Documents, Volume 2, Part 3 Introduction: Hiram, Ohio, Winter 1831–1832
Part 3: Hiram, Ohio, Winter 1831–1832
From
December 1831 to March
1832, JS spent most of his time in , Portage
County, Ohio, working on his revision of the Bible. For a brief
period in December, he traveled to
nearby townships, such as Shalersville and
Ravenna, Ohio, to preach. These efforts
stemmed from a December 1831
revelation instructing JS and to preach in the vicinity of to “confound”
their “enemies.” One of these “enemies” was , a former church member who wrote a series of
letters critical of JS. The Ohio Star, a weekly
Anti-Masonic newspaper printed in Ravenna, published the first of
these nine letters in October 1831
and the final installment in December. The letters generated enough agitation in
Portage County that after publishing six of Booth’s letters, the
editor of the Ohio Star declared, “We have reason to
believe that these letters are exerting an important influence in
opening the eyes of many of the really deluded subjects of
Mormonism.” A later JS history recounts that the
“scandalous letters” produced “excited feelings.”
Throughout December, JS, , and other continued to preach in the
area, though they
also held meetings in , Ohio. A 10 January
1832
revelation directed JS and Rigdon to return to their
Bible revision, while other January
revelations instructed other elders to keep preaching. On 25
January, JS attended a conference in , Ohio,
where he was appointed and
, fulfilling instructions given in a November 1831
revelation. This
further formalizing of his leadership role did not immediately
affect his day-to-day life; after the conference concluded, he
returned to and
continued his Bible revision. Working on the revision through the
winter spurred
JS and his associates to pray for answers to a number of questions,
which in turn led to the dictation of several revelatory texts.
Part
three of this volume contains ten documents, several of which were likely dictated
in the upstairs bedroom in the and Alice (Elsa) Jacobs Johnson home in , where JS
resided with his and children. Others were dictated in or
. This part comprises eight
revelations, a
letter, and the record of a vision. They were originally inscribed by various associates
of JS, including , , and .