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Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840

Source Note

Brigham Young

1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...

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, Letter,
Lugwardine

Village in western England. Located on River Lugg. Population in 1831 about 660. Population in 1851 about 670.

More Info
, Herefordshire, England, to JS, [
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], 7 May 1840. Featured version copied [between ca. June 1840 and 27 Aug. 1841] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 151–153; handwriting of
Robert B. Thompson

1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...

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; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction

On 7 May 1840,
Brigham Young

1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...

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wrote a letter from
Lugwardine

Village in western England. Located on River Lugg. Population in 1831 about 660. Population in 1851 about 670.

More Info
, England, to JS in
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. Young had arrived 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...

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a month earlier, in company with fellow
apostles

Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...

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Heber C. Kimball

14 June 1801–22 June 1868. Blacksmith, potter. Born at Sheldon, Franklin Co., Vermont. Son of Solomon Farnham Kimball and Anna Spaulding. Married Vilate Murray, 22 Nov. 1822, at Mendon, Monroe Co., New York. Member of Baptist church at Mendon, 1831. Baptized...

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,
Parley P. Pratt

12 Apr. 1807–13 May 1857. Farmer, editor, publisher, teacher, school administrator, legislator, explorer, author. Born at Burlington, Otsego Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Traveled west with brother William to acquire land, 1823....

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,
Orson Pratt

19 Sept. 1811–3 Oct. 1881. Farmer, writer, teacher, merchant, surveyor, editor, publisher. Born at Hartford, Washington Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Moved to New Lebanon, Columbia Co., New York, 1814; to Canaan, Columbia Co., fall...

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, and
George A. Smith

26 June 1817–1 Sept. 1875. Born at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York. Son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Joseph H. Wakefield, 10 Sept. 1832, at Potsdam. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio,...

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.
1

These apostles arrived in Liverpool on 6 April 1840 along with Reuben Hedlock, a member of the Seventy. (George A. Smith, Autobiography, 9 Mar. and 6 Apr. 1840, 92.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.

Young wrote to the
First Presidency

The highest presiding body of the church. An 11 November 1831 revelation stated that the president of the high priesthood was to preside over the church. JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood on 25 January 1832. In March 1832, JS appointed two...

View Glossary
from the nearby town of
Ledbury

Market town in western England; situated at southern end of Malvern Hills. Population in 1831 about 4,000. Population in 1841 about 4,500. Wilford Woodruff baptized 158 people near town, spring 1840.

More Info
only eight days before he composed this letter, reporting on a 15 April general
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...

View Glossary
of 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
held in
Preston

Town located on River Ribble, approximately 216 miles northwest of London. Population in 1831 about 33,000. Population in 1841 about 35,000. First Latter-day Saint mission to England established, 1837–1838, with most efforts concentrated in town and surrounding...

More Info
, England.
2

Letter from Brigham Young, 29 Apr. 1840.


As in his previous letter, Young in this 7 May letter requested direction on the management of church affairs in England, specifically asking about publishing the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. He also inquired about the leadership role of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and asked where immigrating Saints were to settle in the Nauvoo area.
The original letter has not been located.
Robert B. Thompson

1 Oct. 1811–27 Aug. 1841. Clerk, editor. Born in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England. Methodist. Immigrated to Upper Canada, 1834. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, May 1836, in Upper Canada. Ordained an elder by...

View Full Bio
copied the letter into JS Letterbook 2 sometime before his death in August 1841, and possibly in June or July 1840.
3

“Death of Col. Robert B. Thompson,” Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1841, 2:519–520. The letter is followed by items dated June and July 1840. (See Minutes, 2 July 1840, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 154; and Letter from William W. Phelps, with Appended Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 29 June 1840.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

At the end of the letter, Thompson included a note, probably inscribed at the same time he copied the letter: “The Answer was sent by
Lorenzo Snow

3 Apr. 1814–10 Oct. 1901. Schoolteacher. Born in Mantua, Portage Co., Ohio. Son of Oliver Snow and Rosetta Leonora Pettibone. Attended Oberlin College. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by John F. Boynton, 19 June 1836, in Kirtland...

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which gave them permission to publish the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and covenants and Hymn Book, but not to
ordain

The conferral of power and authority; to appoint, decree, or set apart. Church members, primarily adults, were ordained to ecclesiastical offices and other responsibilities by the laying on of hands by those with the proper authority. Ordinations to priesthood...

