Home >
Introduction to Documents, Volume 9: December 1841–April 1842

Joseph Smith Documents from December 1841 through April 1842

Winters in the young city of , Illinois, were typically tranquil. As the froze over with ice, steamboats ceased bringing immigrating converts up the river. Farming, land clearing, and construction of homes and businesses slowed to a near standstill. The relative quiet of these months allowed Joseph Smith and other and civic leaders to turn their attention to organizational development. The winter of 1840–1841 had seen Nauvoo incorporated as a municipality and the church’s ecclesiastical restaffed after turbulent years in . The following winter, only two and a half years after the Latter-day Saints selected the village of as their new place, was much the same. December 1841 to April 1842—the period covered in this ninth volume of the Documents series of The Joseph Smith Papers—witnessed continued organizational development, including the establishment of a Freemasonry lodge in Nauvoo. Perhaps the most significant and long-lasting development was the creation of a benevolent women’s organization known as the .

The documentary record from these winter months shows a measurable increase in Smith’s record keeping—a trend that continued in the few remaining years of his life. Whereas previous volumes in the Documents series have typically spanned a year or more of his life, the 102 documents featured in the present volume cover less than half a year, and no subsequent volume in the series will capture more than half a year of Smith’s activities. This volume’s comparatively short time span of only five months is the result of an explosion of Joseph Smith documents created during his years in . With the relative peace of their new home, and having spent the first two years on the Nauvoo peninsula making extensive improvements to the physical environment—clearing trees, planting crops, and draining the swampy flatlands along the —the Saints had more time to record their experiences and to correspond with friends and family. The large influx of immigrants to the city each year meant more people to buy land from Smith or to witness and record his public discourses. The newly formed municipal and religious organizations in which Joseph Smith played some role generated a significant body of minutes, financial ledgers, and other institutional documents. And as Smith’s own responsibilities grew in number and variety, his documentary output increased commensurately.

The trajectory represented by the documents in this volume is one of growth and development, both for the church and for the city of —as well as for Joseph Smith individually. The correspondence, minutes, discourses, and other documents featured here capture and emphasize the breadth of his activities. In late 1841 and early 1842, Smith continued to lead a church and a people, to command the city’s militia as lieutenant general, to sell land to incoming Saints, to serve on the city council, to meet with the Nauvoo and other ecclesiastical bodies, and to be a husband and father—all of which resulted in documents reproduced herein. But to these duties he added other responsibilities. Indeed, December 1841 to April 1842 witnessed numerous important developments that shaped the remainder of Smith’s life. In these brief five months, Joseph Smith opened a , was elected vice mayor of Nauvoo, became the editor of the church’s Nauvoo newspaper, published texts that would later be canonized as church scripture, joined the fraternal society of Freemasonry, and organized the Female Relief Society, which would become a hallmark of the church. And amidst all his obligations, in April 1842 Smith applied for bankruptcy under a new federal law.

Although the relative wealth of extant documents from this period allows for a more vivid portrait of Joseph Smith’s life than is possible for previous decades, important facets of his activities are absent from the documents. Perhaps most notable among these elements are Smith’s plural marriages. Smith and his wives entered these plural marriages in small, private settings with a mutual understanding of confidentiality. He likely married , , , and during these months, and yet there are no references to these marriages in any of the featured documents.

Though the practice was an important aspect of his life, references to it are virtually absent from the documents featured in this volume, as well as from other contemporaneous records. When plural marriage does appear in contemporary documents, it is typically mentioned obliquely and in passing. The first and last documents in this volume—a revelation that instructed to “hearken to the counsel of my servant Joseph in all things whatsoever he shall teach unto her” and an alleged letter to justifying a controversial new commandment—do not mention plural marriage explicitly but can be fully understood only when placed within its context.

