Warren Parrish, Massillon, OH, to John C. Bennett, 31 July 1842, in Bennett, History of the Saints, 46–48.

Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.

Parrish was part of a group of dissenters who, in May 1837, accused JS of lying and openly expressed doubts about his prophetic authority. In December 1837, Parrish and others “renounced the Church of Christ of Latter day Saints, and claimed, themselves to be the old standard, called themselves the Church of Christ, excluded that of Saints, and set at naught Br. Joseph and the whole Church, denouncing them as Heriticks.” Later that month, Parrish and twenty-seven others were excommunicated. Parrish was later accused of embezzling funds from the Kirtland Safety Society and counterfeiting money. (“Part 6: 20 April–14 September 1837”; Thomas B. Marsh, Far West, MO, to Wilford Woodruff, Vinalhaven, ME, ca. 18 June 1838, Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, CHL; John Smith and Clarissa Lyman Smith, Kirtland, OH, to George A. Smith, Shinnston, VA, 1 Jan. 1838, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; “Argument to Argument Where I Find It; Ridicule to Ridicule, and Scorn to Scorn,” Elders’ Journal, Aug. 1838, 58.)

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

Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.

In the months after he was excommunicated, Parrish publicly stated his astonishment that “men of common sense and common abilities should be so completely blinded” and led by JS and privately articulated that he did not believe JS “to be what he professes to be, to wit, a prophet of God.” (“Mormonism,” Zion’s Watchman, 24 Mar. 1838, 46; Warren Parrish, Kirtland, OH, to Asahel Woodruff, Terre Haute, IN, 9 Sept. 1838, Wilford Woodruff, Collection, 1830–1898, CHL.)

Zion's Watchman. New York City. 1836–1838.

Woodruff, Wilford. Collection, 1831–1905. Digital scans. CHL. Originals in private possession.

To Freemasons, the builder’s square (with its right angle) symbolized morality, uprightness, and honesty. Making an oath or promise “on the square” was equivalent to giving one’s word of honor. (Dermott, True Ahiman Rezon, 88; Constitutions of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in the State of New-York, 21; “Pledging the Masonic Word,” 603.)

Dermott, Laurence. The True Ahiman Rezon; or, A Help to All That Are, or Would Be Free and Accepted Masons. New York: Southwick and Hardcastle, 1805.

The Constitutions of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in the State of New-York; Collected and Digested by Order of the Grand Lodge. New York: Southwick and Hardcastle, [1805].

“Pledging the Masonic Word.” In The Freemasons’ Repository, edited by Henry W. Rugg, vol. 17, pp. 603–604. Providence, RI: E. L. Freeman and Son, 1887–1888.

This quotation appears in a fictional story of British mariners written by William Neale in 1833. A variation of the phrase was also reportedly associated with Freemasonry. William Morgan’s 1826 exposition of Masonry, for example, asserts that Masons should conceal the secrets of Masonry and those of their fellow Masons so that “they may remain as secure and inviolable [in] your breast as in his own.” (Neale, Port Admiral: A Tale of the War, 3:267; Morgan, Illustrations of Masonry, 25.)

Neale, William Johnson. The Port Admiral: A Tale of the War. 3 vols. London: Cochrane and M’Crone, 1833.

Morgan, William. Illustrations of Masonry, by One of the Fraternity, Who Has Devoted Thirty Years to the Subject. Batavia, NY: By the author, 1826.

The Nauvoo Lodge under Dispensation was established on 15 March 1842. JS was initiated as an Entered Apprentice (first degree) Mason the same day. The following day, he was “passed” as a Fellow Craft (second degree) Mason and then “raised” as a Master (third degree) Mason. (Authorization from Abraham Jonas, 15 Mar. 1842; Minutes, 15–16 Mar. 1842.)

TEXT: Insertion written vertically in left margin.