View Glossary
any into the
quorum

An organized group of individuals holding the same office in the Melchizedek priesthood or the Aaronic priesthood. According to the 1835 “Instruction on Priesthood,” the presidency of the church constituted a quorum. The Twelve Apostles also formed a quorum...

View Glossary
of the
Seventies

A priesthood office with the responsibility to travel and preach and assist the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, similar to the seventy in the New Testament. In February and March 1835, the first members of the Seventy were selected and ordained. All of those...

View Glossary
, and likewise some general instructions. the letter was sent on the 19th day of July 1840—.”
4

Note, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 153. Snow arrived in England, carrying JS’s letter, on either 21 or 22 October 1840. (JS History, vol. C-1, 1119; Lorenzo Snow, London, England, to “E. McConougley,” [1841], in Snow, Letterbook, [15].)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Snow, Lorenzo. Letterbook, ca. 1839–1846. CHL.

The response Thompson summarized was not copied into JS’s letterbooks, and no other version has been located.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    These apostles arrived in Liverpool on 6 April 1840 along with Reuben Hedlock, a member of the Seventy. (George A. Smith, Autobiography, 9 Mar. and 6 Apr. 1840, 92.)

    Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Brigham Young, 29 Apr. 1840.

  3. [3]

    “Death of Col. Robert B. Thompson,” Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1841, 2:519–520. The letter is followed by items dated June and July 1840. (See Minutes, 2 July 1840, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 154; and Letter from William W. Phelps, with Appended Letter from Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 29 June 1840.)

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

  4. [4]

    Note, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 153. Snow arrived in England, carrying JS’s letter, on either 21 or 22 October 1840. (JS History, vol. C-1, 1119; Lorenzo Snow, London, England, to “E. McConougley,” [1841], in Snow, Letterbook, [15].)

    Snow, Lorenzo. Letterbook, ca. 1839–1846. CHL.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840 Letterbook 2 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 152

whether we shall proceed to publish it immediately or not or whether we shall do according to our feelings. If I should act according to my feelings I should hand the Book of Mormon to this people as quick as I can could. The people ar[e] very different in this country to what the Americans are; they say it cannot be possible that men should leave their homes and come so far, unless they were truly the servants of the Lord; they do not seem to understand argument, simple testimony is enough for them, they beg and plead for the book of mormon and were it not for the priests of the the people would follow after the servants of the Lord and enquire what they should do to be saved: The priests feel just as they did in the days of the Saviour. If they let “this sect alone all men will believe on them and the Romans will come and take away our place and Nation.
7

See John 11:48.


I wish you would tell me how
cousin Lemuel

A term used in the Book of Mormon to refer to the descendants or followers of Laman, as well as those who later identified themselves as Lamanites because they did not believe in the religious traditions of their ancestors. According to JS and the Book of...

View Glossary
8

“Cousin Lemuel” refers to the American Indians. Laman and Lemuel, brothers in the Book of Mormon, were considered by early Latter-day Saints to be the ancestors of the American Indians.


gets along with his business and all the boys on the
half breed tract

Tract consisted of 119,000 acres located in southeastern Iowa between Des Moines and Mississippi rivers. In 1824, U.S. Congress set aside tract for offspring of American Indian mothers and white fathers. Subsequent act passed, 1834, relinquishing Congress...

More Info
—and the whole breed.
9

The Half-Breed Tract comprised approximately 119,000 acres of Lee County, Iowa Territory, between the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers that the federal government had set aside in 1824 for children of American Indians who had intermarried with white settlers. (Roberts and Moorhead, History of Lee County, Iowa, 1:55–56.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Roberts, Nelson C., and S. W. Moorhead, eds. Story of Lee County, Iowa. 2 vols. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing, 1914.

I think a great deal about our friends, families and possessions. I look for the time when the Lord will speak so that the hearts of the rebellious will be pierced, you will remember the words of the Saviour to his desciples, he says to you is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but to them that are without all things in parables.
10

See Mark 4:11.


