Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832

Footnotes

1. 1

   See Job 5:19.  

2. 2

   Much of this “business” revolved around the establishment of the print shop in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri. On 29 May, a conference of elders met “at the office of the Evening & Morning Star,” and Edward Partridge dedicated “the building for Printing & all materials appertaining thereto unto the Lord.” Phelps published the first issue of The Evening and the Morning Star in June, a copy of which came to JS in July. Despite the difficulties with Phelps and others, a later JS history recounts that receiving this first issue of the Star was “a joyous treat to the Saints” and that JS thought it was “delightful indeed . . . to contemplate, that the little band of brethren [in Independence] had become so large, and grown so strong, in so short a space as to be able to issue a paper of their own.” (Minute Book 2, 29 May 1832; JS History, vol. A-1, 216.)  

3. 3

   Almost one hundred members of the church emigrated from Hiram and Nelson, in Portage County, Ohio, on 2 May 1832 and arrived in Jackson County, Missouri, on 16 June. (William E. McLellin, Independence, MO, to “Beloved Relatives,” Carthage, TN, 4 Aug. 1832, photocopy, CHL.)  

   Comprehensive Works Cited

   McLellin, William E. Letter, Independence, MO, to “Beloved Relatives,” Carthage, TN, 4 Aug. 1832. Photocopy. CHL. MS 617.

4. 4

   Revelations in December 1831 specified that those going to Zion needed to obtain “a certificate from three Elders of the church or a certificate from the Bishop” in Ohio that they were “a wise steward.” Such certificates—which are probably the recommends to which JS refers here—were to be given to Bishop Edward Partridge in Jackson County, Missouri. This apparently was a means of regulating the numbers of people who went to Missouri and ensuring that those to whom Partridge issued inheritances had been deemed “wise steward[s].” (Revelation, 4 Dec. 1831–C [D&C 72:24–26]; see also Revelation, 4 Dec. 1831–B [D&C 72:16–18].)  

5. 5

   See Matthew 10:37.  

6. 6

   This third reason may be related to the first: the company’s failure to obtain the proper permissions to go to Missouri. The Evening and the Morning Star noted in July 1832 that when the necessary recommends were not obtained, the result was “confusion, which would produce pestilence.” Such confusion resulted from the lack of coordination regarding how many people could be accommodated by the church in Missouri. (“The Elders in the Land of Zion to the Church of Christ Scattered Abroad,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1832, [5].)  

   Comprehensive Works Cited

   The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

7. 7

   Whitney broke his leg while trying to leap from a runaway stagecoach as he, Sidney Rigdon, and JS traveled back to Ohio. Rigdon went on to Kirtland, Ohio, but JS stayed in Greenville with Whitney while Whitney recuperated. (Letter to Emma Smith, 6 June 1832; see also JS History, vol. A-1, 214–215.)  

8. 8

   JS and Whitney probably arrived in Kirtland in late June. In his 6 June letter to Emma Smith, JS wrote that he and Whitney intended to return by about 20 June. His later history indicates that they departed from Greenville sooner than they expected. Martin Harris traveled from Kirtland to Greenville within five days, which suggests that JS and Whitney could not have reached Kirtland before 10 June. Gilbert left Independence for Kirtland on or soon after 2 June 1832 (the date of Corrill’s letter), bringing Corrill’s letter with him. Travel between Ohio and Missouri took roughly three weeks on other trips made in 1831 and 1832, making it unlikely that Gilbert was in Kirtland before 20 June. Rigdon later recalled that JS and Whitney arrived in Kirtland about four weeks after his own 26 May arrival. (JS History, vol. A-1, 215; Letter to Emma Smith, 6 June 1832; JS History, vol. A-1, 142–146, 209–210; Sidney Rigdon, Statement, ca. 1842, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1856, CHL.)  

   Comprehensive Works Cited

   Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

9. 9

   See Deuteronomy 32:5; Revelation, Oct. 1830–B [D&C 33:2]; and Revelation, 4 Nov. 1830 [D&C 34:6].  

10. 10

    JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Whitney were commanded to travel to Missouri and “sit in councel with the saints who are in zion otherwise satan seeketh to turn there hearts away from the truth that they become blinded & understand not the things which are prepared for them.” (Revelation, 1 Mar. 1832 [D&C 78:9–10].)  

