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Authorization for Shadrach Roundy, 24 November 1842

Source Note

on behalf of JS, Authorization, for , , Hancock Co., IL, 24 Nov. 1842; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection (Supplement), CHL.
Single leaf, measuring 2⅝ × 7¾ inches (7 × 20 cm). The leaf is ruled with six blue lines and includes header space. The authorization was presumably cut from a larger leaf; the right side of the recto appears to have been torn, perhaps from a blank book, while the bottom was cut, perhaps to save the rest of the leaf for other authorizations. The leaf was folded in half horizontally and then in half vertically.
The authorization was likely retained by among his personal papers, but its provenance thereafter is unclear. Roundy’s daughter-in-law Elizabeth J. D. Roundy made several donations of records connected with Roundy to the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) in the early twentieth century; this authorization may have been among the papers she donated. The Church Historical Department (now CHL) published a register of the JS Collection in 1973. Between 1974 and 1984, staff continued to locate documents authored by or directed to JS in uncataloged church financial records and in name and subject files. The department also acquired additional JS documents from donors, collectors, and dealers. These newly located and acquired documents were kept together in a supplement to the JS Collection. A preliminary inventory of the supplement was created in 1992. This group of records was named the JS Collection (Supplement), 1833–1844, and its cataloging was finalized in 2017.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See, for example, Shadrach Roundy Company, Record Book, 1845–1846, CHL; and Letters pertaining to Freemasonry in Nauvoo, 1842, CHL.

    Shadrach Roundy Company. Record Book, 1845–1846. CHL.

    Letters pertaining to Freemasonry in Nauvoo, 1842. CHL.

  2. [2]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection (Supplement), 1833–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 24 November 1842, JS, through his clerk , issued an authorization to granting him access to the baptismal font in the unfinished in , Illinois. The font had been completed in November 1841 and was consecrated, according to JS’s instructions, for performing for the dead or baptisms for health. Access to the font was apparently granted only to members who had contributed donations for the temple’s construction. Individual donations were expected to amount to “one tenth of all any one possessed at the commencement of the building, and one tenth part of all his increase from that time till the completion of the same” and could be paid in cash, goods, or labor. In October 1840, a of church members resolved to donate one day in every ten to the building of the temple. Thereafter, men in and around Nauvoo began “working every tenth day” to complete the structure. Over time this practice became more standardized, and the temple recorder assigned a fixed value for this labor at thirty-one dollars a year based on the rate of one dollar a day and one tenth of the number of days in the year minus Sundays.
In order to receive this authorization, had to settle the account of his labor tithing with , the temple recorder. Roundy had previously settled with the in November 1841, but even though he had paid $118 in property donations to the committee since that time, he was still apparently required to account for his labor. On 24 November, Roundy settled his tithing account with Clayton and was credited with a total of $91.42 in labor tithing. Clayton recorded that $31 of this amount would “apply in full” for Roundy’s labor tithing for the year and the rest would be credited as property tithing. Once Roundy finished settling his account with Clayton, Clayton recorded Roundy’s donations in the Book of the Law of the Lord and also gave Roundy this authorization granting him access to the font, presumably valid for the next year. Roundy apparently kept the authorization among his personal papers and may have occasionally carried it with him to the temple site to use the baptismal font.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 30 June 1842; Minutes and Discourses, 6–8 Apr. 1842.

  2. [2]

    An epistle from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in December 1841 stated that only someone whose donations were recorded in the Book of the Law of the Lord would be considered “a proprietor in that building” and be entitled to a “share of the privileges thereunto belonging.” (Brigham Young et al., “Baptism for the Dead,” Times and Seasons, 15 Dec. 1841, 3:626.)

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

  3. [3]

    Brigham Young et al., “Baptism for the Dead,” Times and Seasons, 15 Dec. 1841, 3:626.

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

  4. [4]

    Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840; Phebe Carter Woodruff, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, 6–19 Oct. 1840, digital scan, Wilford Woodruff, Collection, 1831–1905, CHL; Elias Higbee, “Ecclesiastical,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1841, 2:296.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Collection, 1831–1905. CHL. MS 19509.

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

  5. [5]

    See, for example, the hundreds of similar entries throughout the Book of the Law of the Lord noting donations of thirty-one dollars “being payment in full for 1 years labor Tything.” (Book of the Law of the Lord, 34.)

  6. [6]

    Book of the Law of the Lord, 96, 108, 159. An earlier revelation on tithing described it as an annual accounting. (Revelation, 8 July 1838–C [D&C 119].)

  7. [7]

    Book of the Law of the Lord, 258. Roundy evidently presented to Clayton a receipt from the temple committee crediting him with $22.74 of labor tithing. Additionally, the committee granted Roundy $38.12 in labor performed by his son and $30.56 in credit for housing stonecutter Milton Olney.

  8. [8]

    Book of the Law of the Lord, 258.

  9. [9]

    Book of the Law of the Lord, 258. Roundy next settled his tithing with Clayton in November 1843, suggesting that the certificate applied to the whole year. (Book of the Law of the Lord, 374.)

Page [1]

is entitled to the privilege of the Baptismal Font having paid his and over to October 12th. 1842
Novr. 24th. 1842
Joseph Smith
by Clerk [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Authorization for Shadrach Roundy, 24 November 1842
ID #
1891
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D11:229–231
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

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