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Letter to the Church in Colesville, 2 December 1830

Source Note

JS and , Letter, , Seneca Co., NY, to “Dearly beloved in the Lord” [church members], [, NY], 2 Dec. 1830. Featured version copied [ca. 1871] in , History, 196–211; unidentified handwriting; private possession. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Newel Knight and the Church in Colesville, 28 August 1830.

Historical Introduction

This letter gives instructions to the church members in , New York, in general but also addresses JS’s brother in particular. At the time JS and wrote it, Hyrum and his wife, , were living in Colesville with and his wife, . Hyrum Smith and Newel Knight were engaged in preaching in the area. The letter included a copy of a recently received letter from , who reported on the great success he and his three missionary companions were experiencing in the area around , Ohio. The entire letter, including Cowdery’s communication, was eventually copied into Newel Knight’s autobiography.
This letter was apparently part of an ongoing correspondence, not all of which is extant, between JS and members of the church in . Like JS’s August 1830 letter to members in Colesville, it reflects a belief in an imminent Second Coming and cites international political conflict and natural catastrophes as evidence that “the prophecies of the Book of Mormon are fulfilling as fast as time can bring it about.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 12 Nov. 1830.

  2. [2]

    Letter to Newel Knight and the Church in Colesville, 28 Aug. 1830.

  3. [3]

    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].)

Page 201

and many have been buried under the ruins. In Columbia, South America, they are at war and peace is taken from the earth in part. and it will soon be in whole, yea destructions are at our doors, and they soon will be in the houses of the wicked, and they that know not God. Yea lift up your heads and rejoice for your redemption draweth nigh. We are the most favored people that ever have been from the foundation of the world, if we remain faith [p. 201]
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Source Note

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Page 201

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to the Church in Colesville, 2 December 1830
ID #
52
Total Pages
16
Print Volume Location
JSP, D1:214–219
Handwriting on This Page
  • Unidentified

Footnotes

  1. [8]

    In August 1830, Kingston, Jamaica, suffered a “tremendous hurricane” that caused “great injury” to ships and buildings and ruined the coffee and pimento crops. (“Hurricane,” Rochester [NY] Republican, 28 Sept. 1830, [1]; “Hurricane in the West Indies,” New-York Spectator, 23 Oct. 1830, 4.)

    Rochester Republican. Rochester, NY. 1829–1838.

    New-York Spectator. New York City. 1804–1867.

  2. [9]

    Late in 1830, Colombia was reportedly “sunk in the horrors of civil war” and in “a state of anarchy.” (“Colombia,” Rochester [NY] Republican, 9 Nov. 1830, [2]; see also “Colombia,” Rochester [NY] Republican, 5 Oct. 1830, [1].)

    Rochester Republican. Rochester, NY. 1829–1838.

  3. [10]

    See Revelation 6:4.

  4. [11]

    See Luke 21:28. The same affirmation appeared in a revelation dictated a few days later. (Revelation, 7 Dec. 1830 [D&C 35:26].)

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