The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter from Unidentified Author, 29 August 1842, Extract

Source Note

Unidentified author, Letter, [, Lancashire, England], to [JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 29 Aug. 1842]. Extract published in 1883 in Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past from the Leaves of Old Journals, Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883, pp. 394–395. Transcription made from digital images obtained from Harvard University by Google Books in 2008.

Historical Introduction

On 29 August 1842, an unidentified Latter-day Saint in , England, wrote a letter to JS in , Illinois, about his conversion and desire to meet the prophet. Little is known about this letter or its author aside from an excerpt later published by writer and socialite . The letter, as described by Quincy, comprised “four pages of gilt-edged paper.” It had been given to missionary to give to JS along with presents of a hat, satin necktie, and brooch.
Although suppressed the writer’s name, leaving his identity unknown, his story is typical of those of many other British Latter-day Saints in the late 1830s and early 1840s. and led the church’s first mission to in 1837 accompanied by several men, including British and Canadian immigrants such as and . This first mission resulted in around fifteen hundred in , England, and the surrounding area. A subsequent mission led by a majority of the Twelve Apostles beginning in 1840 was even more successful; by the time the missionaries were preparing to leave in April 1841, the church had reached a total membership of almost six thousand in Great Britain. Many of these converts decided to come to the to join the Saints. By 1842, there was a sizable population of British immigrants arriving in . According to Quincy, the writer of the 29 August letter—who appears to have joined the church in 1840 and left a paid position in the Church of England to do so—wished to join them, but opposition from his mother-in-law prevented his emigration.
In May 1844, visited JS in . During the visit Quincy apparently found several letters in a “basket of wastepaper” in the and asked if he could keep three of them as souvenirs. A chapter on JS in his 1883 memoir includes excerpts and summaries of those letters. Quincy’s excerpt from the 29 August letter, which he considered the “most interesting,” is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Quincy, Figures of the Past, 394–395.

    Quincy, Josiah. Figures of the Past: From the Leaves of Old Journals. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883.

  2. [2]

    Quincy, Figures of the Past, 394. These presents likely represented donations made for the Nauvoo temple. In January 1841, church leaders had requested the Saints abroad to donate to the temple construction effort, and the Book of the Law of the Lord includes long lists of donations from British Latter-day Saints brought to Nauvoo by missionaries. Snider returned from his mission in January 1843, but a notation in the Book of the Law of the Lord indicates that the donations he collected were not recorded until June 1843. None of his donations recorded there match the three items described here. (Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841; Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:26–27]; Book of the Law of the Lord, 301, 319–325.)

    Quincy, Josiah. Figures of the Past: From the Leaves of Old Journals. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883.

  3. [3]

    Historical Introduction to Recommendation for Heber C. Kimball, between 2 and 13 June 1837; Heber C. Kimball, Preston, England, to Vilate Murray Kimball, Kirtland, OH, 2–6 Sept. 1837, in Elders’ Journal, Oct. 1837, 4–7; Orson Hyde, Preston, England, to Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde, Kirtland, OH, 14 Sept. 1837, in Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 19–22; Joseph Fielding, Preston, England, to Mary Fielding, Kirtland, OH, 2 Oct. 1837, Mary Fielding Smith, Collection, CHL; Allen et al., Men with a Mission, 53.

    Smith, Mary Fielding. Collection, ca. 1832–1848. CHL. MS 2779.

    Allen, James B., Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker. Men with a Mission, 1837–1841: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992.

  4. [4]

    Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 15 Dec. 1840; Allen et al., Men with a Mission, 106, 300-302.

    Allen, James B., Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker. Men with a Mission, 1837–1841: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992.

  5. [5]

    For example, the 16 May 1842 issue of the church’s newspaper, the Times and Seasons, included a notice that a hundred and fifty British converts had arrived in Nauvoo a few days earlier and that “a ship load came some time ago, and another is expected soon.” (Notice, Times and Seasons, 16 May 1842, 3:790.)

  6. [6]

    Quincy, Figures of the Past, 394–395.

    Quincy, Josiah. Figures of the Past: From the Leaves of Old Journals. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883.

  7. [7]

    Quincy, Figures of the Past, 377, 393–395.

    Quincy, Josiah. Figures of the Past: From the Leaves of Old Journals. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883.

Page 395

leaving my mother a widow with seven children. . . . I remember her teachings well, which were these: Fear God, be strictly honest, and speak the truth. I remember, when about three or four years old, being with her in a shop. I saw a pin on the floor. I picked it up and gave it to her. She told me to give it to the shopman, with a sharp reprimand, showing me that it was a sin to take even a pin. The remembrance of this slight circumstance has followed me from that time to the present. -[An account of the writer’s conversion to Mormonism follows, after which he goes on thus.]- Previously to joining this , I was a singer in the Church of England, had eight pounds a year, and a good situation in the week-time at a retail hat shop. My wife’s brother told me I was robbing my children of their bread in giving up the eight pounds. I told him I was not dependent on that for bread, and said unto him the Lord could make up the difference. He laughed at me; but, beloved brother, in about one month from the time I left the Church of England my master raised my wages four shillings a week (which was about one shilling per week more than that just sacrificed), and this has continued on ever since, which is now two years this month, for which I thank the Lord, together with many other mercies. [p. 395]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 395

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Unidentified Author, 29 August 1842, Extract
ID #
13377
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Printed text

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06