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 > 

Jubilee Songs, between 11 and 18 January 1843

Source Note

[, ], and , Jubilee Songs [Nauvoo, IL: Taylor and Woodruff, between 11 and 18 Jan. 1843]; one page. Includes docket. The copy used for transcription is held at CHL.
Unevenly cut broadside measuring 12¼ × 9–9¼ inches (31 × 23 cm). The printed text block is bordered by a printed floral design. The broadside was later folded and docketed for filing.
The docket is of the title and the composition date of the first printed poem and is in unidentified handwriting—presumably that of an early church clerk. The date may be in the handwriting of , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. The document was in the possession of the Church Historical Department (now CHL) by 1987, when it was cataloged. Its early docketing and later cataloging suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  2. [2]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Jubilee Songs: Part First / [Wilson Law and Willard Richards]; Part Second / E. R. Snow, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

In mid-January 1843, JS apparently commissioned a compilation of songs to be printed in , Illinois. On 5 January, JS’s hearing in , Illinois, concluded with the verdict that the requisition to extradite JS was defective and void—thus ending the threat of extradition. JS returned to Nauvoo on 10 January, and the next day he began planning a party to celebrate his recent legal victory. At the party, held on 18 January, JS personally distributed a broadside containing the lyrics of two songs. later recounted that the broadside was “printed for the occasion,” which suggests that JS commissioned it at some point between 11 January, when he began planning the party, and the morning of 18 January, when he distributed it at the event.
Although the first of the two songs is printed without attribution, it was written by and on 7 January while they and the others traveling with JS were on the road between and ’s tavern in Morgan County, Illinois. According to JS’s journal, the song was “sung repeatedly during the evining” on the night of their stay with Dutch. The song was apparently a favorite of those in the company, as they sang it again on 8, 9, and 10 January, including when the procession arrived at JS’s home in . , an accomplished Latter-day Saint poet, wrote the second of the two songs found on the broadside sometime between JS’s return to Nauvoo and the 18 January party. The songs were sung to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne” or “There’s Nae Luck about the House,” with the first song even borrowing its opening lyrics from “There’s Nae Luck about the House.” Both songs recounted the trial, celebrated JS’s legal victory, and praised the individuals who had helped JS achieve it.
Though it is unclear precisely when wrote her song or when JS commissioned the broadside, the began preparing the songs for publication in a Nauvoo newspaper by 14 January 1843 and probably earlier. On the day of the celebration, the guests—around fifty in number—arrived at JS’s home at ten o’clock in the morning, and sometime before noon JS distributed the broadsides containing the songs. The guests then sang the two songs to begin the formal celebration. In his journal, noted that the songs were “vary appropriate to the occasion.” similarly wrote that after singing, “the company was very cheerful and truly it was a time of Jubilee; all hearts rejoiced.”
The broadsides were apparently commissioned for JS’s celebration, but their circulation was not limited to the party attendees. The 21 January 1843 issue of the Wasp described the contents of the broadside and advertised that copies were “for sale at the .” Still, it does not appear that the broadside was widely circulated, although the two songs independently reached a much broader audience after the newspapers published them using the same typesetting as the broadside. and ’s song was intended for publication by the Illinois State Register, but it appeared only in the Wasp. ’s poem was republished in both the Wasp and the Times and Seasons in mid-February. On 8 March 1843, the New York Herald reprinted extracts from the Times and Seasons that included Snow’s song, describing it as one of “the most curious things in the literature of the day.” It is unclear whether the featured copy of the broadside was one JS distributed to his party guests or was one sold in the printing office.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Invitation to Wilson and Elizabeth Sikes Law, 11 Jan. 1843.

  2. [2]

    Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 18 Jan. 1843, 9.

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 7 Jan. 1843; “Jubilee Songs,” Wasp, 21 Jan. 1843, [2].

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 8–10 Jan. 1843.

  5. [5]

    “There’s Nae Luck about the House,” st. 1, l. 1, in Turnbull and Buchan, Garland of Scotia, 56.

    Turnbull, John, and Patrick Buchan. The Garland of Scotia; A Musical Wreath of Scottish Song, with Description and Historical Notes, Adapted for the Voice, Flute, Violin, &c. Glasgow, Scotland: William Mitchison, 1841.

  6. [6]

    The 14 January 1843 issue of the Wasp included the song by Law and Richards with the same typesetting that was later used for the broadside. (“The Mormon Jubilee,” Wasp, 14 Jan. 1843, [1]; Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:214.)

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

    Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

  7. [7]

    JS, Journal, 18 Jan. 1843; Woodruff, Journal, 18 Jan. 1843; Clayton, Journal, 18 Jan. 1843.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  8. [8]

    Woodruff, Journal, 18 Jan. 1843.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  9. [9]

    Clayton, Journal, 18 Jan. 1843. The attendees continued to talk and read various letters and newspaper articles until two o’clock in the afternoon, when they sat down to eat, with JS and Emma Smith waiting tables. The party continued until around six in the evening. (JS, Journal, 18 Jan. 1843; Woodruff, Journal, 18 Jan. 1843; Clayton, Journal, 18 Jan. 1843.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  10. [10]

    “Jubilee Songs,” Wasp, 21 Jan. 1843, [2].

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

  11. [11]

    A draft copy of the song in Richards’s handwriting specified that it was “for the State Registr.” (“The Mormons Farewell,” JS Office Papers, CHL.)

  12. [12]

    Eliza R. Snow, “Jubilee Song,” Wasp, 8 Feb. 1843, [1]; “Jubilee Song,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1843, 4:96. Although the Times and Seasons issue was dated 1 February 1843, it was printed sometime around 15 February. (See Historical Introduction to Poem to William W. Phelps, between ca. 1 and ca. 15 Feb. 1843.)

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

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

  13. [13]

    “Highly Important and Curious from Nauvoo, the Capital of the Mormon Empire,” New York Herald (New York City), 8 Mar. 1843, [2]; see also Poem to William W. Phelps, between ca. 1 and ca. 15 Feb. 1843.

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

Page [2]

[page [2] blank] [p. [2]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [2]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Jubilee Songs, between 11 and 18 January 1843
ID #
10742
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D11:335–344
Handwriting on This Page

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