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Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842

Source Note

Times and Seasons, (, Hancock Co., IL), 15 June 1842, vol. 3, no. 16, 815–830; edited by JS. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

As editor of the Times and Seasons, JS oversaw the publication of the newspaper’s 15 June 1842 issue. The issue opened with an excerpt from the church’s newspaper in , the Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, emphasizing the necessity of a restoration of the gospel. This was followed by the seventh installment of the serialized “History of Joseph Smith” and excerpted articles from several eastern newspapers about JS and the . The issue also included a letter from traveling in , who had just returned from his mission in England, and the minutes of a 14 May 1842 church held in Grafton, Ohio. The issue concluded with a poem on the by and a public notice that the had withdrawn “the hand of fellowship” from .
In addition to these items, the issue included editorial content that was presumably written by JS or his editorial staff. This editorial content, which is featured here, includes three items: commentary on a popular book on American antiquities, with quotations from the Book of Mormon; a letter to the editor denouncing a pair of missionaries in Tennessee, together with an editorial response; and an article on the .
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]

    John Taylor assisted JS in editing the Times and Seasons, but JS, as editor, assumed primary responsibility for the content in the issues. (Woodruff, Journal, 19 Feb. 1842; “To Subscribers,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:710.)

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

  2. [2]

    The first installment of JS’s history was published in the 15 March 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons.

  3. [3]

    Although the notice was written on 11 May 1842, it was withheld from publication until this mid-June issue. (See Historical Introduction to Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842; Notice, 11 May 1842; and JS, Journal, 26 May 1842.)

  4. [4]

    Priest, American Antiquities, 205–208.

    Priest, Josiah. American Antiquities and Discoveries in the West. . . . 5th ed. Albany: Hoffman and White, 1838.

  5. [5]

    See “Editorial Method”.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842 *Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842 *Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842 *Letter from George J. Adams, 21 April 1842 Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842 *Notice, 11 May 1842 Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842 *Letter from John D. Lee and Others, 18 May 1842
Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842

Page 820

ger from them who are our friends, that he confound not their language. And it came pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord and the Lord had compassion upon their friends and their families also, that they were not confounded. And it came to pass that Jared spake again unto his brother, saying, go and inquire of the Lord whether he will drive us out of the land, and if he will drive us out of the land, cry unto him whither we shall go.— And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth. And if it so be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance,
And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord according to that which had been spoken by the mouth of Jared. And it came to pass that the Lord did hear the brother of Jared, and had compassion upon him and said unto him, go to and gather together thy flocks, both male and female of every kind; and also of the seed of the earth of every kind, and thy families; and also Jared thy brother and his family; and also thy friends and their families, and the friends of Jared and their families. And when thou hast done this, thou shalt go at the head of them down into the valley that is northward. And there will 1 [I] meet thee, and I will go before thee into a land which is choice above all the land of the earth. And there will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me of thy seed, and of the seed of thy brother, and they who shall go with thee, a great nation.— And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed; upon all the face of the earth. And thus I will do unto thee because this long time ye have cried unto me.
Here, then, we have two records found upon this continent, that go to support the words of eternal truth—the Bible; and whilst these records, both of them, sanction the testimony of the scriptures in regard to the flood, the tower of Babel, and the confusion of languages; the tradition and hyeroglyphics of the Zaltees, the Colhuacans, and the Azteca nations, in regard to the confusion of languages and their travels to this land, is so like that contained in the Book of Mormon, that the striking analogy must be seen by every superficial observer.
In regard to the confusion of languages it is said of the above nations, that there were “fifteen heads, or chiefs of families, that were permitted to speak the same language.” The Book of Mormon, concerning the same event, says: “And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord; and the Lord had compassion on Jared, therefore he did not confound the language of Jared”—and it further states that Jared’s brother’s language was not confounded; and they then prayed for their families and friends also, and the Lord heard them in their behalf; and their language was not confounded. These accounts, then, precisely agree, one of which was found in , N. Y., and the other in Mexico.
Again, those nations, or families, embodied themselves together and traveled they knew not where, but at length arrived in the country of Aztalan, or the lake country of . The Book of Mormon says, that the brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, that he would give them another land; the Lord heard him, and told him to go to a certain place, “and there I will meet thee and go before thee into a land which is choice above all the land of the earth.” This it further speaks is the land of America. The coincidence is so striking that further comment is unnecessary.—Ed.
 
