Part 4: March 1842

In March 1842 JS engaged in several significant endeavors that shaped later practices and beliefs. These included editing the church newspaper Times and Seasons, translating a portion of the Book of Abraham, joining the fraternal order of Freemasonry, participating in the organization of the , and expounding church doctrine in sermons. He also attended to various administrative responsibilities as trustee-in-trust of the church and as a member of the , Illinois, city council. Part 4 contains thirty-one documents, including numerous letters, editorial content published in the Times and Seasons, and a variety of discourses, financial documents, city council motions, and meeting minutes.

In early March, JS focused on producing content for the Times and Seasons. Part 4 features a draft of an unpublished editorial, a notice to laborers, and editorial passages from the 1 March and 15 March issues of the Times and Seasons. This part also includes two more notable documents that appeared in the newspaper in March: The first, titled “Church History,” is a narrative account of JS’s early visions and of the rise and growth of the church, concluding with a summary of Latter-day Saint beliefs. The second is an installment of the Book of Abraham, a document that JS presented as an inspired translation of Egyptian papyri acquired in , Ohio, in 1835. Though JS translated portions of the Book of Abraham between July and November of that year, it appears that he stopped for a period and did not resume his translation efforts until early 1842. In late February 1842 JS directed to prepare woodcuts of scenes depicted on the papyri for publication in the Times and Seasons. The portion of the Book of Abraham featured in this part appears to have been translated in 1842 and was published in the 15 March issue of the newspaper; also featured is a facsimile of an Egyptian hypocephalus—a circular funerary amulet placed beneath the head of a deceased person to warm and protect them in the afterlife—with an accompanying explanation.

In addition to editing the Times and Seasons, JS spent time in early March negotiating a financial settlement with , the son of former church . Oliver Granger began acting as a financial agent for church leaders during early fall 1837 and continued in that capacity through the late 1830s. In 1840 he was authorized to settle church debts incurred in and . After Granger passed away in in August 1841, his eldest son, Gilbert, took possession of some church property and records. Part 4 features two documents produced prior to or during JS’s negotiations with Gilbert Granger over his father’s estate, which took place on 2–3 March.

In mid-March, JS participated in the organization of a fraternal society and of a sororal society in . On 15 March 1842 JS officiated as Grand Chaplain during the establishment of the Nauvoo Lodge of Freemasonry, and later that evening he was initiated into the organization as an Entered Apprentice (first degree) Mason; on the following day JS and were both “passed” as Fellow Craft (second degree) Masons and then “raised” as Master (third degree) Masons. This was an unusually rapid advancement through the three degrees of a Freemasonry lodge. Two documents featured in part 4 relate to these events.

On 17 March, JS attended and spoke at the organization of the Female Relief Society of , an association created to provide relief to the city’s poor and to strengthen the moral values of the city’s female community. The fledgling organization selected , JS’s wife, as its leader and initially met on Thursdays in the large room on the second floor of . Part 4 features three documents that relate to JS’s involvement with the Relief Society: minutes from the 17 March organizational meeting, a 31 March discourse, and a 31 March letter addressed to Emma Smith and the Relief Society that warned members to be wary of unscrupulous men who were soliciting sex from some of the women in the community.

Throughout the month of March, JS continued to fulfill his responsibilities as trustee-in-trust of the church, a member of the Nauvoo City Council, lieutenant general of the , and a husband and father, as well as to elucidate doctrine as the church’s spiritual leader. Part 4 features eleven letters to and from JS that cover a wide range of subjects, including reports from missionaries preaching in the Northeast and in Great Britain, communications related to land transactions, and correspondence with about abolitionism and the need to obtain redress for the persecutions the Saints suffered in . This part also contains a deed in which JS and transferred a large parcel of land south of to their four young children. Also included are three motions for resolutions that JS drafted and put before the Nauvoo City Council. On 20 March and 27 March, JS delivered discourses on the subjects of infant mortality and , respectively; after the 27 March discourse, he baptized dozens of church members in the on behalf of their deceased relatives. Both discourses appear here as reported by .

All told, the month of March was the most prolific month for document production in the five-month period covered by this volume. The documents from this month reflect the tremendous scope of JS’s vision for the church and its growing membership.