The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Discourse, 29 October 1842

Source Note

JS, Discourse, [
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, 29 Oct. 1842]. Featured version copied [ca. 29 Oct. 1842] in JS, Journal, Dec. 1841–Dec. 1842, in Book of the Law of the Lord, p. 208; handwriting of
William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
; CHL.
“The Book of the Law of the Lord” is a large, leather-bound blank book made with thick paper. The paper bears a star-shaped watermark in the middle of each leaf and was printed with forty-seven blue horizontal lines on each side. The text block was originally formed with thirty gatherings of eight leaves each. The second gathering, however, has only six leaves. This six-leaf gathering was the result of either a binding error or one sheet coming loose from the binding before the book was inscribed (the book’s inscription and pagination run through this gathering without any missing text or skipped page numbers). The gatherings were sewn all along. Each set of endpapers consisted of a gathering of four leaves of unlined paper, but only two leaves are now extant in the back gathering. The trimmed pages measure 16¼ × 10½ inches (41 × 27 cm). Headbands were sewn onto the text block. The exterior pages of the endpapers are joined to the pasteboards with strips of pink cloth. Marbled papers featuring a shell pattern with green body and veins of red and yellow are glued to the inside covers of the boards and to the exterior page of each gathering of endpapers. The leaf edges are stained green. The text block is bound in ledger style to the boards. The spine was constructed with four false raised bands demarcating five panels. The boards and spine are covered in suede with additional leather strips that cover the top and bottom of the book, including the first and fifth panels of the spine. The suede was blind tooled on the outside covers, the raised bands of the spine, and the turned-in edges on the inside cover. The additional leather strips are embossed with dual lines and vegetal designs along the borders and have gold line filling. The spine is further embossed with the number “6” in 20-point type on the fifth panel. The second and fourth panels have black-painted squares of paper glued to them. These feature gold lining and decoration at the top and bottom. The completed volume measures 17 × 11 × 2¼ inches (43 × 28 × 6 cm) and includes 244 free leaves. A penciled inscription at the inside top corner of page [ii]—the verso of the front marbled flyleaf—gives what appears to be an expensive price for this high-quality blank book: “bth | 10.00”. The book includes inscriptions by five scribes:
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

View Full Bio
,
William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
,
Robert B. Thompson

1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...

View Full Bio
,
Eliza R. Snow

21 Jan. 1804–5 Dec. 1887. Poet, teacher, seamstress, milliner. Born in Becket, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Daughter of Oliver Snow and Rosetta Leonora Pettibone. Moved to Mantua, Trumbull Co., Ohio, ca. 1806. Member of Baptist church. Baptized into Church...

View Full Bio
, and
Erastus Derby

14 Sept. 1810–3 Dec. 1890. Tailor, carpenter, farmer, joiner. Born in Hawley, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Edward Darby and Ruth Phoebe Hitchcock. Moved to Ohio, by 1834. Married Ruhamah Burnham Knowlton, 10 Aug. 1834, in Carthage, Hamilton Co., Ohio...

View Full Bio
.
The “Law of the Lord” is listed as such in inventories of church records made in Salt Lake City in the 1850s. These show that the volume reposed for a time in the office of church president
Brigham Young

1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...

View Full Bio
. At some point, the book was marked on the spine with an archival sticker, which was later removed. The book eventually was housed with the papers of Joseph Fielding Smith, apparently during his tenure as church historian and recorder (1921–1970), and then became part of the First Presidency’s papers when he became church president in 1970. In 2010 the First Presidency gave custody of the book to the CHL. This evidence indicates continuous institutional custody.

Historical Introduction

On 29 October 1842, JS publicly addressed a group of recent newcomers to
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Illinois, at his Nauvoo
store

Located in lower portion of Nauvoo (the flats) along bank of Mississippi River. Completed 1841. Opened for business, 5 Jan. 1842. Owned by JS, but managed mostly by others, after 1842. First floor housed JS’s general store and counting room, where tithing...

