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Notification to Daniel Wood, 23 January 1842

Source Note

JS and , Notification, , Hancock Co., IL, to , , Pike Co., IL, 23 Jan. 1842; handwriting of ; one page; Nauvoo Stake High Council Papers, CHL. Includes address.
Single leaf of ledger paper measuring 7⅝ × 6¼ inches (19 × 16 cm). The paper is ruled with nineteen blue horizontal lines, as well as three brown vertical lines on the right side of the page. The top and right edges of the leaf have the square cut of manufactured paper, whereas the bottom and left edges appear to have been hand cut. The upper left corner is embossed with a rectangle containing an illegible inscription. The document was trifolded twice in letter style and addressed; additional folds indicate the document was likely folded again for transmittal.
The document is part of the Nauvoo Stake High Council Papers at the Church History Library and has likely been in continuous church custody since the exodus in 1846.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Thomas Bullock’s 1846 inventory lists “Records of High Council 1. 2. & Rough Book.” Loose high council records without Church Historian’s Office docketing, such as this notification, were likely interfiled in the council’s record books. (“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.

Historical Introduction

On 23 January 1842 JS and censured Latter-day Saint for purportedly preaching false doctrine, released him from his office in the , and notified him that he could appear before the , Illinois, for a hearing. The censure was the result of charges preferred earlier that month by , president in , Pike County, Illinois. The Wood family settled in Pike County sometime in 1841 and united with a group of Saints living near Pleasant Vale Township, located approximately sixty-six miles southeast of Nauvoo. By fall 1841 Draper presided over the Pleasant Vale branch, which had 166 members. He and Wood were well acquainted. Both men were in during spring 1833, and the Draper family accompanied the Woods to , Ohio, in 1834. Draper and Wood also proselytized together in Upper Canada in 1835.
In January 1842 reportedly informed church authorities in that had preached that “the church should unsheath the Sword.” Later statements clarify that Wood was accused of teaching false doctrine for proclaiming that “the saints were preparing for war at Nauvoo while some of the were trying to keep it secret while he himself if he had a voice like thunder would proclaim it to the ends of the earth.” Later minutes of the Nauvoo high council provide additional context for the charge against Wood, explaining that “there had been difficulties & hardness in that branch of the Church. They being divided into parties, contending about points of doctrine slandering one another, stiring up animosities & confusion.”
On 23 January 1842 wrote the featured notification to on behalf of JS and . Richards and Young were members of the , which had jurisdiction over all church branches, such as the one in , not belonging to a of . Richards also served as a scribe and secretary for JS and often acted as clerk for meetings of the Quorum of the Twelve. The notification was given to , who was appointed to deliver it to Wood. After Wood received the notification, he apparently gathered sworn statements from members of the Pleasant Vale branch, and on 5 February 1842 he presented these statements and other evidence to the high council. The council determined that he “had been put down by those who had prejudices and hardness against him” and therefore restored him to his former standing in the church.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Wood, Journals, 15; Conference Report, Pleasant Vale, IL, 25 and 27 Sept. 1841, Historian’s Office, Minutes and Reports (Local Units), 1840–1886, CHL.

    Wood, Daniel. Journals, ca. 1862–1900. CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Minutes and Reports, 1840–1886. CHL.

  2. [2]

    Conference Report, Pleasant Vale, IL, 25 and 27 Sept. 1841, Historian’s Office, Minutes and Reports (Local Units), 1840–1886, CHL. Pleasant Vale Township was founded around 1820. Latter-day Saints began settling in the township by January 1841, and they apparently constructed a meetinghouse in the northwest portion of the township. The Pleasant Vale stake was organized by March. On 24 May this stake and others were discontinued by JS, who wanted local Saints to settle in Nauvoo so the church’s energies could be focused on building a temple there. (Thompson, “Pike County Settled 1820,” 71–72, 77; Platt, “Early Branches of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” 37; History of Pike County, Illinois, 835–836; Revelation, 20 Mar. 1841; Letter to the Saints Abroad, 24 May 1841.)

    Historian’s Office. Minutes and Reports, 1840–1886. CHL.

    Thompson, Jesse M. “Pike County Settled 1820; 100 Years Ago.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 13, no. 1 (Apr. 1920): 71–84.

    Platt, Lyman De. “Early Branches of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1850.” Nauvoo Journal 3 (1991): 3–50.

    History of Pike County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of its Cities, Villages, and Townships. . . . Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

  3. [3]

    Draper, Autobiography, 1–2; Wood, Journals, 2–4; Young, Journal, 25–28 June 1835.

    Draper, William. Autobiography, 1881. CHL. MS 819.

    Wood, Daniel. Journals, ca. 1862–1900. CHL.

    Young, Brigham. Journals, 1832–1877. Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1, boxes 71–73.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 23 Jan. 1842. One of the signed statements Wood gathered in his defense indicates that he was accused of saying that JS “said the sword is unsheathed and never should be sheathed until his enimies were all destroyed.” JS apparently made a statement similar to this in Missouri in mid-1838. (Wiley Watson et al., Statements, 1 Feb. 1842, Nauvoo Stake High Council Papers, CHL; see also testimonies of Abner Scovil, John Corrill, George Walter, and George M. Hinkle, 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”; and Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde, Affidavit, Richmond, MO, 24 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City.)

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843. Fair copy. In Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL.

    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.

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  5. [5]

    Wiley Watson et al., Statements, 1 Feb. 1842, Nauvoo Stake High Council Papers, CHL.

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843. Fair copy. In Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL.

  6. [6]

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, 8 May 1842, 43–44.

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843. Fair copy. In Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL.

  7. [7]

    “Nauvoo Journals, May 1843–June 1844”; Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 31 Aug. 1841.

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

  8. [8]

    JS, Journal, 23 Jan. 1842.

  9. [9]

    Wiley Watson et al., Statements, 1 Feb. 1842, Nauvoo Stake High Council Papers, CHL.

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843. Fair copy. In Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL.

  10. [10]

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, 5 Feb. 1842, 39.

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843. Fair copy. In Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL.

Page [1]

January. 23d 1842
. will cease to acct in his office, in the ,— & that for tea[c]hing doctrines contrary To. Godliness,— and if he desires, it can come before the , of . for a hearing,
Joseph Smith
of the. Church of J. C. L. D S.
Prest of. the ——
. Clerk— [9 lines blank] [p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Notification to Daniel Wood, 23 January 1842
ID #
5031
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D9:106–109
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Wood held the office of elder, and by February 1836 he was a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy. (Wood, Journals, 2; JS, Journal, 3 and 7 Feb. 1836; Record of Seventies, bk. A, 7; Conference Report, Pleasant Vale, IL, 25 and 27 Sept. 1841, Historian’s Office, Minutes and Reports (Local Units), 1840–1886, CHL.)

    Wood, Daniel. Journals, ca. 1862–1900. CHL.

    Record of Seventies / First Council of the Seventy. “Book of Records,” 1837–1843. Bk. A. In First Council of the Seventy, Records, 1837–1885. CHL. CR 3 51, box 1, fd. 1.

    Historian’s Office. Minutes and Reports, 1840–1886. CHL.

  2. [2]

    The high council was the church body assigned to settle important difficulties and to hear appeals. (Minutes, 17 Feb. 1834; Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:2].)

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