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Letters to John Burk, Sally Waterman Phelps, and Almira Mack Scobey, 1–2 June 1835
Source Note
Source Note
Letters, JS, , , and , , Geauga Co., OH, to , , Clay Co., MO, 1 June 1835; , , Geauga Co., OH, to , , Clay Co., MO, 2 June 1835; JS, , Geauga Co., OH, to , , MO, ca. 2 June 1835; handwriting of and JS; signatures of JS, , , and ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket.
These letters were inscribed on a large single sheet folded in half, creating two leaves measuring 16¾ × 10½ inches (42 × 27 cm). The top, bottom, and outside edges of the leaves were irregularly cut. The document was tri-folded twice in letter style for mailing. Three of the center panels on the verso of the second leaf have residue from an adhesive wafer; one of the panels contains a largely complete adhesive wafer with the letters “WWP”, for , still visible. Opening of the seal resulted in some minor loss to the text of the recto of the second leaf. Soiling is heaviest on the address panel and the other exterior panel, suggesting that it was kept folded in letter style for some time. All the folds are weak, and many folds and corners have loss of text because of wear. Some folds have been mended with Japanese paper. A docket in the handwriting of Andrew Jenson is inscribed vertically in graphite on the address panel and reads: “June 2 1, 1835”. Asterisks (redactions) inscribed in graphite in the margins throughout the manuscript suggest the letter may have been copied at some point.
The custodial history is uncertain. The address label specifies the letter was sent to “Mr or ” in , Clay County, Missouri, but the absence of any postmark indicates it was hand carried, even though a statement in the letter speaks of postage. Manuscript materials relating to were donated to the Historian’s Office incrementally starting in the 1860s. Sometime between 1906 and 1913, Assistant Church Historian Andrew Jenson copied the letters into the Journal History of the Church, stating that they were “on file” at the Church Historian’s Office.
Footnotes
- [1]
Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 1–2 June 1835; Bergera, “Commencement of Great Things,” 23, 30.
Historical Department. Journal History of the Church, 1896–. CHL. CR 100 137.
Bergera, Gary James. “The Commencement of Great Things: The Origins, Scope, and Achievement of the Journal History of the Church.” Mormon Historical Studies 4, no. 1 (Spring 2003): 23–39.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 1 June 1835, JS, , , and wrote a letter to , president of the in , Clay County, Missouri, explaining that elders did not have the authority to conduct disciplinary councils in . They also provided more general information on the duties of elders, , , and . Phelps and Whitmer had left their homes in where they served as two of the presidents of the Missouri high council, on 28 April 1835, and they arrived in , Ohio, on 17 May 1835. On 20 May, they participated in a meeting that determined that a Missouri disciplinary council held for , an elder in Missouri, was not authorized. Phelps then served as the scribe for this letter—signed by himself, JS, Cowdery, and Whitmer—informing Burk of that decision.
The letter suggests that there was some confusion regarding the responsibilities of elders, especially in terms of church discipline. In the past, conferences of elders had filled a disciplinary role. In 1834, the and the high council were formed and given the responsibility of disciplining members accused of transgressions in , or Missouri, and Kirtland, a of Zion, although maintained a role in this as well. Yet in of the church outside of Kirtland and Missouri, conferences of elders continued to serve as disciplinary bodies. Further complicating matters in Missouri was the fact that, as of 1 June 1835, the presidency of the Missouri high council—, , and —and at least ten of the twelve counselors had gone to Kirtland or were serving on missions elsewhere. With only two counselors in Missouri, the high council could not function. and his counselors, and , had also gone to Kirtland, leaving the Saints in Missouri essentially leaderless and without the ability to conduct disciplinary proceedings. Burk may have supposed that, given this situation, the elders had to take charge of disciplinary matters. This letter corrected Burk, explaining that the elders did not have the authority to discipline in areas where a high council was organized. Instead, the Missouri high council, its presidency, and the Missouri would regulate the Missouri church from Kirtland for the time being. An August 1835 letter reiterated that the Saints in Missouri “should let the high counsel which is appointed of God and for that purpose, make and regulate all the affairs of Zion.” Those priesthood officers who remained in Missouri were to “confine themselves to teaching the first principles of the Gospel: not endeavoring to institute regulations or laws for Zion.”
