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Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842

Source Note

Times and Seasons (, Hancock Co., IL), 1 July 1842, vol. 3, no. 17, pp. 831–846; edited by JS. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

The 1 July 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons was the ninth issue published under JS’s editorship. Much of the issue was devoted to the publication of correspondence regarding ’s immoral conduct in , Illinois. This correspondence included a letter that JS wrote telling members about Bennett and describing how church leaders had handled his situation. To corroborate JS’s statements in that letter, the issue included excerpts of correspondence from unidentified individuals and from , who had evidently been sent to verify information about Bennett in . These statements, as well as JS’s letter, had been previously published in the 25 June 1842 issue of the Wasp.
In addition to information about , the 1 July issue contained an article by , excerpts from the “History of Joseph Smith,” an article on the Jews, and a reprint of a letter published in the Dollar Weekly Bostonian recounting a meeting at which “, the Mormon lecturer of the city of ” spoke. Also included were accounts of earthquakes that had occurred in Haiti and in Greece, a letter from to JS, communications from preaching outside of , minutes of in outlying , and a poem by about the . The issue also featured editorial commentary and notices written by the editorial staff. How involved JS was in composing the editorial material is unclear. While assisted him in editing the paper, JS, as editor, assumed primary responsibility for the paper’s content.
Note that only the editorial content created specifically for this issue of the Times and Seasons is annotated here. Articles reprinted from other papers, letters, conference minutes, and notices, are reproduced here but not annotated. Items that are stand-alone JS documents are annotated elsewhere; links are provided to these stand-alone documents.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Wasp, 25 June 1842, [2]–[3]. This letter is published in this volume as a separate JS document. (See Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842.)

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

  2. [2]

    This letter is published in this volume as a separate JS document. (See Letter from Mephibosheth Sirrine, 25 May 1842.)

  3. [3]

    See “Editorial Method”.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842 *Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842 *Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842 *Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842 Letter from George Miller, circa 2 March 1842
Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842
*Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842 Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842, as Published in Times and Seasons Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith” *Letter from Mephibosheth Sirrine, 25 May 1842 Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842

