Discourse, 15 October 1843

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Discourse, 15 October 1843
Source Note

JS, Discourse, [
Nauvoo
Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....
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, Hancock Co., IL, 15 Oct. 1843]. Featured version copied [ca. 15 Oct. 1843] in JS, Journal, bk. 3, 1842–1844, pp. [128]–[135]; handwriting of
Willard Richards
24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...
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; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, 1842–1844.

Historical Introduction
On 15 October 1843, in
Nauvoo
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, Illinois, JS delivered a Sabbath-day discourse focused primarily on the economy of Nauvoo and the temporal welfare of its citizens.
1
Willard Richards succinctly summarized the topic of JS’s discourse as “economy of Nauvoo.” (Richards, Journal, 15 Oct. 1843.)
Comprehensive Works Cited
Richards, Franklin D. Journals, 1844–1899. Richards Family Collection, 1837–1961. CHL. MS 1215, boxes 1–5.
Because of Nauvoo’s proximity to the
Mississippi River
Principal U.S. river running southward from Itasca Lake, Minnesota, to Gulf of Mexico. Covered 3,160-mile course, 1839 (now about 2,350 miles). Drains about 1,100,000 square miles. Steamboat travel on Mississippi very important in 1830s and 1840s for shipping...
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’s Des Moines rapids, some
Latter-day Saints
The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
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—including JS—believed the city had tremendous industrial potential.
2
Alanson Ripley, “Nauvoo,” Times and Seasons, June 1840, 1:122.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
In a December 1840 letter to the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...
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, JS had instructed missionaries in
England
Island nation consisting of southern portion of Great Britain and surrounding smaller islands. Bounded on north by Scotland and on west by Wales. Became province of Roman Empire, first century. Ruled by Romans, through 447. Ruled by Picts, Scots, and Saxons...
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to encourage converts “accustomed to making machinery and those who can command a capital” to immigrate to Nauvoo to help build an industrial infrastructure for other British converts who were predominantly impoverished factory workers. “This place has advantages for a manufacturing and commercial purposes which but very few can boast of,” he continued, “and by establishing Cotton Factories, Founderies, Potteries &c &c would be the means of bringing in wealth and raising it to a very important elevation.”
3
Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 15 Dec. 1840.
A January 1841 church proclamation encouraged British converts to relocate to Nauvoo and assured them that “the waters of the Mississippi can be successfully used for manufactoring purposes, to an almost unlimited extent.”
4
Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841.

In February 1841, the
Illinois
Became part of Northwest Territory of U.S., 1787. Admitted as state, 1818. Population in 1840 about 480,000. Population in 1845 about 660,000. Plentiful, inexpensive land attracted settlers from northern and southern states. Following expulsion from Missouri...
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General Assembly passed an act establishing the
Nauvoo
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Agricultural and Manufacturing Association in order to promote “agriculture and husbandry in all its branches, and for the manufacture of flour, lumber and such other useful articles as are necessary for the ordinary purposes of life.”
5
An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo Agricultural and Manufacturing Association, in the County of Hancock [27 Feb. 1841], Laws of the State of Illinois [1840–1841], p. 139, sec. 2.
General Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Eighteenth General Assembly, Convened January 3, 1853. Springfield: Lanphier and Walker, 1853.
Although the association launched an effort to build a pottery, some residents grew impatient with the city’s lack of industrial jobs.
6
Sidney Rigdon, “To the Editor of the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 21 June 1843, [3].
Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.
A May 1843 Nauvoo Neighbor editorial asserted that no pursuit was “of more importance to the interest and prosperity of the citizens of Nauvoo” than manufacturing and bemoaned the fact that so many Nauvoo residents’ industrial skills were not being used.
7
The editorial further argued that workers were “not employed at what they ought to be. Men that have been accustomed to manufacturing cotton goods are making ditches on the prairie, woolen manufacturers are carrying the hod, and working at day labor, and silk weaver’s are mixing clay at the brickyard, iron smelters are turned farmers, and potters have got metamorphised into builders and wood choppers. . . . The prosperity of this place depends in a great measure upon the encouragement of home manufacture.” (“Home Manufacture,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 31 May 1843, [2].)
Though community members appealed to the church and each other for capital to induce various manufacturing projects, by October 1843 little progress had been made in industrializing the city.
8
Lydia Knight, “Manufacturing Straw,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 10 May 1843, [3]; “Important to Weavers,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 17 May 1843, [2]; Sidney Rigdon, “To the Editor of the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 21 June 1843, [3]; James Spratley et al., “A Word from the Suffering Boot and Shoe Makers,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 13 Sept. 1843, [3]; Letter from Jared Carter, 14 Oct. 1843. Hoping to facilitate the construction of mills, the city granted JS a charter to build a wing dam on the Mississippi River in early December 1843. (JS, Journal, 23 Nov. 1843; “An Ordinance to Erect a Dam in the Mississippi River, and for Other Purposes,” 8 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; see also Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 8 Dec. 1843, 192–193.)