The letter also clarifies the role of different officers in the church, a common topic of church leaders’ meetings and writings around this time because of the recent designation of some men as or members of the . The letter reiterates the duties of elders, priests, teachers, and deacons and emphasizes the importance of mercy in dealing with wayward members. In addition, the letter explains the need for elders to preach and call people to repentance. According to notations made on the letter, these general instructions were meant for all members of the church and for “each grade of officers.” Accordingly, they were published, with several additions and modifications by Phelps, in the June 1835 issue of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate under the title “To the Saints Scattered Abroad.” Not published in the Messenger and Advocate were portions of the letter explaining the specific decision in ’s case, expressing hope that an “Elder Fosdick” would “improve his talent,” and chastising for not traveling to as he had been instructed in June 1834.
Included in the transmission of this letter to Burk was a separate letter from to his wife, , and their six children who remained in . In addition, the letter includes a short postscript from JS to his cousin , who was also living in Clay County. Phelps’s letter provides counsel to Sally about raising their children in his absence and conveys information about the church in , especially the preaching of elders sent from there. On the letter to his wife, Phelps drew part of what appears to be the original plat of the , which was created in June 1833. Phelps gives no reasons for providing this to Sally, saying only that she should keep the drawing confidential. The plans for the city of Zion had been sent to church leaders in , Missouri, in summer 1833, not long before the Saints were expelled from the county in November 1833. However, redeeming Zion by reclaiming their lands in Jackson County was still an item of concern to JS and other leaders.
Just a month before this letter was written, JS made “some very appropriate remarks, relative to the deliverance of Zion” to a gathering of church officers. Those present at the meeting then unanimously voted “that we never give up the struggle for Zion, even until Death. or until Zion is Redeemed.” JS had also told others that church members needed to be ready to move back to Jackson County by 11 September 1836, which he called “the appointed time for the redemption of Zion.” In 1835, he was already making plans for this return, including, as recorded in an earlier letter to Sally, “the order of receiving inheritances in Zion when it is redeemed.” Church leaders in were thus regularly addressing the topic of returning to Zion (including a brief mention in the letter to ), which may have prompted Phelps to provide the drawing in the letter. The theme of Zion’s redemption also appears in JS’s short note to .
Although statements in the letter to refer to the cost of postage for the letter, there are no postage markings on it. It appears to have been received in , however, because a later letter from states that informed him in July 1835 that the letter “had checked the Elders in their crusade for exaltation.” In addition, was laboring as a missionary by 1836, indicating that he was in good standing with the church, and arrived in in November 1835, presumably as a result of the chastisement he received in the letter to Burk.
Footnotes
- [1]
- [2]
In a later letter to his wife, Sally Waterman Phelps, William W. Phelps referred to a letter that “checked the Elders in their crusade for exaltation.” He called the letter “my letter,” indicating that he likely drafted the letter on behalf of the other three. (William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, to Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, 20 July 1835, in Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 20 July 1835.)
Historical Department. Journal History of the Church, 1896–. CHL. CR 100 137.
- [3]
- [4]
Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102]; Minutes, 3 July 1834; Minutes and Discourse, ca. 7 July 1834. A November 1831 revelation had designated the bishop as “a common judge among the inhabitants of Zion.” (Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:74].)
- [5]
See, for example, Minutes and Discourse, 21 Apr. 1834.
- [6]
David Whitmer, William W. Phelps, John Whitmer, Newel Knight, Calvin Beebe, William E. McLellin, Solomon Hancock, Thomas B. Marsh, Simeon Carter, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, John Murdock, and Levi Jackman had all left Missouri by this time, leaving Christian Whitmer and Lyman Wight as the only remaining high council members. (Oliver Cowdery, Editorial, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:3; Whitmer, History, 70–71; Knight, History, 791; Partridge, Diary, 27 Jan.–29 Apr. 1835; Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, 14–15 Feb. 1835; McLellin, Journal, 9 July 1834; Solomon Hancock, Kirtland, OH, 12 Dec. 1835, Letter to the Editor, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1836, 2:272; Simeon Carter, Report, 4 May 1835, Missionary Reports, 1831–1900, CHL; Minutes and Blessings, 21 Feb. 1835; Pratt, Diary, 26 Apr. 1835; Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, 1 Mar. 1835; Levi Jackman and C. Baldwin, Clear Creek, IL, 7 July 1835, Letter to the Editor, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1835, 1:185–186.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Knight, Newel. History. Private possession. Copy in CHL. MS 19156.