11. 11

    See Matthew 7:3.  

12. 12

    See John 8:44; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 64, 79, 554–555 [2 Nephi 2:18; 9:9; Ether 8:25].  

13. 13

    JS expressed a similar sentiment in the letter he wrote to his wife from Greenville. (See Letter to Emma Smith, 6 June 1832.)  

14. 14

    JS and Whitney stayed at “Mr Porter’s public house,” where Whitney was bedridden for their entire stay. (JS History, vol. A-1, 214.)  

15. 15

    See Song of Solomon 5:16.  

16. 16

    Webster’s 1828 dictionary gives one definition of “conspiracy” as “a combination to commit treason, or excite sedition or insurrection” against a government. As head of the church, JS may have seen Phelps’s and Corrill’s words as undermining both him and the church. (“Conspiracy,” in American Dictionary [1828].)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.

17. 17

    See Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:28; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 481 [3 Nephi 12:44].  

18. 18

    JS may have been referring to the covenant and bond that those who participated in the United Firm were required to make with each other. A council held 27 April 1832 appointed the drafting of the bond, which may have been signed at a meeting of the United Firm on around 1 May 1832. The covenant referenced may also be the Missouri high priests’ acceptance of JS as the president of the high priesthood on 26 April 1832. (Revelation, 1 Mar. 1832 [D&C 78:11]; Revelation 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:11]; Minutes, 26–27 Apr. 1832; Minutes, ca. 1 May 1832.)  

19. 19

    See Psalm 106:33.  

20. 20

    Reynolds Cahoon, with whom Rigdon’s family stayed while Rigdon was in Missouri, wrote in his journal that on 5 July 1832, “Br Sidney remarked that he had a revelation from the Lord & said that the kingdom was taken from the Church and left with him.” Hyrum Smith then went to Hiram and got JS, who came to Kirtland to settle the matter. On Sunday, 8 July, JS addressed the Saints in Kirtland and stated “that the kingdom was ours & never should be taking from the faithful.” According to Lucy Mack Smith, JS then held a council at which he took Rigdon’s priesthood license, remarking that “the less priesthood you have the better it will be for you.” JS compared Rigdon’s repentance to that of the apostle Peter, who “wept bitterly” after denying his association with Jesus. On 28 July, Rigdon was reordained to the high priesthood. Rigdon’s erratic behavior may have stemmed in part from the head injury he received when he and JS were attacked in Hiram in March 1832. (Cahoon, Diary, July 1832; “History [of] Charles Coulson Rich,” 3–4, Historian’s Office, Biographies of Quorum of Twelve, [ca. 1883], CHL; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 13, [5]; Matthew 26:75; Luke 22:62; Hyrum Smith, Diary and Account Book, 28 July 1832; JS History, vol. A-1, 206–208; and Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon, 115–118, 126.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Cahoon, Reynolds. Diaries, 1831–1832. CHL. MS 1115.

    Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.

    Smith, Hyrum. Diary and Account Book, Nov. 1831–Feb. 1835. Hyrum Smith, Papers, ca. 1832–1844. BYU.

    Van Wagoner, Richard S. Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994.

21. 21

    See 1 Corinthians 10:12.  

22. 22

    Regarding sign seeking, see Matthew 12:39; 16:4; Luke 11:29; and Genesis 19:15–28. A revelation the previous autumn warned against sign seeking. (See Revelation, 30 Aug. 1831 [D&C 63:7–13].)  

23. 23

    In his 28 January 1832 letter to JS, Oliver Cowdery included a statement from Partridge that “we are not in a situation to buy much more land & procure a stock of provisions & cows for those who are coming here this spring.” John Corrill later recalled that, around this time, “the church got crazy to go up to Zion, as it was then called. The rich were afraid to send up their money to purchase lands, and the poor crowded up in numbers, without having any places provided, contrary to the advice of the bishop and others.” (Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 28 Jan. 1832; Corrill, Brief History, 18–19.)  

24. 24

    See Acts 5:1–10.  

25. 25

    See Romans 10:2.  

