JS, , and , Letter, , Geauga Co., OH, to , , 7 Apr. 1834. Retained copy, [ca. 7 Apr. 1834], in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 82–84; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 1.
Historical Introduction
On 7 April 1834, JS composed this letter to , who was on a mission for the church in the eastern . Hyde was assigned to recruit members to travel to to help the Saints who had been driven from . He was also assigned to raise money from church members for land purchases in Missouri and for a payment on the in , Ohio. The French farm had been designated by revelation as the place where the Lord’s “” would be built. In March 1833, a council of and appointed and to supervise the purchase of the farm, and on 10 April 1833, Coe concluded an agreement with French. Under the terms of the agreement, Coe apparently provided $2,000 of the $5,000 price up front, with two additional payments of $1,500 required, one of which was due on 10 April 1834. In June 1833, , in Kirtland and a member of the , purchased the farm from Coe, and the responsibility for the two $1,500 payments presumably fell to him. Facing the 10 April deadline on the first payment, church leaders needed funds “to redeem the farm.”
On 17 March 1834, JS held a in , New York, at which was directed to remain in that area and preach while four local church members—, , , and —attempted to raise $2,000 by the first of April “for the relief of the brethren in .” Hyde was then to bring the money “immediately to Kirtland.” However, on 31 March, Hyde sent a letter explaining that the fund-raising efforts had not yet succeeded.
JS received the discouraging news by 7 April. With the 10 April deadline looming, JS, , , , and went into the translating room in Whitney’s on 7 April and “bowed down befor[e] the Lord and prayed that he would furnish the means” to retire their debts. JS then replied to ’s letter, expressing disappointment in the lack of success with fund raising, chastising church members for not contributing their means more liberally, and wondering whether the gathering of Saints to from eastern branches should continue, given church members’ apparent lack of generosity. JS was especially concerned that he would not be able to go to Missouri to help those Saints who had been driven out of if monetary help was not forthcoming. He also expressed concern that if he could not go, the entire expedition would fail to materialize.
Although the letter is written in JS’s voice, it also contains the signatures of , one of JS’s counselors in the and a member of the United Firm, and , another firm member. The original letter is not extant. Williams copied it into JS’s letterbook, probably soon after its composition. It is unclear if received the letter; no response from him has been located.
Minutes, 17 Mar. 1834. According to the 1830 census, Roger Orton lived in Geneseo, and Edmund Bosley lived in Livonia, both in Livingston County, New York. Freeman Nickerson lived in Perrysburg, Cattaraugus County, New York, and Isaac McWithy resided in Bennington, Genesee County, New York. (1830 U.S. Census, Geneseo, Livingston Co., NY, 14; 1830 U.S. Census, Livonia, Livingston Co., NY, 65[A]; 1830 U.S. Census, Perrysburg, Cattaraugus Co., NY, 224; 1830 U.S. Census, Bennington, Genesee Co., NY, 136.)
Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.
JS, Journal, 7–9 Apr. 1834. The “translating room,” located in the southeast corner on the second floor of Whitney’s store in Kirtland, was where JS had worked on his translation of the Bible and was also used for administrative purposes. (Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 251.)
Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.
It is unclear what debts or other monetary obligations JS had that would have prevented him from going to Missouri. The indebtedness that concerned him was likely connected with the debts of other members of the United Firm. Since firm members apparently bonded themselves in accordance with instructions in an April 1832 revelation, they may have each held responsibility for the firm’s collective debts. (Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:15]; see also Minutes, 26–27 Apr. 1832; and Parkin, “Joseph Smith and the United Firm,” 37–39.)
assaying to be the will not help us when they can do it without sacrifice with those blessings which God has bestowed upon them I proph[es]y I speak the truth I Lie not God shall take away their tallant and give it to those who have no tallant and shall prevent them from ever obtaining a place of reffuge or an upon the Land of Zion Therefore they may tarry for they might as well be overtaken where they are as to incur the displeasur of God and fall under his wrath by the wayside or to fall into the hands of a merciless mob where there is no God to deliver as salt that has lost its savour and is thenceforth god good for nothing but to be troden undr feet of men I therefor beseech you to conjure [adjure] them in the name of the Lord by the Love of God to lend us a helping hand and if all this will not soften their hearts to administer to our necessity for Zion sake turn your back up on them and return speedily to and the blood of Zion be upon their heads even as upon the heads of her enimies and let their reccompence be as the reccompence of her enemes for thus shall it come to pass saith the Lord of hosts who has the cattle upon a thousand hills who has put forth his Almyhty [Almighty] hand to bring to pass his strang[e] act and what man shall put forth his hand to steady the ark of God or be found turning a deaf ear to the voice of his servant God shall speak in due time and all will be declared amen
Your broth[er] in the Joseph
PS I am much disappointed on learni[n]g about my horse but if you cannot obtain him bring the mare and please do not [p. 83]
When this letter was copied into a later JS history, “conjure” was changed to “adjure,” meaning “to charge earnestly and solemnly” either “on pain of God’s wrath” or “on oath.” (JS History, vol. A-1, 452; “Adjure,” in American Dictionary.)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.
It is unclear whom Hyde contacted for donations. The minutes of the 17 March 1834 meeting in Avon, New York, state that a “bro. Perry” was to be approached for the $2,000. This “bro. Perry” may have been Asahel Perry, who lived in Middlebury, Genesee County, New York, and who may have owned additional property in Erie and Chatauqua counties. On 1 April 1834, Perry sold 119 acres in Middlebury for $2,300, but it is unclear whether he donated any of that sum to the church. Alvah Beman, at whose home the 17 March conference was held, was also a prosperous member of the church in Avon; Joseph B. Noble described Beman as “a man well off as to houses and land and goods of this world.” Whomever Hyde contacted, donations may not have been large. According to an account book for the Missouri expedition, the church received a total of $167 in donations “from the East for the benefit of Zion.” It is unclear how much was collected to help with the Kirtland debts. (Minutes, 17 Mar. 1834; Obituary for Asahel Perry, Deseret News, 3 Mar. 1869, 41; Genesee Co., NY, Deed Records, 1792–1901, vol. 32, p. 108, 1 Apr. 1834, microfilm 987,181, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Noble and Noble, Reminiscences, [11]; Account with the Church of Christ, ca. 11–29 Aug. 1834.)
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Noble, Joseph B., and Mary Adeline Beman Noble. Reminiscences, ca. 1836. CHL. MS 1031, fd. 1.
See 2 Samuel 6:6–7. In a November 1832 letter to William W. Phelps, JS similarly expressed concern about those who sought to “steady the ark of God,” stating that whosoever did so would “fall by the shaft of death like as a tree that is smitten by the vived shaft of lightning.” (Letter to William W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832 [D&C 85:8].)