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Times and Seasons, 2 May 1842

Source Note

Times and Seasons (, Hancock Co., IL), 2 May 1842, vol. 3, no. 13, pp. 767–782; edited by JS. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

The 2 May 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons, a periodical published in , Illinois, was the thirteenth number in its third volume.JS purchased the and the newspaper from in February 1842 and was identified as its editor from 15 February to 15 October 1842. Although JS was named as the editor in the 15 February issue, he did not consider himself the editor of the newspaper until the 1 March 1842 issue. , , and others helped JS produce the Times and Seasons from March through October 1842, but JS was directly responsible for the content of the newspaper.
The fifth issue that JS oversaw as editor was dated 2 May 1842 and contained a letter to the Saints from the , urging them to fund the construction of the ; letters from missionaries and church members in the eastern and Europe; an extract of the “History of Joseph Smith,” which was printed serially in the newspaper; and reprinted articles from several other newspapers, including the church newspaper in , the Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. In addition to this material, the issue also contained editorial content, meaning content created by JS as the editor or his editorial staff for the paper. This content in the 2 May issue included commentaries on articles about mummies, an editorial on the Nauvoo temple, news from proselytizing , commentary on an article about Judaism, and notices concerning temple donations and a position with the printing office staff. Selected editorial content from the 2 May issue is featured here, with individual introductions for each passage.
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 Agreement with Ebenezer Robinson, 4 Feb. 1842.

  2. [2]

    See “To Subscribers,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:710.

  3. [3]

    Several of these letters were written to JS and, because of their earlier creation dates, are featured in a previous volume of The Joseph Smith Papers. (See Letter from Eli Maginn, 22 Mar. 1842; and Letter from William Appleby, ca. Mar. 1842.)

  4. [4]

    The Millennial Star was a monthly church newspaper edited by Parley P. Pratt and first published in Manchester, England, in May 1840. (“Prospectus,” Millennial Star, May 1840, 1:1–2.)

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  5. [5]

    See “Editorial Method”.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Times and Seasons , 2 May 1842 *Times and Seasons, 2 May 1842
*Times and Seasons, 2 May 1842
*Times and Seasons, 2 May 1842 *Times and Seasons, 2 May 1842 *Letter from Eli Maginn, 22 March 1842 Times and Seasons, 2 May 1842 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith” Notice, circa 2 May 1842 Times and Seasons, 2 May 1842 *Letter from William Appleby, circa March 1842 Times and Seasons, 2 May 1842

Page 775

We believe that is neither a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, or he would have known that wherever, or whenever God had a prophet, and he spoke the word of the Lord, or “got a revelation that has ended the matter”—we perceive that he has a notion of feeling a little funny at our expense, but notwithstanding those peculiar freaks and little witticisms of , we must say that he acts with more candor and honesty, and is more of a gentleman and philanthrophist than most of the editors of the present day; he publishes our own statements to the world in their native simplicity, unguarnished, without misrepresentation, coloring or fiction, and leaves it as all honest men will do, for a discerning public to judge of the correctness, or incorrectness of the principles thus laid before them. The very pious and holy editors of the “Baptist Advocate;”—The “New York Evangelist;” and the “Christain Advocate and Journal,” and many other of the holy order that we might mention, would do well to pattern after the moral honesty and righteousness of . We say this because we have generally found that those gentlemen of the black cloth are more ready to listen to reports, misrepresentation and falsehood than to matters of fact, and that if they are not at all times the authors of the foul calumnies that so frequently disgrace their pages; yet their columns are always open for slander, and falsehood, whenever it suits their purpose.
The would be great Mr. O. Bachelor [Origen Bacheler] of or elsewhere, has lately published a long tirade about Morminism in the “Baptist Advocate;” without refering to his production we would merely state that he would have done well to have published at the same time an account of his ungentlemanly proceeding at a discussion with ; when one of his brother infidels who was chairman told him that he would not acknowledge so dishonorable a man as one of their fraternity—of a subsequent defeat by of , (soon after he had joined the ) and of his late dicomfiture by a boy in . Surely so mighty a champion as Mr. Bachelor, aided with such powerful truths, (alias falsehoods,) as those published in the Baptist Advocate, ought to have been able to have vanquished those puereil [puerile] defendents of Mormonism, and swept so awful a delusion into everlasting oblivion: or is it the case that he is more powerful in writing than oratory? or has the pious editor of the “Baptist Advocate” assisted him to compile his foul slander? Ed.
 