Partridge, Edward. Diaries, 1818 and 1835–1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fds. 1–2.
McLellin, William E. Journal, July 1834–Apr. 1835. William E. McLellin, Papers, 1831–1836, 1877–1878. CHL. MS 13538, box 1, fd. 4. Also available as Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, eds., The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836 (Provo, UT: BYU Studies; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994).
Missionary Reports, 1831–1900. CHL. MS 6104.
Pratt, Orson. Journal, 1833–1837. Orson Pratt, Autobiography and Journals, 1833–1847. CHL. MS 587, fds. 2–4.
- [7]
Edward Partridge, Report, 31 Oct. 1835, Missionary Reports, 1831–1900, CHL; John Corrill to Margaret Corrill, 20 July 1835, William W. Phelps, Papers, BYU.
Missionary Reports, 1831–1900. CHL. MS 6104.
Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.
- [8]
Letter to Church Officers in Missouri, 31 Aug. 1835; see also William W. Phelps to Sally Waterman Phelps, 20 July 1835, William W. Phelps, Papers, BYU. Perhaps foreseeing the lack of leadership in Missouri, a November 1834 council decided “that there be no more stated meetings” there, although the elders could “administer the sacrament if they see a convenient opportunity.” (Minute Book 2, 5 Nov. 1834.)
Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.
- [9]
See, for example, Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107]; Minutes and Discourse, 2 May 1835; and Minutes and Discourses, 27 Feb. 1835.
- [10]
A resolution accepted at a 2 May 1835 meeting of church officers stated that “all the Elders of the Church are bound to travel in the World to preach the gospel with all their might mind & Strength.” (Minutes and Discourse, 2 May 1835.)
- [11]
- [12]
- [13]
Whitmer, History, 70–71; JS History, vol. B-1, 592.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
- [14]
Plat of the City of Zion, ca. Early June–25 June 1833. Church leaders also developed a plat for Kirtland around this same time. They created a revised plat of the City of Zion likely in August 1833, but Phelps’s drawing appears to depict the original plat of Zion. It includes two squares in the middle, designated “for the Houses of God,” which seem to correspond to the two squares in the center of the city of Zion plat where twenty-four houses of the Lord were to be built. The square directly to the right of those squares contains horizontal lines, also conforming to the original plat. (Plat of Kirtland, OH, not before 2 Aug. 1833; Revised Plat of the City of Zion, ca. Early Aug. 1833.)
- [15]
Historical Introduction to Plat of the City of Zion, ca. Early June–25 June 1833; see also Historical Introduction to Revised Plat of the City of Zion, ca. Early Aug. 1833.
- [16]
- [17]
Letter to Lyman Wight et al., 16 Aug. 1834; JS, Journal, 24 Sept. 1835; William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, to Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, 26 May 1835, William W. Phelps, Papers, BYU.
Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.
- [18]
William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, to Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, 20 July 1835, in Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 20 July 1835.
Historical Department. Journal History of the Church, 1896–. CHL. CR 100 137.
- [19]
“Extract of G. Burket’s Letter,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Jan. 1836, 2:256; JS, Journal, 2 Nov. 1835.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
of the blessing which shall <be> heired [inherited] by the faithful after is redeemed.
To : The Lord is not pleased with him because he did not come to as is manifest to the Council: The Council fear, that in consequence of self sufficiency and self knowledge, which hertofore at times headed our worthy brother aside from the strict principles of <the gospel of> our Lord Jesus Christ, unless he goes forth into the vineyard, and magnifies his calling according to the , satan will sift him as chaff. Let him be reminded that it is necessary for him to repent, and humble himself before God and go about his master’s business; and let those who have been appointed, whose appointments have been sanctioned by the voice of the regulate the affairs of Zion, Lest he that puts his hand forth to steady the ark, be made an ensample, as was Uzzah in the David Days of David.
Decision in Elder ’s case appealed from the Elder’s Court.
