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Discourse, 13 April 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards

Source Note

JS, Discourse, , Hancock Co., IL, [13 Apr. 1843]. Featured version copied [ca. 13 Apr. 1843] in JS, Journal, 1842–1844, bk. 2, pp. [121]–[133]; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, 1842–1844.

Historical Introduction

On the morning of 13 April 1843, at the site of the under construction in the city, JS spoke about settling in , Illinois, and a variety of other topics to a large congregation of , many of whom had just arrived from . The immigrants in the congregation had arrived in two groups on 12 April, one under the leadership of and the other under the supervision of and . In total, about 440 Saints arrived on 12 April, the vanguard of approximately 800 Saints who left England between September 1842 and January 1843.
JS’s discourse was addressed mainly to these newly arrived members. As the number of immigrating converts increased, so did JS’s concern for their physical well-being. Many of these converts had little money, and in December 1840, JS informed the preaching in that he wanted church members who had monetary resources to move to before impoverished immigrants so they could establish factories where poorer immigrants could work. JS was also aware that some immigrants had expectations about what they would find when they reached Nauvoo and that reality may not align with these expectations, as had happened in the past. For example, the Warsaw Signal reported in May 1841 that “great dissatisfaction exists at Nauvoo, amongst those who have lately arrived from England,” persuading some migrants to leave “both the City and the Church.” The Preston Chronicle similarly recounted in September 1841 that a family converted to the church in England, relocated to Nauvoo, and then left because they believed the city had “the most deplorable privations incidental on a new settlement” and was “badly supplied with the necessaries of life.” To temper expectations and to convey to immigrants the course to take when purchasing land and settling in the area, JS had given at least one other discourse to newly arrived members of the church in Nauvoo, instructing a group in October 1842 “how to act in regard to making purchases of land” and asking them not to expect perfection from him. JS’s discourse of 13 April 1843, featured here, provided similar direction.
JS gave the discourse following singing by a choir and a prayer by . JS welcomed the new immigrants, pronounced a blessing upon them, and gave them advice about what part of the city to settle in, whom they should purchase land from, and what they should do to preserve their health while living in . probably made rough notes of the discourse, which he later polished and expanded when he copied the discourse into JS’s journal.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 12 Apr. 1843; Pratt, Autobiography, chap. 41; Woods, Gathering to Nauvoo, 153.

    Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.

    Woods, Fred E. Gathering to Nauvoo. American Fork, UT: Covenant Communications, 2002.

  2. [2]

    Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 15 Dec. 1840.

  3. [3]

    “The Mormons,” Warsaw (IL) Signal, 19 May 1841, [2].

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

  4. [4]

    “The ‘Latter-day Saint’ Swindle,” Preston (England) Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser, 18 Sept. 1841, [4].

    Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser. Preston, England. 1831–1893.

  5. [5]

    Discourse, 29 Oct. 1842.

  6. [6]

    JS, Journal, 13 Apr. 1843.

  7. [7]

    See Historical Introduction to Discourse, 4 July 1843.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Discourse, 13 April 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 2, 10 March 1843–14 July 1843 History Draft [1 March–31 December 1843] History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [126]

the heads of those who had faith. You must have a oneness of heart in all things, You shall be satisfied one way or the other with us before you have done with us.— <​there are a​> great many old huts here <​but they​> are all new. our city is not 6 or 700 years <​old​> as <​those​> you come from, it is only a 4 year old not <​a​> 4 year old not <​but​> 3 year old. <​we​> comncd [commenced] building 3 years last fall. <​there​> few old setlers— I got away fro[m] my keepers <​in ​> & ran & came on these shore[s], & found 4 or 500 families & <​I​> went to work to get meat & flour folks were not afraid to trust. me. I went to work & bought all this region of country:— <​& I cried​> Lord what will thou have me to do? <​& the answr was​> build up a city [p. [126]]
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Source Note

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Page [126]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, 13 April 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards
ID #
1046
Total Pages
13
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:199–206
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [14]

    See Revelation, 2 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38:27].

  2. [15]

    Samuel Prior, a Methodist minister, wrote an article published in the Times and Seasons about a trip he made to Nauvoo in May 1843. He described his experience upon first entering the city: “Instead of seeing a few miserable log cabins and mud hovels, which I had expected to find,” there were buildings that “were small and of wood, yet bore the marks of neatness which I have not seen equalled in this country.” He also stated that the bluff on which the temple was being built “was covered over with the dwellings of men.” (Samuel Prior, “A Visit to Nauvoo,” Times and Seasons, 15 May 1843, 4:198; see also Historical Introduction to Discourse, 17 May 1843–A.)

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

  3. [16]

    According to Willard Richards, before Latter-day Saints began moving to the Commerce, Illinois, area (later Nauvoo), the lowlands of the peninsula contained fewer than a dozen houses. In June 1839, Theodore Turley was the first church member to build a house there. An October 1839 entry in JS’s journal noted that there were “quite a number of families moving in.” (Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 11 June and 10 May 1839; JS, Journal, 15 Oct. 1839.)

  4. [17]

    On 16 April 1839, JS and his companions were allowed to escape from custody while traveling to Columbia, Missouri, for trial on charges stemming from the 1838 conflict between Latter-day Saints and other Missourians. Six days later, JS crossed the Mississippi River to Quincy, Illinois, where many Saints relocated after their expulsion from Missouri. (JS, Journal, 16 and 22–23 Apr. 1839.)

  5. [18]

    On behalf of the church, George W. Robinson and Alanson Ripley purchased 180 acres in the Commerce, Illinois, area (later Nauvoo) in April 1839. Vinson Knight and Oliver Granger also purchased for the church nearly 18,000 acres in Iowa Territory in May and June 1839. In two separate transactions, JS, Hyrum Smith, and Sidney Rigdon bought nearly 500 more acres in the Commerce area from Horace Hotchkiss, Smith Tuttle, and John Gillet in August 1839. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. 12G, p. 247, 30 Apr. 1839, microfilm 954,195; Hancock Co., IL, Bonds and Mortgages, 1840–1904, vol. 1, pp. 31–32, 30 Apr. 1839, microfilm 954,776, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Agreement with George W. Robinson, 30 Apr. 1839; Lee Co., IA, Land Records, 1836–1961, Deeds [South, Keokuk], vol. 1, pp. 507–509, microfilm 959,238; vol. 2, pp. 3–6, 13–16, microfilm 959,239, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Bonds from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A and B.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

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