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Letter from Thomas Ward and Hiram Clark, 1 March 1843
Source Note
Source Note
and , Letter, , Lancashire, England, to the (including JS) and , , Hancock Co., IL, 1 Mar. 1843; handwriting of ; signatures of and ; three pages; Brigham Young Office Files, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamps, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 8 inches (25 × 20 cm). The document was trifolded twice in letter style for mailing, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked.
The letter was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. Richards was also clerk of the since at least 1841. , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865, also docketed the document. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1994 the document had been included in the Brigham Young Office Files at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets by Richards and Bullock, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the Brigham Young Office Files suggest continuous institutional custody.
Footnotes
- [1]
JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
- [2]
See Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 31 Aug. 1841; and Council of Fifty, “Record,” 10 Mar. 1844.
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.
- [3]
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.
- [4]
“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [2], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
- [5]
See the full bibliographic entry for Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878, in the CHL catalog.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 1 March 1843, and wrote a letter from , England, to the and the in , Illinois. The letter addressed instructions the two had received to suspend the ’s publication efforts in . It also expressed concern about , one of the church’s in England. In early 1841, the Quorum had appointed Fielding “as the of the church, to superintend the fitting out of the saints from Liverpool to America.” Under that assignment, Fielding led a group of Saints from England to Nauvoo in spring 1842. In June, the apostles appointed Clark to oversee emigration and instructed Fielding to relocate to Nauvoo with his family. After Fielding returned to England in 1842, perhaps to retrieve his family, he remained there and was apparently still trying to act as the emigration overseer.
In October 1842, , one of the apostles who was presiding over the church in Europe, departed for , leaving in charge of the church and of the Millennial Star, the church’s newspaper in . Before Pratt reached Nauvoo, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met in November and “decided by unanimous acclamation that the printing of the Millenial Star & all other publications in England, relating to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, be suspended on the departu[r]e of Elder Pratt from that count[r]y until further instruction from the Quorum.” The minutes of the quorum’s meeting provide no explanation for the suspension. The quorum communicated its decision in a January 1843 letter to Ward and , which they received on 17 February. This letter is apparently no longer extant.
In their 1 March response, the two men conveyed their willingness to abide by the decision but explained that a few items, including a new hymnbook, a pamphlet, and the March 1843 issue of the Millennial Star, were already at the press. In addition to relating the items about and the printing business, and expressed their gladness about the favorable outcome of JS’s extradition hearing in , Illinois, in January 1843.
wrote and signed the letter, after which also signed it. Ward then added a postscript and addressed the letter to , president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in . It was mailed from on 3 March, arrived in by late March, and reached Nauvoo by 23 May, when it was read in a meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. JS presumably read the letter around the same time. At the May meeting of the apostles, they voted “that the printing in be stopped, &, Elders Ward & come to this place.” However, that decision was apparently not communicated to Ward and Fielding until arrived in England in September 1843. Fielding returned to Nauvoo after Hedlock’s arrival, and Ward remained in England and continued to serve as the editor of the Millennial Star.
Footnotes
- [1]
- [2]
Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 13 Mar. 1842; “Emigration,” Millennial Star, Mar. 1842, 2:176.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
- [3]
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 14 June 1842.
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.
- [4]
Hiram Clark, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 1 June 1844, 5:558.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
- [5]
Editorial, Millennial Star, Feb. 1843, 3:175; “Farewell Address to Our Readers and Patrons,” Millennial Star, Oct. 1842, 3:109–110; Parley P. Pratt, “To the Saints in Europe,” Millennial Star, Oct. 1842, 3:110.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
- [6]
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 21 Nov. 1842.
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.
- [7]
See “Part 1: March 1843.”
- [8]
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 23 May 1843.
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.
- [9]
- [10]
See Reuben Hedlock, Liverpool, England, to the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Nauvoo, IL, 4 Oct. 1843, JS Collection, CHL; Masthead, Millennial Star, Sept. 1844, 5:64.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
separating from the Church, all the in the British Isles—
If we are allowed to continue the publication of the Star, which we hope we never may be unless our purpose be to thereby further the work of the Lord, and build up his people by instructing them in the things of his Kingdom, we shall want copies of the Times and Seasons commencing with Sep. 1st. 1842 in order to continue the life of our beloved President Josep[h] Smith—
One copy only of which we received in , and which took away with him in our absence.
Anxiously waiting further instructions we remain Dear Brethren
Yours faithfully in the
Covenant of God
, President of the
Churches in the British Isles
, Counsellor.
P. S. The Ship Swanton sailed from here on the 16th January as at the Head, since which time we have had so much difficulty to obtain a Ship, that we have only now succeeded in putting on the Yorkshire some 60 or 70 who have been waiting since January— A report of increased head money at , and land money to be paid by Captains to prevent Emigrants becoming chargeable on the State has been the reason, we believe the tale to be false but still it has had its effect. But we still feel things not to be right exactly we feel assured is acting contrary to counsel given him by you, in being again engaged in the Emigration business, and all things seem to go wrong, and he does not seem to be able to succeed in anything, but to be an obstacle in the way of success. and myself see this and feel it, and we thought it our duty to lay it before you. is only forgetting himself a little and we are sure will be ready to obey when repeated, the counsel he receivd at . [p. [3]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
- [10]
In his initial address to readers, Ward stated that he intended to use the Millennial Star “to promulgate and defend the principles of eternal truth, to make known the progress of the work of the Lord, and to record those varied providences and signs of the times that are accumulating so fast around us, and which bespeak so clearly that the coming of the Son of Man draweth nigh.” (“Address to Our Readers and Patrons,” Millennial Star, Nov. 1842, 3:123.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
- [11]
Under JS’s editorship, the Times and Seasons began publishing his history in its 15 March 1842 issue. Following the example of the Times and Seasons, the Millennial Star commenced publication of the history in its June 1842 issue. The February 1843 issue of the Millennial Star included the excerpt from the 15 August 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons. No excerpt was published in the March 1843 issue of the Millennial Star. (“History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:726–728; “History of Joseph Smith,” Millennial Star, June 1842, 3:21–23; Feb. 1843, 3:163–165; “History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 15 Aug. 1842, 3:884–885.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
Signatures of Thomas Ward and Hiram Clark.
- [12]
Benjamin Pattee constructed the Swanton in 1838 in Maine. According to Robert Reid, who was on board, the Swanton sailed from Liverpool on 17 January. Under Snow’s leadership, the ship conveyed 212 Latter-day Saints to the United States. (Sonne, Ships, Saints, and Mariners, 185; Robert Reid, New Orleans, LA, 15 Mar. 1843, Letter to the Editor, Millennial Star, May 1843, 4:14–15.)
Sonne, Conway B. Ships, Saints, and Mariners: A Maritime Encyclopedia of Mormon Migration, 1830–1890. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
- [13]
The Yorkshire was built in 1842 in Canada. It sailed from Liverpool on 8 March 1843, conveying eighty-three Latter-day Saints under the leadership of Thomas Bullock and Richard Rushton. (Sonne, Ships, Saints, and Mariners, 202.)
Sonne, Conway B. Ships, Saints, and Mariners: A Maritime Encyclopedia of Mormon Migration, 1830–1890. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987.
- [14]
Although it is unclear exactly what Ward and Clark are referring to here, it may have been a law proposed in Louisiana in 1842 that would have levied “a tax on strangers coming into the state, for the support of the hospitals and other charitable institutions to which strangers have access.” (“Report of the State Treasurer,” Baton Rouge [LA] Gazette, 5 Feb. 1842, [2].)
Baton Rouge Gazette. Baton Rouge, LA. 1841–1843.