Page 842

documents concerning the matter in my possession, but I think that to say further is unnecessary, as the subject is so plain that no one can mistake the true nature of the case.
I remain yours, respectfully,
JOSEPH SMITH.
, June 23, 1842.
——
Editorial Note
Also included in the 1 July 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons was a letter that JS wrote to the about and his improper conduct in . To support JS’s claims about Bennett, the editors of the Times and Seasons published excerpts from two letters written by unnamed correspondents providing corroborating perspectives on Bennett’s character and conduct. Following the short excerpts, the newspaper printed a letter from , one of the church’s , about his recent investigation into Bennett’s life before Bennett moved to Nauvoo. In addition, Miller, who functioned as the Worshipful Master of the Nauvoo Masonic Lodge, composed a notice to other Masons about Bennett being expelled from an lodge; that notice was included in the Times and Seasons as well. The excerpts, Miller’s letter, and the notice are included here.
The following extracts from letters received by gentlemen in this from their correspondents in relation to , will corroborate with the above statements and testimony:
——
Urbana, Ill., June 1842.
* * * * “As to my knowledge of , I can safely say that he is unworthy of the confidence of all mankind; in my opinion, he is an infamous rascal, and I am well acquainted with him.” * * *
——
Montecello, Platt Co., Ill., June 3, 1842.
* * * * “You inquire of me about . * * * That without any creditable way of getting a living, and without any apparent income, he handles more money than any common person.
“That he pretended to have had a commission as Surgeon in the army, but had not.
“That he had united with persons unknown, and non-resident in that state, to filch money from the unwary, by getting up a plat of a town on a scale of 800 acres, as the capital of , when it was about to become a state; and thereby procure from thoughtless persons money to locate such a town, and pay in town lots—without any even remote supposable idea of ever locating such a town.
‘That he had in like manner attempted to palm himself upon the Legislature of , by trying to get a charter for a College in that state, but the Legislature detected him, and recorded him on the journals as an impostor, and Mr. [John] Bailhache, editor of the “Ohio State Journal,” published it as far as the paper was read.”
——
, Morgan Co. O[hio])
March 2, 1841.)
Dear Sir—By your request I have made inquiries into the history of , and am enabled to give you the following facts which may be relied on as correct.
“When a young man his character stood fair, he studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. Samuel P. Hildreth, of Marietta, Washington county, O[hio]. It is believed he has a diploma, and also recommendations from some of the principal Physicians of that place; he started out with fair prospects, and married a daughter of Col. Joseph Barker, near Marietta. and his united with the Methodist Church, and he became a local preacher. It was soon manifest that he was a superficial character, always uneasy, and moved from place to place; at different times lived in Barnesville, , Malta, Wheeling, Va., Colesville, Pennsylvania and Indiana; it is not presumed that less than twenty towns has been his place of residence at different times; he has the vanity to believe he is the smartest man in the nation; and if he cannot at once be placed at the head of the heap, he soon seeks a situation; he is always ready to fall in with whatever is popular; by the use of his recommendations he has been able to push himself into places and situations entirely beyond his abilities; he has been a prominent personage in and about colleges and universities, but had soon vanished; and the next thing his friends hear of him he is off in some other direction; at one time he was a prominet Campbellite preacher.
“During many years his poor, but confiding , followed him from place to place, with no suspicion of his unfaithfulness to her; at length however, he became so bold in his departures, that it was evident to all around that he was a sore offender, and his left him under satisfactory evidence of his adulterous connections; nor was this his only fault; he used her bad otherwise. now lives with her father; has two children living, and has buried one or two. has three brothers-in-law living in this place, who, if they were disposed, could give all the particulars; but I dislike to urge them; I did apply to one which I thought the most likely, but he seemed reluctant to give it; but referred me to the person who has given me the foregoing; but he not being a connexion, has not been particular in following him in all his perigrinations; but is, no doubt correct, so far as given;—it has been ’s wish that his should get a bill of divorcement, but as yet she has not; nor does my informant know that she contemplates doing so;—in fine, he is an imposter, and unworthy of the confidence of all good men.” * *
Through motives of delicacy, we withhold the names of our informants, and other correspondents; but hold ourselves in readiness, at all times, to substantiate by abundant testimony, all that has been asserted, if required, as the documents are all on hand.
.
 
————
NOTICE.
To all whom it may concern, Greeting.—
Whereas , in the organization of the Lodge, under dispensation [p. 842]
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Page 842

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842
ID #
8151
Total Pages
16
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:220–230
Handwriting on This Page
  • Printed text

Footnotes

  1. [9]

    Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842.

  2. [10]

    In 1834, when Bennett was a member of the Pickaway Masonic Lodge in Circleville, Ohio, fellow Mason George A. Patterson brought charges against him for “unmasonic conduct.” One of those charges was that Bennett had professed “to be an officer of the U.S. Army while he was not.” (Hogan, “John Cook Bennett and Pickaway Lodge No. 23,” 10.)

    Hogan, Mervin B. “John Cook Bennett and Pickaway Lodge No. 23,” Oct. 1983. Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Utah. CHL.

  3. [11]

    Among the charges that George A. Patterson made against Bennett in the Pickaway Masonic Lodge was that Bennett attempted “to get plats of a city reported by him to be a plat of the capital of Michigan, afterwards intimating it not to be settled as a capital for Michigan, and professing to offer it to the Governor of Upper Canada.” (Hogan, “John Cook Bennett and Pickaway Lodge No. 23,” 10, underlining in original.)

    Hogan, Mervin B. “John Cook Bennett and Pickaway Lodge No. 23,” Oct. 1983. Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Utah. CHL.

