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Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 7 May 1831

Source Note

, Letter, , MO, to “Our dearly beloved Brethren” [ and other church members, including JS], [, OH], 7 May 1831. Featured version copied [between ca. 27 Nov. 1832 and ca. Jan. 1833] in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 12–13; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 1.

Historical Introduction

wrote this letter in response to one he received from the church in , Ohio. The opening of Cowdery’s letter, the last of three surviving letters he sent from to church leaders in , addresses “dearly beloved Brethren.” Since Cowdery was aware of JS’s recent move to the Kirtland area, JS was almost certainly one of the intended recipients. However, the table of contents to JS’s Letterbook 1, inscribed by , indicates that was the original addressee, likely the result of an earlier decision to utilize Whitney’s franking privilege.
The historical background for this letter was the conflict between and Indian agent Richard W. Cummins, who had prevented Cowdery and his missionary companions from preaching on Indian lands because they did not have the required authorization. In mid-February, left the , Missouri, area, likely carrying the 14 February letter Cowdery penned to superintendent of Indian affairs in , requesting such an official permit. Clark was not in St. Louis when Pratt arrived, and Pratt continued on his journey toward . While awaiting Pratt’s return with a permit to reenter Indian lands, the other missionaries apparently confined their work to proselytizing among settlers living in .
In the 7 May 1831 letter featured here, expresses an expectation that , who had already been traveling for nearly three months, would soon return. Delays in communication between and meant that Cowdery had no more knowledge of Pratt’s activities in May than he had when he wrote to the Ohio church leaders a month earlier, on 8 April. The most recent letter to Cowdery from church leaders in Ohio evidently gave no news of Pratt, so it was almost certainly written before Pratt’s arrival in . Cowdery had received a letter from Pratt while Pratt was in on his way to Ohio, and when he wrote this 7 May letter, he apparently assumed that Pratt had already arrived in Kirtland. Pratt had in fact been delayed on his way to Kirtland by bad weather and a severe bout with the measles, and it is unlikely he reached Kirtland before late March. In any case, he had arrived at least by the first week of May: on the same day that Cowdery penned the letter featured here, 7 May, JS dictated a revelation instructing Pratt to preach to the Shaker settlement north of Kirtland, which delayed Pratt’s return to Missouri. While that assignment ultimately lasted only two days, he did not return to Missouri until September.
Though ’s earlier letter indicated that the missionaries hoped would return with permission from Superintendent to preach in Indian Territory, the missionaries apparently never received such a permit, and they did not continue the mission. They did, however, remain in Missouri and were on hand when JS and other church elders arrived during summer 1831 in accordance with the 6 June revelation.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    The other two surviving letters are Oliver Cowdery, Independence, MO, to the Church in Ohio, 29 Jan. 1831, in Letter to Hyrum Smith, 3–4 March 1831; and Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 8 Apr. 1831.

  2. [2]

    Williams was present in Missouri with Cowdery when this letter was written and thus had firsthand knowledge of what addressee was listed on the original packet. For discussion of Whitney’s franking privilege, see Historical Introduction to Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 8 Apr. 1831.

  3. [3]

    See Historical Introduction to Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 8 Apr. 1831.

  4. [4]

    Oliver Cowdery, Independence, MO, to William Clark, [St. Louis, MO], 14 Feb. 1831, U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency, Records, vol. 6, p. 103; see also Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 8 Apr. 1831.

    U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency. Records, 1807–1855. Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Also available at kansasmemory.org.

  5. [5]

    Pratt later explained that he and the other missionaries to the Indians decided that “one of our number had better return to the church in Ohio, and perhaps to head quarters in New York, in order to communicate with the Presidency, report ourselves, pay a visit to the numerous churches we had organized on our outward journey, and also to procure more books.” (Pratt, Autobiography, 61.)

    Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.

  6. [6]

    Peter Whitmer Jr. recorded that after Cummins threatened to arrest them, the missionaries “then resorted among the Gentiles and declared the word.” (Whitmer, Journal, Dec. 1831, [1].)

    Whitmer, Peter, Jr. Journal, Dec. 1831. CHL. MS 5873.

  7. [7]

    Pratt’s letter, alluded to in Cowdery’s 7 May letter, is not extant.

  8. [8]

    See Pratt, Autobiography, 61–64.

    Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.

  9. [9]

    Revelation, 7 May 1831 [D&C 49]; Pratt, Autobiography, 64–65, 73.

    Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.

  10. [10]

    See Revelation, 6 June 1831 [D&C 52:3, 42–43]; and Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:1–3].

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 7 May 1831
Letterbook 1 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 12

May 7— 1831
Our dearly beloved Brethren
I have nothing partickuler to write as concerning the & because of a short journey which I have <​just​> returned from in consequence of which I have not writen to you since the 16th. of the last month <​I​> and went into the county East which is about 40 miles and in the name of Jesus called on the people to repent many are of whom <​are I​> believe earnestly [p. 12]
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Source Note

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Page 12

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 7 May 1831
ID #
72
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D1:294–297
Handwriting on This Page
  • Frederick G. Williams

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    At this time, Kaw Township, Missouri, was bounded on the west by lands the government assigned to various Indian tribes and on the north by the Missouri River. The settlement where Cowdery was staying was “about Eleven miles from Indipendence.” (Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 8 Apr. 1831.)

  2. [2]

    This 16 April letter is not extant. In his 8 April 1831 letter to Ohio church members, Cowdery wrote, “We thought that we shall write evry week.” However, the missing 16 April letter appears to be the only one sent by Cowdery between 8 April and 7 May. (Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 8 Apr. 1831.)

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