More Info
, explaining procedures for purchasing land in the city. The administrative process of and financial arrangements for purchasing land in Nauvoo had apparently been a source of frustration to several individuals living there.
1

Part of the discontent may have been related to the new immigrants’ difficulty in purchasing land due to the lack of wage-labor jobs in the city. In June 1842, JS and other church leaders held a meeting in Nauvoo to discuss the shortage of such employment for the large numbers of church members immigrating to the city from England. As a result, JS and Hyrum Smith wrote to Parley P. Pratt in England advising him to discourage the practice of one family member moving to Nauvoo from England with the plan of earning enough money to bring the rest of the family to the city at a later date. Writing nearly a year after JS delivered the featured discourse, Sally Randall wrote that upon arriving in Nauvoo, her first impression of the city was that “it is a hard place for poor people that have no money to get a living.” She added that “there is so many poor that depend on thare work for a liveing that they can hardley get enoughf to be comfortable.” (Letter to Parley P. Pratt and Others, 12 June 1842; Sally Randall, Nauvoo, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 6 Oct. 1843, typescript, Sally Randall, Letters, CHL.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Randall, Sally. Letters, 1843–1852. Typescript. CHL.

In some instances, this frustration led newly arrived Latter-day Saints to criticize JS and other
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
leaders.
2

For example, Thomas Margretts left England for Nauvoo in February 1841. He and his family struggled financially in the weeks after their arrival and became critical of JS for the way land was sold to new arrivals. They left the church and returned to England by September 1841. Margretts reported to a newspaper there that “the legal title of the apostle [JS] to the land he was vending to his followers was very questionable” and that “they expected his right to the possession of Nauvoo would soon be disputed.” In a letter to church members in North America published in October 1841, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles clarified the nature of the church’s land dealings in and around Nauvoo and refuted claims that JS was enriching himself through the land dealings he conducted as sole trustee-in-trust. (U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Quarterly Abstracts of Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, reel 2, 16 Apr. 1842, entry for “Ship Echo”; “The ‘Latter-day Saint’ Swindle,” Preston [England] Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser, 18 Sept. 1841, [4], italics in original; Brigham Young et al., “An Epistle of the Twelve,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1841, 2:567–570.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Quarterly Abstracts of Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, 1820–1875. 17 rolls. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC.

Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser. Preston, England. 1831–1893.

Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

Others had become disappointed upon arriving in the city because some of the Saints’ conduct—including that of some city leaders—did not meet their high expectations.
3

In May 1841, the Warsaw Signal reported that “great dissatisfaction exists at Nauvoo, amongst those who have lately arrived from England,” and that “some have left both the City and the Church—not believing, on the one hand, in the mission of the Prophet, and on the other, dissatisfied with the temporal government which is exercised over them.” In June 1841, the Times and Seasons responded to this report: “There may be individuals who feel dissatisfied, but it is far from being general. Those who have come expecting to find gold in our streets, and all the luxuries of an old country, will find themselves disappointed, but those who have maturely considered the advantages and disadvantages, are perfectly satisfied and contented, and cheerfully engage in cultivating the beautiful and wide spread prairie of the County.” (“The Mormons,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, 19 May 1841, [2]; “The Warsaw Signal,” Times and Seasons, 1 June 1841, 2:432.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

The men and women JS addressed on this occasion were church members who had moved to
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
from
New York City

Dutch founded New Netherland colony, 1625. Incorporated under British control and renamed New York, 1664. Harbor contributed to economic and population growth of city; became largest city in American colonies. British troops defeated Continental Army under...

More Info
and its surrounding areas.
Apostles

Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...

View Glossary
John Taylor

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodist church and was local preacher. Migrated ...

View Full Bio
and
Wilford Woodruff

1 Mar. 1807–2 Sept. 1898. Farmer, miller. Born at Farmington, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of Aphek Woodruff and Beulah Thompson. Moved to Richland, Oswego Co., New York, 1832. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Zera Pulsipher,...