  4. [12]

    This likely referred to an effort Bennett made in 1833 and 1834 to establish a college in Ohio called “The Classical, Literary, and Scientific Institution of the Scioto Valley, for teaching the Arts and Sciences.” The bill to create the school passed the Ohio House of Representatives but received an unfavorable report in the state senate from the Committee on Colleges and Universities. Among the committee’s objections were that Bennett was “the only individual who appear[ed] to take any interest” in passing the bill and that he had tried to sell diplomas to individuals in Ohio from a school he had proposed in Indiana. The senate committee thus concluded “that the said Bennett has some Sinister Motive in view, in pressing the passage of the bill now under consideration.” (“To the Public,” Western Medical Reformer [Cincinnati], Extra, 8 Sept. 1845, 4–7, italics in original; see also S. A. L., Cleveland, OH, 1 July 1845, Letter to the Editors, Western Medical Reformer, June 1845, 13.)

    Western Medical Reformer. Cincinnati. 1840–1845.

  5. [13]

    John Bailhache became associated with the Ohio State Journal in 1825 and in 1831 became sole proprietor and editor of the newspaper. Nothing regarding Bennett and the school has been found in the issues from 1833 and 1834. (Studer, Columbus, Ohio, 243.)

    Studer, Jacob H. Columbus, Ohio: Its History, Resources, and Progress, with Numerous Illustrations. Columbus, OH: By the author, 1873.

  6. [14]

    This date, particularly the year, may be incorrect. The author of this letter, George Miller, is listed as a participant in a lyceum that was apparently held in Nauvoo on 23 February 1841, making it unlikely that he had time to travel to Ohio and conduct the investigation outlined in the following paragraphs before composing this letter on 2 March. Instead, Miller may have written the letter in March 1842. He had been sent on a mission to Kentucky “at the closing in of winter” in early 1842, and he could have easily traveled the short distance from Kentucky to McConnelsville—located in southeastern Ohio—around March 1842 to gain additional information about Bennett. JS’s journal indicates that Miller left Nauvoo no later than 19 January 1842; Miller later recollected that he returned to Nauvoo in April 1842. (McIntire, Notebook, [12]; Historical Introduction to Discourse, ca. 23 Feb. 1841; George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 26 June 1855, in Northern Islander [St. James, MI], 16 Aug. 1855, [3]–[4]; JS, Journal, 19 Jan. 1842.)

    McIntire, William Patterson. Notebook, 1840–1845. CHL. MS 1014.

    Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.

  7. [15]

    Hildreth, according to one medical journal, was “one of the most distinguished members of the profession in our western country.” He graduated from the Medical Society of Massachusetts in February 1805 and moved to Marietta, Ohio, in 1806, where he practiced medicine and served in the Ohio legislature. (“Dr. Samuel P. Hildreth, of Ohio,” Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, 24 Oct. 1849, 229–231.)

    “Dr. Samuel P. Hildreth, of Ohio.” Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 41, no. 12 (24 Oct. 1849): 229–232.

  8. [16]

    Bennett served a medical apprenticeship with Hildreth from 1822 to 1825. Bennett then passed an exam before the Twelfth Medical Society of Chester, Meigs County, Ohio, from which he received a certificate. In an 1845 issue of the Botanico-Medical Recorder, Bennett presented several letters of recommendation, including one from Hildreth and one from officials of the Reformed Medical College of New York. (Smith, Saintly Scoundrel, 3–5; “To the Public,” Western Medical Reformer [Cincinnati], Extra, 27 Oct. 1845, 4; “The Eclectics vs. Dr. Bennett,” Botanico-Medical Recorder [Cincinnati], 2 Aug. 1845, 307–308.)

    Smith, Andrew F. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.

    Western Medical Reformer. Cincinnati. 1840–1845.

    Botanico-Medical Recorder. Cincinnati. 1832–1845.

  9. [17]

    Bennett and Mary Barker were married on 9 January 1826. (Washington Co., OH, Marriage Records, 1789–1951, vol. 1, p. 168, microfilm 941,958, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  10. [18]

    According to a history of Morgan County, Ohio, Bennett believed that his “‘religious impressions’ gave him the right to another title, and he wrote ‘Rev. Doctor John Cook Bennett,’ and occasionally, when not otherwise engaged, gave practical exhibitions of his theological eloquence.” (Robertson, History of Morgan County, Ohio, 277; see also Smith, Saintly Scoundrel, 5.)

