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Letter from John E. Page, 1–2 March 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , to JS and the , , Hancock Co., IL, 1–2 Mar. 1844; handwriting and signature of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamp, dockets, and notations.
Bifolium measuring 11⅝ × 7½ inches (30 × 19 cm). The letter was written on all four pages. It was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a wafer. There is a remnant of the wafer and a small tear on the fourth page where the letter was opened, resulting in a loss of text on the third page. The document was later refolded for filing.
The document was inscribed with a filing notation in unidentified handwriting that was revised by , who served as the church recorder from October 1841 to July 1843. The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. Another docket was inscribed by Jonathan Grimshaw, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1856. The document may have been listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early filing notation and dockets, its possible listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841; JS, Journal, 30 July 1843.

  2. [2]

    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.

  3. [3]

    Historian’s Office, Journal, 7 June 1853; Wilford Woodruff, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 30 Aug. 1856, in Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 364.

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

    Historian’s Office. Letterpress Copybooks, 1854–1879, 1885–1886. CHL. CR 100 38.

  4. [4]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL. There are two extant 1844 letters from Page but this inventory lists only one.

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

  5. [5]

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

Historical Introduction

On 1 and 2 March 1844, apostle wrote a letter from to JS and the in , Illinois, reporting on his activity in the nation’s capital. A few months earlier, in November 1843, —who was the president of the Quorum of the Twelve—had instructed Page to leave , where he had been proselytizing, and “build up a church in the city of Washington for it is expedient and absolutely necessary that we have a foot hold in that popular city.” Page arrived in Washington DC on 17 February 1844 and began preaching.
On 1 March, started a letter to inform JS and the Quorum of the Twelve of his boarding arrangements, proselytizing efforts, and meetings with politicians and newspaper editors in the capital. He also commented on the presence of in the city, where he and some of his disciples were preaching that the second coming of Jesus Christ was imminent. The next day, Page added a few more paragraphs to his letter. In this addition, he asked JS and to reply with advice on strengthening the in , mentioned speeches given in the Senate about the nation’s policy concerning the , and reflected on his efforts to soften his preaching style.
addressed the letter to . According to the postmark, he mailed the letter from on 2 March. JS and the Quorum of the Twelve presumably received Page’s letter in mid- or late March. It is unknown if either JS or Young replied to this letter.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, to John E. Page, [Boston, MA], 25 Nov. 1843, copy, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; see also Revelation, ca. 25 Nov. 1843.

    Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

  2. [2]

    In 1844 mail sent from Washington DC often arrived in Nauvoo within three weeks. (See, for example, Historical Introduction to Letter from Orson Hyde, 25 Apr. 1844.)

Page [2]

time must determin <​I​> have delivered five lectures at first I had about one dozen hearers and my congregation have been rapidly increasing ever since last evening I had about sixty to hear me and as it has happened many of my friends that I have formed are among the Printers and some of their wives at my first meeting the rude boys undertook to make a noise and thus to disturb my meeting a lady by the name of Grear a printers wife like like an intripid galant soldier arrose from her seat with and are [air] of great resilution and firmness to her purpos, and went out night as it was and dispersed them and lo! and behold some of the boys was men or rather anamils in the shape of men— Old is here with his clicque some of them are the same I met in they are makeing quite a nois but as it is hapening it is only a noise as far as I have been heard I have had the unspeakable pleasure to redeem the people and quiet the minds of the people on that point <​concerning​> the advent of Christ my two last lectures were on that subject and my hearers consider me to be such a perfect quietus to Millerism they are very anxous for me to ocupy the “Apolo Hall—” the place where and his clique now are gabbleing to the people; and I think my friends will effect the enterprize of geting the Hall for me on purpos to prove the positive scripture certainty that Isreal and Judah must be gathered and the house of Joseph must be restored first before Christ makes his second advent, the Apolo Hall will cost eight dollars per day at least I hear that the Millerites Pay that sum for the use of it— so you see dear bretheren I have nothing to dishearten me but every thing considered I have at least something to incourage me at the present.
I have had a very agreable interview with the Honable Mr the Representative from he treated me with attention and politeness— he profeses to me to be a friend to the and speaks very respectfull of Gen. Smith meaning President Joseph Smith but still I make all proper allowances relative to Self intrest by which he may be actuated so I touch him carefully and trust but little to his care or charge that belongs to my intrest [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John E. Page, 1–2 March 1844
ID #
1656
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • John E. Page

Footnotes

  1. [3]

    This line is likely a reference to the wife of printer William Greer, who printed a newspaper in Washington DC called Kendall’s Expositor. (Masthead, Kendall’s Expositor [Washington DC], 5 Mar. 1844, 65; “Newspaper Cemetery,” Evening Star [Washington DC], 16 Dec. 1902, part 5, p. 10.)

    Kendall’s Expositor. Washington DC. 1841–1845.

    Evening Star. Washington DC. 1854–1972.

  2. [4]

    Miller was a Baptist preacher who maintained that a careful study of the Bible showed that the second advent of Jesus Christ would occur in or before 1844. Miller did not claim the gift of prophecy but calculated the date of the Second Coming based on his interpretations of various numerical periods and measurements in the book of Daniel. His views became widely known after he published Evidence from Scripture and History of the Second Coming of Christ, about the Year 1843 in 1836, and his premillennial message was accepted by thousands of Christians in the early 1840s. Though Miller affirmed many times that he had never set a precise date for the second coming of Christ, many Millerites predicted that the event would occur during specific days or times in 1843 and then in 1844. JS found no validity in Miller’s claims and, the year before, had told some young male visitors in Nauvoo of the “fallacey of Mr [William] Millers data. concerni[n]g the Millnim [Millennium].” (Doan, Miller Heresy, 31–33, 44–48; William Miller, Evidence from Scripture and History of the Second Coming of Christ, about the Year 1843: Exhibited in a Course of Lectures [Troy, NY: Kemble and Hooper, 1836]; “The Time of the End,” Christian Secretary, 13 Jan. 1843, [3]; “The Christian Secretary,” Christian Secretary, 27 Jan. 1843, [3]; “The Time of the End,” Signs of the Times, 4 Jan. 1843, 121; “The Christian Secretary,” Signs of the Times, 18 Jan. 1843, 141; JS, Journal, 12 Feb. 1843; see also “Spring,” Vermont Chronicle [Windsor], 5 Apr. 1843, 55; and Stuart, Hints on the Interpretation of Prophecy, 172–173.)

    Doan, Ruth Alden. The Miller Heresy, Millennialism, and American Culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1987.

    Miller, William. Evidence from Scripture and History of the Second Coming of Christ, about the Year 1843; Exhibited in a Course of Lectures. Troy, NY: Kemble and Hooper, 1836.

    Christian Secretary. Hartford, CT. 1838–1896.

    Signs of the Times and Expositor of Prophecy. Boston. 1840–1844.

    Vermont Chronicle. Bellows Falls, VT. 1826–1828; Windsor, VT. 1828–1862.

    Stuart, Moses. Hints on the Interpretation of Prophecy. 2nd ed. Andover, MA: Allen, Morrill, and Wardwell, 1842.

  3. [5]

    See Isaiah 11:12; and Jeremiah 31:6–9. An 1831 revelation explained that the gathering of Israel would occur before the second coming of Jesus Christ. (Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831 [D&C 133:17–35].)

  4. [6]

    JS was the lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion, an independent unit of the Illinois state militia.

  5. [7]

    In 1843 Latter-day Saints voted overwhelmingly for Hoge over his Whig opponent, Cyrus Walker. (JS, Journal, 5–7 Aug. 1843.)

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