View Full Bio
, as well as church member
Samuel Bennett

Ca. 1810–May 1893. Market inspector, barometer manufacturer, physician. Born in England. Married Selina Campion, 9 Aug. 1836. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by 1839, in U.S. Ordained an elder, 23 Dec. 1839, in Philadelphia. Served...

View Full Bio
, each addressed the crowd before JS made his remarks.
4

JS, Journal, 29 Oct. 1842.


JS urged the new arrivals to carefully follow the established method for purchasing land, attributing much of the dissatisfaction expressed by erstwhile residents to their deviation from the established process.
5

For more on the established process for purchasing land in Nauvoo, see Land Transaction with Jane Miller, 6 Mar. 1840.


He also implored them to be patient with his imperfections as well as those of other church leaders.
William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
recorded an account of the discourse in JS’s journal, presumably that same day. Clayton wrote that JS spoke to the group for a considerable amount of time and that he closed his remarks with a blessing.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Part of the discontent may have been related to the new immigrants’ difficulty in purchasing land due to the lack of wage-labor jobs in the city. In June 1842, JS and other church leaders held a meeting in Nauvoo to discuss the shortage of such employment for the large numbers of church members immigrating to the city from England. As a result, JS and Hyrum Smith wrote to Parley P. Pratt in England advising him to discourage the practice of one family member moving to Nauvoo from England with the plan of earning enough money to bring the rest of the family to the city at a later date. Writing nearly a year after JS delivered the featured discourse, Sally Randall wrote that upon arriving in Nauvoo, her first impression of the city was that “it is a hard place for poor people that have no money to get a living.” She added that “there is so many poor that depend on thare work for a liveing that they can hardley get enoughf to be comfortable.” (Letter to Parley P. Pratt and Others, 12 June 1842; Sally Randall, Nauvoo, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 6 Oct. 1843, typescript, Sally Randall, Letters, CHL.)

    Randall, Sally. Letters, 1843–1852. Typescript. CHL.

  2. [2]

    For example, Thomas Margretts left England for Nauvoo in February 1841. He and his family struggled financially in the weeks after their arrival and became critical of JS for the way land was sold to new arrivals. They left the church and returned to England by September 1841. Margretts reported to a newspaper there that “the legal title of the apostle [JS] to the land he was vending to his followers was very questionable” and that “they expected his right to the possession of Nauvoo would soon be disputed.” In a letter to church members in North America published in October 1841, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles clarified the nature of the church’s land dealings in and around Nauvoo and refuted claims that JS was enriching himself through the land dealings he conducted as sole trustee-in-trust. (U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Quarterly Abstracts of Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, reel 2, 16 Apr. 1842, entry for “Ship Echo”; “The ‘Latter-day Saint’ Swindle,” Preston [England] Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser, 18 Sept. 1841, [4], italics in original; Brigham Young et al., “An Epistle of the Twelve,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1841, 2:567–570.)

    U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Quarterly Abstracts of Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, 1820–1875. 17 rolls. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC.

    Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser. Preston, England. 1831–1893.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  3. [3]

    In May 1841, the Warsaw Signal reported that “great dissatisfaction exists at Nauvoo, amongst those who have lately arrived from England,” and that “some have left both the City and the Church—not believing, on the one hand, in the mission of the Prophet, and on the other, dissatisfied with the temporal government which is exercised over them.” In June 1841, the Times and Seasons responded to this report: “There may be individuals who feel dissatisfied, but it is far from being general. Those who have come expecting to find gold in our streets, and all the luxuries of an old country, will find themselves disappointed, but those who have maturely considered the advantages and disadvantages, are perfectly satisfied and contented, and cheerfully engage in cultivating the beautiful and wide spread prairie of the County.” (“The Mormons,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, 19 May 1841, [2]; “The Warsaw Signal,” Times and Seasons, 1 June 1841, 2:432.)

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 29 Oct. 1842.

