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Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841

Source Note

Orson Hyde

8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...

View Full Bio
, Letter,
London

City in southeast England; located on River Thames about sixty miles west of North Sea. Capital city of England. Population in 1841 about 2,000,000. London conference of British mission organized, 1841.

More Info
, Middlesex and Surrey counties, England, to JS,
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, 15 June 1841. Featured version published in “Letter from Elder O. Hyde,” in Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1841, vol. 2, no. 23, 551–555. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

On 15 June 1841,
Orson Hyde

8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...

View Full Bio
wrote a letter from
London

City in southeast England; located on River Thames about sixty miles west of North Sea. Capital city of England. Population in 1841 about 2,000,000. London conference of British mission organized, 1841.

More Info
reporting on his mission to serve as an ambassador to the Jews abroad. Hyde sent the letter to JS in
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Illinois, and intended it to be published in the Times and Seasons.
After proselytizing and raising funds throughout the eastern
United States

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

More Info
for several months,
Hyde

8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...

View Full Bio
arrived in
Liverpool

Seaport, city, county borough, and market-town in northwestern England. Experienced exponential growth during nineteenth century. Population in 1830 about 120,000. Population in 1841 about 290,000. First Latter-day Saint missionaries to England arrived in...

More Info
, England, on 3 March 1841.
1

Recommendation for Orson Hyde, 6 Apr. 1840; Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 Apr. 1841.


The letter featured here was the second one Hyde sent to JS from Europe, and it detailed his efforts to meet with the leadership of the Jewish community in
London

City in southeast England; located on River Thames about sixty miles west of North Sea. Capital city of England. Population in 1841 about 2,000,000. London conference of British mission organized, 1841.

More Info
and his authorship of materials describing the origins and tenets of the
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
. Also included in the letter were excerpts from a booklet Hyde wrote while in
England

Island nation consisting of southern portion of Great Britain and surrounding smaller islands. Bounded on north by Scotland and on west by Wales. Became province of Roman Empire, first century. Ruled by Romans, through 447. Ruled by Picts, Scots, and Saxons...

More Info
. The booklet, patterned after
Orson Pratt

19 Sept. 1811–3 Oct. 1881. Farmer, writer, teacher, merchant, surveyor, editor, publisher. Born at Hartford, Washington Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Moved to New Lebanon, Columbia Co., New York, 1814; to Canaan, Columbia Co., fall...

View Full Bio
’s 1840 pamphlet A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions,
2

See Orson Pratt, A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, 1840. Pratt’s and Hyde’s writings were the first published accounts of JS’s first vision of Deity and were among the earliest works to systematically outline church doctrine for foreign audiences.


explained the founding of the church. Hyde copied the excerpts into this letter for JS to review; he planned to have the booklet translated and published once he arrived in
Germany

Inhabited anciently by Teutonic peoples. Included in Holy Roman Empire. Became confederation of states, 1815. Between 1843 and 1856, population estimates range from about 30,000,000 to about 51,000,000. Orson Hyde traveled through Germany during his missionary...

More Info
.
3

In an earlier letter to JS from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, the two missionaries mentioned a “great work to be done in Germany” and asked for permission to write and publish a book on the church to be spread throughout the German-speaking lands. JS responded to their request with “no objections whatever.” (Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 1 May 1840; Letter to Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 14 May 1840.)


Hyde

8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...

View Full Bio
also reported on his attempts to fulfill his original mission assignment to seek information regarding the “views and movements of the Jewish people.”
4

Recommendation for Orson Hyde, 6 Apr. 1840.


After calling on the chief rabbi of Great Britain,
Solomon Hirschell

1761–31 Oct. 1842. Rabbi. Born in London, England. Son of Rabbi Hirsch Levin Berliner. Moved with father to Halberstadt, Province of Saxony, Prussia (later in Germany), 1765. Married, ca. 1778. Became chief rabbi of Prenzlau, Province of Brandenburg, Prussia...

View Full Bio
, at the Great Synagogue of
London

City in southeast England; located on River Thames about sixty miles west of North Sea. Capital city of England. Population in 1841 about 2,000,000. London conference of British mission organized, 1841.

More Info
, Hyde was informed that the rabbi had suffered injuries from a recent accident and was unable to grant him an audience. In response, Hyde penned a letter—which he copied into his letter to JS—informing Hirschell of his “divine appointment” to meet with the Jewish communities in several major world cities. There is no evidence that Hirschell responded to Hyde’s letter.
Hyde

8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...

View Full Bio
’s original letter to JS is apparently not extant. The letter was published in the 1 October 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons; that version is featured here. Although there is no known response from JS, Hyde continued his communications to JS with another letter a month later.
5

See Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 July 1841.


Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Recommendation for Orson Hyde, 6 Apr. 1840; Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 Apr. 1841.

  2. [2]

    See Orson Pratt, A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, 1840. Pratt’s and Hyde’s writings were the first published accounts of JS’s first vision of Deity and were among the earliest works to systematically outline church doctrine for foreign audiences.

