Footnotes
See John Smith, Journal, 1833–1841.
Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1.
“Historian’s Office Catalogue 1858,” 7, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; Notation, 31 Aug. 1858, in John Smith, Journal, 1846–1854, 106. The journal is not listed in earlier Historian’s Office inventories.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1.
Footnotes
Franklin D. Richards, Walnut Grove, IL, to Levi Richards, West Stockbridge, MA, 21 July 1840, CHL.
Richards, Franklin D. Letter, Walnut Grove, IL, to Levi Richards, East Stockbridge, MA, 21 July 1840. CHL.
The tradition of holding monthly fast and prayer meetings on Thursdays began in Kirtland, Ohio. (Woodruff, Journal, 23 Mar. and 20 Apr. 1837; Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 8 Dec. 1867, 12:115.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.
John Smith, Journal, 1840–1841, 30 July 1840. Although the week of 30 July included heavy rains on Sunday and Monday, as well as rising temperatures, this entreaty to God to “pasify the elements” seems to relate specifically to the presence of malaria in Nauvoo. (John Smith, Journal, 1840–1841, 26–27 July 1840.)
Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1.
The dominant understanding of the spread of malaria was miasma theory, which included the idea that “the decomposition of vegetable or animal matter” produced vapors that in turn spread the disease. Certain locations, such as the swampy lowlands on the banks of the Mississippi River, were thought to breed such miasma. (“Westminster Medical Society,” 849–851; see also Gunnison, Mormons, 117.)
“Westminster Medical Society, Saturday, February 23rd, 1839.” Lancet 1 (2 Mar. 1839): 849–851.
Gunnison, J. W. The Mormons; or, Latter-day Saints, in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake: A History of Their Rise and Progress, Peculiar Doctrines, Present Condition, and Prospects, Derived from Personal Observation during a Residence among Them. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, 1852.
Ivie and Heiner, “Deaths in Early Nauvoo,” 165.
Ivie, Evan L., and Douglas C. Heiner. “Deaths in Early Nauvoo, 1839–46, and Winter Quarters, 1846–48.” Religious Educator 10, no. 3 (2009): 163–173.
Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839; John Smith, Journal, 1840–1841, 28 July 1840.
Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1.
See James 5:14. Elders had attempted to heal the sick during the previous summer. JS’s journal acknowledged there was “great success” in ministering to the sick in July 1839. According to Joseph Noble’s recollection, however, some elders apparently “administer[ed] the form without the power,” leading JS to rebuke them: “Let the Elders either obtain the power of God to heal the sick, or let them cease to administer the form without the power.” (JS, Journal, 22–23 July 1839; Joseph B. Noble, “Early Scenes in Church History,” Juvenile Instructor, 15 May 1880, 112; see also JS, Journal, 21 July 1839; and Pratt, Autobiography, 325.)
Noble, Joseph B. “Early Scenes in Church History.” Juvenile Instructor, 15 May 1880, 112.
Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.