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Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April–circa 8 May 1843

Source Note

Revised Minutes, and JS, Discourses, , Hancock Co., IL, [23 Apr.–ca. 8 May 1843]. Featured version published [ca. 8 May 1843] in “Special Conference,” Times and Seasons, 1 May 1843, vol. 4, no. 12, 180–185. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

The 1 May 1843 issue of the Times and Seasons published a revised version of the minutes from the 6 April 1843 sessions of the ’s special , including discourses delivered by JS during the midday and afternoon sessions. In the first session, JS had announced his desire that “the conference minutes go forth, to inform all of the order of doing business.” In particular, JS hoped to inform church members that the had been “appointd to this spicial mission of collecting funds for the ” and that no others were authorized to receive donations. The minutes also recounted deliberations over other significant items of business and decisions made by the conference.
was appointed clerk of the and in that capacity sought to record the proceedings and the accounts of discourses as he heard them. He struggled in this endeavor, at times capturing only fragmentary sentences and failing to note contextual information such as openings and closings of meetings, the names of those offering prayers, and sometimes the identities of speakers. Simultaneously, another JS scribe, , kept notes of the proceedings, which he later copied into JS’s journal. Richards more successfully captured complete sentences and contextual information. After reviewing Clayton’s minutes, JS determined they were insufficient and directed that they be revised. Over the following weeks, several of JS’s scribes as well as editors working in the church’s prepared multiple drafts—ultimately amalgamating Clayton’s minutes with Richards’s notes—before eventually publishing the minutes.
The process began on 23 April 1843, when JS “heard read” the “minutes of special conference”—most likely ’s minutes and accounts of discourses—which JS determined “were not explicit enough.” He indicated that he would “dictate them over again.” Clayton, presumably taking dictation from JS, then produced a new set of minutes. The resulting text was just over two pages long and provided an abbreviated outline that tracked the structure of the 6 April 1843 midday and afternoon sessions and the 7 April morning session. On the second and third pages of the draft of the revised minutes, Clayton used the numerals 1 through 4 to mark specific places where JS delivered “further remarks” during the conference, as the actual remarks were not included in the outline. Clayton then inserted corresponding numerals on his original minutes to help place these additional comments.
Soon after, another JS scribe, , expanded ’s revised minutes beyond the brief outline and copied the “further remarks” marked with numerals in Clayton’s original minutes. Times and Seasons editor then revised Sloan’s expanded draft, canceling short passages. On the final leaf of the draft, Taylor inscribed replacement language for the canceled passages and numbered his revisions to correspond with the deleted portions. He then typeset and printed a draft of Sloan’s expanded minutes and made additional editorial changes to the printed proof. Subsequently, Taylor made a second printed draft that incorporated his emendations.
On 3 May 1843, JS “rev[i]ewed the m[i]nutes,” presumably in typeset form. JS apparently still found the revised minutes and discourses wanting. noted in his personal journal on 3 May that he spent part of the day working on the “conference minut[e]s.” Richards clipped portions of the first and second printed drafts and attached the clippings to blank pages with adhesive wafers. Around the clippings, Richards added handwritten expansions drawn largely from his notes, thereby amalgamating his account of the conference with ’s original minutes and subsequent drafts. Based on Richards’s amalgamated draft, typeset a third draft and made a new proof sheet, to which he added more emendations. Through each step of this revision process, JS’s words—as captured by Clayton and Richards—were changed, polished, and refined by his scribes, apparently without his direct involvement. Nevertheless, the scribes retained some of his distinctive phrases, such as the admonition that church members not “make a bridge of [his] nose.”
The final form of the 6 April 1843 revised conference minutes and accounts of discourses was published in the 1 May 1843 issue of the Times and Seasons. Evidence within the issue indicates that the paper was delayed and did not appear until 8 May or later. Although exact subscription numbers for the Times and Seasons are unknown for 1843, at least a few thousand copies of the issue were printed and circulated among church members, including Latter-day Saints living in branches outside of . Information in the published minutes that departs substantially from either Clayton’s minutes or Richards’s notes is identified in the annotation.
The survival of both the original minutes and multiple prepublication drafts makes the publication record of the April 1843 conference unique. For previous conferences held in , only the final, published versions of the minutes are extant. JS’s involvement in the publication process for the April 1843 minutes also seems to have been distinctive in comparison to earlier conference minutes.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843.

