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Letter to Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young, 16 January 1839

Source Note

, JS, and , Letter, , Clay Co., MO, to and , , Caldwell Co., MO, 16 Jan. 1839. Featured version copied [between ca. May 1839 and ca. 27 Aug. 1841]; handwriting of , , and ; two pages; Kimball Family Correspondence, CHL. Includes docket and use marks.
Bifolium measuring 12 × 7¾ inches (30 × 20 cm), with thirty-nine printed lines per page. The document contains needle holes in the center fold and browning along the outer edges, suggesting that the pages were originally bound in a blank book. Before the bifolium was removed, two texts were inscribed on the first leaf: a portion of ’s autobiography was inscribed on the recto, which is paginated “23”, and a copy of governor ’s expulsion order of 27 October 1838 was inscribed on the verso. After the leaves were extracted from the blank book, the bifolium was folded, apparently for storage, and the 16 January 1839 letter was copied on the recto and verso of the second leaf. One of the resulting folds was used as a left margin on the recto of the second leaf. At some point, the two leaves were separated. Pinholes near the center fold may indicate the leaves were refastened with pins. The leaves were later inscribed with graphite use marks, refolded for filing, and docketed by : “Jan 16. 39 | Joseph, Sidney & Hyrum | to | Heber and Brigham | copd”.
This copy of the letter apparently remained in ’s possession, except for when copied it into an expanded version of Kimball’s autobiography, likely in the late 1850s or in the 1860s. After Kimball’s death in 1868, the letter was passed down to his descendants, who evidently maintained possession of the letter until 1973, when Spencer W. Kimball donated it to the Historical Department of the LDS church.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 30.

    Kimball, Heber C. “The Journal and Record of Heber Chase Kimball an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” ca. 1842–1858. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 1.

  2. [2]

    Kimball, Autobiography, 64a.

    Kimball, Heber C. Autobiography, ca. 1856. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL.

  3. [3]

    Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, “Scenes and Incidents in Nauvoo,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Jan. 1882, 114; Instrument of Gift, 11 July 1973, in Case File for Kimball Family Correspondence, CHL.

    Woman’s Exponent. Salt Lake City. 1872–1914.

    Kimball Family Correspondence, 1838–1871. CHL. MS 6241.

Historical Introduction

On 16 January 1839, JS, , and wrote from the in , Missouri, to and —the two senior in , Missouri—directing them to manage church affairs temporarily while the remained imprisoned. In early January 1839, Kimball and Young had sent a letter, apparently no longer extant, to the First Presidency, requesting guidance on when the apostles should begin moving their families out of . Some had left Missouri in November and December 1838 to comply with the expulsion order that Governor issued on 27 October 1838; however, the majority of church members, including Kimball, Young, and their families, remained in , waiting for spring.
In this 16 January letter, the First Presidency directed and to remain with their families in until the presidency was released from jail, because the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was temporarily responsible for managing church affairs and proselytizing efforts. When the was established in 1835, it presided over the church outside of and its stakes, under the direction of the First Presidency. In early 1838, the senior apostles—Thomas B. Marsh, David W. Patten, and Brigham Young—were appointed to a pro tempore presidency over the church in Missouri. After disaffected and died in October, Young was the only remaining member of the Missouri . The impending migration of church members out of Missouri signaled the necessary suspension of regular church organization in the state, and the Zion , over which Young presided, met for the last time on 16 January, the date of this letter. As indicated in the letter, with the First Presidency imprisoned and unable to direct day-to-day affairs, senior apostles Kimball and Young were to assume leadership of the church.
In the letter, the First Presidency instructed and to ordain individuals previously called as apostles, thereby rebuilding the quorum, which had been depleted during the crises of 1837 and 1838. By late spring 1838, four apostles had been excommunicated or otherwise removed from office for disaffection, reducing the quorum to eight members. The October 1838 conflict in further diminished the council’s ranks, with and withdrawing from church fellowship and with dying in a military engagement at . Around the same time, fell out of favor after criticizing JS. Brothers and remained in good standing in the quorum, but the former was imprisoned and the latter was in . In mid-December 1838, Young and Kimball and to the apostleship in . The 16 January letter instructed Young and Kimball to ordain others who had been appointed to the apostleship but not yet ordained, to fill the remaining vacancies, and to appoint the oldest remaining member of the original quorum as president of the quorum.
In addition, the presidency addressed the twelve apostles’ responsibility “to build up the church, and regulate all the affairs of the same, in all nations.” In prior years, new converts were encouraged to to , Ohio, or to church settlements in . However, in early 1838 a revelation encouraged the Saints in Kirtland to immigrate to Missouri, and conflicts later that year in Missouri meant it was no longer an option for gathering. In the absence of a central gathering place, the presidency indicated that new converts should remain in their homes for the time being, except for English converts who chose to “take their chance with the saints here”; these converts were encouraged to “send wise men before them and buy out” the Kirtland area for settlement. The presidency also reminded and that they and the other apostles were to depart from the site on 26 April 1839 for a mission to Great Britain.
Like some of JS’s other letters written in the , this missive invokes scriptural language and was apparently patterned after New Testament epistles, with a greeting, counsel on specific items, and a concluding blessing. It is unknown who inscribed the original letter, which is apparently not extant; , who was the first signatory, may have written it. JS may have inscribed the postscript, which he was the first to initial. How the letter was transmitted from to is unknown, although it is possible that the First Presidency entrusted the letter to , who visited the jail on 16–17 January 1839. A copy of the letter was made as early as May 1839. The first ten lines were copied by , who began performing scribal work for in May 1839. For unknown reasons, Kimball copied the next four lines and one word of the fifth line. Kimball’s wife, , copied the remainder of the letter. Thompson died on 27 August 1841; therefore, at least his portion of the copy was inscribed by that date.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Hartley, “Winter Exodus from Missouri,” 6–40.