26. 26

    JS’s rebuke suggests that speculative predictions by individual Saints involving Book of Mormon prophecies fueled antagonism among their neighbors, endangering church members. The Book of Mormon echoes the prophecies of Micah about a time when the “remnant of Jacob”—whom church members identified as the American Indians—would tread down their Gentile adversaries.a The Book of Mormon also speaks of converted Gentiles—understood by early Mormons to be themselves—assisting the “remnant” of Book of Mormon people to build a New Jerusalem.b However, there is no evidence of significant Mormon contact with American Indians after a brief period of proselytizing among the Delaware and Shawnee Indians west of Missouri’s borders in early 1831.c  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Jennings, Warren A. “The First Mormon Mission to the Indians,” Kansas Historical Quarterly 38 (Autumn 1971): 288–299.

    (^aBook of Mormon, 1830 ed., 488, 497, 500 [3 Nephi 16:15; 20:16–17; 21:12]; Micah 5:8–9.^bBook of Mormon, 1830 ed., 501 [3 Nephi 21:23].^cJennings, “First Mormon Mission to the Indians,” 288–299.)
27. 27

    That is, the account of JS and Rigdon’s February 1832 vision of the afterlife. JS sent John Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery to Independence in November 1831 with Revelation Book 1, a book containing manuscript copies of JS’s revelations. Although JS may have brought copies of revelations written after that time to Missouri in spring 1832, William W. Phelps did not yet have at least some of them, including the account of the February 1832 vision. (Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76]; Whitmer, History, 37–38; see also Revelation Book 1, pp. 128–148.)  

28. 28

    See Revelation 22:18–19. It was recognized in a council held the previous November that there were spelling and grammar errors in the revelations.a William W. Phelps, Oliver Cowdery, and John Whitmer were assigned in the 30 April 1832 meeting of the Literary Firm to make corrections in the revelations as they prepared them for publication.b Such revisions, however, had limits. In 1830, JS expressed consternation when Oliver Cowdery commanded him to “erase” words in a revelation. “I asked him,” JS later recalled, “by what authority he took upon him to command me to alter, or erase, to add or diminish to or from a revelation or commandment from Almighty God.”c  

    (^aMinutes, 8 Nov. 1831.^bMinutes, 30 Apr. 1832.^cJS History, vol. A-1, 51.)
29. 29

    That is, JS’s revision of the Bible, on which he continued to work at this time.  

30. 30

    Frederick G. Williams had apparently been performing some scribal duties since February or March 1832. When Rigdon was reprimanded and for a time removed from his official roles, Williams was given the assignment to write for JS in Rigdon’s stead, as this letter explains. (See Frederick G. Williams, Statement, no date, Frederick G. Williams, Papers, CHL; see also JS History, ca. Summer 1832; and Scribal Directory, in JSP, MRB:684.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Williams, Frederick G. Papers, 1834–1842. CHL. MS 782.

31. 31

    That is, the Old Testament.  

32. 32

    See John 5:4.  

33. 33

    A cholera epidemic began in India in 1826, spreading into England by October 1831. It appeared in Lower Canada in June 1832 and then gradually made its way into the United States, generally along waterways. By the end of July, over two thousand had died in New York City. (Rosenberg, Cholera Years, 25–34; Chambers, Conquest of Cholera, 64; “Items for the Public,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1832, [6].)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Rosenberg, Charles E. The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962.

    Chambers, J. S. The Conquest of Cholera: America’s Greatest Scourge. New York: Macmillan, 1938.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

34. 34

    The Detroit Courier in June, July, and August 1832 did not report on anything resembling what JS describes here, although it stated on 12 July 1832 that “little doubt exists that the Cholera” had reached the city and that “a large number of our citizens” had “betaken themselves to the country” in response. The newspaper also cautioned against “unauthenticated accounts of the existence of the Cholera in various places,” stating that “every new story adds to the general stock of alarm; and under such feverish sensability, much anxiety is created, which cannot fail of producing solicitude and unhappiness, and great numbers of people are made miserable without the least advantage to any body.” (“The Cholera” and “Our City,” Detroit Courier, 12 July 1832, [2].)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Detroit Courier. Detroit, Michigan Territory. 1830–1835.

