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Elders’ Journal, October 1837

Source Note

Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints, , Geauga Co., OH, Oct. 1837.
Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints (, Geauga Co., OH, and , Caldwell Co., MO), vol. 1, nos. 1–2, Oct.–Nov. 1837, and nos. 3–4, July–Aug. 1838; nos. 1–2 edited by JS (in ) and nos. 3–4 edited by JS (in ).
Each monthly issue featured sixteen octavo pages that measured 10⅛ × 6⅛ inches (26 × 16 cm). Each page was printed in two columns, with each column 2⅛ inches (5 cm) wide.
The copy used for transcription was bound at a later, unknown date with three volumes of an earlier Mormon newspaper—the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate—in a stamped brown leather binding with decorative gold tooling on the covers and spine. The spine also contains two gold-tooled inscriptions: “MESSENGER | & | ADVOCATE” and “W. WOODRUFF.” The pages were trimmed to 9⅛ × 5½ inches (23 × 14 cm) and the edges and endpaper feature a marbled pattern in blue, tan, red, and yellow. The bound volume measures 9½ × 6 × 1⅜ inches (2 × 15 × 3 cm). It includes marginalia and archival notations and is held at the Church History Library. The bound volume belonged to , though at least some of the loose issues of the Messenger and Advocate originally belonged to Ezra Carter, Woodruff’s father-in-law. After Woodruff’s death, the volume passed to his daughter, Clara Woodruff Beebe, who inscribed her name on a flyleaf and pasted on the inside of the front cover a book plate containing her name. The volume entered the custody of the Church Historian’s Office before June 1964, when pencil markings on a flyleaf indicate the volume was accessed by office staff.

Historical Introduction

In the August 1837 issue of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, a prospectus announced that a new publication, the Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints, would replace the Messenger and Advocate as the church’s newspaper. The prospectus, written by , informed readers that JS would act as editor for the new , Ohio, periodical, which was owned by of the . The first issue of the Elders’ Journal likely appeared sometime in mid- to late October.
By establishing the new periodical, leaders were trying to steer the church’s monthly publication toward a focus on missionary labors. After taking over as editor of the Messenger and Advocate in February 1837, printed lengthy editorials and articles on history and philosophy, devoting less space to missionary work. By September 1837, the Messenger and Advocate had finished its volume run, and a “large body of the of the church” established the Elders’ Journal as a new monthly publication. In the August prospectus, Rigdon called attention to the intended focus on missionary efforts in the and , writing that the new paper was to be “a vehicle of communication for all the elders of the church . . . through which they can communicate to others, all things pertaining to their mission.” By featuring letters from missionaries, the paper would also inform church members of “the progress of the work.”
Assuming editorial control of a new church publication was one of the ways in which JS and other church leaders could limit dissent in . During his time as editor, had occasionally used the columns of the Messenger and Advocate to criticize JS. In a July 1837 editorial, Cowdery asserted: “Whenever a people have unlimited confidence in a civil or eclesiastical rule or rulers, who are but men like themselves, and begin to think they can do no wrong, they increase their tyrany, and oppression. . . . Who does not see a principle of popery and religious tyrany involved in such and order of things?” Cowdery’s editorial echoed the sentiment of other church dissenters who had in previous months expressed similar dissatisfaction with JS’s leadership and his control over spiritual and temporal matters. Several months later, JS informed readers of the Elders’ Journal that the new paper would “pursue a different course from that of our predecessor in the editorial department.” He continued, “We will endeavor not to scandalize our own citizens, especially when there is no foundation in truth for so doing.”
Although JS was listed as editor of the Elders’ Journal, his role in editing the subject matter in the October 1837 issue is unclear, since he was away from from 27 September until approximately 10 December. It is possible that he edited some content before leaving Kirtland, but it is more likely that his younger brother , who was acting temporarily as editor in his absence, authored the editorial sections. Because JS was ultimately responsible for the content of the Elders’ Journal and did in fact author editorials in subsequent issues of the paper, these selections are featured as JS documents.
Note that only the editorial content created specifically for this issue of the Elders’ Journal is annotated here. Articles reprinted from other papers, letters, conference minutes, and notices, are reproduced here but not annotated. Items that are stand-alone JS documents, such as the letter from Wilford Woodruff and Jonathan H. Hale, are annotated elsewhere.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1837, 3:545–547; also reprinted as Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1837, 3:571–574. Marsh had worked at a Boston type foundry for several years in the 1820s. He then acted as proprietor of the Kirtland-era Elders’ Journal while living in Missouri. Publishers of the new newspaper apparently rented the Kirtland printing office and press from William Marks. According to a statement in the April Messenger and Advocate, JS and Sidney Rigdon transferred ownership of the printing office and its contents to Marks in April 1837, though they apparently acted as his agents following the transfer. (“T B Marsh,” [1], Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861, CHL; Masthead, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:496; Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1837, 3:545–547; Elders’ Journal, Oct. 1837.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

    Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.

    Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.

  2. [2]

    See LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb.–July 1837, 3:449–544. The March 1837 issue of the Messenger and Advocate, for example, included a two-page article on the philosophy of religion, one page on the history of ancient Egypt, and several other articles with titles such as “The Causes of Human Misery,” “Philosophy and Consistency,” and “Duties of Masters and Apprentices.” (LDS Messenger and Advocate, Mar. 1837, 3:472–474.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  3. [3]

    Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1837, 3:545; “Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:496. JS and other leaders may have seen October as a logical time to make this transition, given that the third volume of the Messenger and Advocate was coming to a close in September. The first volume (twelve issues in total) had run from October 1834 to September 1835, the second from October 1835 to September 1836, and the third from October 1836 to September 1837. (“Address,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:1; Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1837, 3:571.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  4. [4]

    Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1837, 3:545–547. The prospectus further asserted that the new periodical would be a vehicle to “transmit to succeeding generations an account of their religion, and a history of their travels, and of the reception which they met with in the nations.” The October and November 1837 issues of the Elders’ Journal did in fact consist primarily of such communications. (Elders’ Journal, Oct. 1837, 1–16; Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 17–32.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

    Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.

  5. [5]

    Around the same time the Elders’ Journal prospectus appeared in the Messenger and Advocate, several church leaders were removed from their positions by a conference of church members for dissenting against JS and the church. In a 4 September letter addressed to John Corrill and the church in Missouri, JS also singled out particular church leaders who he asserted had been in “transgression.” (Minutes, 3 Sept. 1837; Letter to John Corrill and the Church in Missouri, 4 Sept. 1837.)

  6. [6]

    Editorial, LDS Messenger and Advocate, July 1837, 3:538.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  7. [7]

    See Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 23 May 1837; and Charges against JS Preferred to Bishop’s Council, 29 May 1837.

  8. [8]

    Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 27.

  9. [9]

    JS to “the Saints Scattered Abroad,” in Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 27; Thomas B. Marsh to Wilford Woodruff, in Elder’s Journal, July 1838, 37; Vilate Murray Kimball, Kirtland, OH, to Heber C. Kimball, Preston, England, 19–24 Jan. 1838, Heber C. Kimball, Collection, CHL.

    Kimball, Heber C. Collection, 1837–1898. CHL. MS 12476.

  10. [10]

    An addendum to a 7 August 1841 entry in JS’s history indicates, “On the commencement of the publication of the Elders Journal in Kirtland, he [Don Carlos Smith] took the control of the establishment until the office was destroyed by fire in December 1837.” (JS History, vol. C-1 Addenda, 12.)

  11. [11]

    See Travel Account and Questions, Nov. 1837.