————
Editorial Note
On 18 May 1842, traveling and , along with Tennessee local , wrote a letter from Putnam County, Tennessee, to the editor of the Times and Seasons about the activities of two recently converted brothers, Alfred and . During the early months of 1842, Alfred and William Young apparently traveled as self-appointed proselytizing missionaries throughout Gibson, DeKalb, Smith, and Putnam counties in Tennessee. There they reportedly ministered to members of the , converts, and performed miracles such as casting out devils, restoring the dead to life, and giving sight to the blind. Reports of these miracles concerned Lee, Young, and Frost, who arrived in central Tennessee in April 1842 after the Young brothers had left, because they considered the Youngs to be “counterfeit Mormons,” only pretending to perform miracles. The letter featured here was written by Lee, the first signatory, who wrote on behalf of the group but occasionally referred to himself in the first person and to Young and Frost in the third person. Young and Frost added their signatures to Lee’s at the end of the letter. Their letter notified church leaders in , Illinois, of the perceived infractions as well as the three men’s efforts to restore order to the church in Tennessee and proselytize for new members. The condemnation of spiritual manifestations that were potentially not of God had been outlined in a JS revelation in May 1831, and Lee likely perceived it as his duty to proclaim against such manifestations. The letter was printed in the Times and Seasons along with an editorial response that commended the action taken by Lee and his companions, condemned the actions of the Young brothers, announced that fellowship had been withdrawn from the brothers, and recommended that members who persisted in improper displays of spiritual enthusiasm be cut off from the church. The Young brothers requested a hearing before the Nauvoo . After the hearing, the brothers were reinstated to full fellowship in the church.
For the Times and Seasons.
LETTER FROM TENNESSEE.
Putnam County, Tenn., May 18, 1842.
Mr. Editor:—Dear Sir—It devolves upon me, although a painful duty, to announce to you the present state and condition of affairs as we have found them in this place. On the 18th of March I arrived at the city of Nashville, and after visiting several of the , and setting them in order according to my appointment, I was informed by Dr. , that recently, a branch of the church had been organized in Putnam county, by and Alford [Alfred] Young, who professed to teach our principles, viz: The faith of the Latter Day Saints. In order to give you the opportunity of suppressing the progress of difficulties arising from false teachers, we address this line to you for your information; being thoroughly acquainted with many of the principles taught by them, and also of the evils resulting from their teachings and conduct. They profess to be empowered with ten supernatural gifts, nine of them are contained in the 12th chapter of 1st Corinthians—raising the dead they claim as the 10th. Mr. Daniel Hunt, one of their coadjutors, in addition to the gifts above mentioned, claims to be the personage spoken of in the 20th chapter of Revelations who is to bind the dragon a thousand years; he also professes to have the power to seal up unto eternal life. They have made six proselytes near the town of Alexandria, De Kalb county. The authenticity of the Book of Mormon was by them held in obscurity, and when interrogated on the subject they would reply, that the time would come when they should arrive at its contents; that the book was not designed to be taught to the Gentiles at present, and that it was only to be taught to the Jews in order to effect their restoration. They pretended to raise the dead while in Smith county, twenty miles distant from this place, on two different occasions; one of these miraculous [p. 820]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Times and Seasons, 15 June 1842
ID #
8150
Total Pages
16
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:146–162
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Footnotes

  1. [4]

    Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 524–525 [Ether 1:35–43].

  2. [5]

    Priest, American Antiquities, 206.

    Priest, Josiah. American Antiquities and Discoveries in the West. . . . 5th ed. Albany: Hoffman and White, 1838.

  3. [6]

    See Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 524 [Ether 1:35–37].

  4. [7]

    While the tradition of Tezpi and the deluge was reportedly found in a codex from Mexico, possibly drawing on the teachings of early Spanish missionaries, JS stated that he translated the Book of Mormon “by the gift and power of God” from engraved metal plates recovered from a hill in Manchester Township, Ontario County, New York. (JS History, vol. A-1, 7, 25; see also Oliver Cowdery, “Letter VI,” Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1835, 1:108–112; and Oliver Cowdery, “Letter VII,” Messenger and Advocate, July 1835, 1:155–159.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  5. [8]

    This may refer to an American Indian settlement in the Middle Mississippian tradition in southern Wisconsin. The ruins of the settlement were discovered in 1836 and surveyed by N. F. Hyer in January 1837. Hyer named the site after the Aztec ancestral home, Aztlán. (“Ruins of the Ancient City of Aztalan,” Milwaukee [Wisconsin Territory] Advertiser, 25 Feb. 1837, [2]; Lapham, Antiquities of Wisconsin, 42–43; see also Smith, Aztecs, 36–39.)

