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Letter from Lester Brooks and Others, 16 November 1841

Source Note

, , , and , Letter, , Lake Co., OH, to JS, the , , , and the , , Hancock Co., IL, 16 Nov. 1841; handwriting of ; signatures of , , , and ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notations, docket, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 12 × 7⅝ inches (30 × 19 cm), with thirty-seven faint gray lines printed on each page. The letter is written on the first three pages in blue ink, with signatures in black ink. The document was trifolded twice in letter style and then sealed with a red adhesive wafer, addressed, and inscribed with postage and postal markings. The second leaf was torn, likely when the letter was opened, and wafer residue remains on the second leaf. There is also separation along the folds of the second leaf. The verso of the second leaf contains a docket and a notation.
A docket by was presumably made on or shortly after 13 December 1841, when Richards was appointed as JS’s scribe. A notation was later added, apparently by a clerk or secretary for Andrew Jenson, who served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. The letter was listed in a Church Historian’s Office inventory from circa 1904. By 1973 this document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The early docket, notation, inventory, and inclusion in the JS Collection indicate this letter has remained in continuous institutional custody since its receipt.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 48–55.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  2. [2]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, 1, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  3. [3]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 16 November 1841, , , , and — leaders in , Ohio—wrote to JS and other church authorities in , Illinois, seeking clarification on ’s standing in the church and on efforts to expand the church in Kirtland. Despite the ’s published directive to the Saints to to Nauvoo and locations in , Babbitt, who had served as Kirtland’s presiding church authority since October 1840, openly encouraged church members to settle in Kirtland instead. By so doing, he created confusion among some church members who were deciding whether they should move to Nauvoo or continue to build the church in Kirtland. At the church’s October 1841 general in Nauvoo, spoke disapprovingly of Babbitt’s actions, and the conference voted to disfellowship Babbitt until he could “make satisfaction.”
Meanwhile, members and leaders of the church in moved forward with plans to establish a printing office there and to continue operating Kirtland as a “ of the church,” apparently believing they were acting in accordance with the desires of JS and other church leaders in . Kirtland leaders, for example, maintained that establishing a press would more effectually “promulgate the gospel; as it is already well known that the press can spread the principles of religion farther and faster, through the medium of mail, than the orator in the pulpit.” The press, they believed, would aid “the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in the great gathering of these last days; and the better to overcome error with truth, and evil with good, and to assist the saints to add to their faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity.”
responded to news of the church’s efforts to build up the city in a letter that was excerpted in the 1 November 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons. His letter reminded all church members that they were commanded to gather to . Referring to Kirtland’s church leadership, he declared that their actions were “not according to the spirit and will of God,” and he further discouraged establishing a printing press in Kirtland. In sum, Hyrum Smith contended that the continued building up of Kirtland contradicted the church’s efforts to gather the Saints to Nauvoo and to build the and its baptismal font there. He declared that any “proceedings otherwise than to put forth their hands with their might to do this work, is not according to the will of God.” On 2 November, JS revoked ’s legal authority to act as JS’s in Kirtland and replaced him with . With Babbitt’s standing in question, and , counselors in the Kirtland stake , took on the role of acting presidents of the stake.
and the other leaders mailed the 16 November 1841 letter featured here from the post office the same day they wrote it. The letter arrived in by at least 15 December 1841, when the First Presidency wrote a reply. In that response, the First Presidency encouraged leaders in Kirtland to “do what you can in Righteousness to build up Kirtland but do not suffer yourselves to harbor the Idea that Kirtland will rise on the ruins of Nauvoo.” The First Presidency reminded the Kirtland leaders that Nauvoo was the central gathering place and that it was “not right to attempt to persuade those who desire it, to stop short” of coming to Nauvoo.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Letter from Almon Babbitt, 19 Oct. 1841.

  2. [2]

    See Edwin Merriam et al., Springfield, IL, to the High Council, Nauvoo, IL, 10 Aug. 1841, CHL; and Historical Introduction to Letter from Almon Babbitt, 19 Oct. 1841.

    Merriam, Edwin, David Elliot, Hiram Palmer, George Stringham, David Dickson, and John Prior. Letter, Springfield, IL, to the High Council, Nauvoo, IL, 10 Aug. 1841. CHL.

  3. [3]

    Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841.

  4. [4]

    “Kirtland Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1841, 3:588.

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

  5. [5]

    “Kirtland Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1841, 3:588.