  3. [3]

    In an earlier letter to JS from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, the two missionaries mentioned a “great work to be done in Germany” and asked for permission to write and publish a book on the church to be spread throughout the German-speaking lands. JS responded to their request with “no objections whatever.” (Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 1 May 1840; Letter to Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 14 May 1840.)

  4. [4]

    Recommendation for Orson Hyde, 6 Apr. 1840.

  5. [5]

    See Letter from Orson Hyde, 17 July 1841.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841
History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [551]

LETTER FROM ELDER
O[rson] HYDE

8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...

View Full Bio
.
London

City in southeast England; located on River Thames about sixty miles west of North Sea. Capital city of England. Population in 1841 about 2,000,000. London conference of British mission organized, 1841.

More Info
June 15th, 1841.
President Smith:
Sir, With pleasure I take my pen to write you at this time, and through you to the Times and Seasons; and through it, to the
saints

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
at large; and to all whom it may concern.
May grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, rest upon you abundantly, and enable you to serve him acceptably—secure to yourself that honor which cometh from above—guide the counsels of the saints in wisdom, that peace and good will may reign predominant in
Zion

A specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...

View Glossary
, and joy and gladness swell every grateful heart.
Most gladly would I embrace an opportunity of a personal interview with you, did one offer, but such a favor is beyond my reach at this time. I have just seen the 12th No. of the Times and Seasons, containing the minutes of your conference—the report of the presidency—the celebration of the anniversary of the church; and the laying of the foundation of the
Temple

Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...

More Info
.
1

“Celebration of the Aniversary of the Church,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, 2:375–377; see also Benediction, 6 Apr. 1841.


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

This, to me, was a precious gem. It brought tidings from my own
country

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

More Info
; and from the place rendered doubly endearing from the fact that there is the home of my
wife

28 June 1815–24 Mar. 1886. Born in Pomfret, Windsor Co., Vermont. Daughter of John Johnson and Alice (Elsa) Jacobs. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Apr. 1832, in Hiram, Portage Co., Ohio. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1833...

View Full Bio
and children.
2

Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde and daughters Laura, age four, and Emily, age one. (Hyde, Orson Hyde, 496.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Hyde, Myrtle Stevens. Orson Hyde: The Olive Branch of Israel. Salt Lake City: Agreka Books, 2000.

I was sorry that
Elder [John E.] Page

25 Feb. 1799–14 Oct. 1867. Born at Trenton, Oneida Co., New York. Son of Ebenezer Page and Rachel Hill. Married first Betsey Thompson, 1831, in Huron Co., Ohio. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Emer Harris, 18 Aug. 1833, at Brownhelm...

View Full Bio
had been so tardy in his movements, that objections were made to him.
3

Page had been appointed to accompany Hyde on his mission at an April 1840 general conference of the church. Hyde was most likely referring to the Times and Seasons editorial directed to both Page and himself, but to “Elder John E. Page in particular,” chastising them for delaying their mission. (Notice, Times and Seasons, 15 Jan. 1841, 2:287.)


Most gladly would I have hailed him as a companion to the Oriental Continent; but my hopes of that are fled. I shall go alone, or find some other person in all probability to go with me.
I have writ[t]en a book to publish in the German language, setting forth our doctrine and principles in as clear and concise a manner as I possibly could.
4

This book was eventually published in Frankfurt, Germany, as Ein Ruf aus der Wüste in 1842. In an 1840 letter to JS, Hyde mentioned that the Spirit had manifested to him that “there is a great work to be done in Germany.” When he wrote the book and informed JS of his plans, no one had published any material from the church in a language other than English. While Hyde was writing his book in German, he published the first church work in a foreign language—a tract written in Dutch, which was addressed to the “Hebrews” in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Additionally, Hyde reportedly published information about the church in French in “the various countries of the East,” in a publication which is no longer extant. (Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 1 May 1840; JS History, vol. C-1 Addenda Book, 49; “Highly Interesting from Jerusalem,” Millennial Star, Mar. 1842, 2:167.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

After giving the history of the rise of the church, in something the manner that Br.
O[rson] Pratt

19 Sept. 1811–3 Oct. 1881. Farmer, writer, teacher, merchant, surveyor, editor, publisher. Born at Hartford, Washington Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Moved to New Lebanon, Columbia Co., New York, 1814; to Canaan, Columbia Co., fall...

View Full Bio
did, I have written a snug little article upon every point of doctrine believed by the saints.
5

In September 1840, Orson Pratt published a pamphlet in Edinburgh titled A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, which included an account of JS’s first vision of Deity, his visions of the angel Moroni and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, the investiture of priesthood authority from John the Baptist, and an outline of basic Latter-day Saint beliefs.


I began with the
Priesthood

Power or authority of God. The priesthood was conferred through the laying on of hands upon adult male members of the church in good standing; no specialized training was required. Priesthood officers held responsibility for administering the sacrament of...