    Milwaukee Advertiser. Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory. 1836–1841.

    Lapham, Increase A. The Antiquities of Wisconsin, as Surveyed and Described. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1855.

    Smith, Michael E. The Aztecs. 3rd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2012.

  6. [9]

    Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 525 [Ether 1:42].

  7. [10]

    Even though they all came from Tennessee, Alphonso Young does not appear to be related to Alfred and William Young.

  8. [11]

    See Historical Introduction to Revelation, 9 May 1831 [D&C 50].

  9. [12]

    After reading the charges from Lee and his companions, the Young brothers requested a hearing before the Nauvoo high council. There they were charged with “teaching false doctrine, of doing miracles under false pretenses and of depreciation of the Book of Mormon as of Divine origin.” In their defense, lfred Young later recalled, “I bore my testimony to them that the gospel had been preached, the blind had received their sight, the lame had walked, devils had been cast out, and the dead raised in the name of Jesus. That I knew these things and could not deny them for to do so would be to deny Christ.” (Young, Autobiography, typescript, BYU; “Notice,” Times and Seasons, 16 Jan. 1843, 4:80.)

    Young, Alfred. Autobiography, no date. Typescript. BYU.

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

  10. [13]

    Lee traveled as a missionary through Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee in 1841. (Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 112; Brooks, John Doyle Lee, 49–51.)

    Lee, John D. Mormonism Unveiled. St. Louis, MO: Sun Publishing Company, 1882.

    Brooks, Juanita. John Doyle Lee: Zealot, Pioneer Builder, Scapegoat. Glendale, CA: Arthur H. Clark Co., 1961.

  11. [14]

    The Young brothers were both baptized on an unspecified date shortly before they were ordained elders on 16 September 1841. They immediately began ministering, proselytizing, and reporting miraculous events. (Young, Autobiography, typescript, BYU.)

    Young, Alfred. Autobiography, no date. Typescript. BYU.

  12. [15]

    1 Corinthians 12 lists the traditional Christian gifts of the Spirit. In an effort to help church members discern between evil manifestations and divinely ordained gifts of the Spirit, JS dictated a revelation in March 1831 that warned against being “seduced by evil spirits or doctrines of Devils” and appointed bishops to “watch over the Church” and elders to “decern all those gifts lest there shall be any among you prophecying & yet not be of God.” (Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–A [D&C 46:7, 27].)

  13. [16]

    See Matthew 10:8.

  14. [17]

    Hunt was a Latter-day Saint and resident of Gibson County, Tennessee. A friend of the Young brothers, he ordained them as elders and allowed them to stay with him when they were in the area. (Young, Autobiography, typescript, BYU.)

    Young, Alfred. Autobiography, no date. Typescript. BYU.

  15. [18]

    See Revelation 20:2.

  16. [19]

    See Matthew 16:19. The power to “seal up unto eternal life” was given to high priests in the church. At an October 1831 conference in Orange, Ohio, JS stated that “the order of the High priesthood is that they have power given them to seal up the Saints unto eternal life.” Those so sealed were, according to Sidney Rigdon, those who had “give[n] up all for Christ’s sake.” A November 1831 revelation explained that elders also held this sealing power, informing Orson Hyde, Luke Johnson, Lyman Johnson, and William E. McLellin that “of as many as the Father shall bear record to you it shall be given to seal them up unto Eternal life.” (Minutes, 25–26 Oct. 1831; Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–A [D&C 68:12].)

  17. [20]

    The Youngs’ teaching that the Book of Mormon was solely for the restoration of the Jews may have stemmed from their misreading of the book’s title page. The title page stated that the book was written in part to a group of people called the Lamanites—identified in the book as a “remnant of the house of Israel” and associated with the Jews—and that the book’s purpose was “that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off for ever.” Later, Alfred Young defended himself and his brother against the accusation that they had not taught from the Book of Mormon. He explained: “At the time we believed the book [of Mormon] according to our knowledge but at that early period we had but little knowledge of ourselves nor were we prepared to make use of it. The Bible, we like other sectarian Christians had studied and been traditionated in and we used what was in our hands and what was evidently, at that time, the most effective weapon for the defense of the truth; yet we had a testimony that the Book of Mormon was of God and ever bore that testimony when there was any occasion.” (Title Page of Book of Mormon, ca. Early June 1829; Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 120 [2 Nephi 33:8]; Revelation, ca. Summer 1829 [D&C 19:27]; Young, Autobiography, typescript, BYU.)

    Young, Alfred. Autobiography, no date. Typescript. BYU.

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