The documents featured in this volume are likewise silent about Joseph Smith’s renewal of his personal journal. In December 1841 Smith instructed one of his scribes, , to keep a journal of Smith’s activities—much as and had in 1838 and 1839. The documents in this volume contain no direct reference to the journal and provide few clues as to Smith’s motivations for resuming a journal—and consequently work on a history of the church—after the two-year gap since his last. However, this journal is a vital resource for contextualizing the events and themes that do appear in documents from December 1841 through April 1842. For example, a December 1841 revelation featured herein instructed to serve a mission to to solicit donations for construction of the and the (a boardinghouse for visitors to Nauvoo, the church’s central city). However, only Smith’s journal provides essential information about Snider’s reluctance and delays in departing, as well as Smith’s sense of the urgency of the mission and frustrations about Snider’s hesitant response.

The volume features four revelations, all of which contained direction for individuals rather than for the entire church and were never canonized. The same day was instructed to solicit donations in Europe, was appointed to serve a proselytizing mission. The other two revelations directly involved , editor of the newspaper, Times and Seasons. The revelation that Joseph Smith dictated in December 1841 regarding also instructed Robinson and his wife, , to take Hyde and her children into their home while her husband, apostle , was away on a mission to Europe and the Holy Land. Then, in January 1842 Smith dictated a brief revelation directing the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to take over editorial control of the Times and Seasons.

The apostles had voted to approach with the prospect of buying his newspaper nearly two months earlier, in December 1841. Following the January 1842 revelation, Robinson agreed to sell the Times and Seasons on condition that the church purchase not only the newspaper but his entire printing and bookbinding business. The sale was finalized in February, Joseph Smith making the purchase through , who acted as his in the transaction. Acquiring the church’s official organ for communicating with its members—which, at the time, was also the city’s sole newspaper—resulted in additional responsibilities for Joseph Smith. Although apostles and oversaw the day-to-day operation of the printing establishment, Smith assumed editorship with the 1 March issue and continued in that role through October. While Smith’s level of involvement as editor of the paper fluctuated during his eight-month tenure and was at times superficial, the paper bore his name and implied endorsement. Consequently, editorial selections from the issues for which he was editor are reproduced in this and the next two volumes in the Documents series. On the Joseph Smith Papers website, the complete issues are reproduced.

A few of the editorials that Joseph Smith was involved in authoring during this period are particularly noteworthy. In the 1 March 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons, Smith published a narrative account of the church’s history reportedly solicited by Chicago Democrat editor . In addition to providing an important description of Joseph Smith’s first vision of Deity, this account, titled “Church History,” included a section presenting thirteen statements of belief that were later canonized as the church’s “Articles of Faith.” In the same issue of the paper, Smith began publishing serial installments of “The Book of Abraham,” an account of the biblical patriarch Abraham that Smith began dictating following the purchase of ancient Egyptian papyri in 1835 (this text was also later canonized). A representative sample of the text and an illustration from the papyri published in the 15 March 1842 issue are reproduced herein. Finally, the 1 April 1842 issue of the paper included a lengthy article titled “Try the Spirits”—warning church members against false prophets and counterfeit gifts of the Spirit—which Joseph Smith likely wrote, providing a rare example of his direct involvement in authorship of editorial content.

Another event that added to Joseph Smith’s responsibilities was the opening of his new . built the store—a two-story brick structure in on Water Street—in the second half of 1841. The shelves were all but stocked in December, and on 5 January 1842 Smith opened the store for business. That evening, Smith wrote to his business associate that he had spent the day “behind the counter dealing out goods as steady as any clerk you ever Saw to oblige those who were compelled to go without their usual christmas & New year, dinners. for the want of a little Sugar, Molasses, Rasions &c.” Despite this enthusiastic report, it appears that in general, Smith was less directly involved in the store’s ongoing operation. The day before the store opened, Smith entered into an agreement to lease it to . Regardless of Joseph Smith’s level of interaction with managing the store, he retained ownership of it, and it continued to bear his name.

