The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 April 1843, as Reported by William Clayton

Source Note

Special conference of the church, Minutes, and JS, Discourses, [, Hancock Co., IL, 6–7 Apr. 1843]; handwriting of ; ten pages; Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, CHL. Includes redactions and dockets.
One leaf and two bifolia measuring 10 × 8 inches (25 × 20 cm) and ruled with twenty-six horizontal gray lines per page. On the recto of the first leaf, the bottom three lines were marked by light brush strokes of yellow, green, and red paint, which precluded inscription of the minutes on that portion of the page. Between and around the strokes, wrote names and numerical calculations that appear to be unrelated to the minutes. After Clayton inscribed the minutes, the document was folded for filing. When the conference minutes were edited for publication in April and early May 1843, redactions and partial pagination were added.
The minutes were docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844 and as temple recorder from 1842 to 1846. At a later time, an unidentified clerk added to Clayton’s docket. The docket was further expanded by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. Clayton’s docket was expanded again by Jonathan Grimshaw, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (now CHL) from 1853 to 1856. In the mid-twentieth century, the document was included in a miscellaneous minutes collection that was a vestige of a genre-based filing method used by the Church Historian’s Office in the first half of the twentieth century. This document genre collection contained many documents that subsequently formed the basis for the General Church Minutes collection that was cataloged in 1994. The document’s dockets and its inclusion within the General Church Minutes collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 18, 30–31. Clayton’s docket reads simply “April.”

    Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

    Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

  2. [2]

    Following Clayton’s docket identifying the month, “April,” the unidentified scribe added the year “1844” and then corrected it to “1843.”

  3. [3]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865. Beneath Clayton’s docket identifying the month and the unidentified scribe’s addition identifying the year, Bullock inserted “Minutes of a Meeting in Nauvoo.”

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

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

  4. [4]

    Historian’s Office, Journal, 7 June 1853; Wilford Woodruff, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 30 Aug. 1856, in Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 364. Between Clayton’s docket identifying the month and the unidentified scribe’s addition identifying the year, Grimshaw inserted “Conference.”

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

    Historian’s Office. Letterpress Copybooks, 1854–1879, 1885–1886. CHL. CR 100 38.

  5. [5]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 1839–1877, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

