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Proverbs, between circa 11 August and circa 4 September 1842

Source Note

JS, Proverbs, [
Hancock Co.

Formed from Pike Co., 1825. Described in 1837 as predominantly prairie and “deficient in timber.” Early settlers came mainly from mid-Atlantic and southern states. Population in 1835 about 3,200; in 1840 about 9,900; and in 1844 at least 15,000. Carthage ...

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, IL, or
Lee Co.

First permanent settlement established, 1820. Organized 1837. Population in 1838 about 2,800; in 1840 about 6,100; in 1844 about 9,800; and in 1846 about 13,000. Following expulsion from Missouri, 1838–1839, many Saints found refuge in eastern Iowa Territory...

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, Iowa Territory, between ca. 11 Aug. and ca. 4 Sept. 1842]; handwriting of
Erastus Derby

14 Sept. 1810–3 Dec. 1890. Tailor, carpenter, farmer, joiner. Born in Hawley, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Edward Darby and Ruth Phoebe Hitchcock. Moved to Ohio, by 1834. Married Ruhamah Burnham Knowlton, 10 Aug. 1834, in Carthage, Hamilton Co., Ohio...

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; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes notation and dockets.
Single leaf, measuring 9⅞ × 7⅞ inches (25 × 20 cm). The leaf is ruled with twenty-nine horizontal lines printed in blue ink. The document was inscribed in blue ink and was folded twice horizontally. The leaf was once a part of a bifolium, as indicated by two small, folded remnants of a formerly attached leaf on the left side of the recto. The surviving leaf appears to have been chewed by a rodent on the lower right side of the recto, but the damage obscures only one letter of text.
The document was docketed by
Thomas Bullock

23 Dec. 1816–10 Feb. 1885. Farmer, excise officer, secretary, clerk. Born in Leek, Staffordshire, England. Son of Thomas Bullock and Mary Hall. Married Henrietta Rushton, 25 June 1838. Moved to Ardee, Co. Louth, Ireland, Nov. 1839; to Isle of Anglesey, Aug...

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, who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865.
1

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


Comprehensive Works Cited

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.

It was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904.
2

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


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
3

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


The document’s docket and its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    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.

  2. [2]

    “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.

  3. [3]

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

Historical Introduction

In late summer 1842, JS dictated five proverbs to
Erastus Derby

14 Sept. 1810–3 Dec. 1890. Tailor, carpenter, farmer, joiner. Born in Hawley, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Edward Darby and Ruth Phoebe Hitchcock. Moved to Ohio, by 1834. Married Ruhamah Burnham Knowlton, 10 Aug. 1834, in Carthage, Hamilton Co., Ohio...

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. The predominant themes of these proverbs are loyalty to friends, honesty, and patience amid afflictions. The proverbs also include admonitions for debtors and their lenders. Like the date, the circumstances under which JS dictated these proverbs are unclear.
Thomas Bullock

23 Dec. 1816–10 Feb. 1885. Farmer, excise officer, secretary, clerk. Born in Leek, Staffordshire, England. Son of Thomas Bullock and Mary Hall. Married Henrietta Rushton, 25 June 1838. Moved to Ardee, Co. Louth, Ireland, Nov. 1839; to Isle of Anglesey, Aug...

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later added a notation to the top of the document stating that the document consisted of “Proverbs of Joseph dictated by Joseph to Erastus H. Derby in 1843.”
1

In a separate instance in early 1843, JS dictated a proverb to scribe Willard Richards, who was assigned to keep JS’s journal. Richards recorded the proverb in JS’s journal. (JS, Journal, 10 Mar. 1843; see also JS, Proverb, ca. early 1843, in Richards, “Scriptural Items,” [14].)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Richards, Franklin D. Scriptural Items, ca. 1841–1844. CHL. MS 4409.

It is more likely, however, that Derby recorded these proverbs sometime between 11 August and 4 September 1842, since he did not work closely with JS in 1843 but did serve as his scribe for this three-week period in 1842.
2

Historical Introduction to Journal, Dec. 1841–Dec. 1842.