The brethren here are very anxous to emigrate to that
Country

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

More Info
, some want to come this fall, where shall they go.
11

The first company of English Saints to immigrate to the Nauvoo area comprised 41 individuals who departed Liverpool on 6 June 1840. The second company, numbering 201, left Liverpool on 8 September 1840. (Historian’s Office, Brigham Young History Drafts, 40; William Clayton, Penwortham, England, to Brigham Young and Willard Richards, Manchester, England, 19 Aug. 1840, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; Historical Introduction to Letter from Heber C. Kimball and Others, 25 May 1840; Clayton, Diary, 8 Sept. 1840.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Historian’s Office. Brigham Young History Drafts, 1856–1858. CHL. CR 100 475, box 1, fd. 5.

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

Clayton, William. Diary, Jan.–Nov. 1846. CHL.

their customs are different to ours and it would be more pleasant for them to settle by themselves.
Almost without exception it is the poor that receive the gospel: I think there will be some over this fall, my counsel to such as intend to come is, that they go to the western states where you can live among the farmers and wait for orders from the Authorities of 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
, and all will be well. You must excuse my bad writing, I have only catched at ideas. I want to know about the Brethren’s coming over this fall I think some of us will come we shall send our papers
12

Possibly a reference to the Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, a newspaper edited by Parley P. Pratt and published in Manchester, the first issue of which appeared the same month Young wrote this letter to JS. ([Parley P. Pratt], “Prospectus,” LDS Millennial Star, May 1840, 1:1–2.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

to you and to a number of the rest of the brethren
I wish you would have the goodness to give me a pretey general knowledge of the Church for I feel for them and pray for them continually
We need help very much in this
Country

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
, one American do more here than a number of the
Elders

A male leader in the church generally; an ecclesiastical and priesthood office or one holding that office; a proselytizing missionary. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto...

View Glossary
who are raized up here by the preaching of the Gospel, we have sent for some to come.
13

At a 14 April 1840 meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve in Preston, those present requested that “twenty of the Seventies be sent for, and that it be left discretionary with the president of the Twelve, to send for more if he think proper.” (“From England,” Times and Seasons, June 1840, 1:119.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

I wish you would encourage them to come as quick as they can [p. 152]
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Source Note

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Page 152

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Brigham Young, 7 May 1840
ID #
541
Total Pages
3
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:276–280
Handwriting on This Page
  • Robert B. Thompson

Footnotes

  1. [7]

    See John 11:48.

  2. [8]

    “Cousin Lemuel” refers to the American Indians. Laman and Lemuel, brothers in the Book of Mormon, were considered by early Latter-day Saints to be the ancestors of the American Indians.

  3. [9]

    The Half-Breed Tract comprised approximately 119,000 acres of Lee County, Iowa Territory, between the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers that the federal government had set aside in 1824 for children of American Indians who had intermarried with white settlers. (Roberts and Moorhead, History of Lee County, Iowa, 1:55–56.)

    Roberts, Nelson C., and S. W. Moorhead, eds. Story of Lee County, Iowa. 2 vols. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing, 1914.

  4. [10]

    See Mark 4:11.

  5. [11]

    The first company of English Saints to immigrate to the Nauvoo area comprised 41 individuals who departed Liverpool on 6 June 1840. The second company, numbering 201, left Liverpool on 8 September 1840. (Historian’s Office, Brigham Young History Drafts, 40; William Clayton, Penwortham, England, to Brigham Young and Willard Richards, Manchester, England, 19 Aug. 1840, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; Historical Introduction to Letter from Heber C. Kimball and Others, 25 May 1840; Clayton, Diary, 8 Sept. 1840.)

    Historian’s Office. Brigham Young History Drafts, 1856–1858. CHL. CR 100 475, box 1, fd. 5.

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

    Clayton, William. Diary, Jan.–Nov. 1846. CHL.

  6. [12]

    Possibly a reference to the Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, a newspaper edited by Parley P. Pratt and published in Manchester, the first issue of which appeared the same month Young wrote this letter to JS. ([Parley P. Pratt], “Prospectus,” LDS Millennial Star, May 1840, 1:1–2.)

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

  7. [13]

    At a 14 April 1840 meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve in Preston, those present requested that “twenty of the Seventies be sent for, and that it be left discretionary with the president of the Twelve, to send for more if he think proper.” (“From England,” Times and Seasons, June 1840, 1:119.)

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

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