From 6 through 9 April 1843 in , Illinois, JS presided at a special of the . Latter-day Saints considered the conference a “Jubilee” because the occasion marked the thirteenth anniversary of the church’s founding on 6 April 1830 and the beginning of its fourteenth year; they were apparently referring to and adapting the biblical seven-year sabbatical cycle. The four-day event was held on the “platform of the ,” a temporary floor that was installed on the main level in October 1842 for worship services. The speakers at the conference delivered their discourses from a portable stand, while listeners were arrayed in chairs across the floor.
On 6 April 1843, , president of the , opened the initial, midday meeting of the conference at 11:30 a.m. because JS was detained in the mayor’s court. When the meeting began, listeners covered about three-fourths of the floor. After the choir sang a hymn and offered a prayer, delivered a discourse on the concept of resurrection until 12:00 p.m. JS had arrived at 11:50 a.m., and he took the stand after Pratt finished his discourse. JS announced an agenda for the business portion of the conference, which took place during the midday and afternoon sessions on 6 April and the morning session on 7 April. First, he planned to present the “for trial,” as he termed it, asking for a sustaining vote for him and his counselors, and . Next, he intended to address the inefficient process of and missionaries collecting donations for the and the , an uncontrolled system that resulted in many donations not being deposited with JS as the church’s trustee-in-trust nor with his clerk . Finally, JS stated that the agenda would include an opportunity for missionaries to appeal the decisions of ecclesiastical trials held outside of .
The meeting proceeded as outlined, beginning with a sustaining vote for members of the First Presidency. During the remainder of the midday session, JS gave extended comments on the second item of business, proposing that the system of gathering funds for the and be amended so that members of the be designated as the only agents authorized to collect donations. After JS finished his comments, the conference voted to accept the proposal, and conference attendees discussed implementation of the plan. The choir then sang from 1:30 to 2:00 p.m., and closed the meeting with a prayer, after which attendees were dismissed for an hour break.
Since JS was again detained for unspecified reasons, opened the afternoon meeting at 3:00 with a statement on the problem of stealing among some church members who claimed to have the First Presidency’s tacit approval for their activities. JS then gave his second discourse. After continuing the subject of stealing in and condemning the thieves, he instructed church members not to settle in and encouraged those currently living there to relocate to . He also spoke on the signs preceding the second coming of Jesus Christ. At 5:50 p.m., the choir sang, and ended the session with prayer.
The following morning at 10:00, the conference reopened with a hymn by the choir and a prayer by . JS was “rather hoarse from Speaking so long yesterday” and said that “he would use the boys lungs to day.” With presiding, the conference gave permission to missionaries to appeal decisions from ecclesiastical trials, and then Young appointed to preside over church in various cities. For the remainder of the meeting, JS’s clerk conducted a public investigation of the ’s management of church funds. JS then “statd that the business of the confernce had closed. & the rem[ai]nder of the confernce would be devoted to instruction.” At 12:30 p.m., the choir sang again, and Young adjourned the meeting with prayer.
was appointed clerk of the conference and took the minutes featured here of the business deliberations and discourses on 6 and 7 April 1843. Clayton apparently endeavored to take notes while the discourses were being given; his hasty, on-the-spot note-taking is evidenced by incomplete sentences and a lack of contextual information about who was speaking or transitions between meetings. Another of JS’s scribes, , also recorded accounts of JS’s two 6 April discourses; these two accounts are also featured here as Discourse, 6 April 1843–A and Discourse, 6 April 1843–B. Richards presumably kept rough notes that he later copied, with minimal polishing in the process, into JS’s journal. In addition, an unknown Latter-day Saint made an account of JS’s doctrinal comments on the second coming of Jesus Christ. The polished nature of this account indicates that the unknown scribe reconstructed JS’s words after the fact from notes or from memory or both. Although the original source for his account is not known, church member copied the text into his notebook sometime after his arrival in in mid-April 1843. This account is also featured here under Discourse, 6 April 1843–B. Annotation that appears in Clayton’s version of the minutes is not repeated in corresponding locations in the other featured versions.
JS requested that the minutes of the 6 April 1843 business meetings be circulated as broadly as possible so that church members outside would understand that the apostles were the only agents authorized to collect donations for the and the . In the weeks after the meeting, JS’s scribes expanded ’s official minutes and accounts of discourses. The revised minutes and discourses appeared in the 1 May 1843 issue of the Times and Seasons and are featured separately in this volume.
During the remainder of the conference, ’s minute-taking became more sporadic; he focused primarily on recording doctrinal comments made by apostle and JS during the 7 April afternoon and the 8 April morning sessions. Because Clayton recorded these minutes and discourses on sheets of paper separate from the 6–7 April minutes, they are featured separately herein. He apparently did not take minutes during the 8 April afternoon session or the concluding 9 April morning session, presumably because JS did not participate in those meetings.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    It was called a “special conference” rather than a “general conference” because in October 1841, JS announced that the church would “not hold another general conference” until the temple was completed. (JS, Journal, 6–9 Apr. 1843; Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841.)

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 6 Apr. 1843; Leviticus 25:1–17; see also JS, Journal, 30 Mar. 1836. Wilford Woodruff noted that the 1843 conference represented “the commenc[e]ment of the fourteenth year of the church.” (Woodruff, Journal, 6 Apr. 1843.)

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

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 23 and 28 Oct. 1842; 6 and 8 Apr. 1843; George Alley, Nauvoo, IL, to Joseph Alley, Lynn, MA, 13 Apr. 1843, George Alley, Letters, microfilm, CHL; see also McBride, House for the Most High, 115–117. By April 1843, construction on the temple walls had progressed to between four and twelve feet from the floor. (JS, Journal, 6 Apr. 1843.)

    Alley, George. Letters, 1842–1859. Microfilm. CHL.

    McBride, Matthew. A House for the Most High: The Story of the Original Nauvoo Temple. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007.

  4. [4]

    See Historical Introduction to M. F. Thompson v. F. Dixon and E. Dixon.

