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Elders’ Journal, October 1837

Source Note

Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints, , Geauga Co., OH, Oct. 1837.
Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints (, Geauga Co., OH, and , Caldwell Co., MO), vol. 1, nos. 1–2, Oct.–Nov. 1837, and nos. 3–4, July–Aug. 1838; nos. 1–2 edited by JS (in ) and nos. 3–4 edited by JS (in ).
Each monthly issue featured sixteen octavo pages that measured 10⅛ × 6⅛ inches (26 × 16 cm). Each page was printed in two columns, with each column 2⅛ inches (5 cm) wide.
The copy used for transcription was bound at a later, unknown date with three volumes of an earlier Mormon newspaper—the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate—in a stamped brown leather binding with decorative gold tooling on the covers and spine. The spine also contains two gold-tooled inscriptions: “MESSENGER | & | ADVOCATE” and “W. WOODRUFF.” The pages were trimmed to 9⅛ × 5½ inches (23 × 14 cm) and the edges and endpaper feature a marbled pattern in blue, tan, red, and yellow. The bound volume measures 9½ × 6 × 1⅜ inches (2 × 15 × 3 cm). It includes marginalia and archival notations and is held at the Church History Library. The bound volume belonged to , though at least some of the loose issues of the Messenger and Advocate originally belonged to Ezra Carter, Woodruff’s father-in-law. After Woodruff’s death, the volume passed to his daughter, Clara Woodruff Beebe, who inscribed her name on a flyleaf and pasted on the inside of the front cover a book plate containing her name. The volume entered the custody of the Church Historian’s Office before June 1964, when pencil markings on a flyleaf indicate the volume was accessed by office staff.

Historical Introduction

In the August 1837 issue of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, a prospectus announced that a new publication, the Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints, would replace the Messenger and Advocate as the church’s newspaper. The prospectus, written by , informed readers that JS would act as editor for the new , Ohio, periodical, which was owned by of the . The first issue of the Elders’ Journal likely appeared sometime in mid- to late October.
By establishing the new periodical, leaders were trying to steer the church’s monthly publication toward a focus on missionary labors. After taking over as editor of the Messenger and Advocate in February 1837, printed lengthy editorials and articles on history and philosophy, devoting less space to missionary work. By September 1837, the Messenger and Advocate had finished its volume run, and a “large body of the of the church” established the Elders’ Journal as a new monthly publication. In the August prospectus, Rigdon called attention to the intended focus on missionary efforts in the and , writing that the new paper was to be “a vehicle of communication for all the elders of the church . . . through which they can communicate to others, all things pertaining to their mission.” By featuring letters from missionaries, the paper would also inform church members of “the progress of the work.”
Assuming editorial control of a new church publication was one of the ways in which JS and other church leaders could limit dissent in . During his time as editor, had occasionally used the columns of the Messenger and Advocate to criticize JS. In a July 1837 editorial, Cowdery asserted: “Whenever a people have unlimited confidence in a civil or eclesiastical rule or rulers, who are but men like themselves, and begin to think they can do no wrong, they increase their tyrany, and oppression. . . . Who does not see a principle of popery and religious tyrany involved in such and order of things?” Cowdery’s editorial echoed the sentiment of other church dissenters who had in previous months expressed similar dissatisfaction with JS’s leadership and his control over spiritual and temporal matters. Several months later, JS informed readers of the Elders’ Journal that the new paper would “pursue a different course from that of our predecessor in the editorial department.” He continued, “We will endeavor not to scandalize our own citizens, especially when there is no foundation in truth for so doing.”
Although JS was listed as editor of the Elders’ Journal, his role in editing the subject matter in the October 1837 issue is unclear, since he was away from from 27 September until approximately 10 December. It is possible that he edited some content before leaving Kirtland, but it is more likely that his younger brother , who was acting temporarily as editor in his absence, authored the editorial sections. Because JS was ultimately responsible for the content of the Elders’ Journal and did in fact author editorials in subsequent issues of the paper, these selections are featured as JS documents.
Note that only the editorial content created specifically for this issue of the Elders’ Journal is annotated here. Articles reprinted from other papers, letters, conference minutes, and notices, are reproduced here but not annotated. Items that are stand-alone JS documents, such as the letter from Wilford Woodruff and Jonathan H. Hale, are annotated elsewhere.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1837, 3:545–547; also reprinted as Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1837, 3:571–574. Marsh had worked at a Boston type foundry for several years in the 1820s. He then acted as proprietor of the Kirtland-era Elders’ Journal while living in Missouri. Publishers of the new newspaper apparently rented the Kirtland printing office and press from William Marks. According to a statement in the April Messenger and Advocate, JS and Sidney Rigdon transferred ownership of the printing office and its contents to Marks in April 1837, though they apparently acted as his agents following the transfer. (“T B Marsh,” [1], Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861, CHL; Masthead, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:496; Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1837, 3:545–547; Elders’ Journal, Oct. 1837.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

    Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.

    Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.

  2. [2]

    See LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb.–July 1837, 3:449–544. The March 1837 issue of the Messenger and Advocate, for example, included a two-page article on the philosophy of religion, one page on the history of ancient Egypt, and several other articles with titles such as “The Causes of Human Misery,” “Philosophy and Consistency,” and “Duties of Masters and Apprentices.” (LDS Messenger and Advocate, Mar. 1837, 3:472–474.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  3. [3]

    Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1837, 3:545; “Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:496. JS and other leaders may have seen October as a logical time to make this transition, given that the third volume of the Messenger and Advocate was coming to a close in September. The first volume (twelve issues in total) had run from October 1834 to September 1835, the second from October 1835 to September 1836, and the third from October 1836 to September 1837. (“Address,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:1; Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1837, 3:571.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  4. [4]

    Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1837, 3:545–547. The prospectus further asserted that the new periodical would be a vehicle to “transmit to succeeding generations an account of their religion, and a history of their travels, and of the reception which they met with in the nations.” The October and November 1837 issues of the Elders’ Journal did in fact consist primarily of such communications. (Elders’ Journal, Oct. 1837, 1–16; Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 17–32.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

    Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.

