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Letter from William W. Phelps, with Appended Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 29 June 1840

Source Note

, Letter, , Montgomery Co., OH, to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 29 June 1840, with appended letter from and , [, Montgomery Co., OH], to JS, , and , [, Hancock Co., IL], 29 June 1840. Featured version copied [ca. 22 July 1840] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 155–157; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction

On 29 June 1840, wrote a letter to JS asking to be forgiven for past transgressions and to have his membership restored. Phelps had been one of the church’s leading figures for several years, serving as a printer and as a member of the church in . In 1837 and 1838, however, he clashed with other church leaders, mainly over issues with church finances and the sale and control of land in and counties, Missouri. In March 1838, he was excommunicated. Sometime thereafter his membership was restored, and a July 1838 revelation stated that if he was to be saved he should be an and sent out to preach. But Phelps evidently continued to have difficulties with the church. In November 1838, during hearings held in , Missouri, for JS and other church leaders charged with treason, Phelps testified against the men, stating, among other things, that they intended to kill any sheriff trying to serve writs on them and that they wanted to declare the church independent from earthly governments. Phelps was again excommunicated in March 1839.
’s testimony and excommunication created hard feelings on both sides. In December 1838, JS called Phelps and other dissenters from the church “so very ignorant that they cannot appear respectable in any decent and civilized society” and accused the dissenters of having eyes “full of adultery.” Phelps wrote disparagingly of church leaders in a May 1839 letter to his wife, , stating the were unable to see “the saw log in their own eyes while they are endeavoring to pull the slab out of the neighboring nations.” Despite the contention, in spring 1839, Phelps offered to sell a mill in on behalf of JS told Phelps to mind his “own affairs” because JS had “already experienced much over officiousness at your [Phelps’s] hand.”
By summer 1840, ’s views toward the church had softened. Having relocated to , Ohio, Phelps followed the counsel of apostles and , who were preaching in the area, and wrote this 29 June 1840 letter, expressing contrition for his past actions and seeking forgiveness. Hyde and Page appended a note to Phelps’s letter, explaining to JS and his counselors in the that they believed Phelps’s repentance to be genuine. The original letter has not been located, but JS received it and wrote a reply to Phelps on 22 July 1840, accepting Phelps’s apology. At some point around 22 July 1840, copied both letters into JS Letterbook 2.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:11]; Minutes and Discourse, ca. 7 July 1834.

  2. [2]

    Letter to Wilford Woodruff, ca. 18 June 1838; Minute Book 2, 7 Apr. 1837 and 10 Mar. 1838.

  3. [3]

    Revelation, 8 July 1838–B. A July 1838 entry in JS’s journal called Phelps a brother, suggesting he was back in the church by then. (JS, Journal, 26 July 1838.)

  4. [4]

    William W. Phelps, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Jud. Cir. 1838), in State of Missouri, “Evidence.”

    Missouri, State of. “Evidence.” Hearing Record, Richmond, MO, 12–29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. Joseph Smith et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Cir. Ct. 1838). Eugene Morrow Violette Collection, 1806–1921, Western Historical Manuscript Collection. University of Missouri and State Historical Society of Missouri, Ellis Library, University of Missouri, Columbia.

  5. [5]

    “Extracts of the Minutes of Conferences,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:15.

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

  6. [6]

    Letter to the Church in Caldwell Co., MO, 16 Dec. 1838.

  7. [7]

    William W. Phelps, Far West, MO, to Sally Waterman Phelps, St. Louis, MO, 1 May 1839, CHL.

    Phelps, William W. Letter, Far West, MO, to Sally Waterman Phelps, St. Louis, MO, 1 May 1839. CHL.

  8. [8]

    William W. Phelps, Far West, MO, to John P. Greene, Quincy, IL, 23 Apr. 1839, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 7; Letter to William W. Phelps, 22 May 1839.

  9. [9]

    In the letter they appended to Phelps’s, Orson Hyde and John E. Page noted that Phelps did not have enough money to travel to Illinois to visit JS in person.

  10. [10]

    Letter to William W. Phelps, 22 July 1840.

  11. [11]

    A note dated 4 July 1840 preceded Phelps’s letter in the letterbook. (Note, 4 July 1840, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 154.)

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from William W. Phelps, with Appended Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 29 June 1840 Letterbook 2 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 157

do we reccommend to your clemency and favorable consideration the Author and subject of this communication.
“Whosoever will let him come take of the water of life freely,” says, he will; and so far as we are conserned, we say he may
In the Bonds of the
[p. 157]
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Source Note

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Page 157

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from William W. Phelps, with Appended Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 29 June 1840
ID #
548
Total Pages
3
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:303–306
Handwriting on This Page
  • Robert B. Thompson

Footnotes

  1. [12]

    See Revelation 22:17.

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