TEXT: The ampersand in “&c.” is either italicized or set in a different font.

A later history of Oakland County named “Mr. Davy, a local preacher” as one of the first members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church. (Durant and Peirce, History of Oakland County, Michigan, 290.)

Durant, Samuel W., and H. B. Peirce. History of Oakland County, Michigan. With Illustrations Descriptive of Its Scenery, Palatial Residences, Public Buildings, Fine Blocks, and Important Manufactories, from Original Sketches by Artists of the Highest Ability. Philadelphia: L. H. Everts, 1877.

During this period, when oratory was central to the promulgation of ideas, Latter-day Saint elders, like other Christian missionaries, often gave public lectures and engaged in public debates as part of their proselytizing efforts. (See, for example, Letter from Eli Maginn, 1 and 3 May 1842. For more on nineteenth-century oratory, see Clark and Halloran, Oratorical Culture in Nineteenth-Century America, 1–26; and Ljungquist, “Lectures and the Lyceum Movement,” 330–347.)

Clark, Gregory, and S. Michael Halloran, eds. Oratorical Culture in Nineteenth-Century America: Transformations in the Theory and Practice of Rhetoric. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1993.

Ljungquist, Kent P. “Lectures and the Lyceum Movement.” In Oxford Handbook of Transcendentalism, edited by Joel Myerson, Sandra Harbert Petrulionis, and Laura Dassow Walls, 330–347. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Royal Oak Township, located about ten miles north of Detroit, had a population of approximately 825 in 1839. (Blois, Gazetteer of the State of Michigan, 354.)

Blois, John T. Gazetteer of the State of Michigan, in Three Parts, Containing a General View of the State. . . . Detroit: Sydney L. Rood, 1839.

William Burton’s journal confirms that on 23 May “Sirrine held a discussion, upon the Book of Mormon.” Crandell Dunn also mentioned a debate at Royal Oak between Sirrine and a Methodist minister, although he reported that the debate took place on 1 July. Dunn might have misdated the debate or had a different debate in mind. (Burton, Journal, May 1842–Oct. 1843, 4; Dunn, Journal, vol. 1, p. 7.)

Burton, Wiliam. Journals, 1839–1840, 1841–1846, 1848, 1850–1851. William Burton, Papers, ca. 1837– 1851. CHL.

Dunn, Crandell. Journals, 1842–1858, 1878–1880, 1881–1882. Crandell Dunn, Papers, 1842– 1895. CHL.

See Daniel 2:45; see also Revelation, 30 Oct. 1831 [D&C 65:2]; and Minutes and Prayer of Dedication, 27 Mar. 1836 [D&C 109:72].

See Revelation, 16 Apr. 1830 [D&C 22:1].

When this letter was printed in the Times and Seasons, the editorial staff appear to have misspelled Sirrine’s surname. Unfortunately, there are no extant documents from Sirrine to confirm the spelling of his surname. Sirrine’s second wife, Rachel, spelled the name with an i after the S, rather than an e, indicating that likely was the proper spelling. (Rachel Gillett Sirrine, Honey Creek, IA, to “Dear Mother and Dear Hannah,” 4 July 1848, CHL; see also JS History, vol. E-1, 1685.)

Sirrine, Rachel. Letter, Honey Creek, IA, to “Dear Mother and Dear Hannah,” 4 July 1838. CHL. MS 6802.