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Times and Seasons, 1 October 1842

Source Note

Times and Seasons (
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....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL), 1 Oct. 1842, vol. 3, no. 23, pp. 927–942; edited by JS. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

JS, assisted by
Wilford Woodruff

1 Mar. 1807–2 Sept. 1898. Farmer, miller. Born at Farmington, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of Aphek Woodruff and Beulah Thompson. Moved to Richland, Oswego Co., New York, 1832. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Zera Pulsipher,...

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and
John Taylor

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodist church and was local preacher. Migrated ...

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, served as editor for the 1 October 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons, the twenty-third issue in the third volume. The extent to which JS was involved in writing the editorial content in this particular issue is unclear. As the newspaper’s editor, however, he was responsible for its content.
1

See Historical Introduction to Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1842.


The non-editorial content in the issue, which is not featured here, included an installation of the serialized “History of Joseph Smith,” a letter from JS on the subject of
baptisms

An ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...

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for the dead, and the minutes of a church
conference

A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...

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held in Alexander, New York.
2

“History of Joseph Smith,” “Letter from Joseph Smith,” and “Minutes of a Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:928–931, 934–936, 941–942. The manuscript version of JS’s letter is featured earlier in this volume. (Letter to the Church, 7 Sept. 1842 [D&C 128].)


In addition, the issue featured a poem by Frederick William Faber titled “The Signs of the Times,” reprinted from the Warder (a newspaper published in Dublin, Ireland),
3

“The Signs of the Times,” in Faber, Cherwell Water-Lily, 47–48; “The Signs of the Times,” Warder (Dublin, Ireland), 12 Dec. 1840, 5; “The Signs of the Times,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:942.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Faber, Frederick William. The Cherwell Water-Lily, and Other Poems. London: J. G. F. and J. Rivington, 1840.

Warder. Dublin, Ireland. 1832–1902.

and reprinted a response by the Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star (the
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
’s newspaper published in
England

Island nation consisting of southern portion of Great Britain and surrounding smaller islands. Bounded on north by Scotland and on west by Wales. Became province of Roman Empire, first century. Ruled by Romans, through 447. Ruled by Picts, Scots, and Saxons...

More Info
) to a letter featured in a British newspaper on the differences between Latter-day Saint and Baptist doctrine.
4

“Difference between the Baptists and Latter-day Saints,” Millennial Star, 12 Apr. 1841, 1:296–299; “Difference between the Baptists and the Latter-day Saints,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:931–933.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

Editorial content included commentary on a passage from a book about archaeology in Central America; an update on the growth and development of
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....

More Info
, Illinois; and an editorial encouraging donations to the Nauvoo
temple

Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...

More Info
construction fund. In addition, the editors reprinted with commentary the church’s 1835 statement on marriage, criticized the way
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 ...

More Info
was handling the criminal case of three abolitionists, and countered the millenarian claims of
William Miller

15 Feb. 1782–20 Dec. 1849. Farmer, author, military officer, preacher. Born in Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Miller and Paulina Phelps. Moved to Hampton, Washington Co., New York, 1786. Married Lucy Phelps Smith, 29 June 1803. Moved...

View Full Bio
and his followers. The issue also included a response to reports circulating in American newspapers that JS had fled Nauvoo to escape arrest. Two passages presumably written by the editors but not included in the selection of editorial content featured here are a single-sentence notice requesting that Martin Titus return to Nauvoo to answer undisclosed charges preferred against him
5

There is no record of charges against Titus in the records of the Nauvoo high council. (“Notice,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:942.)


and a recurring notice that new printings of the Book of Mormon and hymnbook were available for purchase.
6

“Books of Mormon, &c.,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:942.


Note that only the editorial content created specifically for this issue of the Times and Seasons is annotated here. Articles reprinted from other papers, letters, conference minutes, and notices, are reproduced here but not annotated. Items that are stand-alone JS documents are annotated elsewhere; links are provided to these stand-alone documents.
7

See “Editorial Method”.


Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Historical Introduction to Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1842.

  2. [2]

    “History of Joseph Smith,” “Letter from Joseph Smith,” and “Minutes of a Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:928–931, 934–936, 941–942. The manuscript version of JS’s letter is featured earlier in this volume. (Letter to the Church, 7 Sept. 1842 [D&C 128].)

  3. [3]

    “The Signs of the Times,” in Faber, Cherwell Water-Lily, 47–48; “The Signs of the Times,” Warder (Dublin, Ireland), 12 Dec. 1840, 5; “The Signs of the Times,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:942.