, Ohio, May 30, 1835: The foregoing case was reviewed by the Presidency, and decided that the proceedings were illegal on the part of the Elders; they not having authority to act in that country, the Lord having appionted regular councils for the trials of transgressors— Clerk—
We say to , go to the parties and witnesses, in meekness and forgive them whatever hardness you may hold against <them> and they must forgive you, and when you have done so, and sufficiently humbled yourself, prepare your self— and go forth and magnify your calling, lest satan sift you as chaff.
We having a regard for Elder Fosdick hope and pray that he may also go forth and improve his talent, lest he lose his crown.
In the bonds <of> the , we are
Joseph Smith, Jr.
.
To the Elders , , and members of the church of Christ of Latte[r] day sain[t]s.
Copy this and hand it to my , that give her the original letter
Mr
Or
Clay Co
Mo [p. [2]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
- [23]
See Revelation, 24 Feb. 1834 [D&C 103:11–13].
- [24]
Although the 23 June council instructed Wight to travel to Kirtland, an August 1834 letter from JS to Wight implied that he had additional responsibilities in Missouri: “And I would reccomend to brother Wight to enter complaints to the Govonor as of ten as he receves any insults or injury . . . and if the citizens of Clay co, do not befriend us to gather up the little army and be set over Immediately into Jackson County and trust in God and do the best he can in maintaining the ground.” (Minutes, 23 June 1834; Letter to Lyman Wight et al., 16 Aug. 1834.)
- [25]
See Revelation, 6 June 1831 [D&C 52:12]; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 327 [Alma 37:15].
- [26]
Wight was appointed a member of the Missouri high council in July 1834 but could not function without the presidency and the other councilors. (Minutes, 3 July 1834; Minutes and Discourse, ca. 7 July 1834.)
- [27]
See 2 Samuel 6:3–8; 1 Chronicles 13:7–11; and Letter to William W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832 [D&C 85:8]. It is unclear what Wight may have done to “steady the ark.” One possibility is that, as one of only two resident members of the Missouri high council, he tried to fill the leadership gap himself without consulting the presidency of the Missouri high council in Kirtland. A later note from Oliver Cowdery mentioned that Wight had not been corresponding with church leaders in Kirtland, making them think that there was “evidently a wrong somewhere.” (“Some Early Letters of William W. Phelps,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Jan. 1940, 29.)
Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine. Salt Lake City. 1910–1940.
- [28]
This could refer to the presidency of the Missouri high council, the presidency of the Kirtland high council, the presidency of the high priesthood, or some combination of these bodies.
- [29]
Burket had previously been disciplined in 1832 and 1833, when he had his elder’s license rescinded, but his license was reinstated in November 1834. By January 1836, he was “laboring for a season in the branch of the church” in Madison County, Illinois. (Minute Book 2, 29 Nov.–1 Dec. 1831; 5 Nov. 1834; “Extract of G. Burket’s Letter,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Jan. 1836, 2:256.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
- [30]
This might be Jabez G. Fosdick, who apparently carried on correspondence with Oliver Cowdery in 1834 about the church in Michigan. The December 1835 issue of the Messenger and Advocate contained a notation that “the high council of the church of Latter Day Saints, in Missouri, have withdrawn their fellowship from elder J. D. Fosdick, for unchristianlike conduct, till he makes satisfaction.” This might be the same “Elder Fosdick.” (Letter to J. G. Fosdick, 3 Feb. 1834; Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to J. G. Fosdick, Pontiac, Michigan Territory, 4 Feb. 1834, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 25–26; Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to J. G. Fosdick et al., Pontiac, Michigan Territory, 7 Mar. 1834, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 28–29; “Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1835, 2:240.)
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
- [31]
See Matthew 25:15–28.
Signatures of JS, Oliver Cowdery, William W. Phelps, and John Whitmer.
- [32]
This apparently meant that Burk or other elders were to copy the portion of the letter with the specific instructions to Burk and then give the original to Sally Waterman Phelps. William W. Phelps told Sally in another letter that he would write to her “all the news and new things that is expedient for you, or the Saints” and that she was to keep such letters “at home,” as he considered them his “private Journal.” (William W. Phelps to Sally Waterman Phelps, no date, William W. Phelps, Papers, BYU.)
Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.