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Minutes, 19 April 1843

Source Note

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, [, Hancock Co., IL], 19 Apr. 1843; handwriting of ; four pages; Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 1840–1844, CHL. Includes docket and notation.
Four leaves, each measuring 12¼ × 7½ inches (31 × 19 cm). The text was inscribed on the versos of four printed copies of “A Fac-simile from the Book of Abraham, No. 2.” After making the initial inscription in black ink, went back through the document, using blue ink to revise material and write over words. The leaves were folded in half twice for filing.
The document was docketed by , who served as clerk of the from October 1840 until his death in 1854. Richards presumably retained the minutes in his possession after inscribing them, and they were likely among the “Minutes of the Twelve 1840 to 1844” listed on an 1846 inventory of the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department). The document includes a notation by Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. The minutes of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were part of the Brigham Young collection during the first half of the twentieth century and were kept in a collection of various minutes during an era when the Church Historian’s Office used a genre-based filing method. In 1986 the minutes of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the 1840s were transferred from the Church Historical Department (now CHL) to the Office of the First Presidency. In 2008, this collection of minutes was returned to the Church History Department (CHL).

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See “A Fac-simile from the Book of Abraham, No. 2,” Second Issue, between ca. 15 Mar. 1842 and 1 Apr. 1843.

  2. [2]

    Added and canceled material will be identified in the text; those words that Richards merely wrote over for clarification will not be.

  3. [3]

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 8 Oct. 1840; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  4. [4]

    “Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  5. [5]

    Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  6. [6]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 1840–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 19 April 1843, JS met with members of the in , Illinois, and instructed them on their assignment to raise funds for the construction of the , an edifice designated by revelation to be built as “a house for boarding” for “strangers . . . from afar” and “the weary traveller.” JS’s direction to the apostles stemmed from the belief that members were not sufficiently supporting the building of the Nauvoo House because they were more concerned with construction of the Nauvoo . In April 1842, the Twelve circulated a letter reminding church members that God had commanded the construction of both houses, and in August 1842, told appointed to travel to the eastern not only to raise funds for the temple but to “get the people to take stock in the Nauvoo House” as well. In February 1843, , the architect of the Nauvoo House, complained about the lack of support for the project, after which JS declared, “I want the Nauvo[o] House bui[l]t[.] it must be built, our salvation depends upon it.” JS counseled the Saints to “do what they can for the Nauvoo House. We never can accomplish our work at the expence of another.” Accordingly, at the of the church held in early April 1843, JS stated that one of the purposes of the meeting was “to take into consideration the sending out of the twelve or some porti[o]n of them or some body else to get means to build up Nauvoo. House.” Later in the meeting, JS appointed the Twelve to “this spicial mission of collecting funds for the Nauvoo House,” an action the conference ratified.
At this 19 April meeting in JS’s office, JS met with apostles , , , , , , , and to elaborate on the ’s fund-raising assignment. Woodruff recorded in his journal that JS “counciled us to take a mission in the East to obtain a means to build the as we were appointed So to do by the Conference.” JS also instructed the quorum on the need for others besides the apostles to proselytize in and directed them to write a letter to , an early leader of the church who was excommunicated in 1838, to ask if he was ready to return to the church.
, an apostle and one of JS’s clerks, took the minutes of the meeting in his role as clerk of the Quorum of the Twelve. The hurried nature of these minutes and the fact that Richards went back over them to correct misspellings, clarify words, and add information suggest that these were the original notes he took during the meeting. Richards made a cleaner copy of the minutes in JS’s journal. Substantive differences between the minutes and the journal version are identified in the footnotes.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:23].

  2. [2]

    Brigham Young et al., “An Epistle of the Twelve,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1842, 3:737; JS, Journal, 29 Aug. 1842.

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 21 Feb. 1843; Discourse, 21 Feb. 1843.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 6 Apr. 1843; see also Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 Apr.–ca. 8 May 1843.

  5. [5]

    Woodruff, Journal, 19 Apr. 1843; see also Lucien Woodworth and Peter Haws, Nauvoo, IL, to George Miller and Henry Miller, Black River, Wisconsin Territory, 10 May 1843, Nauvoo House Association, Records, CHL.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

    Nauvoo House Association. Records, 1841–1846. CHL. MS 2375.