    Faber, Frederick William. The Cherwell Water-Lily, and Other Poems. London: J. G. F. and J. Rivington, 1840.

    Warder. Dublin, Ireland. 1832–1902.

  4. [4]

    “Difference between the Baptists and Latter-day Saints,” Millennial Star, 12 Apr. 1841, 1:296–299; “Difference between the Baptists and the Latter-day Saints,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:931–933.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  5. [5]

    There is no record of charges against Titus in the records of the Nauvoo high council. (“Notice,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:942.)

  6. [6]

    “Books of Mormon, &c.,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:942.

  7. [7]

    See “Editorial Method”.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Times and Seasons, 1 October 1842
*Times and Seasons, 1 October 1842 *Times and Seasons, 1 October 1842 *Times and Seasons, 1 October 1842 *Times and Seasons, 1 October 1842 *Letter to the Church, 7 September 1842 [D&C 128] *Appendix 3: Statement on Marriage, circa August 1835

Page [927]

TIMES AND SEASONS.
 
“Truth will prevail.”
 
Vol. III. No. 23.]- CITY OF
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....

More Info
, ILL. OCT. 1, 1842. -[Whole No. 59
 

Editorial Note
The first editorial item, titled “Zarahemla,” continued the previous issue’s speculation on the location of lands described in the Book of Mormon based on published reports of archaeological discoveries in Central America.
1

Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1842, 3:914–915.


The editors were particularly interested in the location of Zarahemla, one of the prominent cities of the Nephite civilization depicted in the Book of Mormon.
2

See, for example, Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 146 [Omni 1:12–15].


In this selection, the editors presented discoveries discussed in John Lloyd Stephens’s Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan as evidence of the historical veracity and authenticity of the Book of Mormon. The editorial commentary was followed by several columns of text extracted from Stephens’s book.
3

Stephens, Incidents of Travel, 2:120–123.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Stephens, John L. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. 2 vols. 11th ed. New York City: Harper and Brothers, 1841.


ZARAHEMLA.
Since our ‘Extract’
4

See Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1842, 3:914–915.


was published from Mr. [John Lloyd] Stephens’ ‘Incidents of Travel,’ &c., we have found another important fact relating to the truth of the Book of Mormon. Central America, or Guatimala, is situated north of the Isthmus of Darien and once embraced several hundred miles of territory from north to south.—The city of Zarahemla, burnt at the crucifixion of the Savior, and rebuilt afterwards,
5

See Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 458, 500 [3 Nephi 8:8; 4 Nephi 1:8].


stood upon this land as will be seen from the following words in the book of Alma:—‘And now it was only the distance of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful, and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea; and thus the land of Nephi, and the land of Zarahemla was nearly surrounded by water: there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward.’ -[See Book of Mormon 3d edition, page 280–81.]-
6

Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 281 [Alma 22:32].


It is certainly a good thing for the excellency and veracity, of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, that the ruins of Zarahemla have been found where the Nephites left them: and that a large stone with engravings upon it, as Mosiah said;
7

See Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 147 [Omni 1:20].


and a ‘large round stone, with the sides sculptured in hieroplyphics,’
8

The quoted text is part of Stephens’s description of the pyramidal structures among the Mayan ruins discovered at Quiriguá in what is now southeastern Guatemala. (Stephens, Incidents of Travel, 2:122.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Stephens, John L. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. 2 vols. 11th ed. New York City: Harper and Brothers, 1841.

as Mr. Stephens has published, is also among the left remembrances of the, (to him,) lost and unknown.
9

Stephens, Incidents of Travel, 2:123. The passage referenced here pertains to the Mayan ruins located at Quiriguá near Los Amates, Guatemala.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Stephens, John L. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. 2 vols. 11th ed. New York City: Harper and Brothers, 1841.

We are not agoing to declare positively that the ruins of Quirigua
10

A Mayan archaeological site in southeast Guatemala, described by Stephens in the passage reprinted in this issue of the Times and Seasons. (Coe and Houston, Maya, 121.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Coe, Michael D., and Stephen D. Houston. The Maya. 9th ed. New York City: Thames and Hudson, 2015.

are those of Zarahemla, but when the land and the stones, and the books tell the story so plain, we are of opinion, that it would require more proof than the Jews could bring to prove the disciples stole the body of Jesus from the tomb,
11

See Matthew 28:11–15.


to prove that the ruins of the city in question, are not one of those referred to in the Book of Mormon.
It may seem hard for unbelievers in the mighty works of God, to give credit to such a miraculous preservation of the remains, ruins, records and reminiscences of a branch of the house of Israel: but the elements are eternal, and intelligence is eternal, and God is eternal,
12

In 1840 and 1841, JS periodically preached on the eternal nature of God, divine principles, and matter. (See, for example, John Smith, Journal, 1840–1841, 30 Aug. 1840; Accounts of Meeting and Discourse, 5 Jan. 1841; and Discourse, ca. 28 Mar. 1841.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1.

so that the very hairs of our heads are all numbered.
13

See Luke 12:7.