For a portion of that time, JS, who had been charged as an accessory before the fact to the attempted assassination of former
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

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governor
Lilburn W. Boggs

14 Dec. 1796–14 Mar. 1860. Bookkeeper, bank cashier, merchant, Indian agent and trader, lawyer, doctor, postmaster, politician. Born at Lexington, Fayette Co., Kentucky. Son of John M. Boggs and Martha Oliver. Served in War of 1812. Moved to St. Louis, ca...

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, was in hiding in various locations near
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

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, Illinois, as well as across the
Mississippi River

Principal U.S. river running southward from Itasca Lake, Minnesota, to Gulf of Mexico. Covered 3,160-mile course, 1839 (now about 2,350 miles). Drains about 1,100,000 square miles. Steamboat travel on Mississippi very important in 1830s and 1840s for shipping...

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in eastern
Lee County

Located in north-central Illinois, with part of northern county boundary formed by Rock River. Fertile agricultural area. French trappers frequented area, by 1780. Second Black Hawk campaign fought in area, 1832. Illinois Central Railroad construction began...

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, Iowa Territory.
3

JS, Journal, 8 Aug.–4 Sept. 1842.


Derby was his near-constant companion during much of that time; JS remarked in a letter to
Emma Smith

10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...

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, “I have been kept from melancholy and dumps, by the kind-heartedness of brother Derby, and his interesting chit-chat from time to time, which has called my mind from the more strong contemplations of things, and subjects that would have preyed more earnestly upon my feelings.”
4

Letter to Emma Smith, 16 Aug. 1842.


The themes of the proverbs were clearly relevant to JS’s circumstances at a time when he was relying on friends to protect him from the ongoing attempts to arrest him and extradite him to Missouri. All these circumstances suggest the proverbs were most likely dictated sometime between 11 August and 4 September.
There is no record of these proverbs being read or otherwise shared with a public or private audience either at the time
Derby

14 Sept. 1810–3 Dec. 1890. Tailor, carpenter, farmer, joiner. Born in Hawley, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Edward Darby and Ruth Phoebe Hitchcock. Moved to Ohio, by 1834. Married Ruhamah Burnham Knowlton, 10 Aug. 1834, in Carthage, Hamilton Co., Ohio...

View Full Bio
recorded them or thereafter.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    In a separate instance in early 1843, JS dictated a proverb to scribe Willard Richards, who was assigned to keep JS’s journal. Richards recorded the proverb in JS’s journal. (JS, Journal, 10 Mar. 1843; see also JS, Proverb, ca. early 1843, in Richards, “Scriptural Items,” [14].)

    Richards, Franklin D. Scriptural Items, ca. 1841–1844. CHL. MS 4409.

  2. [2]

    Historical Introduction to Journal, Dec. 1841–Dec. 1842.

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 8 Aug.–4 Sept. 1842.

  4. [4]

    Letter to Emma Smith, 16 Aug. 1842.

Page [1]

Proverbs of Joseph
1st Never exact of a friend in adversity what you would requirre in prosperity
2d If a man prove himsellfe to be honest in his deal, & an ememy come upon him wickedly, through fraud or false pretences and because he is Stronger than he maketh him his prisener and Spoil him with his Goods never Say unto that man in the day of his adversity pay him what thou owest,
1

See Matthew 18:28.


for if though [thou] doest it though [thou] addest a deeper wound and condemnation Shall come upon the[e]. and the richus [riches] shall be Justifyed in the days of thine adversity if they mock at the[e]
3rd Never afflict thy Soul for what an Enemy hath put it out of thy power to do, if thy Desieres are ever so Just
4th. Let thy hand never fale to hand out that that though [thou] owest which it is yet within thy Grasp to do So, but when thy Stock fails say to thy heart— be Strong and to thine anxieties cease. for Man what is he, he is but dong [dung] upon the Earth and all though he demand of the the cattle of an thousan[d]
2

TEXT: “thousan[page torn]”.


[p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Proverbs, between circa 11 August and circa 4 September 1842
ID #
2191
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D11:49–51
Handwriting on This Page
  • Erastus Derby

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Matthew 18:28.

  2. [2]

    TEXT: “thousan[page torn]”.

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