  5. [5]

    JS, Journal, 6 Apr. 1843.

  6. [6]

    JS, Journal, 6 Apr. 1843.

  7. [7]

    JS, Journal, 6 Apr. 1843.

  8. [8]

    JS, Journal, 7 Apr. 1843.

  9. [9]

    JS, Journal, 7 Apr. 1843.

  10. [10]

    JS, Journal, 7 Apr. 1843.

  11. [11]

    Clayton, Journal, 6 Apr. 1843. Willard Richards made a more complete account of the conference proceedings in JS’s journal. (JS, Journal, 6–9 Apr. 1843.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  12. [12]

    For more information on Willard Richards’s note-taking methods, see Historical Introduction to Discourse, 4 July 1843.

  13. [13]

    Burgess arrived in Nauvoo on 12 April 1843 with many other English immigrants. JS delivered a discourse welcoming the new arrivals the following day, which Burgess mentioned in his journal. (Burgess, Journal and Notebook, [64]–[65]; Discourse, 13 Apr. 1843.)

    Burgess, James. Journal, 1841–1848. CHL. MS 1858.

  14. [14]

    See Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 Apr.–ca. 8 May 1843.

  15. [15]

    See Minutes, 7 Apr. 1843; and Discourse, 8 Apr. 1843.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Discourse, 6 April 1843–B, as Reported by William Clayton Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 April 1843, as Reported by William Clayton *Discourse, 6 April 1843–B, as Reported by Willard Richards Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 2, 10 March 1843–14 July 1843 Discourse, 6 April 1843–B, as Reported by Franklin D. Richards *Discourse, 6 April 1843–B, as Reported by James Burgess Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April–circa 8 May 1843, James Sloan and John Taylor Draft Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April–circa 8 May 1843, First Printed Draft Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April-circa 8 May 1843, Willard Richards Draft *Discourse, 6 April 1843–B, as Published in Times and Seasons Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April–circa 8 May 1843 History Draft [1 March–31 December 1843] History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] *Discourse, 6 April 1843–A, as Reported by William Clayton Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 April 1843, as Reported by William Clayton *Discourse, 6 April 1843–A, as Reported by Willard Richards Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 2, 10 March 1843–14 July 1843 Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April–circa 8 May 1843, James Sloan and John Taylor Draft Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April-circa 8 May 1843, Willard Richards Draft *Discourse, 6 April 1843–A, as Published in Times and Seasons Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April–circa 8 May 1843 History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] *Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 April 1843, as Reported by William Clayton Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 April 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 2, 10 March 1843–14 July 1843 Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April–circa 8 May 1843, William Clayton Draft Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April–circa 8 May 1843, James Sloan and John Taylor Draft Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April–circa 8 May 1843, First Printed Draft Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April-circa 8 May 1843, Second Printed Draft Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April-circa 8 May 1843, Willard Richards Draft Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April–circa 8 May 1843, Third Printed Draft *Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April–circa 8 May 1843 History Draft [1 March–31 December 1843] History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] “History of Joseph Smith” “History of Joseph Smith” “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [8]

— Those who have deeds for the have the greatest shadow of title— court of ordered it to be sold. Law for squ[a]tters says &c— My opinion is the Court of chancery had no business to gives such a decree. Legislature is the highest power said the dont belong to any body the surveyors threw them out as us[e]less property & condemned land. and for many years they were not considered to be the property of any body. My advice to the Mormons is dont go nigh them, dont touch them. those who are squatters & those who have deeds may fight it out they can handle it in the Court without mittens. The deed warrants & defends against all unlawful claims. it is a bastard, name of the decree is half breed for it’s not like any thing else. its a nondescript. I offer my remarks for the benifit of the brethren. have had complaints entered by the Laws.— the Mormons are ruining them it is unjust to take advantage of my remarks to plunder them If a man take any such license from my decisions I forbid him in the name of the Lord.
Complaints have been made plundering main lands— assist me? dissatisfaction at have cut of — he came 4 q. Can a person not belonging to the bring a man before the and try him, I answered no!— I understood they were dissatisfied said I had no jurisdiction &c I dont want jurisdiction, have no ju only civily— all the ju. I exercised is in offering my opinion. Any remarks of that kind was uncalled for. I only advised them.
Denied having revelations, visions of wars &c. All the remark I made was in relation to that light. I said the probabillity is there will be a war. And not so big a prophet as many suppose me, many prophecying. [p. [8]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [8]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 April 1843, as Reported by William Clayton
ID #
2688
Total Pages
10
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:154–168
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