  5. [5]

    For more on the established process for purchasing land in Nauvoo, see Land Transaction with Jane Miller, 6 Mar. 1840.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Discourse, 29 October 1842
Journal, December 1841–December 1842 History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 208

President Joseph spoke to them considerable, showing them the proper course to pursue and how to act in regard to making purchases of land &c. He showed them that it was generally in consequence of the brethren disobeying or disregarding council, that they became dissatisfied and murmered; and many when they arrived here were dissatisfied with the conduct of some of the saints because every thing was not done perfectly right, and they get mad and thus the devil gets advantage over them to destroy them.
1

In an 1841 proclamation directing the Saints to gather to Nauvoo, the First Presidency encouraged those who would soon travel to the city to temper their expectations. They urged them “to understand that, when they come here they must not expect to find perfection, or that all will be harmony, peace and love; if they indulge these ideas, they will undoubtedly be deceived for here there are persons, not only from different States, but from different nations, who, although they feel a great attachment to the cause of truth, have their prejudices of ed[u]cation, and consequently it requires some time before these things can be overcome.” (Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841.)


He said he was but a man and they must not expect him to be perfect; if they expected perfection from him, he should expect it from them, but if they would bear with his infirmities and the infirmities of the brethren, he would likewise bear with their infirmities.
2

See Romans 15:1.


He said, it was likely he would have again to hide up in the woods,
3

Earlier that month, JS hid at the home of James Taylor, approximately thirty miles northeast of Nauvoo, to avoid being arrested and extradited to Missouri. (JS, Journal, 7 Oct. 1842; Henderson Co., IL, Deeds, 1841–1893, vol. 1, p. 490, 17 Mar. 1844, microfilm 1,392,775, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

but they must not be discouraged but roll on the
city

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, the
Temple

Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...

More Info
&c. When his enemies took away his rights he would bear it and keep out of the way but “if they take away your rights I will fight for you.”
4

In a 15 August 1842 letter to JS, Nauvoo Legion major general Wilson Law wrote, “Our common rights and peace is all we ask and we will use every peaceable means in our power to enjoy these, but our rights we must have, peace we must have if we have to fight for them.” In his reply to Law the following day, JS wrote, “If I [k]new that they would oppress me alone, and let the rest of you dwell peaceably and quietly, I think It would be the wisest plan to absent myself for a little season if by that means we can prevent the profusion of blood.” (Letter from Wilson Law, 15 Aug. 1842, underlining in original; Letter to Wilson Law, 16 Aug. 1842.)


[p. 208]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 208

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, 29 October 1842
ID #
11910
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D11:188–190
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    In an 1841 proclamation directing the Saints to gather to Nauvoo, the First Presidency encouraged those who would soon travel to the city to temper their expectations. They urged them “to understand that, when they come here they must not expect to find perfection, or that all will be harmony, peace and love; if they indulge these ideas, they will undoubtedly be deceived for here there are persons, not only from different States, but from different nations, who, although they feel a great attachment to the cause of truth, have their prejudices of ed[u]cation, and consequently it requires some time before these things can be overcome.” (Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841.)

  2. [2]

    See Romans 15:1.

  3. [3]

    Earlier that month, JS hid at the home of James Taylor, approximately thirty miles northeast of Nauvoo, to avoid being arrested and extradited to Missouri. (JS, Journal, 7 Oct. 1842; Henderson Co., IL, Deeds, 1841–1893, vol. 1, p. 490, 17 Mar. 1844, microfilm 1,392,775, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  4. [4]

    In a 15 August 1842 letter to JS, Nauvoo Legion major general Wilson Law wrote, “Our common rights and peace is all we ask and we will use every peaceable means in our power to enjoy these, but our rights we must have, peace we must have if we have to fight for them.” In his reply to Law the following day, JS wrote, “If I [k]new that they would oppress me alone, and let the rest of you dwell peaceably and quietly, I think It would be the wisest plan to absent myself for a little season if by that means we can prevent the profusion of blood.” (Letter from Wilson Law, 15 Aug. 1842, underlining in original; Letter to Wilson Law, 16 Aug. 1842.)

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06