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Petition from George B. Wallace and Others and Letter from John E. Page, 30 October 1843

Source Note

, Jacob C. Phelps, Ananias MacAllester, Ezra Bickford, John Hardy, Oliver H. Dudley, F. Wilson, and others, Petition, , Suffolk Co., MA, to JS and the , , Hancock Co., IL, 30 Oct. 1843; handwriting presumably of Jacob C. Phelps or Ananias MacAllester; signature of presumably in the handwriting of Jacob C. Phelps; signatures of Jacob C. Phelps, Ananias MacAllester, Ezra Bickford, John Hardy, Oliver H. Dudley, and F. Wilson; , Letter, [, Suffolk Co., MA], to “Bretheren” (including JS), , Hancock Co., IL, 30 Oct. 1843; handwriting of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, wafer seal, postal stamps, postal notation, dockets, notation, and use marks.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7⅞ inches (25 × 20 cm). The petition was inscribed on both sides of the first leaf; the letter and its postscript were inscribed on the recto of the second leaf. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with an adhesive wafer, and postmarked. When the letter was opened, the wafer tore a hole in the second leaf. Wafer residue appears on the verso of that leaf. The document was later refolded for filing and docketed.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. It was later docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. A graphite notation reading “Copied by A. J.” and graphite use marks were later added by Andrew Jenson, who served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941, and by his clerk or secretary. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets and notations, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. [2]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

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

  3. [3]

    See Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 48–52, 55.

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

  4. [4]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

  5. [5]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 30 October 1843, and other members of the of the wrote a petition to JS and the in , Illinois, requesting permission for apostle to remain in Boston through the upcoming winter. The petitioners included a short letter from Page expressing his willingness to remain in Boston. In early September 1843, Page and seven other members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had arrived in Boston to preside over a regional held there between 9 and 11 September. Most of the apostles soon departed Boston, but Page, who was previously located in , continued to preach in the area through the fall.
The featured text was the latest in a series of letters that appears to have solicited from those to whom he preached. On 30 October, an unknown scribe—likely Jacob C. Phelps or Ananias MacAllester—writing on behalf of seven signatories and 150 members of the branch appealed to JS and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to allow Page to remain in Boston until the following spring in order to help build up the church there. Seven branch members signed the petition: , Phelps, MacAllester, Ezra Bickford, John Hardy, Oliver H. Dudley, and F. Wilson. On the page immediately following the signatures, Page wrote a short note assenting to the petition and requesting that church leaders send their answer to Wallace in Boston as well as a copy addressed to Page in to inform his wife, Mary Judd Page, of the decision. The petition and letter were composed and mailed from Boston on the same day.
JS, , and members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles apparently discussed the petition and letter at a November 1843 meeting, after which JS dictated a revelation directing to preach the gospel and build up the church in .

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Woodruff, Journal, 3, 23, and 29 Aug. 1843; 8–10 Sept. 1843; Boston Conference, Minutes, 9–11 Sept. 1843, 1, Historian’s Office, Minutes and Reports (Local Units), 1840–1886, CHL. Dozens of people living in the greater Boston area joined the church in the 1830s, many of whom migrated to Ohio, Missouri, or Illinois. In March 1842, missionary Freeman Nickerson organized a congregation of Latter-day Saints in Boston. The branch grew steadily over the next eighteen months and included approximately 250 members by October 1843. Estimates of the number of church members in the greater Boston area around this time ranged from 793 to 1,200. (“Latter Day Saints Again,” Times and Seasons, 16 May 1842, 3:797; see also “Mormon Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1843, 4:125; “Inconsistencies of Professed Bible Believers,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1843, 4:358; Resolutions of the Boston Conference, 12 Mar. 1843; Boston Conference, Minutes, 9–11 Sept. 1843, 1–3, Historian’s Office, Minutes and Reports [Local Units], 1840–1886, CHL; and Allison, “Layered Lives,” 168–213.)

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

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

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

    Allison, Christopher. “Layerd Lives: Boston Mormons and the Spatial Contexts of Conversion.” Journal of Mormon History 42, no. 2 (Apr. 2016): 168–213.

  2. [2]

    See Boston Conference, Minutes, 9–11 Sept. 1843, 1, 14; 1, 21 (second numbering), Historian’s Office, Minutes and Reports (Local Units), 1840–1886, CHL; and Historical Introduction to Revelation, ca. 25 Nov. 1843.

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

  3. [3]

    In November 1841, Latter-day Saints in New York wrote to the First Presidency commending Page’s work in that city. In February of the following year, twenty-three citizens of Pittsburgh petitioned church leaders to allow Page to return to Pittsburgh. (Letter from Church Members in New York City, ca. 29 Nov. 1841; Petition from Richard Savary and Others, ca. 2 Feb. 1842.)

  4. [4]

    Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, to John E. Page, [Boston, MA], 25 Nov. 1843, copy, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; Revelation, ca. 25 Nov. 1843.

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

Page [1]

To Joseph Smith and the of the at
WE the members of the Branch of said Church in , Massachusetts.
Respectfully Represent,
That one of the Twelve Apostles, has for the last six weeks been labouring in the cause of Christ in this place with very good success. Through his instrumentality many have been led to obey the Gospel of Christ, and it is our firm conviction that if he can be allowed to remain among us during the Ensuing Winter he will be the means of Accomplishing a great work. Large numbers are constantly in attendence at his meetings, and very many Candidly investigating the Doctrine he so ably preaches. He is unusually zealous in advocating the divine mission of Brother Joseph Smith and the truth of the Book of Mormon, which we believe has had a very good effect—
Not only the Saints, but the Inhabitants of generally, as well as the neighboring [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Petition from George B. Wallace and Others and Letter from John E. Page, 30 October 1843
ID #
1191
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:236–240
Handwriting on This Page
  • Jacob C. Phelps

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    TEXT: Handwriting presumably of Jacob C. Phelps or Ananias MacAllester begins.

  2. [2]

    When JS first organized the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1835, he designated them a “traveling high council.” (Minutes and Discourses, 27 Feb. 1835.)

  3. [3]

    In early October, Boston’s Daily Evening Transcript reprinted an article first published in the Salem Gazette commenting that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “found many converts in our vicinity. A large number have been baptized in the Mormon faith, and considerable sums of money have been obtained from them.” (“Mormonism,” Daily Evening Transcript [Boston], 3 Oct. 1843, [2].)

    Daily Evening Transcript. Boston. 1830–1853.

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