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Letter from John P. Greene, 18 March 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Erie Co., NY, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 18 Mar. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamps, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 8 inches (25 × 20 cm). The letter was inscribed on all four pages in blue ink, although made some insertions in black ink. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. When the letter was opened, a hole was torn in the second leaf, resulting in the loss of some text on the recto of that leaf. The letter was later folded for storage.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1866, also docketed the letter, as did Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. [2]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  3. [3]

    Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  4. [4]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [2], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  5. [5]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 18 March 1843, wrote a letter from , New York, to JS in , Illinois, reporting on the condition of the of the in Buffalo and asking whether JS wanted him to keep preaching there. On 29 August 1842, JS had held a special with church leaders and of the church, in which told the group “that every Elder who can, should now go forth to every part of the ,” both to combat accusations former church member was making about JS and to “preach the gospel, repentance, & salvation.” The following day, Greene received a letter of commendation from , , and , and he then departed for the eastern United States. In the first part of December, Greene reached Buffalo, where he stayed for nine days and organized a branch. Apostle then placed Greene in charge of the conference held in in western and instructed him “to visit all the branches east as far as [he] could.” In February, Greene returned to Buffalo and remained there to preach the gospel and oversee the branch.
In his 18 March 1843 letter to JS, featured here, reported on his missionary labors in and asked for news from . He mailed the letter on 21 March from . Mail took two or three weeks to travel between New York and , so the letter probably arrived in Nauvoo between early and mid-April. That the letter was received in Nauvoo is attested by ’s docket on the letter. On 9 May, Greene informed that he had received no reply from JS. Greene, who was accompanied by his wife, , and their baby daughter, Mary Emma, stayed in the eastern through the summer and returned to Nauvoo in October 1843.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 Aug. 1842; see also “Joseph Smith Documents from May through August 1842.”

  2. [2]

    Greene, “Biographical Sketch of the Life and Travels of John Portenus Greene,” 4.

    Greene, Evan Melbourne. “A Biographical Sketch of the Life and Travels of John Portenus Greene,” 1857. CHL. MS 15390.

  3. [3]

    John P. Greene, Buffalo, NY, to “Dear and Loved Children,” Illinois, Feb. 1843, typescript, CHL.

    Greene, John P. Letter, Buffalo, NY, to “Dear and Loved Children,” Nauvoo, IL. Feb. 1843. Typescript. CHL. MS 3137.

  4. [4]

    John P. Greene, Buffalo, NY, to Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, 9 May 1843, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL.

    Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

  5. [5]

    An August 1842 letter James Arlington Bennet sent to JS from New York took a little over three weeks to reach Nauvoo, while a letter Bennet sent in September 1842 arrived in Nauvoo in thirteen days. (Historical Introduction to Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 16 Aug. 1842; Historical Introduction to Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 1 Sept. 1842.)

  6. [6]

    John P. Greene, Buffalo, NY, to Brigham Young, Nauvoo, IL, 9 May 1843, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL.

    Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

  7. [7]

    Greene, “Biographical Sketch of the Life and Travels of John Portenus Greene,” 5.

    Greene, Evan Melbourne. “A Biographical Sketch of the Life and Travels of John Portenus Greene,” 1857. CHL. MS 15390.

Page [2]

I visit[ed] this about the middle of december— last— Stayed about one week a number of persons & organised an of fifteen <​members​> & then left & returned again the last of Febry but no had no hous[e] for preaching untill the first Sunday in March being no 5th. then I at that time I commence a course of lectures on the principle’s of the gospel of our Lord as believ by the Latter day as weall as the former day Saints. Come [o]ut with ha[n]dbills with a very polite invitation to any gent[l]eman or professor of divinity to come out publickley & debate these principles the Biblee being the standard— but no one has yet cam out but a unvirsilest [universalist] & we met this mornig at 9½ oclock with a very respe[c]table house choose five Judges & proceede in debate about two hours. & the Judges brought in a verdict in unanimous in ourer favour & wee hope for better times in here <​for heree​> are many verey respectable Cittirzens that are favorable in clined <​and​> are seriously inquareing [inquiring] after the truth of the Book of Mormon— I am now preaching five times in a week <​in ​> & ownce at Black rock where thire are is also an goo[d] attention paid to the word & they say we never herd it on this wise befour, (& I have not at any time in my lifer realised the powr of any prophetic exspression more sensible than the promis you made to the that volenteared last fall to go out & preach his the word trusting in God, for the Lord has not only taugh[t] me to preach his word faithfulley & in the demonstration of the Sprrit for both comfort of to the saints and <​to​> the shutting of the mouths of Gainsayers the healing of the sick & the casting out of Devils! but to my owne astonishment & grater Joy he has turned my horse whither he would have me to goe, & when I would of gone a head the stormes has prevented me untill the serva[n]ts. (Cornealious) like) had time to arise arive & call for me to go & tell them wat to do or words whare by thiey [they] & there hous might be saved: & by this interpursition of the hand of the Lord I was led in to this Grater , now there a[re] ma[n]y regoicing in the <​&​> I know of a rruthe [truth] that god will preserve all and direct all the Elders that are faithfull to liven by all the word of the Lord! & I can can truly say that I have never felt the needes of youre counsel more [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John P. Greene, 18 March 1843
ID #
1016
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:75–81
Handwriting on This Page
  • John P. Greene

Footnotes

  1. [5]

    Greene informed his children that he was in Buffalo for nine days in “the fore part of December.” He then went to Batavia, New York, where he stayed a month with his wife, Mary Eliza Nelson Greene, before coming back to Buffalo. (John P. Greene, Buffalo, NY, to “Dear and Loved Children,” Illinois, Feb. 1843, typescript, CHL.)

    Greene, John P. Letter, Buffalo, NY, to “Dear and Loved Children,” Nauvoo, IL. Feb. 1843. Typescript. CHL. MS 3137.

  2. [6]

    Church members sometimes used the term former day saints to refer to those who followed Jesus and the apostles in the first century. (See, for example, “Letter from Elder Adams,” Millennial Star, Jan. 1842, 2:142; and “Difference between the Baptists and Latter-day Saints,” Millennial Star, Apr. 1841, 1:298–299.)

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  3. [7]

    Universalists, who were prominent in the New England and New York areas, believed that God’s ultimate work was to save all humankind. (Gaustad, Religious History of America, 141–142.)

    Gaustad, Edwin Scott. A Religious History of America. Rev. ed. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1990.

  4. [8]

    The town of Black Rock was formed in 1839 from “all that part of the town of Buffalo outside of the city.” According to one account, “it extended clear around” Buffalo “from Black Rock village to the lake shore.” (Johnson, Centennial History of Erie County, New York, 424.)

    Johnson, Crisfield. Centennial History of Erie County, New York: Being Its Annals from the Earliest Recorded Events to the Hundredth Year of American Independence. Buffalo, NY: Matthews and Warren, 1876.

  5. [9]

    In August 1842, JS stated, “If all who go will support my character I prophecy in the name of the Lord Jesus whose servant I am, that you will prosper in your missions.” (Discourse, 29 Aug. 1842.)

  6. [10]

    See 1 Corinthians 2:4; and Revelation, 29 Aug. 1832 [D&C 99:2].

  7. [11]

    See Acts chap. 10.

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