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Letter from Francis Gladden Bishop, 26 September 1843

Source Note

, Letter, Augusta, [probably in Hancock Co., IL], to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 26 Sept. 1843; handwriting of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, wafer seal, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 12⅛ × 7¾ inches (31 × 20 cm). The leaves are ruled horizontally with thirty-five printed blue lines. The author inscribed the letter on the first three pages of the bifolium and inscribed a postscript on the fourth. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The verso of the second leaf contains wafer residue. The letter was torn when opened, leaving a hole in the second leaf, which resulted in some loss of text. The letter was later refolded and docketed for filing.
The letter was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as temple recorder from 1842 to 1846. Another docket was inscribed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 18, 30–31.

    Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

    Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

  2. [2]

    “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  3. [3]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  4. [4]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 26 September 1843, former member wrote a letter to JS in , Illinois, explaining his “views of the work of the Lord in the last days” and seeking JS’s permission to be readmitted into the church. Bishop was excommunicated in March 1842, following nearly a decade of church membership fraught with controversy. He claimed to have had several supernatural encounters beginning in 1826. In an account published twenty-five years later, Bishop asserted that when he was sixteen years old, he was visited by several heavenly personages and that one of those personages, whom he identified as the “Ancient of Days” spoken of in Daniel 7, later gave him several sacred objects, including gold plates inscribed with the text of the Book of Mormon, the sword of Laban (an heirloom passed down among kings and prophets in the Book of Mormon), and two crowns. In the same account, Bishop stated that in 1832 a person of “God-like majesty” appeared to him, him a , and informed him that he should “yet lead the Church.”
Several months after joining the church, reportedly told members of the that he had been ordained to the by an from heaven. In September 1835, the preferred a charge against Bishop “for advancing heretical doctrines which were derogatory to the character of the church of the Latter Day Saints,” including the belief that “he might be one of the two, witnesses spoken of in the Prophets,” meaning the book of Revelation. Bishop “made a humble confession for his transgression” and asked for forgiveness from the council and the church.
Though was ordained to the Second Quorum of the in 1836 and embarked on several missions to the eastern during the late 1830s, his unconventional beliefs continued to stir controversy. In spring 1842, member reportedly heard Bishop “read to a few of his neighbors, something which he himself had written, illustrative of his Patriarchal blessing, and his Divine calling as the Branch, as sustained by the Prophesies.” In March 1842, Cahoon charged Bishop with “setting himself up as a prophet and Revelator to the Church” and with “improper course of conduct in meetings.” According to JS’s journal, the complaint was based on Bishop having “written & publishd or taught certain Revelations & doctrines not consistent with the Doctrine & Covenants of the Church.” During his trial before the Nauvoo , Bishop was induced to read some of his personal writings, in which he “claimed to be the Branch, and that he should yet lead the Church.” He also condemned anyone who “opposed him in his divine calling.” Apostle explained that Bishop’s “crime was so great in his Blaspheming God in his pretended revelations that Joseph the Seer said that nothing would excuse him in the sight of God & angels.” After deliberating on the matter, the high council voted unanimously to expel Bishop from the church. Following his excommunication, Bishop announced that he would sell his house and lot in Nauvoo in exchange for goods and cash or for property in “some adjoining town.” It is unclear if or when he sold his property, but it appears that he was living in a town named Augusta by the time he wrote the featured letter.
In his letter to JS, indicated that he had been “invited and solicited to be Baptized and join the church again” and asked whether JS would consent to him returning to fellowship. Much of Bishop’s letter is devoted to expressing his personal interpretation of biblical scripture, particularly verses from the books of Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation that discuss figures referred to as “the Ancient of Days,” “the Branch,” and the two witnesses that John the Revelator saw would be killed in Jerusalem before Christ’s second coming.
The letter’s lack of postage and a note in the address block referencing the “politeness of Mr. Warner” suggest that it was hand delivered by a courier. A docket in the handwriting of indicates that the letter was received by JS in . There is no known response, and no official action was taken to reconsider ’s fellowship in the church.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Formerly a Freewill Baptist preacher, Bishop was baptized into the church in New York in July 1832. (JS, Journal, 11 Mar. 1842; Saunders, Transcription of “Zion’s Messenger,” [7], 31; Francis Gladden Bishop, Nauvoo, IL, to “the President of the Quorum of High-priests,” 4 Feb. 1840, in Times and Seasons, Mar. 1840, 1:77.)

    Saunders, Richard LaVell. A Transcription of “Zion’s Messenger,” by Francis Gladden Bishop, Council Bluffs, Iowa, 1854. Logan, UT: No publisher, 1986.

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

  2. [2]

    See Daniel 7:9, 13, 22. One of JS’s published revelations identified “the ancient of days” as “Michael, or Adam, the father of all.” (Revelation, ca. Aug. 1835 [D&C 27:11].)

  3. [3]

    See, for example, Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 122, 149, and 152 [Jacob 1:10; Words of Mormon 1:13; and Mosiah 1:16].

  4. [4]

    Bishop, Address to the Sons and Daughters of Zion, 25–30.

    Bishop, Francis Gladden. An Address to the Sons and Daughters of Zion, Scattered Abroad, through All the Earth. Kirtland, OH: By the author, 1851.

  5. [5]

    “Although Dead, Yet He Speaketh,” Millennial Star, 20 Nov. 1846, 8:138–139.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  6. [6]

    Minutes, 28–29 Sept. 1835; see also Revelation 11:3–12. The apostles’ charge against Bishop stemmed from an investigation of his conduct while preaching in New England between 1833 and early 1835. In August 1835, the Twelve suspended his ecclesiastical license but apparently apprised him of his ability to appeal the judgment with the Kirtland high council.

