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Letter to Newel Knight and the Church in Colesville, 28 August 1830

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Susquehanna Co., PA, to “Dearly beloved in the Lord” [ and church members], [, NY], [28] Aug. 1830. Featured version copied [ca. 1871] in Newel Knight, History, 128–136.
, History, [ca. 1871]; handwriting of unknown scribe—possibly Samuel Knight (son of Newel and ), Samuel’s wife, Carolina, or James McClellan (husband of ); handwriting of Lydia Goldthwaite Knight McClellan, James G. Bleak, and Robert L. Campbell in later redactions; 2,347 numbered pages (some repeated or missing page numbers); private possession; copy at CHL. Includes redactions and possible printer’s edits.
Most pages measure 6 × 35/8 inches (15 × 9 cm). Most of the leaves are inscribed on the recto only. This manuscript was apparently created under the supervision of around 1871, perhaps in Santa Clara, Washington County, Utah Territory. At the time this manuscript was created, McClellan, who had been married to from 1835 until his death in 1847, possessed documents of her late husband that are no longer extant, including letters, licenses, and certificates. It appears that those working under her direction created this manuscript by copying with some modifications from an earlier draft of Newel Knight’s history, and by incorporating therein copies of these various documents. In the earlier Newel Knight history from which this circa 1871 work was copied, Knight himself apparently used JS’s history published serially in the Times and Seasons as a framework for his narrative, at times copying the text verbatim. There are at least three similar textually related versions of Newel Knight’s history housed in the Church History Library. This circa 1871 version appears to be the basis for a condensed version published in 1883.
appears to have taken a history of —possibly this circa 1871 manuscript—to the Church Historian’s Office. The Historian’s Office journal mentions a history of Newel Knight in its 9 April 1872 entry, and states that the “tin box containing history of Newel Knight” was returned to “Sister Knight.” The circa 1871 manuscript was later found in a tin box in the basement of a house once owned by Knight’s granddaughter in Provo, Utah, and was given to a descendant of Newel Knight.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    In February 1873, Lydia Goldthwaite Knight McClellan authored a preface to Knight’s history and explained that the creation of his history was his “dying request.” She stated to her readers that she had “done the best I could” in compiling the work although “considerable” portions of Knight’s journal were “kept on detached pieces of paper, and no doubt many interesting & valuable portions are lost.” (“Lydia Knight’s Statement,” 1, in Knight, History.)

    Knight, Newel. History. Private possession. Copy in CHL. MS 19156.

  2. [2]

    Compare “History of Joseph Smith,” published serially in the Times and Seasons beginning 15 March 1842.

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

  3. [3]

    At least three pages separated from what is apparently the earliest of these three manuscripts are housed in Lydia Goldthwaite Knight, Genealogical Records and Correspondence, 1833–1883, BYU.

    Knight, Lydia Goldthwaite. Genealogical Records and Correspondence, 1833–1883. BYU.

  4. [4]

    “Newel Knight’s Journal,” 46–104, in Scraps of Biography. Tenth Book of the Faith-Promoting Series (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883).

    “Newel Knight’s Journal.” In Scraps of Biography, Faith-Promoting Series 10, pp. 52–128. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883.

  5. [5]

    Historian’s Office, Journal, 9 Apr. 1872.

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

Historical Introduction

In the summer of 1830, recently believers in , New York, faced opposition from local residents, and in early July JS was tried before two different judges in the vicinity as a “disorderly person.” Even after JS was acquitted in one instance and discharged in the other, locals drove him from the Colesville area. In August, Colesville church members and visited JS in , Pennsylvania. During the Knights’ stay, plans were made for JS to meet with the church members in Colesville on a specified day in late August. The Knights returned to Colesville, and “arrangements were made for the brethren and sisters to meet on that day, if possible, without letting our enemies know anything about it.” However, the men who were to transport JS to Colesville did not arrive in time for him to attend the meeting, and JS and wrote this letter to explain their absence. The version transcribed here, the earliest complete extant copy of the letter, bears the date 20 August. An earlier, incomplete copy of the letter, meanwhile, dates the letter to 28 August; that dating is accepted in the present volume.
The original letter is not extant and it is not known whether it was sent to by mail or delivered by a church member serving as a courier. In any case, received the letter and delivered its message to the Colesville believers. Likely on 4 September (the day he promised in the letter that he would arrive), JS arrived in Colesville along with , , and . JS’s history recounts, “We that evening assembled the church, and confirmed them, partook of the , and held a happy meeting, having much reason to rejoice in the God of our salvation, and sing Hosannas to his holy name.” The animosity toward members of the in Colesville did not dissipate, however, and Knight recalled, “It was not long after the Brethren had left us when . . . the mob began to collect to gather and threaten and abuse us in a most Shameful and disgusting manner dureing the remainder of the day.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 44; see also Historical Introduction to Revelation, July 1830–A [D&C 24].

  2. [2]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 51; see also Historical Introduction to Revelation, ca. Aug. 1830 [D&C 27].

  3. [3]

    Knight, History, 127–128.

    Knight, Newel. History. Private possession. Copy in CHL. MS 19156.

  4. [4]

    Knight, Autobiography and Journal, 21.

    Knight, Newel. Autobiography and Journal, ca. 1846. CHL. MS 767.

  5. [5]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 53; Knight, Autobiography and Journal, 21.

    Knight, Newel. Autobiography and Journal, ca. 1846. CHL. MS 767.

Page 136

yet, and the Lord hath said that a short work will he make of it, and the righteous shall be saved if it be as by fire.
“May the grace of God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost be and abide with you from henceforth and forever, Amen.
Joseph Smith
.
P.S. waited until Saturday morning and our friends have not yet arrived. Please send ’s Letter and also the Priest’s with , and oblige [p. 137 missing] [p. 136]
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Source Note

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Page 136

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Newel Knight and the Church in Colesville, 28 August 1830
ID #
6483
Total Pages
9
Print Volume Location
JSP, D1:172–177
Handwriting on This Page
  • Unidentified

Footnotes

  1. [16]

    See Romans 9:28.

  2. [17]

    See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 58 [1 Nephi 22:17].

  3. [18]

    “William” is perhaps William Stringham, one of the Colesville converts and Newel Knight’s brother-in-law. Joseph and Polly Peck Knight’s nineteen-year-old daughter, Polly, had become the target of a local priest’s tirade against the Church of Christ. According to Newel Knight’s recollection, the priest “had chosen my sister Polly as a mark for his abuse,” but in an exchange of letters with Polly, “the priest was so decidedly used up, that he was glad to give it up, and back out completely whipped.” (Knight, History, 143–144; see also Porter, “Study of the Origins,” 202, 300.)

    Knight, Newel. History. Private possession. Copy in CHL. MS 19156.

    Porter, Larry C. “A Study of the Origins of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, 1816–1831.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1971. Also available as A Study of the Origins of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, 1816–1831, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).

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