In addition to supplying the community with mercantile goods, the quickly became the center of civic and cultural activity in the community. Joseph Smith frequently addressed residents of in the large upper room of the building, which was often referred to as the “lodge room.” It was the location of the official installation of Nauvoo’s Masonic lodge, as well as of the organization of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo. The month of March witnessed the creation of these two major organizations. Though Joseph Smith did not initiate the creation of either organization, he endorsed the formation of and participated in both (but was much more directly involved in the organization of the Relief Society). The previous year some Freemasons in the community, including , Mayor , and Joseph Smith’s brother , had petitioned ’s Grand Lodge for the creation of a local lodge in Nauvoo. Consequently, in October 1841 the Grand Master, , granted a dispensation to create a temporary lodge in Nauvoo. Five months later, Joseph Smith served as Grand Chaplain during the formal installation of the lodge in Nauvoo, though he had never been a Mason and was not technically one yet. However, he was initiated into the fraternity later the same day and was raised as a Master Mason the following day, on 16 March 1842. Though he was never as involved in the lodge as his brother and other prominent Saints, Smith attended lodge meetings periodically for the remainder of his life.

Two days after the lodge’s installation, Joseph Smith presided at the organizational meeting of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo. Those in attendance with him were and and twenty Nauvoo women, including Joseph Smith’s wife . Following a national trend in the creation of women’s benevolence, temperance, and moral reform societies, earlier in the month church member had suggested organizing a women’s society in Nauvoo. A small group of women met in Kimball’s home on the north end of the Nauvoo peninsula and decided to draft a constitution articulating the proposed society’s objectives and structure. Kimball reminisced decades later that when the sisters presented the constitution to Joseph Smith, he responded, “This is not what the sisters want, there is something better for them. I have desired to organise the Sisters in the order of the I now have the key by which I can do it.”

Smith invited the women to meet on 17 March in the , where they officially organized the new society dedicated to caring for the poor and strengthening the morals and virtues of the community. was elected as the society’s president. Although only women were members of the society, Joseph Smith attended nine of the organization’s meetings during 1842 and delivered sermons at six of them. , secretary of the society, took extensive minutes at the meetings, capturing Smith’s instruction in greater detail than exists for most of his other sermons. Snow’s complete minutes of the organizational meeting at which Smith presided, as well as her notes on two of Smith’s later discourses to the society, are featured herein.

The installation of the lodge and the creation of the Relief Society two days later were significant and related. Both organizations taught virtue and required moral uprightness for membership. Freemasonry emphasized the need to safeguard the sacred—a principle Joseph Smith repeatedly taught to the Relief Society (even referring to the society’s members as Masons on one occasion). The Relief Society, in particular, offered Smith a venue for giving instruction to trusted church members that would prepare the Saints for the “” ceremony that he unfolded to a small group of church members only weeks later, in early May 1842.

The formation of these organizations was an important step for the doctrinal and cultural development of the ever-expanding community.

’s growth, however, came at a price to Joseph Smith personally. Smith and the church were in considerable debt due to the purchase of the land on which Nauvoo was built, the need to provide homes and employment for massive groups of frequently destitute incoming Saints, financial calamity in , and the Saints’ loss of property during their forced expulsion from northern in 1838 and 1839. The church had purchased roughly eighteen thousand acres of land in to accommodate its growing numbers and had entered into agreements to purchase nearly seven hundred acres across the in western , Illinois. However, an 1835 statute limited the amount of real property a religious society could own to five acres. Joseph Smith, therefore, was named personally on almost all of the church land at Nauvoo. Throughout Smith’s years in Nauvoo, showing land to prospective buyers and negotiating transfers occupied a significant portion of his time. The months covered in this volume were no exception, and representative samples of Smith’s property transactions are featured herein. These land sales, however, were frequently made on terms generous to the buyers and were insufficient to alleviate Smith’s debts.

In August 1841 the Congress passed an act that allowed voluntary bankruptcy for the first time in American history. Many Americans were still suffering from the nationwide depression that followed the economic panic of 1837 and were quick to seek relief through the benefits of the new law. When representatives from the , Illinois, law firm Ralston, Warren & Wheat advertised their services in assisting residents with application submissions, Joseph Smith and at least fourteen other community leaders took advantage of their offer. Attorney came to Nauvoo in mid-April and worked with Smith and the others to file applications for bankruptcy. Smith’s legally required notice of petition was one of over 350 printed in a single issue of the capital’s Sangamo Journal. Unlike his associates in Nauvoo, Smith was never successfully discharged in bankruptcy, owing to the challenges of separating his own assets and debts from those of the church.