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

  6. [6]

    Hyrum Smith, Letter Extract, Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1841, 3:589.

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

  7. [7]

    JS to Reuben McBride, Power of Attorney, Nauvoo, IL, 2 Nov. 1841, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 213.

  8. [8]

    JS, Journal, 15 Dec. 1841.

Page [2]

well as wicked men. are saints every where.
We had made arrangements, as you have learned ere this from our minutes, to establish a printing office here to act in common with you; Our object was good, considering it was to be church property, and, if, after we made the trial, it was not found expedient for this place to retain it, it could easily be removed to , and be used for the great cause, there, and be a valuable acquisition, as it was our intention to have it contain besides the founts of English, founts of Hebrew and Greek letter. We have gone so far, that it would rather seem a loss to abandon the undertaking now: nevertheless, brethren, we shall be guided by your counsel, knowing that the Spirit of the Lord will not direct you to reject any thing that would opperate for the good of all.
Perhaps the Lord has directed to quit as a to ; in which case we only want you to let us know the fact, and inform the trustees what shall be done with the “, and Church property, and so forth, for we are ready and willing to do the will of the Lord. We mean to be saved, and, if we can, help Save others as help mates with you, “the Lords anointed.”
Now, beloved brethren, that there may be a more perfect understanding relative to “men and measures” for , in future, give us your counsel on s case; upon the printing office, and upon whatever may be for the good of all— that unity, peace and love, may grow with our growth, and strengthen with our strength, till that which is perfect shall come. Pray the Lord to have mercy upon us, and we will do the same for you; for the prayers of the saints are among the sweetest [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Lester Brooks and Others, 16 November 1841
ID #
713
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:368–373
Handwriting on This Page
  • William W. Phelps

Footnotes

  1. [4]

    Church leaders in Kirtland planned to name their newspaper The Olive Leaf, likely after a JS revelation colloquially known by the same name. (“Kirtland Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1841, 3:588; Historical Introduction to Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:1–126]. For more on the decision to establish a printing office and newspaper in Kirtland, see Letter from Almon Babbitt, 19 Oct. 1841.)

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

  2. [5]

    In printing terminology, a font is a complete assortment of letters, figures, symbols, and spaces of a specific typeface cast in one size and weight. (Rummonds, Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices, 1:213, 232–233; 2:990.)

    Rummonds, Richard-Gabriel. Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices and the Iron Handpress. 2 vols. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press; London: British Library, 2004.

  3. [6]

    JS and Hyrum Smith had recently reiterated that no confusion should exist about the directive to gather to Nauvoo and locations in Iowa Territory, but Babbitt’s declarations continued to confuse church leaders in Kirtland. (See Letter to the Saints Abroad, 24 May 1841; Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841; and Hyrum Smith, Letter Extract, Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1841, 3:589.)

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

  4. [7]

    Questions regarding the potential sale of the House of the Lord and other church property in Kirtland likely arose among Kirtland leaders in response to the call to gather to the Nauvoo area and in the wake of Oliver Granger’s death in late August 1841. Granger had been JS’s agent in Kirtland, tending to JS’s property interests in that place since 1840. As the church’s trustee-in-trust, JS held the deed to the Kirtland House of the Lord as well as other lands there, but some lands were likely entangled in Granger’s estate. After Granger’s death, there appears to have been a struggle to clarify what Granger owned personally and what he held as an agent of JS and the church. (See Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841; Deed from William and Rosannah Robinson Marks, 11 Feb. 1841; and Gilbert Granger, Memorandum of Deeds, to JS, 3 Mar. 1842, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.)

  5. [8]

    In their 15 December 1841 reply, the First Presidency said Almon Babbitt must “offer satisfaction” in accordance with the vote of the October 1841 general conference. (JS, Journal, 15 Dec. 1841.)

  6. [9]

    In a letter excerpt published in the 1 November 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons, Hyrum Smith stated, “Your doings and your organizations, and designs in printing, or any of your councils, are not of me, saith the Lord.” However, in a reply to the 16 November 1841 letter featured here, the First Presidency stated, “As you have made great exertions, according to your letter, to establish a printing press, & take care of the poor, &c. since that period, you may as well continue operations according to your designs. & go on with your printing, & do what you can in Righteousness to build up Kirtland.” (Hyrum Smith, Letter Extract, Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1841, 3:589; JS, Journal, 15 Dec. 1841.)

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

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