    Robertson, Charles. History of Morgan County, Ohio, with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Chicago: L. H. Watkins, 1886.

    Smith, Andrew F. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.

  11. [19]

    Barnesville, Ohio, was in Belmont County, just northeast of Morgan County, in which McConnelsville and Malta were located.

  12. [20]

    Bennett made several attempts to either start new colleges or become a faculty member at existing colleges, including in New Lisbon and St. Clairsville, Ohio; Wheeling, Virginia; New Albany, Indiana; and Chagrin, Ohio. (Smith, Saintly Scoundrel, 8–28.)

    Smith, Andrew F. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.

  13. [21]

    One individual remembered that Bennett “came to Louisville a preacher, and was kindly treated” by the reformed Baptist movement led by Alexander Campbell. Bennett apparently also preached in Jeffersonville and New Albany, Indiana. In 1832, Bennett proposed establishing a school called “Christian College” in New Albany, which would be affiliated with Campbell. However, Campbell did not want the affiliation and refused to sponsor the college. (“To the Public,” Western Medical Reformer [Cincinnati], Extra, 27 Oct. 1845, 7; Smith, Saintly Scoundrel, 13–18.)

    Western Medical Reformer. Cincinnati. 1840–1845.

    Smith, Andrew F. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.

  14. [22]

    John Carter, who claimed to have been acquainted with Bennett before Bennett moved to Nauvoo, stated that Mary Barker Bennett left her husband because “his ill-usage towards her was already more than she could bear.” According to Carter, Mary stated that Bennett had destroyed seven families with his adultery. W. P. Rowell, who said he lived in the same neighborhood as the Bennetts in 1837, recounted that Mary left her husband in 1838: “I heard it from almost every person in the town, that she left him in consequence of his ill treatment of her at home, and his intimacy with other women.” (John Carter, Statement, Wasp, 1 Oct. 1842, [1]; W. P. Rowell, Statement, in Affidavits and Certificates [Nauvoo, IL: 1842], copy at CHL.)

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

    Affidavits and Certificates, Disproving the Statements and Affidavits Contained in John C. Bennett’s Letters. Nauvoo Aug. 31, 1842. [Nauvoo, IL: 1842]. Copy at CHL.

  15. [23]

    Mary Bennett’s father was Joseph Barker. In 1850, Mary was listed as living in Morgan, Morgan County, Ohio, with George Bennett (age fourteen), Mary Rice (age twenty), and Sabinas Rice (age twenty-one). A son named Joseph was born to the Bennetts in December 1828, but he died shortly after birth. (1850 U.S. Census, Morgan, Morgan Co., OH, 247[B]–248[A]; Smith, Saintly Scoundrel, 6.)

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

    Smith, Andrew F. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.

  16. [24]

    An 1881 history stated that three of Mary’s brothers had lived in Washington County, Ohio, which adjoined Morgan County: Joseph and Luther, both of whom lived in Newport Township, and George W., who lived on his father’s homestead in Wiseman’s Bottom. (History of Washington County, Ohio, 611.)

    History of Washington County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams and Brother, 1881.

  17. [25]

    The Bennetts were not divorced until 15 October 1842. (Smith, Saintly Scoundrel, 105.)

    Smith, Andrew F. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.

  18. [26]

    Abraham Jonas, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, authorized the formation of a temporary Masonic lodge in Nauvoo on 15 October 1841. Probationary lodges were referred to as “under Dispensation” until they demonstrated ability to perform their work in an acceptable manner and were made permanent, or duly constituted. The Nauvoo Lodge U. D. was officially installed on 15 March 1842. (Copy of Dispensation, in Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minute Book, 1–2; Minutes, 15–16 Mar. 1842.)

    Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minute Book. / “Record of Na[u]voo Lodge Under Dispensation,” 1842–1846. CHL. MS 3436

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