Despite his attempt to secure the relief of bankruptcy, Joseph Smith made extensive efforts to manage church finances, as the documents from these months depict. One of Smith’s most frequent correspondents between December 1841 and April 1842, at least in existing letters, was . Five of the more than four dozen letters in this volume were either to or from the land speculator—one of the men from whom Smith and the church had purchased much of the land that became . Because the failure of ’s state bank in February 1842 rendered notes from that institution valueless, Smith wrote to Hotchkiss with offers to use land as payment against the debt the church owed Hotchkiss and his partners. Church leaders developed other creative solutions for paying off debts, including trading lots in Nauvoo to immigrating Saints for land they owned in the eastern , then selling that land to pay creditors or transferring property to them directly. The arrangement proved effective in making payments on some of the debts owed to Hotchkiss and others.

Others with whom Smith corresponded frequently during these months were church members and . Hunter was in the eastern conducting business on Smith’s behalf, including purchasing provisions for the , and Galland had been in the East as well, acting as an for the church in settling debts in spring 1841. As was typical during the years, some of the other letters Joseph Smith received were reports from missionaries serving throughout the United States and Europe, such as those from , , and . As leader of the church, Smith also regularly received requests for instruction and advice. For example, four of the documents herein are letters or petitions from members of the church in and who sought Smith’s counsel on such topics as dissension within their congregation, establishing additional of the church, and whether particular missionaries should be assigned to the area. Joseph Smith even received a petition from twenty-three residents of Pittsburgh who were not members of the church requesting that apostle be allowed to return to preach in the city.

As of the church, Smith also gave many public discourses during the months covered in this volume. Partial accounts of Smith’s sermons or discourses on eleven occasions between December 1841 and April 1842 exist and are featured herein. During the cold months of December and January, Smith addressed gathered Saints in his own home, but by March and April, as the weather warmed, meetings moved to a large of trees on the hill near the construction site. At these sermons, Smith addressed the Saints on such varied topics as the need for continuing revelation, the benefits and dangers of the gift of tongues, and for the dead—a practice he had introduced only the previous year.

Joseph Smith’s activities become an overarching theme of this time period, their sheer depth and breadth evidenced by letters, deeds, bonds, sermon accounts, meeting minutes, marriage licenses, and newspaper editorials. In these brief five months in 1841 and 1842, Joseph Smith remained in , hardly venturing outside the city. But it was a period of intense activity as he helped found the Relief Society, took on new professional responsibilities in editing a paper and managing a store, and instructed church members near and far through discourses and letters. The documents in this volume are vital to understanding Joseph Smith’s life and the church’s growth and development during this period.