——————————
TIMES AND SEASONS.
CITY OF ,
MONDAY, MAY 2, 1842.
——————————
 
Editorial Note
The second item of editorial content in the 2 May 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons related the progress of the construction of the temple. The editorial appears to have been written by JS; it begins with his personal observations about the temple and then shifts to a more revelatory tone to convey the importance of the temple’s completion. In the article, JS shares his gratitude for the generosity and sacrifices of the Saints who donated money and labor to the temple’s construction. The editorial then emphasizes church members’ role in establishing Zion, which had been an objective of God’s people since biblical times. The article concludes on a millenarian note, emphasizing the blessings that completing the temple and establishing Zion would have on future generations, including the ushering in of the second coming of Jesus Christ.
THE .
This noble edifice is progressing with great rapidity; strenuous exertions are being made on every hand to facilitate its erection, and materials of all kinds are in a great state of forwardn[e]ss, and by next fall we expect to see the building enclosed; if not the top stone raised with “shouting of grace—grace, unto it.” There have been frequently, during the winter, as many as one hundred hands quarrying rock, while at the same time multitudes of others have been engaged in hauling, and in other kinds of labor. A company was formed last fall to go up to the to purchase mills, and prepare and saw lumber for the , and the , and the reports from them are very favorable; another company has started this last week, to take their place, and to relieve those that are already there; on their return they are to bring a very large raft of lumber for the use of the above named houses.
While the busy multitudes have thus been engaged in their several avocations performing their daily labor, and working one tenth of their time, others have not been less forward in bringing in their , and consecrations for the same great object. Never since the formation of this was laid, have we seen manifested a greater willingness to comply with the requisitions of Jehovah; a more ardent desire to do the will of God; more strenuous exertions used; or greater sacrifices made, than there has been since the Lord said, “Let the Temple be built by [t]he tithing of my people.” It seemed as though the spirit of enterprise, philanthropy, and obedience rested simultaneously upon old and young; and brethren and sisters, boys and girls, and even strangers, who were not in the church, united with an unprecedented liberality in the accomplishment of this great work; nor could the widow, in many instances, be prevented, out of her scanty pittance, from throwing in her two mites.
We feel at this time to tender to all, old and young, both in the church and out of it, our unfeigned thanks for their unprecedented liberality, kindness, dilligence, and obedience which they have so opportunely manifested on the present occasion. Not that we are personally or individually benefitted in a pecuniary point of view, but when the brethren as in this in [p. 775]
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Page 775

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Times and Seasons, 2 May 1842
ID #
8147
Total Pages
16
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:15–27
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Footnotes

  1. [12]

    This sentence was likely written in response to Bennett’s claim that whenever JS was “in a difficulty,” he could circumvent it by saying “he has a direct revelation from Heaven, that settles the point at once.” (“The Mormon Movement,” New York Herald, 6 Apr. 1842, [2].)

    New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.

  2. [13]

    JS had previously lauded Bennett in December 1841 for his evenhanded reporting regarding the Latter-day Saints. (Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 18 Dec. 1841, 37.)

  3. [14]

    The Baptist Advocate, which was founded by several prominent Baptists in New York City, was a weekly newspaper published in New York from 1839 to 1845. Dr. William H. Wyckoff edited the paper until 1845. In 1845, the name of the paper was changed to the New York Recorder. (Cathcart, Baptist Encyclopædia, 1:387.)

    The Baptist Encyclopedia. A Dictionary of the Doctrines, Ordinances, Usages, Confessions of Faith, Sufferings, Labors, and Successes, and of the General History of the Baptist Denomination in All Lands. With Numerous Biographical Sketches of Distinguished American and Foreign Baptists, and a Supplement. Edited by William Cathcart. Vol. 2. Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1881.

  4. [15]

    The New York Evangelist was a weekly Presbyterian periodical printed in New York City that covered evangelical and abolitionist topics. Begun in 1830, it merged with the New York Presbyterian in 1850. The paper had many publishers, including H. Wickes & Co., which published it in 1842. (Nameplate, New-York Evangelist, 6 Jan. 1842, [1]; Nameplate, New-York Evangelist and New-York Presbyterian, 2 May 1850, [1].)

    New-York Evangelist. New York City. 1830–1850.

    New-York Evangelist and New-York Presbyterian. New York City. 1850–1852.

  5. [16]

    The Christian Advocate and Journal was a well-known Christian newspaper published in New York City for the Methodist Episcopal Church.

  6. [17]

    Bacheler was an evangelical apologist and skilled religious debater who, in 1838, had published a book antagonistic to JS and the church titled Mormonism Exposed, Internally and Externally. (Givens and Grow, Parley P. Pratt, 120.)

    Bacheler, Origen. Mormonism Exposed, Internally and Externally. New York: no publisher, 1838.

    Givens, Terryl L., and Matthew J. Grow. Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

  7. [18]

    Bacheler debated Pratt over the course of six evenings in New York City in the fall of 1837. In his book, Bacheler described his success in the debate and characterized Pratt as unable to counter the objections he raised. Pratt did not record the outcome of the debate. (Bacheler, Mormonism Exposed, 6–8; Givens and Grow, Parley P. Pratt, 120–121.)