  2. [2]

    See Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843.

  3. [3]

    See JS, Journal, 6 Apr. 1843; and Discourse, 6 April 1843–A, as Reported by Willard Richards.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 23 Apr. 1843.

  5. [5]

    Textual evidence does not conclusively reveal what sources Clayton and JS used to produce the revised minutes, but they probably drew on Clayton’s original minutes and their memories. It is unlikely that they utilized Willard Richards’s notes of the conference, given that the revised minutes differ from Richards’s version when recording the meetings’ openings and closings.

  6. [6]

    Revised Minutes Draft, ca. 23 Apr. 1843, in Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 6 Apr. 1843.

  7. [7]

    See Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 6–7 Apr. 1843.

  8. [8]

    Revised Minutes and Discourses Draft, 23 Apr.–ca. 3 May 1843, in Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 6 Apr. 1843. Sloan’s expanded draft covered the midday session and part of the afternoon session of 6 April, concluding with JS’s comments on Jacob Remick.

  9. [9]

    See Revised Minutes and Discourses Printed Draft, 23 Apr.–ca. 3 May 1843, in Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 6–7 Apr. 1843. Two fragments of the first printed draft are extant. The first includes the 6 April 1843 midday session, and the second includes comments made during the afternoon session by Hyrum Smith and JS on stealing in Nauvoo.

  10. [10]

    See Revised Minutes and Discourses Printed Draft, ca. 3 May 1843, in Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 6–7 Apr. 1843. Three fragments of the second printed draft are extant and include comments made during the afternoon session on 6 April 1843 by Hyrum Smith and JS on stealing in Nauvoo and JS’s comments on Jacob Remick and land in Iowa Territory. The first of these fragments is glued to the first fragment of the first printed draft. Portions of this printed draft were cut out. The second and third fragments of the second printed draft were used in the 1850s in compiling JS’s History; Thomas Bullock made emendations for the history to the text on these fragments.

  11. [11]

    JS, Journal, 3 May 1843.

  12. [12]

    Willard Richards, Journal, 3 May 1843.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

  13. [13]

    Revised Minutes and Discourses Draft, 3 May–ca. 8 May 1843, in Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 6 Apr. 1843. Some of the clippings attached to Richards's draft match holes in the first and second printed drafts. Richards made his draft on printed sheets that included Book of Abraham facsimiles. (See Revised Minutes and Discourses Printed Draft, ca. 3 May 1843, in Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 6–7 Apr. 1843.)

  14. [14]

    The extant portion of the third printed draft includes only the 6 April 1843 midday session. (See Revised Minutes and Discourses Printed Draft, 3 May–ca. 8 May 1843, in Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 6–7 Apr. 1843.)

  15. [15]

    See Notice, 8 May 1843, in Times and Seasons, 1 May 1843, 4:185.

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

  16. [16]

    Tanner, “Mormon Press in Nauvoo,” 102.

    Tanner, Terrence A. “The Mormon Press in Nauvoo, 1839–46.” In Kingdom on the Mississippi Revisited: Nauvoo in Mormon History, edited by Roger D. Launius and John E. Hallwas, 94–118. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996.

  17. [17]

    For full annotation of Clayton’s minutes and Richards's notes, see Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843; and JS, Journal, 6 Apr. 1843.

  18. [18]

    See, for example, Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839; Minutes, 7–11 Apr. 1841; and Minutes and Discourses, 6–8 Apr. 1842.

