License for Hosea Stout, 20 April 1840
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Source Note
JS, License, for , [], Hancock Co., IL, 20 Apr. 1840; printed form with manuscript additions in the handwriting of ; signatures of and JS; one page; photographs in Hosea Stout, Papers, CHL. Includes notation.One leaf with writing on both sides. The document’s proportions are similar to other licenses, which generally measure about 3 × 7 inches (8 × 18 cm). The location of the original document is unknown, as are the identity of the donor who provided the photographs to the Church History Library and the date on which the donation was made.
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Historical Introduction
On 20 April 1840, JS and his clerk signed an ’s for . JS likely signed scores of such licenses in the years after leaders adopted an April 1838 resolution requiring each license to be signed by at least one member of the . This license is featured as an example of this type of document as issued in 1840.moved to the , Illinois, area in March 1840 and was subsequently appointed clerk of the , even though he apparently was not a . According to this license, an early April 1840 general of the church resolved that the First Presidency should issue Stout a license—most likely as part of an effort to license a large group of recently elders—although the resolution is not recorded in the conference minutes. The license itself is undated, but wrote in a church record book that Stout received an elder’s license “from under our hands” on 20 April 1840. The license certified that Stout was a member of the church, that he had been ordained an elder, and that he was authorized to preach the gospel.
Footnotes
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1
Resolution, ca. 8 Apr. 1838; see also Cannon, “Licensing in the Early Church,” 96–105.
Cannon, Donald Q. “Licensing in the Early Church.” BYU Studies 22, no. 1 (Winter 1982): 96–105.
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2
See License for Robert Snider, 13 Apr. 1840; License for William Rust, 14 Apr. 1840; and License for Joseph King, 27 Apr. 1840, Far West and Nauvoo Elders’ Certificates, 32–36. For a full list of known licenses signed by JS, see the Calendar of Documents.
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3
Stout began serving as the Nauvoo high council’s clerk pro tem on 8 March 1840 and eight months later was appointed clerk of the council. (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 8 Mar. 1840, 49; Nauvoo High Council Minutes, draft, 28 Nov. 1840, 23.)
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. Draft. CHL.
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License for Hosea Stout, 20 Apr. 1840, General Church Recorder, License Record Book, 35.
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1
Document Transcript
Footnotes
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1
Stout was baptized by Charles C. Rich in August 1838 while living in Caldwell County, Missouri. (Eleventh Quorum of Seventies, Records, vol. 2, p. 19, in Seventies Quorum Records, CHL.)
Seventies Quorum Records, 1844–1975. CHL. CR 499.
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2
Stout was ordained an elder by Seymour Brunson at an October 1839 general conference of the church. (Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839; Eleventh Quorum of Seventies, Records, vol. 2, p. 25, in Seventies Quorum Records, CHL.)
Seventies Quorum Records, 1844–1975. CHL. CR 499.
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Signatures of Robert B. Thompson and JS.
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Certification in the handwriting of Hyrum Smith.
