Discourse, circa 19 July 1840, as Reported by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray–B

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Discourse, circa 19 July 1840, as Reported by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray–B
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, ca. 19 July 1840. Featured version copied [between fall 1843 and 1850s] in Martha Jane Coray, Notebook, ca. 1843–1850s, pp. [9]–[22]; handwriting of Martha Jane Knowlton Coray; CHL.

Small book, measuring 5⅝ × 3⅝ × ⅜ inches (14 × 9 × 1 cm). The notebook consists of ninety-two pages in four gatherings of eight, sixteen, ten, and twelve leaves each. The volume is loosely sewn together with thread and lacks a cover. The pages are ruled with now-faded black lines. The beginning of the notebook appears to be missing at least one leaf that likely contained diary entries. The majority of the book’s pages are unnumbered. Coray inscribed most of the entries in the book with black ink, but the volume also includes occasional inscriptions in graphite. Twenty-four pages in the middle of the book are blank. The reverse side of the book includes inscriptions regarding Coray’s study of French. The reverse pages are numbered 3 through 20 inclusive, suggesting that the reverse side is also missing at least one leaf.

The timing of
John Smith
16 July 1781–23 May 1854. Farmer. Born at Derryfield (later Manchester), Rockingham Co., New Hampshire. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Member of Congregational church. Appointed overseer of highways at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York, 1810. Married...
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’s appointment as
presiding elder
A leader over a local ecclesiastical unit of the church; also a title indicating the leading officers of the church. When the church was organized, JS and Oliver Cowdery were ordained as first and second elders, respectively, distinguishing them as the church...
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in
Macedonia
Area settled, 1826. Founded by Latter-day Saints, 1839–1840, following exodus from Missouri. Town platted, Aug. 1840. Post office established, Sept. 1840. Incorporated as Macedonia, Mar. 1843. Renamed Webster, 23 July 1847. Population in 1845 about 380. Crooked...
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(an event referred to in the notebook) and internal dating suggest that Coray made the entries in the notebook sometime between 1843 and 1855. The first date listed in the notebook is 8 August 1853, and the last recorded date is 1 December 1854. The notebook contains diary entries, financial statements, school notes, a copy of Coray’s patriarchal blessing, and transcripts of three sermons given by JS in
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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, Illinois.

Presumably, Coray maintained ownership of the notebook until her death in 1881. The book likely remained in the possession of the Coray family until at least July 1902.
1
Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 419n2.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Ehat, Andrew F., and Lyndon W. Cook, eds. The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1980.
Historians later discovered the book filed among the Joseph F. Smith Papers in the Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, suggesting that the Coray family placed the notebook in Smith’s custody sometime prior to his death in 1918.
2
Jessee, “Joseph Smith’s 19 July 1840 Discourse,” 390n1.
Jessee, Dean C. “Joseph Smith’s 19 July 1840 Discourse.” BYU Studies 19, no. 3 (Spring 1979): 390–394.
Footnotes
[1]
Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 419n2.
Ehat, Andrew F., and Lyndon W. Cook, eds. The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1980.
[2]
Jessee, “Joseph Smith’s 19 July 1840 Discourse,” 390n1.
Jessee, Dean C. “Joseph Smith’s 19 July 1840 Discourse.” BYU Studies 19, no. 3 (Spring 1979): 390–394.
Historical Introduction
See Historical Introduction to Discourse, ca. 19 July 1840, as Reported by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray–A.
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Discourse, circa 19 July 1840, as Reported by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray–A *Discourse, circa 19 July 1840, as Reported by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray–B
Page [18]
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adversity. For many will come to us in times of prosperity that will stand at the corners of the streets saying with long pharisaical faces to those that come after thems dont go near Bro Joseph dont go near the authorities of the
church
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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for they will pick your pockets they will rob you of all your money
19
As early as 1831, JS was accused of enriching himself from church members’ assets. An 1838 publication similarly claimed that it was “the grand object” of church leaders to get members to “surrender their property to the Mormon community.” (“Secret Bye Laws of the Mormonites,” Western Courier [Ravenna, OH], 1 Sept. 1831, [1]; Symonds Rider, Hiram, OH, to Amos S. Hayden, 1 Feb. 1868, in Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, 221; Sunderland, Mormonism Exposed and Refuted, 22, 33.)
Western Courier. Ravenna, OH. 1826–1833.
Hayden, Amos Sutton. Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, Ohio; with Biographical Sketches of the Principal Agents in Their Religious Movement. Cincinnati: Chase and Hall, 1875.
Sunderland, La Roy. Mormonism Exposed and Refuted. New York City: Piercy and Reed, 1838.
Thus will they breed in our midst a spirit of dissatisfaction and distrust that will end in persecution and distress
20
JS may have been contemplating the troubles he had encountered in Kirtland, Ohio. In 1837 and 1838, after a period of prosperity, an economic crisis caused in part by a national economic panic and the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society led many church leaders to denounce JS as a fallen prophet. He even feared for his life and ultimately relocated with his family to Far West, Missouri. (“Joseph Smith Documents from October 1835 through January 1838.”)
——

Now from this hour bring every thing you can bring and build a
Temble [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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unto the Lord a house into the mighty God [p. [18]]
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Page [18]
Document Information
Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, circa 19 July 1840, as Reported by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray–B
ID #
554
Total Pages
14
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:333–345
Handwriting on This Page
Martha Jane Knowlton Coray
Footnotes
[19]
As early as 1831, JS was accused of enriching himself from church members’ assets. An 1838 publication similarly claimed that it was “the grand object” of church leaders to get members to “surrender their property to the Mormon community.” (“Secret Bye Laws of the Mormonites,” Western Courier [Ravenna, OH], 1 Sept. 1831, [1]; Symonds Rider, Hiram, OH, to Amos S. Hayden, 1 Feb. 1868, in Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, 221; Sunderland, Mormonism Exposed and Refuted, 22, 33.)
Western Courier. Ravenna, OH. 1826–1833.
Hayden, Amos Sutton. Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, Ohio; with Biographical Sketches of the Principal Agents in Their Religious Movement. Cincinnati: Chase and Hall, 1875.
Sunderland, La Roy. Mormonism Exposed and Refuted. New York City: Piercy and Reed, 1838.
[20]
JS may have been contemplating the troubles he had encountered in Kirtland, Ohio. In 1837 and 1838, after a period of prosperity, an economic crisis caused in part by a national economic panic and the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society led many church leaders to denounce JS as a fallen prophet. He even feared for his life and ultimately relocated with his family to Far West, Missouri. (“Joseph Smith Documents from October 1835 through January 1838.”)