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 183

proposed that the sign triplicate receipts, for moneys received, for the benefit of the parties concerned.
Elder objected, and said he should never give receipts for cash, except such as he put into his own pocket, for his own use; for it was calculated to make trouble hereafter, and there were better methods of transacting the business; and more safe for the parties concerned; that he wished this speculation to stop, and would do all in his power to put it down: To which the Twelve responded, amen. asked if any one knew any things against any one of the Twelve, any dishonesty; if they did, he wanted it exposed; he said he knew of one who was not dishonest. He also referred to muzzling the ox that treadeth out the corn, &c.
President Joseph said, I will answer . The Twelve need not spend all their time abroad, they can spend the time belonging to the , for to collect funds; and the remainder of the time they may labor for their support; and they may call on the public to supply their wants. It is no more for the Twelve to go abroad and earn their living in this way than it is for others. The idea of not muzzling the ox, is a good old Quaker song, but we will make the ox tread out the corn first and then feed him. I am bold to declare that I have never taken the first farthing of funds for my own use, till I have first consulted the proper authorities. When there was no quorum of the Twelve or for me to consult, I have asked the , who had not particular business with it, but I did it for the sake of peace. -[ said it was so.]- Let the stop all from collecting funds, except the Twelve.— When a man is sent to preach the first principles of the gospel, he should preach that and let the rest alone.
The choir sung a hymn, and elder prayed, and Twelve minutes before 2 o’clock P. M., conference adjourned for one hour.
3 o’clock, P. M.
Patriarch, , commenced by saying that he had some communications to make to the conference, on stealing, and he would do it while waiting for Joseph; and referred to the article in the last number of the ‘Wasp.’ Said he, I have had an interview with a man who formerly belonged to the church, and he revealed to me that there is a band of men, and some who pretend to be strong in the faith of the doctrine of the Latter Day Saints, but they are hypocrites, and some who do not belong to the church, who are bound together by secret oaths, and obligations and penalties, to keep the secret; and they hold that it is right to stea[l] from any one who does not belong to the church provided they consecrate two-thirds of it to the building of the . They are also making bogus money.
This man says he has become convinced of the error of his ways, and has come away from them to escape their fury. I wish to warn you all not to be duped by such men, for they are the Gadianters of the last days.
He then read from the Wasp as re-published from the Times and Seasons, his own affidavit, and the proceedings of the authorities of the church generally, dated Nov. 26, 1841. The man who told me said, “this secret band refer to the bible, book of Doctrine and Covenants, and book of Mormon to substantiate their doctrine:” but no such doctrines are taught there.
They say it has been taught from this , that they are the little foxes that spoil the vines, and the are the big foxes: and the big foxes wanted the little foxes to get out of the and spread abroad, so that the big foxes might have a chance; which every body knows is false: all these things are used to decoy the foolish and unwary.
I will mention two names, David Holman and , they were living in my house I went to them and asked them if they were stealing for a livelihood? Holman confessed that he had stolen from the world, not from the brethren. I told them to get out of my house. David asked me to forgive him, and he lifted his hands towards heaven and swore if I would forgive him he would never do so again. Soon after he went to , where he was found stealing salt, as is currently reported; he then stole a skiff and came across the , stole a barrel of flour that had just been landed from a steamer, rowed down the river to and sold the flower for $2 00, saying he had picked it up in the river, and was likely a little damaged, got his pay, and went his way. would not promise to quit stealing, but said he would go to . I tell you to-day, the man that steals shall not long after be brought to the Penitentiary. They will soon be brought to condign punishment. I demand in the presence of God that you will exert your wit and your power to bring such characters to justice, if you do not the curse of God will rest upon you, such things would ruin any people. Should I catch a latter day saint stealing, he is the last man to whom I would shew mercy.
President Joseph Smith said, I think it best to continue this subject. I want the elders to make honorable proclamation abroad concerning what the feelings of the first presidency is, for stealing has never been tolerated by them. I [p. 183]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revised Minutes and Discourses, 23 April–circa 8 May 1843
ID #
1033
Total Pages
6
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:282–293
Handwriting on This Page
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Footnotes

  1. [5]

    See Confession of Faith, 14–15; [Fox], To the Protector and Parliament of England, 30–34; Deuteronomy 25:4; and 1 Corinthians 9:9.

    A Confession of Faith, Which Contains a True Account of the Principles and Doctrines of the People Called Quakers, by Robert Barclay, First Published in the Year 1673, and Reprinted by the Society at Various Times; to Which Is Added, an Extract from the Letter of George Fox and Others to the Governor and Council of Barbadoes, in the Year 1671; and the Confession of Faith Presented by Friends to the British Parliament in 1693. Philadelphia: Joseph R. A. Skerrett, 1827.

    [Fox, George]. To the Protector and Parliament of England. London: Giles Calvert, 1658.

  2. [6]

    “Thieves! Robbers!! Villains!!!,” Wasp, 29 Mar. 1843, [2]–[3].

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

  3. [7]

    “Hyrum Smith’s Affidavit,” Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1841, 3:615–616; see also Affidavit, 29 Nov. 1841.

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

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