Footnotes

  1. [53]

    Iowa Territory had several remarkably liberal laws regarding property claims on public land, recognizing as “valid in law or equity” all contracts or promises “either written or verbal” pertaining to claims on public land. Additionally, the territory allowed squatters the right to sue others for trespass on their claims. (An Act to Provide for the Collection of Demands Growing Out of Contracts for Sales of Improvements on Public Lands [15 Jan. 1839], Statute Laws of the Territory of Iowa, p. 388, sec. 1; An Act to Prevent Trespass and Other Injuries Being Done to the Possession of Settlers on the Public Domain [25 Jan. 1839], Statute Laws of the Territory of Iowa, p. 389.)

    The Statute Laws of the Territory of Iowa, Enacted at the First Session of the Legislative Assembly of Said Territory, Held at Burlington, A. D. 1838–’39. Dubuque, Iowa Territory: Russell and Reeves, 1839. Reprint, Des Moines: Historical Department of Iowa, 1900.

  2. [54]

    In 1841 the United States district court for Iowa Territory ordered the chancery court in Lee County, Iowa Territory, to sell the large islands in the Mississippi River between Nauvoo and Montrose, Iowa Territory, and the sales occurred on 23 April 1842. (Mason, “Decree in Partition of the Half Breed Tract,” 455.)

    Mason, Charles. “Decree in Partition of the Half Breed Tract in Lee County, Iowa, 1840.” Annals of Iowa 14, no. 6 (Fall 1924): 424–460.

  3. [55]

    Both Wilson Law and Uriah Nickerson, Latter-day Saints, claimed that they had independently agreed with church member Arthur Morrison to purchase the islands together, and Nickerson had apparently given Morrison money for that purpose. At the 23 April 1842 auction, Morrison instead made the purchase with Law without informing Nickerson. After a physical altercation between Law and Nickerson, the two men appeared before the Nauvoo high council on 19 February 1843, and JS held that the two men should come to some agreement to split their claims to the islands. (Historical Introduction to Minutes and Discourse, 19 Feb. 1843.)

  4. [56]

    Willard Richards’s account of the discourse quoted JS as saying that “it is not right for the Mormons to go & carry away the wood In the name of the Lord God, I forbid any man from using any observati[o]ns of mine, to rob— the land of wood.” JS may have been referring to comments he made at the 19 February 1843 high council trial, during which he argued that the islands were “refused lands,” meaning unclaimed land, “which the goverment did not see fit to do any thing with consequently were free plunder.” (Minutes and Discourse, 19 Feb. 1843.)

  5. [57]

    On 4 March 1843, a church conference held in Nashville, Iowa Territory, withdrew fellowship from Martin on charges of “unchristian conduct” and “defaming the character” of Samuel Hoyt and his wife, Emily Smith Hoyt, a cousin of JS. Martin attempted to appeal the decision based on the fact that Samuel Hoyt was not then a member of the church. (Nashville Branch, Minutes, 28 Feb. and 4 Mar. 1843, Elias Smith, Papers, CHL; Hoyt, Reminiscences, vol. 1, p. 16.)

    Nashville, IA, Branch Minutes, 19 Dec. 1840. Elias Smith, Papers, 1834–1846. CHL. MS 7062, fd. 6.

    Hoyt, Emily Smith. Reminiscences and Diary, 1851–1893. 7 vols. CHL.

  6. [58]

    The fragmentary nature of Clayton’s notes renders JS’s meaning uncertain. On 25 December 1832, JS dictated a revelation “concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass begining at the rebellion of South Carolina which will eventually terminate in the death and missery of many souls, and the days will come that war will be poured out upon all Nations.” This revelation, however, was not widely known during JS’s lifetime and was not published until 1851. (Revelation, 25 Dec. 1832 [D&C 87:1–2].)

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06