Footnotes
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–.
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.
“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.
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
By November 1843, the church had converts from British North America and the British Isles and had sent missionaries to Jerusalem, Australia, and the Sandwich Islands. (See Historical Introduction to Revelation, 12 Oct. 1833 [D&C 100]; Historical Introduction to Letter from John Mills, 1 Sept. 1843; Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841; Map of Orson Hyde’s Mission Travels, June–Dec. 1841; Orson Hyde, “Interesting News from Alexandria and Jerusalem,” Millennial Star, Jan. 1842, 2:132–136; Hyde, Voice from Jerusalem, 27–33; Devitry-Smith, “William James Barratt,” 53–66; and Ellsworth, Journals of Addison Pratt, 114–122, 150–158, 169.)
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
Hyde, Orson. A Voice from Jerusalem, or a Sketch of the Travels and Ministry of Elder Orson Hyde, Missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to Germany, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. Liverpool: P. P. Pratt, 1842.
Devitry-Smith, John. “William James Barratt: The First Mormon ‘Down Under.’” BYU Studies 28 (Summer 1988): 53–66.
Ellsworth, S. George, ed. The Journals of Addison Pratt, being a Narrative of Yankee Whaling in the Eighteen Twenties, a Mormon Mission to the Society Islands. . . . Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1990.
In 1842 and 1843, after being excommunicated from the church, Bennett toured parts of the eastern and midwestern United States lecturing against JS. This tour included stops in St. Louis; Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati and Cleveland; Buffalo, New York; New York City; and Boston. It is unknown if Bennett stopped in Gallipolis, though it is possible given its location on the Ohio River. Curtis possibly heard Bennett in one of these cities or simply read about Bennett’s lectures, which were widely published in regional newspapers. (See Notice, 11 May 1842; and Smith, Saintly Scoundrel, 105–109, 114–122, 129–134, 138–139.)
Smith, Andrew F. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.
Some newspapers likewise portrayed Bennett as an unsavory person. (See, for example, “A Row among the Mormons,” New-York Spectator [New York City], 20 July 1842, [2]; and “From Nauvoo and the Mormons,” New York Herald [New York City], 9 Oct. 1842, [2].)
New-York Spectator. New York City. 1804–1867.
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
Curtis was not the only individual seeking to join the church and gain employment. James Toner wrote to JS in December 1842, likely feigning interest in the church in order to obtain employment. In early August 1843, D. S. Perry wrote to JS of his intention to become a member of the church and his belief that he had “some quality or talent, that in some great crisis in the career of the saints, will be called forth unto their good, and unto his glory.” (Letter from James Toner, 4 Dec. 1842; Letter from D. S. Perry, ca. 8 Aug. 1843.)