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Letter to William Marks and Newel K. Whitney, 8 July 1838

Source Note

, JS, and , Letter, , Caldwell Co., MO, to and , [, Geauga Co., OH], 8 July 1838; copy, [ca. Aug. 1838]; handwriting of ; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes redaction and docket.
One leaf measuring 12½ × 7¾ inches (32 × 20 cm). The top, right, and bottom edges of the leaf have the square cut of manufactured paper, whereas the left edge is uneven, suggesting it was cut from a blank book or a larger sheet. The letter includes a redaction in graphite. The letter was folded for filing and docketed in graphite. In various places, the paper has separated at the folds. The document has undergone conservation.
It is not known how or when ’s copy came into the possession of the LDS church. The church’s Historical Department processed the letter as part of the JS Collection in 1973.

Historical Introduction

On 8 July 1838, JS and his counselors in the wrote a letter to and , conveying a revelation JS dictated that morning. The revelation directed Marks and Whitney to relocate from , Ohio, to before winter and then preside over the Saints—with Marks as the of the church in and with Whitney as a in . To expedite their move, the revelation directed , who had recently traveled from Kirtland to , Missouri, to return to Kirtland and continue settling the debts of the First Presidency.
In addition to including the full text of the revelation in the letter, the First Presidency expressed confidence that and would follow the direction in the revelation. The presidency also encouraged all in to migrate to . The letter may have been written on behalf of the First Presidency by , the first signatory.
and apparently received the letter, as the extant copy is in Whitney’s handwriting. Marks and Whitney moved from later in the year but did not reach northwestern before Missouri governor called for the expulsion of the Latter-day Saints from the state. As directed, continued his efforts in Kirtland to settle the debts of the First Presidency.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Revelation, 8 July 1838–E [D&C 117].

  2. [2]

    Whitney heard of the expulsion en route to Missouri and therefore waited for a time in St. Louis.a Marks left Kirtland in October, before he could have heard of the expulsion.b They eventually rejoined the Latter-day Saints in Commerce, Illinois, where Marks was appointed president of the stake and Whitney became bishop of the Middle Ward.c

    (a[Elizabeth Ann Smith Whitney], “A Leaf from an Autobiography,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 Nov. 1878, 91. bGeauga Co., OH, Deed Record, 1795–1921, vol. 27, pp. 149–150, 1 Oct. 1838, microfilm 20,242, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Letter from William Perkins, 29 Oct. 1838. cMinutes, 6 May 1839; see also Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30–31.)

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

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

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

  3. [3]

    See Authorization for Oliver Granger, 13 May 1839; JS History, vol. C-1 Addenda, 11–12; Thomas Griffith and John Seymour, Letter of Introduction, Painesville, OH, for Oliver Granger, 19 Oct. 1838, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 40; Horace Kingsbury, Letter of Introduction, Painesville, OH, for Oliver Granger, 26 Oct. 1838, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 40; and Letter of Introduction from John Howden, 27 Oct. 1838.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Revelation, 8 July 1838–E [D&C 117]

Page [1]

July 8, 1838
and
Gnt. We send you by the hand of br a revelation recd this morning which reads as follows
Verily thus saith the Lord unto my servants & let them settle up their businss speedily & Journy from the Land of before me I the Lord sendeth snow again upon the ground, Let them awake & arise & come forth & not tarry for I the Lord commandeth it. Therefor if they tarry it shall not be well with them.
Let them repent of all their sins & of all their covetous desires before me saith the Lord, For what is property unto me Saith the Lord. Let the properties of be turned out for debts debt saith the Lord. Let them go saith the Lord & whatsoever remaineth let it remain in your hands saith the Lord. For have I not the fowls of Heaven & also the fish of the sea & the beasts of the mountains, Have I not made the earth. do I not hold the destinies of all the armies of the nations of the earth. Therefore will I not make the solitary places to bud & to blossom & to bring forth in abundance saith the Lord. Is there not room enough upon the mountains of & upon the plains of Obashinihah or or in the Land of where Adam dwelt that you should not covet that which is but the drop & neglect the more weighty matters— Therefore come up hither unto the Land of my people even — Let my servt. be faithful over a few things & he shall be ruler of over many things— Let him preside in the midst of my (blank or omited) in the city & let him be blessed with the blessings of my people Let my Servt. be ashamed of the Nicholatins & of all their secret abominations & of all his littleness of soul before me saith the Lord & come up unto the Land of & be a unto my people saith the Lord, Not in name Name but in deed saith the Lord— And again verily I say unto you I remember my servt, behold verily I say unto him that his name shall be had in sacred remembrence from generation to generation for ever & ever saith the Lord. Therefore let him Contend earnestly for the redemption of the of my saith the Lord (over) [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to William Marks and Newel K. Whitney, 8 July 1838
ID #
396
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D6:194–197
Handwriting on This Page
  • Newel K. Whitney

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Revelation, 8 July 1838–E [D&C 117].

  2. [2]

    The version of the revelation in JS’s journal has “people” at this point in the text. (JS, Journal, 8 July 1838.)

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