At eleven o’clock in the morning on 15 October, JS addressed a group of Latter-day Saints gathered at the
grove
Before partial completion of Nauvoo temple, all large meetings were held outdoors in groves located near east and west sides of temple site. Had portable stands for speakers. JS referred to area as “temple stand” due to its location on brow of hill.
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east of the
Nauvoo
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temple
Located in portion of Nauvoo known as the bluff. JS revelation dated Jan. 1841 commanded Saints to build temple and hotel (Nauvoo House). Cornerstone laid, 6 Apr. 1841. Saints volunteered labor, money, and other resources for temple construction. Construction...
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construction site for approximately three hours.
9
Richards, Journal, 15 Oct. 1843.
In addition to discussing his aspirations for Nauvoo’s economy and the temporal welfare of its citizens, JS addressed a variety of other subjects, including liberty of conscience, religious creeds, the original intent of biblical authors, and his distrust of doctors and lawyers.
Willard Richards
24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...
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, JS’s private secretary and the general church recorder, was in the audience and produced a handwritten manuscript capturing elements of JS’s discourse. Richards likely recorded rough notes of the discourse on loose paper or in a notebook before inscribing a slightly more polished account in JS’s journal.
Footnotes
[1]
Willard Richards succinctly summarized the topic of JS’s discourse as “economy of Nauvoo.” (Richards, Journal, 15 Oct. 1843.)
[2]
Alanson Ripley, “Nauvoo,” Times and Seasons, June 1840, 1:122.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
[3]
Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 15 Dec. 1840.
[4]
Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841.
[5]
An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo Agricultural and Manufacturing Association, in the County of Hancock [27 Feb. 1841], Laws of the State of Illinois [1840–1841], p. 139, sec. 2.
General Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Eighteenth General Assembly, Convened January 3, 1853. Springfield: Lanphier and Walker, 1853.
[6]
Sidney Rigdon, “To the Editor of the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 21 June 1843, [3].
[7]
The editorial further argued that workers were “not employed at what they ought to be. Men that have been accustomed to manufacturing cotton goods are making ditches on the prairie, woolen manufacturers are carrying the hod, and working at day labor, and silk weaver’s are mixing clay at the brickyard, iron smelters are turned farmers, and potters have got metamorphised into builders and wood choppers. . . . The prosperity of this place depends in a great measure upon the encouragement of home manufacture.” (“Home Manufacture,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 31 May 1843, [2].)
[8]
Lydia Knight, “Manufacturing Straw,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 10 May 1843, [3]; “Important to Weavers,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 17 May 1843, [2]; Sidney Rigdon, “To the Editor of the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 21 June 1843, [3]; James Spratley et al., “A Word from the Suffering Boot and Shoe Makers,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 13 Sept. 1843, [3]; Letter from Jared Carter, 14 Oct. 1843. Hoping to facilitate the construction of mills, the city granted JS a charter to build a wing dam on the Mississippi River in early December 1843. (JS, Journal, 23 Nov. 1843; “An Ordinance to Erect a Dam in the Mississippi River, and for Other Purposes,” 8 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; see also Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 8 Dec. 1843, 192–193.)
[9]
Richards, Journal, 15 Oct. 1843.
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Discourse, 15 October 1843 Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 3, 15 July 1843–29 February 1844 History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”
Page [133]
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and starve. go out in the county and get food. & <in> cities— and gird up your loins— &c— be sober.
12
See 1 Peter 1:13; Revelation, 12 Aug. 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 71:6, 1835 ed. [D&C 61:38]; and Revelation, 10 Jan. 1832, in Doctrine and Covenants 29:2, 1835 ed. [D&C 73:6].

when you— get food retu[r]n if you have.— a mind. to.—

<some say> It is better, say some, to give the poor than build the
temple
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.— the building of the
temple
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. has keept the poor who were driven from
Missou[r]i
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...
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from starving. as has been the best means for this obj[e]ct which could be devised
13
George Miller, a Nauvoo House Association trustee and a bishop, later wrote of the need to provide employment for church members immigrating to Nauvoo from other states and from England: “The poor had to be cared for, and labor created that they might at least earn part of their subsistence—there not being one in ten persons that could set themselves to work. . . . My brethren of the Committee of the Nauvoo House Association, and the Committee of the Temple, all bore a part in the employment of laborers, and the providing food for them.” (George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 26 June 1855, in Northern Islander, 16 Aug. 1855, [3].)
Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.

all ye rich men. of the
Latter Day Saints
The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
View Glossary
.— from abroad I would invite to br[i]ng up some of their money. <and give to the
temple
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.> we want Iron steell powdrs.— &c—

a good plan to get up a forge. bring in [p. [133]]
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Source Note
Document Transcript
Page [133]
Document Information
Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, 15 October 1843
ID #
1184
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:185–190
Handwriting on This Page
Willard Richards
Footnotes
[12]
See 1 Peter 1:13; Revelation, 12 Aug. 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 71:6, 1835 ed. [D&C 61:38]; and Revelation, 10 Jan. 1832, in Doctrine and Covenants 29:2, 1835 ed. [D&C 73:6].
[13]
George Miller, a Nauvoo House Association trustee and a bishop, later wrote of the need to provide employment for church members immigrating to Nauvoo from other states and from England: “The poor had to be cared for, and labor created that they might at least earn part of their subsistence—there not being one in ten persons that could set themselves to work. . . . My brethren of the Committee of the Nauvoo House Association, and the Committee of the Temple, all bore a part in the employment of laborers, and the providing food for them.” (George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 26 June 1855, in Northern Islander, 16 Aug. 1855, [3].)
Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.