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Revelation, circa 25 November 1843

Source Note

Revelation, [, Hancock Co., IL, ca. 25 Nov. 1843]. Featured version copied [ca. 25 Nov. 1843] in Brigham Young, Letter, Nauvoo, Hancock Co., IL, to John E. Page, [Boston, Suffolk Co., MA], 25 Nov. 1843, p. [1], copy; handwriting of ; Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878, CHL. Includes docket.
Single leaf measuring 9¾ × 7⅝–7⅞ inches (25 × 19–20 cm), possibly excised from a bifolium. The top, bottom, and right edges exhibit the square cut of manufactured paper; the left edge was unevenly hand cut. The revelation is contained in the first page of a letter that was inscribed on the recto and verso of the leaf. It was later folded in half twice horizontally for filing and docketed on the recto.
The letter 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. By 1994 the document had been included in the Brigham Young Office Files at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The letter’s early docket and its later inclusion in the Brigham Young Office Files suggest 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]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

In late November 1843, JS dictated a revelation in , Illinois, instructing to leave and build up a congregation in . Since departing Nauvoo in April 1840, Page had preached successively in , , , , and . After Page returned to Nauvoo briefly in April 1842, a church voted that he return to to continue his ministry. In August 1843, Page left Pittsburgh to preach with other members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the area, , and Boston. On 30 October 1843, church members in Boston petitioned JS and the Twelve to allow Page to continue preaching in the city through the winter. Page forwarded the petition to Nauvoo along with a short note stating his willingness to remain in Boston.
On or before 25 November 1843, JS, , , and other members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met in council in to discuss the petition. During the meeting, someone read the petition aloud, after which JS dictated a revelation instructing to go to to preach the gospel and build up the church there. On 25 November, apostle wrote a letter to Page on behalf of the quorum that included the text of the revelation and explained that it was “expedient and absolutely necessary” to obtain “a foot hold in that popular City.” The letter also informed Page that JS wanted him “to send or take your wife to Washington” after building up the church there.
It is not known whether the revelation was originally inscribed on a separate document, as an original dictation manuscript has not been located. Presumably, it was written down as a discrete text and later copied, following the general pattern of JS revelations. The original letter is apparently no longer extant. made a copy of the letter containing the revelation, and the copy was kept with ’s papers. The revelation as it appears in the retained copy of the letter is featured here.
likely received the original letter with the revelation by mid-December 1843. Presumably acting in accordance with the revelation, Page arrived in on 17 February 1844.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from John E. Page, 1 Sept. 1841; JS and Brigham Young, Notice, Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1841, 2:582; Letter from Levick Sturges and Others, 30 Jan. 1842; Petition from Richard Savary and Others, ca. 2 Feb. 1842.

  2. [2]

    Minutes and Discourses, 6–8 Apr. 1842.

  3. [3]

    Woodruff, Journal, 3–27 Aug. 1843; 8–9 and 23 Sept. 1843.

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

  4. [4]

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

  5. [5]

    Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, to John E. Page, [Boston, MA], 25 Nov. 1843, copy, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL. The date of this meeting is uncertain. The 30 October petition from Boston church members likely took several weeks to travel by mail, arriving in Nauvoo sometime in mid- to late November. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles held one meeting in early November, though it is unlikely they received the petition by then. JS’s journal entries indicate that he met or counseled with members of the Twelve on 21, 23, and 25 November, but none of these entries mention a discussion regarding the petition. Wilford Woodruff, an apostle, noted in his journal that he met with JS and the Twelve on 25 November 1843. (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 7 Nov. 1843; JS, Journal, 21, 23, and 25 Nov. 1843; Woodruff, Journal, 25 Nov. 1843.)

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

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

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

  6. [6]

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

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

  7. [7]

    Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, to John E. Page, [Boston, MA], 25 Nov. 1843, copy, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL. On the same day that Richards wrote Young’s letter to Page, he wrote to Page’s wife, Mary Judd Page, in Pittsburgh, informing her of JS’s revelation and of her husband’s imminent move to Washington DC. The letter also informed her that after building up the church there, her husband should take her to the city. Richards wrote, “we hope he will be able to do in a short time, that you may not long be left alone.” (Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to Mary Judd Page, Pittsburgh, PA, 25 Nov. 1843, photocopy, CHL.)

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

    Richards, Willard. Letter, Nauvoo, IL, to Mary Page, Pittsburgh, PA, 25 Nov. 1843. Photocopy. CHL. MS 74.

  8. [8]

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

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

  9. [9]

    John E. Page, Washington DC, to JS and the Quorum of the Twelve, Nauvoo, IL, 1 Mar. 1844, JS Collection, CHL. Page stayed in Washington DC until mid-April, when he returned to Pittsburgh to be with his wife and daughter, who were apparently ill. (John E. Page, Pittsburgh, PA, to JS and Brigham Young, [Nauvoo, IL], 16 Apr. 1844; Orson Hyde, Washington DC, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 25 Apr. 1844, JS Collection, CHL.)

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Revelation, circa 25 November 1843
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [1]

Let Let my servant take his departure speedily from the City of , and go directly to the city of , and there labor diligintly in proclaiming my gospel to the inhabitants thereof, and if he is humble and faithful, lo! I will be with him, and will give him the hearts of the people that he may do them good, and build up a unto my name in that . [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revelation, circa 25 November 1843
ID #
4513
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:281–284
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS and Elias Higbee preached in Washington DC during winter 1839–1840, but apparently no established branches existed in the city by 1843. (Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 27 Jan. 1840, 2; Discourse, 5 Feb. 1840; Letter from Elias Higbee, 20 Feb. 1840–B; Reynolds, My Own Times, 574–575.)

    Reynolds, John. My Own Times: Embracing Also, the History of My Life. Belleville, IL: B. H. Perryman and H. L. Davison, 1855.

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