, NY, 21 June 1842, American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, reel 18, CHL; Stark Co., IL, Marriage Register, 1839–1931, vol. 1, p. 3, 27 Mar. 1840, microfilm 1,403,417, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Samuel G. Wright, Diary, 23 May 1842, in McKenzie, “Congregational Church, Toulon, Illinois,” 508.)
American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, 1816–1898. Microfilm. CHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
McKenzie, Clare. “Congregational Church, Toulon, Illinois, 1846–1921: The Story of Seventy-Five Years in the Congregational Church of Toulon, Illinois.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 13, no. 4 (Jan. 1921): 504–537.
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Reverend Samuel G. Wright noted the growth of the Latter-day Saints in this area during 1841. Early that year, Wright wrote, “The Mormons have a settlement of 25 families & their preachers go to every neighbourhood where they can get an audience.” Two months later he reported “prodigious” growth among the Latter-day Saints in the region. (Samuel G. Wright, Henderson, IL, to Milton Badger, New York City, NY, 16 Mar. 1841; Samuel G. Wright, Henderson, IL, to Milton Badger, New York City, NY, 18 June 1841, American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, reel 18, CHL.)
American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, 1816–1898. Microfilm. CHL.
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7
Juliet, Illinois (later renamed Joliet), was incorporated in 1837. Plainfield, Illinois, is a town in Will County, Illinois, settled around 1826. Naperville, Illinois, is a town in DuPage County, settled in 1831. (Joliet Illustrated, 3–4; History of Will County, Illinois, 380, 477–478; Richmond and Vallette, History of the County of Du Page, Illinois, 88–90.)
Joliet Illustrated: Historical, Descriptive and Biographical. Joliet, IL: Daily Republican, 1897.
History of Will County, Illinois, containing a History of the County—Its Cities, Towns, &c.; a Directory of Its Real Estate Owners; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men. . . . Chicago: William Le Baron Jr., 1878.
Richmond, C. W., and H. F. Vallette. A History of the County of Du Page, Illinois; Containing an Account of Its Early Settlement and Present Advantages, a Separate History of the Several Towns, Including Notices of Religious Organizations, Education, Agriculture and Manufactures, with the Names and Some Account of the First Settlers in Each Township, and Much Valuable Statistical Information. Chicago: Scripps, Bross and Spears, 1857.
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Reverend John H. Prentiss, a Congregationalist minister in Naperville, Illinois, affirmed that many people tried to thwart the Saints’ proselytizing efforts there. Prentiss wrote, “Mormon preachers have been prouling around, and in the midst of us, but have gone away discouraged, their efforts proving an entire failure.” He explained further: “A considerable proportion of the professors of religion in this community are firm in the belief, & strong in their attachments to the fundamental doctrines of the Bible. Hence they are prepared to regard with a jealous eye, the efforts of those who would subvert the gospel of Christ.” (John H. Prentiss, Naperville, IL, to Milton Badger, New York City, NY, 1 Dec. 1841, American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, reel 18, CHL.)
American Home Missionary Society Incoming Correspondence, 1816–1898. Microfilm. CHL.
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9
“Long thirty-twos” were cannons with relatively long barrels, capable of firing balls weighing up to thirty-two pounds. During the 1800s, they were the most prominently used cannons on land and at sea. (Rogers, Artillery through the Ages, 80; Tucker, Arming the Fleet, 14–15, 149–150.)
Rogers, H. C. B. Artillery through the Ages. London: Seeley Service, 1971.
Tucker, Spencer. Arming the Fleet: U.S. Navy Ordnance in the Muzzle-Loading Era. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1989.
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10
Young’s letter instructing Martin to continue his mission to the East is no longer extant.
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11
See Numbers 22:6.
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12
Martin’s wife, Julia Priscilla Smith Martin, was JS’s cousin, the daughter of Asahel Smith. (Marcellus Cowdery, John Smith, and Clarissa Lyman Smith, Kirtland, OH, to George A. Smith, Shinnston, VA, 26 Sept. 1837, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; Elias Smith, Nashville, Iowa Territory, to Jesse Smith, Stockholm, NY, 31 Aug. 1841, CHL.)
Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.
Smith, Elias. Letter, Nashville, Iowa Territory, to Jesse Smith, Stockholm, NY, 31 Aug. 1841. MS 15819. CHL.
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13
A list of members in the Nashville branch from circa 1840 includes the name of only one child, Ester Martin, with the entries for Moses and Julia Priscilla Smith Martin. Martin’s use of the plural “Children” implies that a second child was likely born in or around 1841. (Iowa Stake, Record, 35.)
Iowa Stake, Record. / Iowa Stake. “Church Record,” 1840–1841. CHL. LR 7817 21.
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14
See 2 Kings 2:1–11.
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“A special witness” refers to a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. These individuals were designated as “special witnesses of the name of Christ.”a Between 1837 and 1839, John F. Boynton, Luke Johnson, Lyman Johnson, William E. McLellin, and Thomas B. Marsh, all original members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, were excommunicated.b Around the same time, Orson Hyde and William Smith were both temporarily “suspended from exercising the functions” of their apostolic offices, although they had been restored to their offices by the time of Martin’s letter.c David W. Patten, another member of the Quorum of the Twelve, died during the Battle of Crooked River on 25 October 1838.d These vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve had been filled, so there was no vacancy in the quorum at this time.e
(aInstruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107:23].bHistorical Introduction to Revelation, 12 Jan. 1838–A; Minutes, 7–8 Apr. 1838; “Extracts of the Minutes of Conferences,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:15.cMinutes, 4–5 May 1839.dPratt, History of the Late Persecution, 35–36.eRevelation, 8 July 1838–A [D&C 118:6]; Letter to Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young, 16 Jan. 1839; Minutes, 7–11 Apr. 1841.)Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.