    Bacheler, Origen. Mormonism Exposed, Internally and Externally. New York: no publisher, 1838.

    Givens, Terryl L., and Matthew J. Grow. Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

  8. [19]

    The debate between Adams and Bacheler likely occurred in 1840. Adams joined the church in February 1840 in New York City and proselytized as a missionary in New York in 1840 before leaving for a mission to England in spring 1841. (Holmes, Dreamers of Zion, 74–75; Minutes, Philadelphia, PA, 17 Oct. 1840, in Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1840, 2:215; Orson Hyde, Preston, England, to Parley P. Pratt, 13 Apr. 1841, in Millennial Star, Apr. 1841, 1:307.)

    Holmes, Reed M. Dreamers of Zion: Joseph Smith and George J. Adams, Conviction, Leadership and Israel’s Renewal. Portland, OR: Sussex Academic Press, 2003.

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

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  9. [20]

    Dr. William H. Wyckoff. (Nameplate, Baptist Advocate [New York City], 18 Dec. 1841, 3:133.)

    Baptist Advocate. New York City. 1839–1845.

  10. [21]

    In the Wasp, William Smith noted that the site of the temple was “a scene of lively industry and animation” and that “the sound of the polisher’s chisel—converting the rude stone of the quarry into an artful shape—sent forth its buisy hum; all were busily employed—the work was fast progressing.” (Editorial, Wasp, 23 Apr. 1842, [2].)

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

  11. [22]

    See Zechariah 4:7.

  12. [23]

    In 1841, the Nauvoo House Association and the temple committee undertook a joint lumbering venture on the Black River in an area known as the “pineries” in Wisconsin Territory. Despite a hopeful start, the Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo did not receive a shipment of lumber until late July or early August 1842. In June 1842, JS and several other church leaders met and discussed the situation of the Saints working in the pineries and decided to send another expedition north. This group left Nauvoo around 6 July 1842. There is no record in JS’s journal or other contemporary sources of a company leaving in April or May 1842, although one may have done so. In later years, the first lumber to be sent south after the winter, when the river was once again navigable, would arrive in May. (Rowley, “Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries,” 121–129; “Lumber,” Wasp, between 30 July and 4 Aug. 1842, [2]; JS, Journal, 26–28 June 1842; JS, Nauvoo Store Daybook, 6 July 1842.)

    Rowley, Dennis. “The Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries, 1841–1845.” BYU Studies 32, nos. 1 and 2 (1992): 119–148.

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

    Smith, Joseph. Nauvoo Store Daybook, Jan.–July 1842. CHL.

  13. [24]

    Saints paid their tithing in money, goods, or labor in increments of one-tenth of their assets. By February 1841, a number of Latter-day Saint men in and around Nauvoo began paying their annual labor tithing by working one day out of every ten on the construction of the temple. Over time this practice apparently became more standardized, and the temple recorder assigned a fixed value for this labor: thirty-one dollars a year, based on a one-dollar-a-day rate and thirty-one working days, which was one tenth the number of days in the year minus Sundays. (Elias Higbee, “Ecclesiastical,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1841, 2:296; Book of the Law of the Lord, 69.)

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

  14. [25]

    See Revelation, 2 Aug. 1833–A [D&C 97:10–12]; and Revelation, 8 July 1838–C [D&C 119:2–3]; see also Brigham Young et al., “Baptism for the Dead,” Times and Seasons, 15 Dec. 1841, 3:626; and “Temple Friends,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:715–716.

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

  15. [26]

    Entries in the Book of the Law of the Lord record donations from individuals who were Latter-day Saints as well as those who were not. For examples of donations from those who were not Latter-day Saints, see Book of the Law of the Lord, 265, 268, 317, 381.

  16. [27]

    See Mark 12:42; and Luke 21:2; see also Letter from Eli Maginn, 1 and 3 May 1842.

  17. [28]

    This disclaimer that the temple donations brought no personal financial benefit is another clue that JS authored this editorial. Detractors and disaffected members frequently made the false accusation that JS was personally profiting from the donations of church members. (See, for example, Warren Parrish, Kirtland, OH, 5 Feb. 1838, Letter to the Editor, Painesville [OH] Republican, 15 Feb. 1838, [3]; and Cyrus Smalling, Kirtland, OH, to “Dear Sir,” 10 Mar. 1841, in Lee, Mormons, 12–15.)

    Painesville Republican. Painesville, OH. 1836–1841.

    Lee, E. G. The Mormons; or, Knavery Exposed, Giving an Account of the Discovery of the Golden Plates. . . . Frankford, PA: By the author, 1841.

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