JS, Letter, , Geauga Co., OH, to , , , , and others, [, Clay Co.], MO, 16 Aug. 1834. Retained copy, [ca. 16 Aug. 1834], in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 84–87; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 1.
Historical Introduction
On 16 August 1834, JS wrote this letter to church leaders in , discussing how the Saints could redeem , or regain their lands. The expedition, led by JS a few months earlier, had been unable to restore the Saints to their property, and negotiations between Jackson County residents and church members had also come to naught. explained in a 1 August 1834 letter to Missouri governor that tensions remained high in western Missouri. Phelps related that sometime in summer 1834, one church member had crossed into Jackson County to collect a debt and had been brutally attacked. According to Phelps, the attackers had sworn “to killeveryMormon that came into Jackson County.” Therefore the prospect for the Saints reentering the county remained dim.
JS’s letter, however, instructed church leaders to continue to take measures to regain their land. He directed them to correspond with and president Andrew Jackson to try to obtain military protection from the mobs. Some church leaders in Missouri—designated as “first elders” in the letter—had been assigned by JS and a council of to travel to , Ohio, to receive an of power, but they were also instructed to try to generate sympathy for the Saints’ plight by preaching on their way to Kirtland. In addition, JS instructed to be prepared to take a “little army” into Jackson County if the need arose. On 25 June 1834, JS pledged that the Camp of Israel would be disbanded, but he left open the possibility that it could be reassembled if negotiations between church members and Jackson County citizens were not successful. Since negotiations seemed to be going nowhere, JS counseled Wight to be ready to call up his army, especially if residents of started to turn against the Saints. Finally, JS set the date for the redemption of Zion as 11 September 1836, a little more than two years away. This date was almost certainly derived from an 11 September 1831 revelation that stated that God would “retain a strong hold in the Land of Kirtland for the space of five years,” after which he would “not hold any guilty that shall go with open hearts up to the Land of Zion.”
In addition to giving instructions about redeeming Zion, JS mentioned the trouble he had encountered when and others accused him of committing improprieties as the leader of the Camp of Israel. An 11 August 1834 council cleared JS of any wrongdoing, and he expressed his hope that this incident was behind him so he could focus on other matters. JS also discussed the cholera epidemic that continued to rage in the and which had affected some church members, including members of the Camp of Israel. He concluded by lamenting the “languid cold disconsolate state” of the church.
The original of JS’s letter—which was addressed to , , , , and the —has not been located. copied it into JS’s letterbook, probably shortly before the letter was sent. At a 10 September 1834 meeting of the Missouri high council, read this letter aloud, along with a petition he had composed in accordance with JS’s instructions in the letter.
William W. Phelps, Liberty, MO, to Daniel Dunklin, Jefferson City, MO, 1 Aug. 1834, copy, William W. Phelps, Collection of Missouri Documents, CHL, underlining in original.
Phelps, William W. Collection of Missouri Documents, 1833–1837. CHL. MS 657.
JS apparently gave this assignment to Wight before he left Missouri. A 12 July 1834 meeting of the Missouri high council referred to the “mission appointed” to Wight “by the seer” and assigned Amasa Lyman to go with Wight “to ascertain the strength of the Lord’s house.” According to Amasa Lyman’s journal, this meant visiting those who had been driven from Jackson County and determining how many Saints lived in “this land”—probably meaning either Clay County specifically or Missouri generally. (Minute Book 2, 12 July 1834; Lyman, Journal, 12 July 1834.)
Kimball, Heber C. “The Journal and Record of Heber Chase Kimball an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” ca. 1842–1858. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 1.
Parkin, Max H. “Zion’s Camp Cholera Victims Monument Dedication.” Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation Newsletter 15 (Fall 1997): 4–5.
Partridge, Corrill, and Morley constituted the bishopric in Missouri, but it is unclear why Wight, who was a member of the high council, was specifically mentioned. It may have been because Wight had served as the general of the Camp of Israel, or perhaps it was because JS gave him specific instructions in the letter. (Minutes, 3 July 1834; Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 12.)
