The cornerstones for the Nauvoo temple were laid in April 1841 and a baptismal font dedicated in November 1841. Construction of the walls of the edifice slowed during winter 1841–1842, however, and around the time Eli Maginn wrote, the walls were only about two feet tall on the north side and up to the water table on the south side. In December 1841 the Quorum of the Twelve urged church members to send money and goods to Nauvoo to support the construction of the temple and the Nauvoo House. (“Celebration of the Anniversary of the Church,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, 2:375–377; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 13–14, 20–21; Brigham Young et al., “Baptism for the Dead,” Times and Seasons, 15 Dec. 1841, 3:625–627.)

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

Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

This phrase may refer to a circa 1840 broadside, likely published by apostle Parley P. Pratt in Manchester, England, titled An Epistle of Demetrius, Junior, the Silversmith, to the Workmen of Like Occupation. Written from the perspective of a modern-day Demetrius—the Ephesian silversmith who opposed the teachings of Paul because they threatened his idol craft in the New Testament book of Acts (19:23–41)—the one-page tract refuted antagonistic sentiments of the period. A copy of the epistle was expressly “Printed for E. P. Maginn” around this period, and Maginn may have been partially influenced by this tract as he composed the letter to JS. (Epistle of Demetrius, Junior, the Silversmith, [1]; Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:140–141, 186–187.)

An Epistle of Demetrius, Junior, the Silversmith, to the Workmen of Like Occupation, and All Others Whom It May Concern. [Peterborough, NH], [ca. 1842].

Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

After proselytizing in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in late 1840 and early 1841, Snow was appointed to preach in Salem, Massachusetts, in mid-1841; he arrived there in September 1841. (Erastus Snow, Journal, 6 July 1841, 3; 3 Sept. 1841, 11; “At a Special Conference of the Church,” Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1841, 2:521.)

Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.

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

See Acts 26:28.

Nickerson, who arrived in Boston by 30 May 1841, presided over a congregation that was formally organized on 9 March 1842. (Historian’s Office, Obituary Notices of Distinguished Persons, 1854–1872, 46; “Latter Day Saints Again,” Times and Seasons, 16 May 1842, 3:797.)

Historian’s Office. Obituary Notices of Distinguished Persons, 1854–1872. CHL. MS 3449.

Chelsea, Massachusetts, is situated just north of Boston on the opposite bank of the Mystic River; Salem and Marblehead are located on the Atlantic coast approximately fourteen miles northeast of Boston.

Leverett, Massachusetts, is located about seventy-five miles west of Boston, in Franklin County; Gilsum is situated approximately twenty miles northwest of Peterborough, New Hampshire.

The word electricity, as used by Maginn, did not refer to modern electric power transmission, which was first delivered in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Webster’s 1841 dictionary defined electricity as “the operations of a very subtil fluid, which appears to be diffused through most bodies, remarkable for the rapidity of its motion, and one of the most powerful agents in nature. The name is given to the operations of this fluid, and to the fluid itself.” (“Electricity,” in American Dictionary [1841], 571.)

An American Dictionary of the English Language; First Edition in Octavo, Containing the Whole Vocabulary of the Quarto, with Corrections, Improvements and Several Thousand Additional Words. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. 2nd ed. 2 vols. New Haven: By the author, 1841.

Many of JS’s revelations begin with this phrase. (See, for example, Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830 [D&C 21:12]; and Revelation, 2 Dec. 1841.)

Maginn may have been referring in part to the third edition of the Book of Mormon, publications written by church members related to persecutions in Missouri, or missionary tracts or books written by Parley P. Pratt and others. Several of these publications were advertised for sale by Orson Pratt in Nauvoo as well as in the office of a newspaper published in Lowell, Massachusetts, called Vox Populi. (See, for example, Book of Mormon, 3rd ed. [Nauvoo, IL: Robinson and Smith, 1840]; John Taylor, A Short Account of the Murders, Roberies, Burnings, Thefts, and Other Outrages Committed by the Mob and Militia of the State of Missouri, upon the Latter Day Saints . . . [Springfield, IL, 1839]; and Parley P. Pratt, History of the Late Persecution Inflicted by the State of Missouri upon the Mormons . . . [Detroit: Dawson and Bates, 1839]; see also “Books! Books!! Books!!!,” Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1841, 2:534; “Mormon Books,” Vox Populi [Lowell, MA], 28 May 1842, 3; and Whittaker, “Early Mormon Pamphleteering,” 35–49.)

Taylor, John. A Short Account of the Murders, Roberies, Burnings, Thefts, and Other Outrages Committed by the Mob and Militia of the State of Missouri, Upon the Latter Day Saints. Springfield, IL: By the author, 1839.

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

Vox Populi. Lowell, MA. 1841–1891.

Whittaker, David J. “Early Mormon Pamphleteering.” Journal of Mormon History 4 (1977): 35–49.