    Hartley, William G. “‘Almost Too Intolerable a Burthen’: The Winter Exodus from Missouri, 1838–39.” Journal of Mormon History 18 (Fall 1992): 6–40.

  2. [2]

    Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107:23, 33]; Minutes, 6 Apr. 1838; see also Esplin, “Emergence of Brigham Young,” chap. 7.

    Esplin, Ronald K. “The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1981. Also available as The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2006).

  3. [3]

    Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde, Affidavit, Richmond, MO, 24 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, MSA; Pratt, History of the Late Persecution, 35–36.

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  4. [4]

    Minute Book 2, 16 Jan. 1839.

  5. [5]

    The Kirtland, Ohio, high council identified apostles John F. Boynton and Luke Johnson as leading dissenters in December 1837, and the council probably excommunicated the two men at that time. The Far West high council excommunicated Lyman Johnson for apostasy in April 1838. Apostle William E. McLellin was tried a month later by a bishop’s council in Missouri and may have been removed from his office around that time. (John Smith and Clarissa Lyman Smith, Kirtland, OH, to George A. Smith, Shinnston, VA, 1 Jan. 1838, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; Minutes, 13 Apr. 1838; JS, Journal, 11 May 1838.)

    Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.

  6. [6]

    See Introduction to Part 3: 4 Nov. 1838–16 Apr. 1839.

  7. [7]

    Woodruff, Journal, 13 Feb. 1859; Minutes, 4–5 May 1839.

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

  8. [8]

    “History of Orson Pratt,” 22, Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861, CHL.

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

  9. [9]

    Minute Book 2, 19 Dec. 1838. A July 1838 revelation appointed Taylor and Page to fill vacancies in the quorum, but the outbreak of conflict delayed their ordinations. (Revelation, 8 July 1838–A [D&C 118:6].)

  10. [10]

    Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107:33].

  11. [11]

    Revelation, 12 Jan. 1838–C.

  12. [12]

    See Doty, Letters in Primitive Christianity, 27–47.

    Doty, William G. Letters in Primitive Christianity. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1973.

  13. [13]

    On previous occasions when Rigdon acted as scribe, he signed the document first. (See, for example, License for Edward Partridge, ca. 4 Aug. 1831–ca. 5 Jan. 1832; Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76]; and Charges against Missouri Conference Preferred to Joseph Smith, ca. Mar. 1832.)

  14. [14]

    History of the Reorganized Church, 2:315.

    The History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 8 vols. Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1896–1976.

  15. [15]

    Kimball, “History,” 51; Robert B. Thompson, Nauvoo, IL, to Heber C. Kimball, London, 5 Nov. 1840, Heber C. Kimball, Collection, CHL; Thompson, Journal of Heber C. Kimball; Kimball, Heber C. Kimball, 67–78.

    Kimball, Heber C. “History of Heber Chase Kimball by His Own Dictation,” ca. 1842–1856. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 2.

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

    Thompson, Robert B. Journal of Heber C. Kimball an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Nauvoo, IL: Robinson and Smith, 1840.

    Kimball, Stanley B. Heber C. Kimball: Mormon Patriarch and Pioneer. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1986.

  16. [16]

    “Death of Col. Robert B. Thompson,” Times and Seasons, 1 Sept. 1841, 2:519. Heber C. Kimball was away from Nauvoo, Illinois, from late 1839 through July 1841 on a mission to England, returning to Illinois on 1 July, approximately two months prior to Thompson’s death. While in England, Kimball continued working on his autobiography, a portion of which was copied in unidentified handwriting on the first leaf of the bifolium that the 16 January 1839 letter was copied on. These circumstances suggest that the letter may have been copied after Kimball’s July 1841 return to Illinois. (Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 30; Clayton, Diary, 3 Sept. and 24 Nov. 1840; Heber C. Kimball, Nauvoo, IL, 4 Aug. 1841, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 16 Aug. 1841, 2:511.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

    Kimball, Heber C. “The Journal and Record of Heber Chase Kimball an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” ca. 1842–1858. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 1.

