Documents, Volume 7, Part 1 Introduction: 5 September–7 November 1839
Part 1: 5 September–7 November 1839
From September to early November 1839, JS and other leaders focused on establishing the , Illinois, area as a gathering place for the
Latter-day Saints. In the preceding months, church leaders had
purchased on credit a large amount of acreage both in the vicinity
of Commerce and across the in
,
Iowa Territory. In September the church filed a plat with , Illinois, for
a city to be called . In October the Saints held a general in Commerce, during which they established a
in the Commerce area and a of the church in . The conference also appointed and other officers for these areas.
Soon after the conference, the high
council—as the high council in was designated—appointed individuals to
supervise land sales in the Commerce area, including JS as treasurer of land sales and
as “clerk to attend
to the land contracts.” High council member was chosen
to supervise land contracts and sell town lots, an assignment that
required him to consult with JS and when necessary. The high council set the
standard price of lots at $500, with acceptable prices ranging from
$200 to $800.
Because they purchased most of the land on credit, JS and the church did not have
actual title to the land. Therefore, when selling to church members,
JS and his counselors in the
bonded themselves to provide deeds for the land once the purchasers
paid for it. Numerous bonds exist for transactions that occurred
during the months of September, October, and November, as do many
promissory notes from individuals who did not have the cash to purchase the land outright from the First
Presidency. To provide samples of these bonds
and promissory notes, this part of the volume includes documents
produced in a land transaction between the First
Presidency and . Part 1 also includes
correspondence, recommendations, minutes of high council meetings,
and other documents pertaining to land sales.
and the planned city of were located
near the in “a low marshy
wet damp and nasty place.” The condition of the land
meant that church members who settled there suffered greatly from an
illness often called the ague—later identified as malaria—in summer
and fall 1839. By
the end of that year, at least sixteen Latter-day Saints had died
from the disease, including some personal friends of JS. With church members suffering around him,
JS gave a sermon in September discouraging the popular view that
disease should be seen as divine punishment.
Minutes of the church’s October general conference also
noted that many members were absent because of illness.
Meanwhile, three of the departed for in September and
October 1839, following four of their fellow apostles who had left
in August. A July 1838 revelation instructed the Twelve to preach “over the
great waters.” Consequently, they were undertaking a proselytizing
mission to England, a place where, according to a September 1839
JS
letter, “many hundreds have of late been added to our
numbers.” A few documents created
during September and October relate to the apostles’ mission,
including a recommendation JS signed for apostle before he
departed for England.
JS spent much of his time in
October preparing for a trip to as part of a delegation to petition the federal
government for redress for property church members lost when they
were expelled from in winter 1838–1839. In
addition to minutes of meetings in which JS’s participation in this
delegation was clarified, part 1 contains recommendations prepared
for JS as well as statements explaining the delegation’s objectives
and the church’s intention to publish a history of the conflict in
Missouri.
This part contains sixteen documents and primarily
consists of land records and agreements, minutes of meetings, and
correspondence. Although some of these documents were created in
, Adams County,
Illinois, most were produced in .