Kimball, Heber C. “The Journal and Record of Heber Chase Kimball an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” ca. 1842–1858. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 1.
Also, Therefore be wise this once O ye children of Zion! and give heed to my council saith the Lord!
I would inform that the bill I received of him was good and when I can get <our> other money changed for another I will mail it to him the brethren as yet have generally been arived from , in health notwithstanding the warm season. I would also inform that I am not satisfied with bro Hulett conserning the colt and so long as unrighteousness acts are suffered in the it cannot [be] sanctified neither Zion be redeemed.
And also, that I was obliged to leave the consecratd horn in also bro who was sick we expect when he recovers that he will come to — he was humble and I entertain no doubt as to his standing while he continues so we have a desire to Learn consernig [concerning] the Cholera and whether sister Bunnel is yet alive; as well as all deaths, the names and standing of those who are calld away &c. The Choler[a] is raging in and other places, We found it in [Missouri] as we came through and almost eve[r]y othe[r] place, in it <is> an awful and solomn day. but this is only the forebodings of what is to come, The church seems to be in a languid cold disconsolate state, and as the revolution of the earth is once in 24 hours so we may look for revolutions among this wicked and perverse generation and also in the Church of Christ! When the head is sick the whole body is faint, for when the church lifts up the head the Angel will bring us good tidings even so Amen
Three Hulet men were members of the church in Missouri: Charles, Sylvester, and Francis. An account detailing JS’s expenditures from and contributions to the Camp of Israel’s general fund indicates that JS had a three-year-old colt worth forty-five dollars that he then “exchanged for the chock hors[e],” but it does not state from whom JS originally obtained the colt. (Johnson, Life History of Charles Hulet, 64; Account with the Camp of Israel, ca. 11–29 Aug. 1834.)
Johnson, Eldred A., comp. The Life History of Charles Hulet and His Wives, Anna Taylor, Margaret Noah, and Mary Lawson Kirkman. Lindon, UT: By the author, 1991.
The “consecratd horn” may refer to the horn used by the Camp of Israel. According to George A. Smith, this horn was a “common brass french horn.” (George A. Smith, Autobiography, 24.)
Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.
McLellin departed Missouri in July with JS’s group. According to a 22 July 1834 entry in McLellin’s journal, when the group got to Paris, Illinois, McLellin “was so sick that [he] could not travel on.” He asked the group to continue on and leave him to recover. He did not start again for Kirtland until 15 September, after he had spent some time proselytizing in the area. (George A. Smith, Autobiography, 50; McLellin, Journal, 22 July and 15 Sept. 1834.)
Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.
McLellin, William E. Journal, July 1834–Apr. 1835. William E. McLellin, Papers, 1831–1836, 1877–1878. CHL. MS 13538, box 1, fd. 4. Also available as Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, eds., The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836 (Provo, UT: BYU Studies; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994).
“Sister Bunnel” may be Esther Mendenhall Bunnell, the wife of Luther B. Bunnell, who lived in Washington, Indiana. If so, she apparently overcame her illness at this time because she lived well past 1834. (Whitney, History of Utah, 4:600.)
Whitney, Orson F. History of Utah. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1904.
Cholera was prevalent in the United States in summer 1834, especially along watercourses. One newspaper reported that seventy people died in Detroit from cholera between 2 and 14 August 1834. According to another report, cholera broke out in Buffalo in July 1834; by August, Buffalo was “the most afflicted city” in the state of New York. The disease also “extensively prevailed” in Cleveland. (“The Cholera,” New-York Spectator, 21 Aug. 1834, [2]; “This Day,” New-York Spectator, 25 Aug. 1834, [1]–[2]; “Board of Health,” New-York Spectator, 1 Sept. 1834, [2].)
George A. Smith later remembered passing through Chariton on 12 July and finding the town “nearly abandoned, in consequence of the cholera, the inhabitants having fled in every direction.” (George A. Smith, Autobiography, 52.)
Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.