1
See Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1:7; Mary Ann West, Testimony, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, ca. 22 Mar. 1892, pp. 499–500, questions 141–144, pp. 521–522, questions 676–687, 696–699, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints v. Church of Christ of Independence, Missouri, et al. (C.C.W.D. Mo. 1894), typescript, United States Testimony, CHL; Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, Affidavit, 23 Mar. 1877, Collected Material concerning JS and Plural Marriage, ca. 1870–1912, CHL; and Patty Bartlett Sessions to Brigham Young, June 1867, Ecclesiastical Files, Files relating to Marriage and Other Ordinances, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL. Joseph Smith’s marriages to Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde and Sylvia Sessions Lyon may have taken place during these five months; Smith may also have married others at this time. (See Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1:15, 2:62.)
Smith, Joseph F. Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1869–1915. CHL. MS 3423.
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints v. Church of Christ of Independence, Missouri, et al. (C.C.W.D. Mo. 1894). Typescript. Testimonies and Depositions, 1892. Typescript. CHL.
Collected Material concerning Joseph Smith and Plural Marriage, ca. 1870–1912. CHL.
Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.
2
Revelation, 2 Dec. 1841; Letter to Nancy Rigdon, ca. Mid-Apr. 1842. Hyde reminisced decades later that the revelation was delivered to her shortly after Joseph Smith taught her the “doctrine of celestial marriage.” Conflicting sources date Hyde’s marriage to Smith to either 1842—while her husband, Orson, was serving a mission to Europe and the Holy Land—or spring 1843. Later documents suggest that several of Joseph Smith’s early plural marriages or sealings were to women who were already married to other men. Historian Richard Lyman Bushman has concluded that these polyandrous marriages were primarily a means for Joseph Smith to bind other families to his own for the spiritual benefit of all involved. (Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde, Statement, ca. 1880, CHL; Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1:15; List, in JS, Journal, Dec. 1842–June 1844, bk. 2, p. [310]; Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, 437–446.)
Hyde, Marinda Nancy Johnson. Statement, [ca. 1880]. CHL. MS 23157.
Smith, Joseph F. Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1869–1915. CHL. MS 3423.
Bushman, Richard Lyman. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. With the assistance of Jed Woodworth. New York: Knopf, 2005.
3
JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841; Historical Introduction to JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838; Historical Introduction to JS, Journal, Sept.–Oct. 1838; Historical Introduction to JS, Journal, 1839.
4
See Smith and Hedges, “Joseph Smith’s Nauvoo Journals,” 231–267.
Smith, Alex D., and Andrew H. Hedges. “Joseph Smith’s Nauvoo Journals.” In Foundational Texts of Mormonism: Examining Major Early Sources, edited by Mark Ashurst-McGee, Robin Scott Jensen, and Sharalyn D. Howcroft, 231–267. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
5
Revelation, ca. 22 Dec. 1841–B. Although Joseph Smith had earlier discussed the need to build a temple in Nauvoo, a January 1841 revelation formally directed the Saints to build the temple and Nauvoo House. (Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:31, 55].)
6
Revelation, ca. 22 Dec. 1841–A.
7
Revelation, 2 Dec. 1841.
8
Revelation, 28 Jan. 1842.
9
Agreement with Ebenezer Robinson, 4 Feb. 1842.
10
Although Smith was named as editor of the paper beginning with the 15 February 1842 issue, he later stated that he was not involved with that transitional issue and claimed editorial responsibility beginning with the issue dated 1 March. (Masthead, Times and Seasons, 15 Feb. 1842, 3:702; “To Subscribers,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:710; Editorial, ca. 1 Mar. 1842, Draft; see also Letter from Lyman O. Littlefield, 14 Mar. 1842.)
11
See, for example, Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842.
12
“Church History,” 1 Mar. 1842.
13
Book of Abraham Excerpt and Facsimile 2, 15 Mar. 1842 [Abraham 2:19–5:21].
14
Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1842, 3:743.
15
See Floor Plan for JS’s Store, between Feb. and Dec. 1841; and Lease to Willard Richards, 4 Jan. 1842.
16
JS, Journal, 14 Dec. 1841; 1 and 5 Jan. 1842.
17
Letter to Edward Hunter, 5 Jan. 1842.
18
Lease to Willard Richards, 4 Jan. 1842.
19
Dispensation, 15 Oct. 1841, Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minutes, 1841–1842, CHL.
Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minutes, 1841–1842. CHL. MS 9115.