35. 35

    This probably refers to troops who took transport on the steamboat Henry Clay. In June 1832, troops departed from New York City to aid in what is now known as the Black Hawk War. In Buffalo, New York, they boarded the Henry Clay, and on 4 July cholera broke out among them. When the ship reached the Detroit River, two soldiers had already died. According to one report, “the cases multiplied” rapidly, and the steamboat finally landed near Fort Gratiot, in St. Clair County, Michigan, at the mouth of the outlet of Lake Huron, where the soldiers disembarked. By 16 July, thirty-four deaths had occurred and “many [had] deserted to escape the disease.” According to assistant surgeon R. E. Kerr, “The attempt to escape the disease, however, by that means, in a number of cases that came to our ears, proved futile, for they are reported to have died on the road.” The Detroit Courier reported a similar incident involving the steamboat Sheldon Thompson. On 5 July, that steamer, loaded with soldiers, left Detroit, Michigan Territory, en route to Chicago, Illinois. Cholera soon broke out, killing twenty-five and afflicting another sixty. According to the Courier, the bodies of the dead were thrown overboard and the vessel continued on to Chicago. However, when the ship reached Chicago, “the inhabitants [of the city] fled in every direction, including Col. Owen, the Indian Agent.” (U.S. Surgeon-General’s Office, Cholera Epidemic of 1873, 569–572; “Our Army,” Detroit Courier, 19 July 1832, [2]; Blois, Gazetteer of the State of Michigan, 287, 365–366.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    U.S. Surgeon-General’s Office. The Cholera Epidemic of 1873 in the United States. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1875.

    Detroit Courier. Detroit, Michigan Territory. 1830–1835.

    Blois, John T. Gazetteer of the State of Michigan, in Three Parts, Containing a General View of the State. . . . Detroit: Sydney L. Rood, 1839.

36. 36

    Likely a reference to the Black Hawk War. In April 1832, a group of Sac and Fox Indians (including men, women, and children), who had been removed from their homelands in Illinois to the west side of the Mississippi River, crossed back over the Mississippi in an attempt to resettle their ancestral lands. Pursued by federal troops and the Illinois militia, the group, led by Black Hawk, attempted to surrender under a white flag, but the soldiers fired on them, after which Black Hawk routed the troops. Additional soldiers then pursued Black Hawk and his followers into western Michigan Territory (now Wisconsin), eventually leading to Black Hawk’s capture in August. Newspaper reports at the time gave exaggerated accounts of Indian depredations during the war. William W. Phelps, for example, stated in the June 1832 The Evening and the Morning Star that “the Indians are undoubtedly the aggressors, and it is said they have murdered several men, women, and children.” But there is no evidence that Black Hawk’s band committed such acts. (Prucha, Great Father, 253–256; “News,” The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832, [7].)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Prucha, Francis Paul. The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians. 2 vols. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1984.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

37. 37

    A January 1832 revelation appointed Pratt and Johnson, who were both only twenty years old, to preach the gospel in the “eastern countries” of the United States. They left Hiram in February and traveled through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont. (Revelation, 25 Jan. 1832–A [D&C 75:14]; Orson Pratt, Bath, NH, to “Dear Brethren,” 23 Jan. 1833, in The Evening and the Morning Star, Mar. 1833, [6]; Milando Pratt, “Baptism and Ordinations Early Missionary Labors and Family Register of Orson Pratt, Sen,” in Orson Pratt, Diaries, CHL.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

    Pratt, Orson. Diaries, 1833–1837. CHL. MS 587.

38. 38

    See 1 Timothy 4:1; see also Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–A [D&C 46:7].  

39. 39

    See Galatians 5:1; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 203, 393, 399–400 [Mosiah 23:13; Alma 58:40; 61:9, 21].  

40. 40

    See Galatians 6:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:13; and Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:33].  

41. 41

    See 2 Timothy 4:8.  

42. 42

    TEXT: “[Hole in paper]ent”.  

43. 43

    This suggests that the trouble and confusion raised by Sidney Rigdon’s recent announcement that the church had lost the “keys of the kingdom” had been resolved.  

