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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...

View Glossary
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 ...

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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...

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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 936

an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of
Fayette

Located in northern part of county between Seneca and Cayuga lakes. Area settled, by 1790. Officially organized as Washington Township, 14 Mar. 1800. Name changed to Fayette, 6 Apr. 1808. Population in 1830 about 3,200. Population in 1840 about 3,700. Significant...

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, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book. The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light. The voice of Peter, James, and John, in the wilderness between
Harmony

Located in northeastern Pennsylvania. Area settled, by 1787. Organized 1809. Population in 1830 about 340. Population in 1840 about 520. Contained Harmony village (no longer in existence). Josiah Stowell hired JS to help look for treasure in area, Oct. 1825...

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, Susquehanna county, and
Colesville

Area settled, beginning 1785. Formed from Windsor Township, Apr. 1821. Population in 1830 about 2,400. Villages within township included Harpursville, Nineveh, and Colesville. Susquehanna River ran through eastern portion of township. JS worked for Joseph...

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, Broom county on the Susquehanna River, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times. And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old
father Whitmer [Peter Whitmer Sr.]

14 Apr. 1773–13 Aug. 1854. Farmer. Born at Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer and likely Maria Salome. Member of Presbyterian church. Married Mary Musselman, before 1798, in Pennsylvania. Lived in Lebanon Township, Dauphin Co., by...

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, in
Fayette

Located in northern part of county between Seneca and Cayuga lakes. Area settled, by 1790. Officially organized as Washington Township, 14 Mar. 1800. Name changed to Fayette, 6 Apr. 1808. Population in 1830 about 3,200. Population in 1840 about 3,700. Significant...

More Info
, Seneca county, and at sundry times, and in divers places, through all the travels and tribulations of this
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

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
. And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam, down to the present time, all declaring each one their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honor, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little—giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope.
Brethren shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceeding glad.— Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prisons; for the prisoners shall go free.
Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your eternal King. And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods, and all the trees of the field praise the Lord: and ye solid rocks weep for joy. And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy. And let the eternal creations declare his name for ever and ever. And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life: kingdoms, principalities, and powers. Behold the great day of the Lord is at hand, and who can abide the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appeareth, for he is like a refiners fire and like fullers soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Let us therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter Day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness, and let us present in his holy
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
when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation.
Brethren, I have many things to say to you on the subject; but shall now close for the present, and continue the subject another time.
I am, as ever, your humble servant and never deviating friend.
JOSEPH SMITH.
 
————

Editorial Note
The second editorial selection from this issue, titled “Nauvoo,” updated readers on the rapid growth 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
, including a description of buildings in the city, an explanation of the rise and development of different industries, and an insistence that prosperity was the result of the city being led by direct revelation.

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
.
As good news from a far country, like pure water to a thirsty traveller, is very refreshing, so we have thought that a little space devoted to
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
, might afford some consolation to those that wish well to the cause of
Zion

A specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...

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. It is one of the few comforts of the saints in this world, to be settled in peace, and witness the raped [rapid] growth of their infant
city

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
, as a place of safety and
gathering

As directed by early revelations, church members “gathered” in communities. A revelation dated September 1830, for instance, instructed elders “to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect” who would “be gathered in unto one place, upon the face of this land...

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for the last days.
16

At an October 1839 general conference of the church, Nauvoo was designated as “a place of gathering for the saints.” (Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839.)


For three or four miles upon the
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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and about the same distance back in the country,
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
presents a city of gardens, ornamented with the dwellings of those who have made a covenant by sacrifice,
17

See Psalm 50:5; and Revelation, 2 Aug. 1833–A [D&C 97:8].


and are guided by revelation, an exception to all other societies upon the earth. There is a beautiful commandment and call upon this subject in the fiftieth Psalm, as well as a prophecy of what the Lord will do when he shines, the perfection of beauty out of Zion.
18

See Psalm 50:2.


The 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
is regularly laid off into blocks,
19

See “Nauvoo Plats, Blocks, and Lots, 28 February 1843.”


containing four lots of eleven by twelve rods each—making all corner lots. It will be no more than probably correct, if we allow the city to contain between seven and eight hundred houses, with a population of 14 or 15,000.
20

Despite the attempts of church leaders to take a stake-wide census of Nauvoo, no reliable count of Nauvoo’s population exists for 1842. Different estimates of the city’s population range from 12,000 to 15,000; for instance, in January 1843, JS estimated the population to be about 12,000. Yet, two years later, an actual count of city residents reported a population of only 11,057. (Black, “How Large Was the Population of Nauvoo?,” 91–94; Nauvoo Stake, Ward Census, 1842, CHL; JS, Journal, 5 Jan. 1843; “Mobocracy,” Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1845, 6:1031.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Black, Susan Easton. “How Large Was the Population of Nauvoo?” BYU Studies 35, no. 2 (1995): 91–94.

Nauvoo Stake. Ward Census, 1842. CHL.

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

Many of the recent built houses are brick, some one story, and some two stories high, displaying that skill, economy and industry which have always characterized intelligent minds and laudable intentions. The first habitations, as well as many now reared for the time being, in comparison with the expensive mansions of voluptuousness and grandeur in old cities, may be termed “small;” but when it is recollected that a large portion of the saints have been “scattered and peeled”
21

See Isaiah 18:2.


some two or three times; and that, also, it is the ‘fashion’ of the world, to ‘shave’ them close before they let them ‘go to the land of promise,’ (as hypocrites not unfrequently name the place of gathering) no apology will be needed. We can, therefore, of a truth declare, that within the same length of time,
22

In spring 1839, church members started settling in the area that became Nauvoo. (Historical Introduction to Agreement with George W. Robinson, 30 Apr. 1839.)


and with the same amount of means, no society on the face of the globe, has a better [p. 936]
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Times and Seasons, 1 October 1842
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16
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Footnotes

  1. [16]

    At an October 1839 general conference of the church, Nauvoo was designated as “a place of gathering for the saints.” (Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839.)

  2. [17]

    See Psalm 50:5; and Revelation, 2 Aug. 1833–A [D&C 97:8].

  3. [18]

    See Psalm 50:2.

  4. [19]

    See “Nauvoo Plats, Blocks, and Lots, 28 February 1843.”

  5. [20]

    Despite the attempts of church leaders to take a stake-wide census of Nauvoo, no reliable count of Nauvoo’s population exists for 1842. Different estimates of the city’s population range from 12,000 to 15,000; for instance, in January 1843, JS estimated the population to be about 12,000. Yet, two years later, an actual count of city residents reported a population of only 11,057. (Black, “How Large Was the Population of Nauvoo?,” 91–94; Nauvoo Stake, Ward Census, 1842, CHL; JS, Journal, 5 Jan. 1843; “Mobocracy,” Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1845, 6:1031.)

    Black, Susan Easton. “How Large Was the Population of Nauvoo?” BYU Studies 35, no. 2 (1995): 91–94.

    Nauvoo Stake. Ward Census, 1842. CHL.

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

  6. [21]

    See Isaiah 18:2.

  7. [22]

    In spring 1839, church members started settling in the area that became Nauvoo. (Historical Introduction to Agreement with George W. Robinson, 30 Apr. 1839.)

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