20
Historical Introduction to Minutes, 15–16 Mar. 1842; Authorization from Abraham Jonas, 15 Mar. 1842.
21
See Minutes and Discourses, 17 Mar. 1842.
22
Sarah Granger Kimball, Reminiscence, 17 Mar. 1882, in Derr et al., First Fifty Years of Relief Society, 495.
Derr, Jill Mulvay, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds. The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016.
23
Minutes and Discourses, 17 Mar. 1842; Discourse, 31 Mar. 1842; Discourse, 28 Apr. 1842.
24
Letter to Emma Smith and the Relief Society, 31 Mar. 1842; Minutes and Discourses, 17 Mar. 1842; Discourse, 31 Mar. 1842; Discourse, 28 Apr. 1842.
25
In contrast to the March 1836 endowment of “power from on high” manifest at the time of the dedication of the House of the Lord in Kirtland, Ohio, the 4 and 5 May 1842 “endowment” introduced by Smith was a temple-related ordinance designed to bestow knowledge necessary to enter God’s presence. (Revelation, 22 June 1834 [D&C 105:11]; JS, Journal, 27, 29–30, and 31 Mar. 1836; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 4 May 1842, 11; JS, Journal, 4–5 May 1842; Heber C. Kimball, Nauvoo, IL, to Parley P. Pratt, “Manchester or Liverpool,” England, 17 June 1842, Parley P. Pratt, Correspondence, CHL; see also Derr et al., First Fifty Years of Relief Society, 9.)
Pratt, Parley P. Correspondence, 1842–1855. CHL. MS 897.
Derr, Jill Mulvay, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds. The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016.
26
See “Joseph Smith Documents from October 1835 through January 1838”; Historical Introduction to Statement of Account from Perkins & Osborn, ca. 29 Oct. 1838; Letter to Orville Browning and Nehemiah Bushnell, 7 Dec. 1841; and Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840.
27
Report of Agents, ca. 30 Jan. 1841.
28
An Act concerning Religious Societies [6 Feb. 1835], Laws of the State of Illinois [1834–1835], p. 147, sec. 1.
Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835. Vandalia, IL: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835.
29
See, for example, Bond from First Presidency, 4 Jan. 1842; Deed to Robert Peirce, 28 Feb. 1842; Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 4 Jan. 1842; and Deed to Julia M. Smith et al., 17 Mar. 1842.
30
An Act to Establish a Uniform System of Bankruptcy [19 Aug. 1841], Public Statutes at Large, 27th Cong., 1st Sess., vol. 5, chap. 9, pp. 440–449; Tabb, “History of the Bankruptcy Laws in the United States,” 16–18.
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
Tabb, Charles Jordan. “The History of the Bankruptcy Laws in the United States.” American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review 3 (1995): 5–51.
31
Application for Bankruptcy, ca. 14–16 Apr. 1842.
32
Bankruptcy Notice for JS, Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 6 May 1842, [1]; see also Notice, 28 Apr. 1842.
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
33
See Oaks and Bentley, “Joseph Smith and Legal Process,” 756–766.
Oaks, Dallin H., and Joseph I. Bentley. “Joseph Smith and Legal Process: In the Wake of the Steamboat Nauvoo.” Brigham Young University Law Review, no. 3 (1976): 735–782.
34
See Bonds from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A and B.
35
See Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:728–729; and Ford, History of Illinois, 223–227.
Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.
36
Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841; Brigham Young et al., “An Epistle of the Twelve,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1841, 2:568; Letter from Reuben McBride, 3 Jan. 1842.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
37
Receipt from Horace Hotchkiss et al., 28 Feb. 1842.
38
See, for example, Letter from Eli Maginn, 22 Mar. 1842; Letter from Erastus Snow, 11 Apr. 1842; Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 4 Dec. 1841; and Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 13 Mar. 1842; see also Letter from Samuel C. Brown, 22 Apr. 1842.
39
Letter from George Gee, 30 Dec. 1841; Letter from James B. Nicholson, 25 Jan. 1842; Letter from Levick Sturges et al., 30 Jan. 1842; Petition from James B. Nicholson et al., 22 Apr. 1842.
40
Petition from Richard Savary et al., ca. 2 Feb. 1842; see also Letter from Richard Savary, 2 Feb. 1842.
41
See, for example, Discourse, 19 Dec. 1841; Discourse, 30 Jan. 1842; Discourse, 27 Mar. 1842; and Discourse, 10 Apr. 1842.
42
Discourse, 19 Dec. 1841; Discourse, 26 Dec. 1841; Discourse, 27 Mar. 1842; Simon Baker, “15 Aug. 1840 Minutes of Recollection of Joseph Smith’s Sermon,” JS Collection, CHL; Jane Harper Neyman and Vienna Jaques, Statement, 29 Nov. 1854, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

Joseph Smith Documents from December 1841 through April 1842

Request for Documents