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Letter to the Church in Thompson, Ohio, 6 February 1833

Source Note

JS, , and , Letter, , Geauga Co., OH, to “the Church of Christ in Thompson,” , Geauga Co., OH, 6 Feb. 1833. Retained copy, [ca. 6 Feb. 1833], in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 25–26; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 1.

Historical Introduction

As membership of the church increased in , JS and his counselors assigned to lead congregations established in areas outside of , including the township of . Approximately sixteen miles northeast of Kirtland, Thompson was one of the first areas where church members settled after moving from to Ohio. In the letter featured here, JS and his counselors in the announced that had been appointed to preside over the church in Thompson. They also gave general directions to the church members living there.
When JS arrived in in February 1831, , a converted Shaker and owner of a large parcel of property in , offered to let church members live on his land and to build houses for them. JS declined, but in May a group of members from the vicinity of , New York, accepted Copley’s offer and settled on his farm. That same month, after a failed mission to convert his former associates among the Shaker community in North Union, Ohio, Copley rescinded his offer and demanded that church members leave his land. The group from Colesville, following the directions given in a revelation to JS, moved to , Missouri. Since Copley had become estranged from the church, this exodus in 1831 removed any known presence of the from Thompson. It is unclear when a congregation of the church was again established in Thompson, but by 3 August 1832, missionary was again referring to Leman Copley as “brother Copley” and holding church meetings at Copley’s home. Several people were in Thompson in late 1832. Coltrin, for instance, noted in his journal several preaching engagements and multiple baptisms in Thompson that fall, and on 24 December 1832, wrote to members of the church in that had “returned from Thompson, Ohio, where he has baptized twenty-three.”
The growth of the church in apparently prompted JS and his counselors to an and appoint him to preside over the local branch. Gee had already been holding church meetings at his home in Madison, Ohio, a few miles north of Thompson, as early as October 1832. At a held in on 4 February 1833, he was ordained an elder by and appointed to lead the congregation in Thompson. The 6 February letter featured here was carried by Gee to his new congregants and served as his official introduction to them.
According to the letter, part of ’s new responsibility was to keep members away from “evil spirits,” likely referring to the ongoing difficulty in that involved members exhibiting spiritual manifestations that JS deemed inappropriate. Though multiple revelations outlined the differences between proper and improper spiritual manifestations, the new converts in continued to exhibit these unacceptable manifestations. Only days after JS and his counselors sent this letter, , a who had baptized many in Thompson, wrote a letter concerning “evil spirits” to Gee and his congregation. In his letter, Murdock used his own experiences with what he deemed legitimate spiritual gifts to contrast the unacceptable actions of some Thompson members, especially those of , who apparently opposed Gee’s appointment as the new local leader.
The letter featured here may also reflect JS’s recent work revising the New Testament. Four days before this letter was written, wrote in Minute Book 1, “This day completed the translation and the reviewing of the New testament and sealed up no more to be brokin till it goes to Zion.” While many of JS’s letters incorporate phrases found in the New Testament, this letter relies particularly heavily on New Testament language, suggesting it was influenced by JS’s recent revision of the .

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41].

  2. [2]

    Knight, Autobiography and Journal, 29–30; Revelation, 10 June 1831 [D&C 54:7–8]; see also Historical Introductions to Revelation, 20 May 1831 [D&C 51]; and to Revelation, 10 June 1831 [D&C 54].

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

  3. [3]

    Coltrin, Diary and Notebook, 3 Aug., 1 Oct.–12 Nov., and 20–23 Nov. 1832; “Extracts of Letters from the Elders Abroad,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Feb. 1833, [5]–[6].

    Coltrin, Zebedee. Diaries, 1832–1834. CHL. MS 1443.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  4. [4]

    Coltrin, Diary and Notebook, 13 Oct. 1832; 1830 U.S. Census, Madison, Geauga Co., OH, 192.

    Coltrin, Zebedee. Diaries, 1832–1834. CHL. MS 1443.

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

  5. [5]

    Minute Book 1, 4 Feb. 1833. Gee’s elder’s license, signed by Frederick G. Williams, explained that he had been “ordained an Elder under the hand of Sidney Rigdon according to the articles and covenants of this church on the fourth day of February AD 1833.” (Elder’s License for Salmon Gee, 4 Feb. 1833, Lysander Gee, Papers, CHL.)

    Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

    Gee, Lysander. Papers, 1833–1902. CHL. MS 16233.

  6. [6]

    For examples of behavior that had been deemed inappropriate by JS, see Historical Introduction to Revelation, 9 May 1831 [D&C 50]; see also Letter to Hyrum Smith, 3–4 Mar. 1831; Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–A [D&C 46]; and Revelation, 9 May 1831 [D&C 50].

  7. [7]

    Murdock explained that he had been able “to speak the praises of God and the mysteries of the kingdom in other tonges according to promise and this without throwing me down or wallowing me on the ground or any thing unbecoming or immoral . . . so that I know that those odd actions and strange noises is not caused by the spirit of the Lord as is represented by brothe[r] King therefore in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the spirit of the Living God, according to the authority of the holy Priesthood commited to me I command Brother Thomas King (as though I were present) to cease from your diabolical acts of in thusiasm and also from acting as an Elder . . . [and] to submit and let brother Gee be upheld by the prayer of faith of every brother & sister and if there be this union of spirit & prayer of faith, evry false spirit shall be bound and cast out from among you.” (John Murdock, Kirtland, OH, to Salmon Gee, Thompson, OH, 11 Feb. 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 26–27.)

    JS Letterbook 1 / Smith, Joseph. “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.

  8. [8]

    Minute Book 1, 2 Feb. 1833.

    Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to the Church in Thompson, Ohio, 6 February 1833 Letterbook 1 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 26

praying for him continually that he may be with wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of the Lord that through him you may be kept from evil spirits and all strifes and discensions and grow in grace and in the know[l]edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
Brethren beloved continue in brotherly Love walking in meekness watching unto prayer that you be not overcome follow after peace as said our beloved brothe[r] Paul that you may be the children of our heavenly Father and <​not​> give occasion <​of​> for stumbling to saint or sinner— finely [finally] brethren pray for us that we may be enabled to do the work whereunto we are called that you may enjoy the mysteries of God even a fulness and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all amen.
Joseph Smith Jr—
—— [p. 26]
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Source Note

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Page 26

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to the Church in Thompson, Ohio, 6 February 1833
ID #
141
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D3:3–6
Handwriting on This Page
  • Frederick G. Williams

Footnotes

  1. [10]

    See Colossians 1:9.

  2. [11]

    See 2 Peter 3:18.

  3. [12]

    See Hebrews 13:1.

  4. [13]

    See 1 Peter 4:7.

  5. [14]

    See Romans 12:21.

  6. [15]

    See Hebrews 12:14; and Romans 14:19.

  7. [16]

    See Matthew 5:45; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 481 [3 Nephi 12:45].

  8. [17]

    See Romans 14:13.

  9. [18]

    See Acts 13:2.

  10. [19]

    See, for example, Romans 16:24; Philippians 4:23; and Revelation 22:21.

  11. [20]

    Williams had been JS’s counselor since 5 January 1833. Rigdon had been a counselor since 8 March 1832. (See Revelation, 5 Jan. 1833; and Note, 8 Mar. 1832.)

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