44. 44

    “Sister Elliott” is probably Mary Cahoon Elliott, wife of David Elliott.a If so, the doctors mentioned here were probably located in Chagrin, Ohio, where the Elliotts appear to have been living.b Three doctors were apparently in Chagrin at the time: John Henderson, Asahel Brainard, and George Card.c Even if the Elliotts were in Kirtland, and not Chagrin, it is still possible the doctors JS mentions here were from Chagrin. Samuel Whitney, brother of Newel K. Whitney, later recalled two incidents in Kirtland in the 1830s where doctors were involved and specifically mentioned Brainard and Card.d  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Backman, Milton V., Jr., comp. A Profile of Latter-day Saints of Kirtland, Ohio, and Members of Zion’s Camp, 1830–1839: Vital Statistics and Sources. 2nd ed. Provo, UT: Department of Church History and Doctrine and Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1983.

    JS Letterbook 1 / Smith, Joseph. “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

    Crary, Christopher G. Pioneer and Personal Reminiscences. Marshalltown, IA: Marshall Printing Co., 1893.

    Naked Truths about Mormonism: Also a Journal for Important, Newly Apprehended Truths, and Miscellany. Oakland, CA. Jan. and Apr. 1888.

    (^aSee Backman, Profile, 23.^bJS, Kirtland, OH, to “Brethren in Zion,” Independence, MO, 21 Apr. 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 32–36.^c1830 U.S. Census, Chagrin, Cuyahoga Co., OH, 100; Crary, Pioneer and Personal Reminiscences, 19.^d“Statement of Rev. S. F. Whitney on Mormonism,” Naked Truths about Mormonism, [Oakland, CA], Jan. 1888, 3.)
45. 45

    Rigdon’s second daughter, Nancy, was born on 8 December 1822 and would have been nine years old at the time. (Allegheny Co., PA, Orphans’ Court, Registration of Deaths in the City of Pittsburgh, 1870–1905, vol. 48, p. 222, microfilm 505,840, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co., PA, Cemetery Records, 1845–1976, vol. E, p. 262, microfilm 1,290,386, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; “Records of Early Church Families,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine Oct. 1936 27:161.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    “Records of Early Church Families.” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 27 (Oct. 1936): 156–162.

46. 46

    See James 5:15.  

47. 47

    Possibly Sarah Maria Jackson, who moved to Jackson County in December 1832. (Whitmer, Daybook, 6 Jan. 1832; Faulring, “Early Marriages,” 201.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Whitmer, John. Daybook, 1832–1878. CHL. MS 1159.

    Faulring, Scott H. “Early Marriages Performed by the Latter-day Saint Elders in Jackson County, Missouri, 1832–1834.” Mormon Historical Studies 2 (Fall 2001): 197–210.Godfrey, Matthew C. “‘Seeking after Monarchal Power and Authority’: Joseph Smith and Leadership in the Church of Christ, 1831–1832.” Mormon Historical Studies 13 (Spring/Fall 2012): 15–37.

48. 48

    See Luke 21:26; and Old Testament Revision 1, p. 19 [Moses 7:66].  

49. 49

    An 1831 revelation spoke of the New Jerusalem as “a City of refuge a place of safety for the saints.” (Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:66].)  

50. 50

    TEXT: “stat[hole in paper]”.  

51. 51

    TEXT: “o[hole in paper]”.  

52. 52

    There is no surviving letter from Whitmer with this information. However, in the history of the church that Whitmer kept, he recorded that around March 1832 there were 402 “disciples living in this land Zion.” On 1 December 1832, Whitmer reported that there were “538 individuals in this land b[e]longing to th[e] church.” According to William E. McLellin, the group from Portage County, Ohio, that arrived in Zion in June 1832 consisted of “near 100 of our brethren (viz) men, women & children,” making up most of this increase. (Whitmer, History, 38–39; William E. McLellin, Independence, MO, to “Beloved Relatives,” Carthage, TN, 4 Aug. 1832, photocopy, CHL.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    McLellin, William E. Letter, Independence, MO, to “Beloved Relatives,” Carthage, TN, 4 Aug. 1832. Photocopy. CHL. MS 617.

53. 53

    A March 1831 revelation instructed Whitmer to “write & keep a regulal [regular] history.” A November 1831 revelation instructed Whitmer to “travel many times from place to place & from Church to Church that he may the more easily obtain knowledge . . . writing cop[y]ing & selecting & obtain[in]g all things which shall be for the good of the Church & for the rising generations which shall grow up on the Land of Zion.” (Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–B [D&C 47:1]; Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–A [D&C 69:8].)  

54. 54

    See 2 Timothy 2:15.  

55. 

    Signature of JS.