  6. [6]

    JS, Journal, 19 Apr. 1843.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Minutes, 19 April 1843 Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 2, 10 March 1843–14 July 1843 History Draft [1 March–31 December 1843] History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 4

Indian— <​to india,​> this man that man— send them, <​to the different places where they belong—​> <​send​> Central America<​——​> Spanish America dont let one single corner of the earth go witho[u]t a mission.
write to ask him if he has eat husks long enugh— <​4½ O clock— Joseph went home​> <​if he is not most ready to return & be clothed in rob[e]s of rightios [righteousness] & go up to , Hath need of him​>
<​the wrote a letter to ​>
<​voted that procure a good book for the records of the twelve,​>
<​voted tht be calld ​>
<​ offerd to pay for the book​>
<​votd tht & take charge of ths book & bring up the records,——​>
<​(voted that Elder & obey the frst commandmnt in 3 weeks.)​>
Adjourd to next Monday 4 o’clock P.M. [1/4 page blank] [p. 4]
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Page 4

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 19 April 1843
ID #
12394
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:218–228
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [77]

    TEXT: Insertion in blue ink.

  2. [78]

    TEXT: Insertion in blue ink.

  3. [79]

    TEXT: Insertion in blue ink.

  4. [80]

    TEXT: Insertion in blue ink.

  5. [81]

    The Book of Mormon and JS’s early revelations indicated that the gospel would be preached to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples. Before this time, missionaries had primarily proselytized in English-speaking areas in North America but had begun expanding their labors throughout the British Isles and onto the European continent. (Ellsworth, “History of Mormon Missions in the United States and Canada,” chap. 10; “Joseph Smith Documents from February through November 1841”; Allen et al., Men with a Mission, 171; see also Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 115, 497 [2 Nephi 30:8; 3 Nephi 28:29]; Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:58]; and Revelation, 23 July 1837 [D&C 112:1].)

    Ellsworth, Samuel George. “A History of Mormon Missions in the United States and Canada, 1830–1860.” PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1951.

    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.

  6. [82]

    See Luke 15:16. Phineas Young had remained in contact with Cowdery and had told Brigham Young and Willard Richards that Cowdery’s “heart is still with his old friends” and that Cowdery might be willing to bury old misunderstandings and rejoin the church in Nauvoo. Phineas Young was a brother of Brigham Young, and his wife, Lucy Pearce Cowdery Young, was a half sister of Oliver Cowdery. (Phineas Young, Tiffin, OH, to Brigham Young and Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, 14 Dec. 1842, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; Celestia Young Pack, “Phineas Howe Young—Captain of Third Ten,” in Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 2:509; see also JS, Journal, 12 Apr. 1838; and Letter to Wilford Woodruff, ca. 18 June 1838.)

    Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

    Carter, Kate B., comp. Our Pioneer Heritage. 20 vols. Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1937–1977.

  7. [83]

    TEXT: Insertion in blue ink.

  8. [84]

    See Isaiah 61:10; Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 79 [2 Nephi 9:14]; Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:12]; and Minutes and Prayer of Dedication, 27 Mar. 1836 [D&C 109:76].

  9. [85]

    TEXT: Insertion in blue ink. Hyde returned from a mission to Europe and Jerusalem in December 1842. (JS, Journal, 7 Dec. 1842.)

  10. [86]

    TEXT: Insertion in blue ink. The account of this meeting in JS’s journal notes that “a letter was written & signed by the me[m]bers of the Quorum present.” In this letter, the apostles told Cowdery that they “thought perhaps our old, long esteemed friend might by this time have felt his lonely solitary situation . . . & that he might have a disposition to return.” They assured him that if such was the case, “your brethren are ready to receive you.” This letter was not mailed to Cowdery until 10 December 1843. After receiving the letter, Cowdery declined the invitation to return, though he said he had “no unkindly feelings toward” the apostles. (Brigham Young et al., Nauvoo, IL, to Oliver Cowdery, 19 Apr. 1843, copy, Luna Eunice Caroline Young Thatcher, Collection, CHL, underlining in original; Oliver Cowdery, Tiffin, OH, to Brigham Young et al., Nauvoo, IL, 25 Dec. 1843, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL.)

    Thatcher, Luna Eunice Caroline Young. Collection, 1835–1876. CHL. MS 6140.

    Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

  11. [87]

    TEXT: Insertion in blue ink.

  12. [88]

    TEXT: Insertion in blue ink. This line was omitted from the account in JS’s journal.

  13. [89]

    TEXT: Insertion in blue ink. This line was omitted from the account inJS’s journal.

  14. [90]

    TEXT: Insertion in blue ink.

  15. [91]

    TEXT: Insertion in blue ink; canceled in black ink.

  16. [92]

    According to the account in JS’s journal, the meeting was adjourned until the next Monday at 1:00 p.m.

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