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Minutes, 4–5 May 1839

Source Note

General Conference Minutes, , Adams Co., IL, 4–5 May 1839; handwriting of ; four pages; Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, CHL. Includes docket.
Two leaves measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The top left corner of the first page bears an embossed seal with the profile of a man. Above and to the left of the seal, added a “3”, indicating these minutes were the third of four sets of minutes that Mulholland recorded and numbered in 1839. It appears that the document was folded and filed with the minutes of a meeting on 6 May 1839 in , Illinois. A docket written by reads: “May 4. 1839 | Minutes of Conference”. Bullock worked in the Church Historian’s Office between 1842 and 1856, and he likely filed the minutes during that period, suggesting the document has been in continuous institutional custody since at least 1856. The minutes were placed in the General Church Minutes collection with other loose church minutes created by the general church scribe and other clerks affiliated with the Church Historian’s Office.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Mulholland inscribed a “1” on minutes of a 26 April 1839 meeting and a “2” on minutes of a 24 April 1839 meeting. (Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 24 and 26 Apr. 1839.)

    Historian’s Office. General Church Minutes, 1839–1877. CHL

Historical Introduction

On 4–5 May 1839, JS presided over a general held near , Illinois. He had recently escaped from incarceration in , and this general conference was the first meeting he attended in which the full membership of the church in was present. The conference consisted of three sessions, held on Saturday midday, Sunday morning, and Sunday afternoon at the Presbyterian campground approximately two miles north of Quincy.
The first session began with an emotional address by JS. Following his remarks, important issues were brought before the body of the church regarding operations, leadership, and settlement. The minutes featured here record the resolutions adopted by the assembled Saints in the Saturday and Sunday morning sessions, approving the church’s recent purchase of land in and appointing new ecclesiastical leaders. The members also resolved that a committee should collect libelous reports and that a delegation should submit affidavits to the federal government in to seek redress for the persecution and losses church members experienced in . Additional resolutions included sanctioning the meeting that the held in , Missouri, on 26 April 1839 and the intended mission of the quorum to Europe. The congregation also decided to suspend and from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles but to allow them to speak at the next general conference of the church to address their conduct in Missouri in 1838.
Two additional resolutions concerned , Ohio. was directed to oversee the and manage church affairs there, and Saints in the eastern were instructed to migrate to Kirtland. The majority of church members had moved from Kirtland to by summer 1838, but some church members remained in Kirtland. At the start of that year, church leaders had expressed their intention to retain land in Kirtland for Saints moving from the eastern United States, and this intention was supported in the May 1839 general conference.
During the final session of the conference, on Sunday afternoon, the and apostles provided instruction that is not included in the extant minutes. Before the conference was adjourned, the congregation was reminded that the next general conference would be held in October 1839 in , Illinois, signaling the impending move of the church to newly purchased land in the vicinity. The minutes were recorded by , the appointed clerk for the conference.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Minutes, 24 Apr. 1839.

  2. [2]

    Woodruff, Journal, 4 May 1839.

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

  3. [3]

    John Smith and Don Carlos Smith, Kirtland Mills, OH, to George A. Smith, Shinnston, VA, 15–18 Jan. 1838, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; see also Historical Introduction to Pay Order to Edward Partridge for William Smith, 21 Feb. 1838.

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

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Minutes, 4–5 May 1839 Letterbook 2 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [3]

of their office.
10th Resolved, That the do sanction the mission intended by the to Europe, and that they will do all in their power to enable them to go.
11th Resolved, That the subject of ’s going to be adjourned untill tomorrow.
12th Resolved, That the next general conference be held on the First Saturday in October next, at At the house of —
13th. That we now adjourn untill tomorrow at 10 oclock AM
Joseph Smith Jr) President
) Clerk
Sunday the fifth, met according to adjournment at 10 AM Meeting or Conference opened as usual by prayer singing &c &c When it unanimously Resolved— That this conference do send a delegate to the City of to lay our case before the general Government and that be appointed to that office.
2nd Resolved— That be sent to Ill, clothed with authority and required to set to rights the church in that place in every way which may become necessary according to the order of the . [p. [3]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 4–5 May 1839
ID #
7577
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D6:442–447
Handwriting on This Page
  • James Mulholland

Footnotes

  1. [11]

    This action suspended Hyde and William Smith from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Disturbed by Mormon military operations against vigilantes in Daviess County, Missouri, in October 1838, Hyde left the church. He and Marsh filed an affidavit on 24 October 1838 describing and denouncing the military activities.a In March 1839, Hyde wrote to Brigham Young, expressing contrition and his desire to rejoin the Saints, but he was not restored to his place in the Quorum of the Twelve until 27 June 1839.b Young recounted that William Smith spoke publicly against JS before relocating from Missouri to Illinois.c On 25 May 1839, JS and the Quorum of the Twelve discussed Smith’s case and restored him to the quorum.d Because Hyde and William Smith were accepted back into fellowship before the 5 October 1839 conference, they did not give public accounts of their conduct, as resolved in this May general conference. Instead, their reinstatements were announced.e

    (aThomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde, Affidavit, Richmond, MO, 24 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, MSA. bOrson Hyde, New Franklin, MO, to Brigham Young, 30 Mar. 1839, in Young, Journal, 1837–1845, 100–104; Kimball, “History,” 103–104; JS, Journal, 27 June 1839; see also Bergera, “Personal Cost of the 1838 Mormon War,” 139–144. c“Hearken, O Ye Latter-Day Saints,” Deseret News, 23 Aug. 1865, 372; Woodruff, Journal, 13 Feb. 1859. dWoodruff, Journal, 25 May 1839. eMinutes, 5–7 Oct. 1839, in Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30.)

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

    Young, Brigham. Journals, 1832–1877. Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1, boxes 71–73.

    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.

    Bergera, Gary James. “The Personal Cost of the 1838 Mormon War in Missouri: One Mormon’s Plea for Forgiveness.” Mormon Historical Studies 4, no. 1 (Spring 2003): 139–144.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

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

  2. [12]

    Each of the apostles was expected to go on the mission, with the exception of suspended apostles Hyde and William Smith.

  3. [13]

    The conference was held in Commerce on Saturday, 5 October 1839. (Minutes, 5–7 Oct. 1839, in Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30–31.)

  4. [14]

    This resolution ratified Rigdon’s proposal that the church send delegations to visit U.S. state capitals and Washington DC to lobby Congress “to impeach the State of Missouri on an item of the Constitution of the United States; That the general government shall give to each State a Republican form of government.” This plan was part of the broader effort to obtain redress for the Saints’ losses in Missouri. Although Rigdon accompanied JS, Elias Higbee, and others to Washington DC in winter 1839–1840, illness precluded him from joining the delegation in meetings with President Martin Van Buren and various congressmen. (Letter from Sidney Rigdon, 10 Apr. 1839; U.S. Constitution, art. 4, sec. 4; Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, 391–398; Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon, 265–272; see also Letter to Edward Partridge and the Church, ca. 22 Mar. 1839.)

    Bushman, Richard Lyman. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. With the assistance of Jed Woodworth. New York: Knopf, 2005.

    Van Wagoner, Richard S. Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994.

  5. [15]

    A later report from Babbitt’s brother-in-law attested that Babbitt relocated to Springfield by October 1839, but no information on his management of the church there has been located. (Johnson, “A Life Review,” 51, 58.)

    Johnson, Benjamin Franklin. “A Life Review,” after 1893. Benjamin Franklin Johnson, Papers, 1852–1911. CHL. MS 1289 box 1, fd. 1.

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