  12. [12]

    See “Editorial Method”.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Elders’ Journal, October 1837
*Elders’ Journal, October 1837
*Letter from Wilford Woodruff and Jonathan H. Hale, 18 September 1837 *Elders’ Journal, October 1837

Page 15

them the holy Spirit. As to your third interogative, perhaps, I do not fully understand your meaning. I shall therefore not answer it correctly.
The holy Spirit was a source of enjoyment to the saints, if this is what you mean by enjoying religion I can adduce an abundance of proof to the point.
I read in our letter that the apostles sometimes laid on hands for the gift of the Spirit, but that none others ever did. may I ask for what purpose Ananias laid his hands upon Saul.
-[To be continued.]-
——————————
Elders’ Journal.
JOSEPH SMITH Jr. Editor.
, OHIO. OCTOBER, 1837.
——————————
Editorial Note
In a second passage, the editor asked readers of the church publication to forward subscription money, reminding them of the ’s precarious financial situation.
We are in hopes that our patrons from seeing the Journal, close at the heels of the Messenger and Advocate, will take courage and forward us the ready; for they may be assured that if there is no lack on their part, that the Journal shall at all times be forth coming in its season without delay, and by so doing our readers can get the news before it gets cold.
When our patrons are aware of the fact, that on the old subscription, out of about 1500 subscribers, there is now between 800 and $1000 behind, they will not blame our predecessors for being in the drag—a word to the wise is sufficient.
————
Minutes of a Conference of Elders and members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints held in West Township, Columbiana Co. O. Oct 6, 1837.
The conference assembled at an early hour and after immersing two in the waters of baptism repaired to a mart house near the village of Rochester.— The house was called to order by Elder J. Cooper the presiding Elder of the church in this place: thirteen official members being present one high priest, eight elders, three priests & one teacher. elder was called to the chair and chosen Secretary, The conference opened with singing & prayer, elder Cooper represented the church in this place consisting of 36 members, elder A. Stanley represented the church in Suffield Portage co. consisting of 8 members in good standing elder Weatherby from Strongsville Medina co. said there were six members in that place in good standing, J. Roberson a priest from Medina co. said he believed there were twenty members yet in that place in good standing, elder gave a short relatlon of his mission in the eastern countries the past season in co. with from which it appeared that he had traveled in the states of Delaware and Maryland, and baptised twelve; he came through Beaver city he believed the church in that place numdered 15 in good standing.
Elder gave quite an interesting account of his labours in company with others in Harrison co. Va. He stated that the church in that region where he left numbered 71 members in good standing and the work of the Lord in a very prosperous condition in made remarks concerning his mission from to this place and the prosperity of the cause of righteousness and the meeting closed with prayer.
Our public meeting commenced on Friday in the afternoon, and continued until Sabath evening: our congregations were respectable, solemn and attentive. Monday morning the church (and others who felt disposed) came together to fast and pray and receive instruction, and the Spirit of the Lord came down in power, and seldom have the saints in the last days witnessed a more glorious time. It was a little pentecost indeed: some spake in tongues, and some prophecied, some interpreted, and some cried out as in former times, brethren what shall we do to be saved. Five went forward immediately and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for a remission of sins. The prospect here is good, and we trust the work is but just begun. O may the Lord roll on his kingdom in every land. The church in this place now numbers forty five members, nine having been added at our conference meeting. Chair.
Clerk.
————
Conference.
A conference of elders and members of the church of Latter Day Saints, was held in Bath, Steuben county, New York on the tenth of July last, Elder [p. 15]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Elders’ Journal, October 1837
ID #
8531
Total Pages
16
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
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Footnotes

  1. [7]

    An annual subscription to the paper cost one dollar. (Masthead, Elders’ Journal, Oct. 1837, 16.)

    Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.

  2. [8]

    Sidney Rigdon had earlier explained to patrons that the first issue of the Elders’ Journal would be printed in October and would be “forwarded to the subscribers of the Messenger and Advocate, unless they say to the contrary.” (Sidney Rigdon, Elders’ Journal Prospectus, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1837, 3:574.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  3. [9]

    In other words, ready money, or “immediate payment in coin for anything bought.” (“Ready Money,” in Oxford English Dictionary, 8:200.)

    Oxford English Dictionary. Compact ed. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.

  4. [10]

    “In the drag” is likely a reference to the publishers of the Messenger and Advocate being in debt because subscribers had not paid their subscriptions; it may also be a reference to the publishers producing issues late.

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