  5. [5]

    Around the same time the Elders’ Journal prospectus appeared in the Messenger and Advocate, several church leaders were removed from their positions by a conference of church members for dissenting against JS and the church. In a 4 September letter addressed to John Corrill and the church in Missouri, JS also singled out particular church leaders who he asserted had been in “transgression.” (Minutes, 3 Sept. 1837; Letter to John Corrill and the Church in Missouri, 4 Sept. 1837.)

  6. [6]

    Editorial, LDS Messenger and Advocate, July 1837, 3:538.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  7. [7]

    See Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 23 May 1837; and Charges against JS Preferred to Bishop’s Council, 29 May 1837.

  8. [8]

    Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 27.

  9. [9]

    JS to “the Saints Scattered Abroad,” in Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 27; Thomas B. Marsh to Wilford Woodruff, in Elder’s Journal, July 1838, 37; Vilate Murray Kimball, Kirtland, OH, to Heber C. Kimball, Preston, England, 19–24 Jan. 1838, Heber C. Kimball, Collection, CHL.

    Kimball, Heber C. Collection, 1837–1898. CHL. MS 12476.

  10. [10]

    An addendum to a 7 August 1841 entry in JS’s history indicates, “On the commencement of the publication of the Elders Journal in Kirtland, he [Don Carlos Smith] took the control of the establishment until the office was destroyed by fire in December 1837.” (JS History, vol. C-1 Addenda, 12.)

  11. [11]

    See Travel Account and Questions, Nov. 1837.

  12. [12]

    See “Editorial Method”.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Elders’ Journal, October 1837 *Elders’ Journal, October 1837 *Letter from Wilford Woodruff and Jonathan H. Hale, 18 September 1837 *Elders’ Journal, October 1837

Page 5

our hands on , and rebuked the evil spirits, in the name of Jesus Christ; and immediately he recovered his strength in part, so as to get up; the sweat began to roll from him most powerfully, and he was almost as wet as if he had been taken out of the water, we could very sensibly hear the evil spirits rage and foam out their shame. was quite weak for a day or two after: it seems that the devils are determined to destroy us, and prevent the truth from being declared in .” The devil was mad because I was a going to baptize, and he wanted to destroy me, that I should not do those things the Lord sent me to do. We had a great struggle to deliver ourselves from his hands; when they left Br. Russel they pitched upon me, and when they left me they fell upon ; for we could hear them gnash their teeth upon us.—Eight days after we got here, we held a counsel: Br. Goodson and , went to Bedford: elders Russel and [John] Snider, went North, about one hundred miles: , and stayed at , it is a large place; there is betwixt fifty and sixty thousand inhabitants; and the most poor people that I ever saw. There are 55 now baptized, and it is as much as they can do to live, there is not more than one or two that could lodge us over night if they should try; and in fact there are some that have not a bed to sleep on themselves; and this is the situation of most of the people in this place, and it is so in the country; we cannot travel the streets without meeting beggars half naked, this gives me feelings that I do not like.
We have to live quite short, but the brethren are very kind to us, they are willing to divide with us the last they have, they are quite ignorant, many of them cannot read a word and it needs great care to teach them the gospel so that they can understand; the people here are bound down under priestcraft in a manner I never saw before: they have to pay tithes to the priests of every tenth they raise; so that they cannot lay up one cent; they are in the same situation the children of Israel were in Egypt: they have their taskmasters over them to bind them down; it will be as great a miracle to deliver this people, as it was the children of Israel.
There are a great many believing ing in ; we are baptising almost every day. The Rev. Mr. —— is like to lose all his members, and the priests are mad, but they are afraid of us, and durst not come near us.
You stated in your letter that some of the twelve were coming to next spring, and you say they are calculating to bring their wifes with them; this I have no objections to, but if they come they had better bring money to support themselves; I think they had better take up with Br. Joseph’s advice, and leave their wifes at home, for if they bring them here, they will repent the day they do it, I do not wish to bring my to this place to suffer, if they could see the misery that I do they would not think of such a thing, the Savior says, “he that is not willing to leave father and mother, and wife and children, brothers and sisters, houses and lands for my sake and the gospel, are not worthy of me.” We have had our own hired house, since we have been here, and bought our own provisions; we do not eat but one meal at home, for the brethren invite us to eat dinner and supper with them.
You stated that our brethren thought of appointing a conference in next spring, but we know not what will happen before that time; we know not how long we shall be here; if we come home next summer, we shall come before they can get here. The Lord says “take no thought for the morrow” and this is the way I feel at present, I commit myself into his hands, that, I may always be ready to go at his command; I desire to be content with whatever situation I am placed in.
The 2nd week after I came here, a minister’s daughter came in where I was, and I commenced preaching to her the words of life, she seemed to listen with great attention to me; I told her I was going to preach in the evening, she said she would come and hear me, she did so, and the next night she came again, and the next morning she sent for me to come and baptize her; accordingly I went and baptized her; this was on friday morning, and on Saturday she started for home: she wanted me to come to her father’s house, for she thought her father would open his chapel for me to preach in; I told her if there was a door open, I would come. She appeared very intel [p. 5]
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Editorial Title
Elders’ Journal, October 1837
ID #
8531
Total Pages
16
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