    Clayton, William. Diary, Vol. 1, 1840–1842. BYU.

Page [2]

might. What is man that the servent of God should fear him. or the son of man that he should tremble at him. Neither think strang[e] concerning the firy trials with which we are tried as though some strange thing had hapened unto us. Remember that all have ben pertakers of like afflictions. Therefore rejoice in our afflictions by which you are perfected and through which the captain of our salvation was perfected also. Let your hearts and the hearts of all the saints be comforted with you, and let them rejoice exceedingly for great is our reward in heaven. for so percicuted the wicked the prophets which were before us.
will be a to all that choose to come to it.— And if the churches in foren countries wish to come let them do so.— Say to Br that our feelings accord with his. he is as we are, and we as he. may peace rest upon him in life and in death.— Brethren pray for us, and cease not. till our deliverence comes. which we hope may come. we hope we say, for our famalies sake.— Let the preach nothing but the first principles of the Gospel. and let them publish our afflictions. the injustice and cruelty thereof upon the house tops. Let them write it and publish it in all the papers where they go. charge them perticularly on this point—
Brethren we remain yours in hope of Eternal life
Joseph Smith Jr
N. B. Appoint the oldest of those of those who were firs[t] appointed, to be the of your .—
J S
[p. [2]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young, 16 January 1839
ID #
3888
Total Pages
3
Print Volume Location
JSP, D6:310–316
Handwriting on This Page
  • Vilate Murray Kimball

Footnotes

  1. [10]

    See Ephesians 6:10.

  2. [11]

    See Psalms 8:4; 144:3; and Hebrews 2:6.

  3. [12]

    See 1 Peter 4:12.

  4. [13]

    See 2 Timothy 1:8.

  5. [14]

    See Hebrews 2:10.

  6. [15]

    See Revelation, 6 Aug. 1833 [D&C 98:1]; Revelation, 12 Oct. 1833 [D&C 100:15]; and Revelation, 16–17 Dec. 1833 [D&C 101:16].

  7. [16]

    See Matthew 5:12; compare Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 480 [3 Nephi 12:12].

  8. [17]

    This statement reflects the Book of Mormon’s references to the “promised land,” which JS explained in 1833 was the “land of America.” (Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 4 Jan. 1833; Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:1–2, 14]; see also Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 26, 143–144 [1 Nephi 12:1; Enos 1:10].)

  9. [18]

    After the November 1838 court of inquiry, Parley P. Pratt was incarcerated in Richmond, Missouri, where he awaited trial on murder charges stemming from his involvement in the battle at Crooked River. The language here suggests that Pratt had recently written or otherwise sent word to the prisoners in Liberty. (Ruling, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, pp. [124]–[125], State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes [Mo. 5th Jud. Cir. 1838], in State of Missouri, “Evidence”; see also Baugh, “Final Episode of Mormonism in Missouri,” 1–34.)

    Baugh, Alexander L. “The Final Episode of Mormonism in Missouri in the 1830s: The Incarceration of the Mormon Prisoners at Richmond and Columbia Jails, 1838–1839.” John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 28 (2008): 1–34.

  10. [19]

    In 1837 the church newspaper Messenger and Advocate identified “faith, repentance, baptism, remission of sin, and . . . the reception of the Holy Ghost” as the five “first principles of the gospel.” (A. Cheney, “The Gospel,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, May 1837, 3:498–500; see also Letter to the Elders of the Church, 2 Oct. 1835; Hebrews 5:12; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 193 [Mosiah 18:20]; and Revelation, ca. Summer 1829 [D&C 19:21].)

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

  11. [20]

    See Matthew 10:27.

  12. [21]

    Following the late 1833 expulsion of the Saints from Jackson County, Missouri, JS dictated a revelation commanding the Saints to seek redress from government officials. These efforts included appealing to the general public for justice, a tactic that JS reaffirmed later in 1839 as part of the strategy to obtain redress for the Saints’ losses in 1838 and 1839. (Revelation, 16–17 Dec. 1833 [D&C 101:86–89]; “An Appeal,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Aug. 1834, 183–184; Letter to Edward Partridge and the Church, ca. 22 Mar. 1839.)

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  13. [22]

    See Titus 1:2; 3:7.

  14. [23]

    The letter here reiterates JS’s instructions to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on 2 May 1835. Young and Kimball were the oldest members of the quorum. Young was born 1 June 1801, while Kimball was born 14 June 1801. The First Presidency may not have known which of the men was older. (Minutes and Discourse, 2 May 1835.)

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