View Glossary
, and showed that the saints were not under the necessity of tracing back the dark and bloody stream of papal superstition to find their authority, neither were they compelled to seek for it among the floating and trancient notions of Protestant reformers; but God has sent his holy angel directly from heaven with this seal and authority, and conferred it upon men with his own hands: quoting the letter and testimony of
O[liver] Cowdery

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

View Full Bio
.
6

Hyde translated an excerpt from Oliver Cowdery’s 7 September 1834 letter to William W. Phelps, as published in the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. In that letter Cowdery recounted an angelic visitation from John the Baptist, who delivered “the keys of the gospel of repentance” to himself and JS. (Oliver Cowdery, Norton, OH, to William W. Phelps, 7 Sept. 1834, in Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:15; see also JS History, vol. A-1, 17.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

Next was on the use and validity of the holy scriptures in the church. Next on faith, set forth from the scriptures and the book of covenants
7

“Book of covenants” here refers to the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of JS revelations that were compiled and printed as a book in 1835.


—then on repentance—then
baptism

An ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...

View Glossary
—then
laying on of hands

A practice in which individuals place their hands upon a person to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordain to an office or calling, or confer other power, authority, or blessings, often as part of an ordinance. The Book of Mormon explained that ecclesiastical...

View Glossary
—then the different offices of the church. Next the power and authority of each one; and in fine the whole order, doctrine and government of the saints. I have not written it as a law binding on the German saints; but have taken this course to illustrate and set forth the true principles of our doctrine to them, fully believing that it would meet with the cordial approbation of those whom I have the distinguished honor to represent, could they but see it. I have written a lengthy preface and introduction to it. I here copy an extract from the introduction.
“When in the course of Divine Providence, it becomes our duty to record one of those remarkable events which gives birth to a new era.
8

Hyde’s wording echoes the opening line of the United States Declaration of Independence, though Hyde used the term “divine providence” instead of “human events.”


and lays the foundation for the renovation of the moral world; it fills the mind with wonder, astonishment, and admiration: How welcome are the rays of the morning light, after the shades of darkness have clothed the earth in gloom! So after a long and tedious night of moral darkness under which the earth has rolled, and her inhabitants groaned for the last fourteen hundred years; an angel! an angel!! commissioned from the Almighty, discended, and rolled back the curtains of night from the minds of some, and caused the sun-beams of truth to enlighten, cheer, and warm the hearts of many. Welcome! welcome to our earth, thou messenger of the Most High! and thrice welcome, the tidings which thou hast borne!!” [p. [551]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841
ID #
659
Total Pages
5
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:167–180
Handwriting on This Page
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Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Celebration of the Aniversary of the Church,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, 2:375–377; see also Benediction, 6 Apr. 1841.

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

  2. [2]

    Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde and daughters Laura, age four, and Emily, age one. (Hyde, Orson Hyde, 496.)

    Hyde, Myrtle Stevens. Orson Hyde: The Olive Branch of Israel. Salt Lake City: Agreka Books, 2000.

  3. [3]

    Page had been appointed to accompany Hyde on his mission at an April 1840 general conference of the church. Hyde was most likely referring to the Times and Seasons editorial directed to both Page and himself, but to “Elder John E. Page in particular,” chastising them for delaying their mission. (Notice, Times and Seasons, 15 Jan. 1841, 2:287.)

  4. [4]

    This book was eventually published in Frankfurt, Germany, as Ein Ruf aus der Wüste in 1842. In an 1840 letter to JS, Hyde mentioned that the Spirit had manifested to him that “there is a great work to be done in Germany.” When he wrote the book and informed JS of his plans, no one had published any material from the church in a language other than English. While Hyde was writing his book in German, he published the first church work in a foreign language—a tract written in Dutch, which was addressed to the “Hebrews” in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Additionally, Hyde reportedly published information about the church in French in “the various countries of the East,” in a publication which is no longer extant. (Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 1 May 1840; JS History, vol. C-1 Addenda Book, 49; “Highly Interesting from Jerusalem,” Millennial Star, Mar. 1842, 2:167.)

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

  5. [5]

    In September 1840, Orson Pratt published a pamphlet in Edinburgh titled A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, which included an account of JS’s first vision of Deity, his visions of the angel Moroni and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, the investiture of priesthood authority from John the Baptist, and an outline of basic Latter-day Saint beliefs.

  6. [6]

    Hyde translated an excerpt from Oliver Cowdery’s 7 September 1834 letter to William W. Phelps, as published in the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. In that letter Cowdery recounted an angelic visitation from John the Baptist, who delivered “the keys of the gospel of repentance” to himself and JS. (Oliver Cowdery, Norton, OH, to William W. Phelps, 7 Sept. 1834, in Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:15; see also JS History, vol. A-1, 17.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  7. [7]

    “Book of covenants” here refers to the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of JS revelations that were compiled and printed as a book in 1835.

  8. [8]

    Hyde’s wording echoes the opening line of the United States Declaration of Independence, though Hyde used the term “divine providence” instead of “human events.”

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