Footnotes
The apocalyptic content of the letter raises the possibility that it may also have been intended to prepare the Colesville branch for the forthcoming exodus of church members from New York to Ohio, declaring as it did that the “time is soon at hand that we shall have to flee whithersoever the Lord will, for safety.” The inclusion of Cowdery’s letter, with its encouraging commentary on the work in Kirtland, may have helped prepare members in Colesville to respond positively to the call to leave New York and remove to that distant location. However, no other evidence indicates that JS was contemplating a move to Ohio prior to the 30 December revelation. (See Revelation, 30 Dec. 1830 [D&C 37:2–3].)
Hyrum Smith belonged to Palmyra’s Mount Moriah Lodge No. 112. When he left for Colesville, he owed a small debt to Alexander McIntyre, the Smiths’ family doctor. Lucy Mack Smith paid the debt in corn and beans but was subsequently visited by several men seeking payment. Not believing her that the debt had already been paid, they were about to take stored corn when William Smith arrived and forced them to leave. (Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minute Book, 30 Dec. 1841; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 4, [3]–[4]; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, 181–184.)
Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minute Book. / “Record of Na[u]voo Lodge Under Dispensation,” 1842–1846. CHL. MS 3436
For the annotated version of this letter, see Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 12 Nov. 1830.