It may be said of man he was and is, and is not; and of his works the same, but the Lord was and is, and is to come and his works never end; and he will bring every thing into judgment whether it be good, or whether it be evil; yea, every secret thing, and they shall be revealed upon the house tops.
14

See Luke 12:3; and Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 1:3].


It will not be a bad plan to compare Mr. Stephens’ ruined cities with those in the Book of Mormon: light cleaves to light,
15

See Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:40].


and facts are supported by facts. The truth injures no one, and so we make another
EXTRACT
From Stephens’ “Incidents of Travel in Central America.”
“On a fine morning, after a heavy rain, they set off for the ruins. After a ride of about half an hour, over an execrable road, they again reached the Amates. The village was pleasantly situated on the bank of the river, and elevated about thirty feet. The river was here about two hundred feet wide, and fordable in every part except a few deep holes. Generally it did not exceed three feet in depth, and in many places was not so deep; but below it was said to be navigable to the sea for boats not drawing more than three feet water. They embarked in two canoes dug out of cedar-trees, and proceeded down the river for a couple of miles, where they took on board a negro man names Juan Lima, and his two wives. This black scroundrel, as Mr. C. marks him down in his notebook, was to be their guide. They then proceeded two or three miles farther, and stopped at a rancho on the left side of the river, and passing through two cornfields, entered a forest of large cedar and mahogany trees. The path was exceedingly soft and wet, and covered with decayed leaves, and the heat very great. Continuing through the forest toward the northeast, in three quarters of an hour they reached the foot of a pyramidal structure like those at Copan, with the steps in some places perfect. They ascended to the top, about twenty-five feet, and descending by steps on the other side, at a short distance beyond came to a colossal head two yards in diameter, almost buried by an enormous tree, and covered with moss. Near it was a large altar, so covered with moss that it was impossible to make anything out of it. The two are within an enclosure.
Retracing their steps across the pyramidal structure, and proceeding to the north about three or four hundred yards, they reached a collection of monuments of the same general character with those [p. [927]]
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Times and Seasons, 1 October 1842
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Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1842, 3:914–915.

  2. [2]

    See, for example, Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 146 [Omni 1:12–15].

  3. [3]

    Stephens, Incidents of Travel, 2:120–123.

    Stephens, John L. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. 2 vols. 11th ed. New York City: Harper and Brothers, 1841.

  4. [4]

    See Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1842, 3:914–915.

  5. [5]

    See Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 458, 500 [3 Nephi 8:8; 4 Nephi 1:8].

  6. [6]

    Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 281 [Alma 22:32].

  7. [7]

    See Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 147 [Omni 1:20].

  8. [8]

    The quoted text is part of Stephens’s description of the pyramidal structures among the Mayan ruins discovered at Quiriguá in what is now southeastern Guatemala. (Stephens, Incidents of Travel, 2:122.)

    Stephens, John L. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. 2 vols. 11th ed. New York City: Harper and Brothers, 1841.

  9. [9]

    Stephens, Incidents of Travel, 2:123. The passage referenced here pertains to the Mayan ruins located at Quiriguá near Los Amates, Guatemala.

    Stephens, John L. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. 2 vols. 11th ed. New York City: Harper and Brothers, 1841.

  10. [10]

    A Mayan archaeological site in southeast Guatemala, described by Stephens in the passage reprinted in this issue of the Times and Seasons. (Coe and Houston, Maya, 121.)

    Coe, Michael D., and Stephen D. Houston. The Maya. 9th ed. New York City: Thames and Hudson, 2015.

  11. [11]

    See Matthew 28:11–15.

  12. [12]

    In 1840 and 1841, JS periodically preached on the eternal nature of God, divine principles, and matter. (See, for example, John Smith, Journal, 1840–1841, 30 Aug. 1840; Accounts of Meeting and Discourse, 5 Jan. 1841; and Discourse, ca. 28 Mar. 1841.)

    Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1.

  13. [13]

    See Luke 12:7.

  14. [14]

    See Luke 12:3; and Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 1:3].

  15. [15]

    See Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:40].

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