  7. [7]

    Record of Seventies, 6, 8; JS, Journal, 3 and 7 Feb. 1836; Saunders, Francis Gladden Bishop, 64–78.

    Record of Seventies / First Council of the Seventy. “Book of Records,” 1837–1843. Bk. A. In First Council of the Seventy, Records, 1837–1885. CHL. CR 3 51, box 1, fd. 1.

    Saunders, Richard LaVell. “Francis Gladden Bishop and Gladdenism: A Study in the Culture of a Mormon Dissenter and His Movement.” Master’s thesis, Utah State University, 1989.

  8. [8]

    Saunders, Transcription of “Zion’s Messenger,” 34–35.

    Saunders, Richard LaVell. A Transcription of “Zion’s Messenger,” by Francis Gladden Bishop, Council Bluffs, Iowa, 1854. Logan, UT: No publisher, 1986.

  9. [9]

    Reynolds Cahoon, Complaint, Nauvoo, IL, 7 Mar. 1842, Nauvoo Stake High Council Papers, CHL.

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Papers, 1839–1844. CHL.

  10. [10]

    JS, Journal, 11 Mar. 1842.

  11. [11]

    Saunders, Transcription of “Zion’s Messenger,” 35.

    Saunders, Richard LaVell. A Transcription of “Zion’s Messenger,” by Francis Gladden Bishop, Council Bluffs, Iowa, 1854. Logan, UT: No publisher, 1986.

  12. [12]

    Woodruff, Journal, 11 Mar. 1842.

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

  13. [13]

    Minutes, 11 Mar. 1842; JS, Journal, 11 Mar. 1842.

  14. [14]

    “A Rare Chance, and the Only Vacancy on the Temple Block,” Wasp, 14 May 1842, [3].

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

  15. [15]

    Bishop had not paid taxes on his Nauvoo property by March 1843, which might signal that he either failed to sell his property there or abandoned it. (“List of Lands,” Warsaw [IL] Message, 18 Mar. 1843, [5].)

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

  16. [16]

    Bishop was probably living in Augusta, Illinois, which is located in the southeast corner of Hancock County. After leaving Nauvoo, Bishop apparently remained in Hancock County through at least early August 1842, when he ran for political office as a state representative from that county. It is also possible, though less likely, that Bishop was writing from Augusta Township, Iowa Territory, located approximately twenty miles north of Nauvoo in southern Des Moines County. The town was home to a sizable number of church members by 1843, and it is possible Bishop moved there despite being excommunicated from the church. (Pease, Illinois Election Returns, 1818–1848, 363; “Minutes of a Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1843, 4:159; Woodruff, Journal, 29 Apr. 1843.)

    Pease, Theodore Calvin, ed. Illinois Election Returns, 1818–1848. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923.

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

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

Page [1]

Augusta, Sep 26th, 1843.
To the prophet and of the
Honoured and dear Sir—— as you by divine appointment are placed over the church to instruct and oversee it, I have considered that you certainly in preference to any other person should be addressed upon any Subject in connexion with the church or the Fulness of the Gospel; I therefore although I have been rejected and cast out of the church as unworthy [of] your confidence, yet not feeling Satisfied in my heart, and with the fear of our Lord before me, not desiring nor daring to act contrary to his will, once more and perhaps for the last time crave your attention: and I would hereby inform you that my faith and zeal in the Fulness of the Gospel is not in the least diminished, and although I am exiled from , yet I look upon her as the home of my fathers family, and where I desire in my heart to dwell: but in bonds, and in exile as I am, that hope I cannot enjoy; and although I ardentely desire to lift my voice again among the Saints, as an humble advocate and defender of the truth; yet that humble privilege is denied me Situated as I now am. It is true I have been invited and solicited to be and join the church again; yet considering your decision upon me, as not only excomminicated from the church, but so to remain, as I undertstand, until the day of the coming of the Lord Jesus from Heaven; I of course declined, and considered that to attempt to Join the church again without consulting yourself, would be in me a dishonorable act, I therefore have taken the liberty to address you upon this subject, and to open my soul before you, that you may understand that I am no enemy but a well wisher to the cause of Zion; and I also beg your patience and clemency, while I express my deep conviction that my work is not yet finished in Zion: [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Francis Gladden Bishop, 26 September 1843
ID #
1168
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:123–128
Handwriting on This Page
  • Gladden Bishop

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Francis Gladden Bishop’s parents, Isaac Gates and Mary Hyde Bishop, as well as other members of his family, were baptized in New York in 1833. Isaac and Mary, as well as their son Isaac H. Bishop, lived near Springfield, Illinois, during this time; his sister, Anna Marie Bishop Brim, lived in Macedonia (Ramus), Illinois. (Brim, “Journal of Anna Maria Bishop Brim,” 2, 4–5, typescript, Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City.)

    Brim, Anna Maria Bishop. "Journal of Anna Maria Bishop Brim," 21 Mar. 1882. Typescript. Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City.

  2. [2]

    Wilford Woodruff noted in his journal that during the trial, JS indicated that Bishop had committed an “unpardonable Sin ownly because he was a fool & had not sens sufficient for the Holy Ghost to enlighten him.” JS’s journal states that JS “gave a very clear elucedation of the tendency of such Propets & propecyings & gave Mr Bishop over to the Buffetings of Satan until he shall learn wisdom.” (Woodruff, Journal, 11 Mar. 1842; JS, Journal, 11 Mar. 1842.)

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

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