General Conference of the Church, Minutes, , Hancock Co., IL, 7–11 Apr. 1841. Featured version published in “Minutes of the General Conference of the Church,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, vol. 2, no. 12, 386–388. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.
Historical Introduction
From Wednesday, 7 April, through Sunday, 11 April 1841, JS presided over a general of the in , Illinois. The conference convened the day after a celebration commemorating the eleventh anniversary of the founding of the church. This 6 April celebration, which featured the laying of the cornerstones of the Nauvoo and a parade of the , was attended by thousands of men and women. While some members of the church considered the cornerstone ceremony to be part of the conference itself, the business portion of the conference began at ten o’clock in the morning on Wednesday, 7 April 1841, as the minutes featured here attest.
Due to inclement weather Friday through Sunday, most of the conference took place Wednesday and Thursday. During the conference, was added as an assistant president in the to relieve the ailing , and was unanimously selected, or sustained, to replace the deceased in the . In addition, sermons on the recently revealed doctrine of for the dead were delivered at the conference, along with instructions related to building the temple.
, the clerk for the conference, presumably took rough minutes during the meeting and later prepared them for publication. No original minutes are extant, but a polished version of the minutes was published in the 15 April 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons.
See Benediction, 6 Apr. 1841. A newspaper from nearby Warsaw, Illinois, reported that the anniversary celebration was attended by “about 7000 or 8000, some say as high as 12,000.” The church’s newspaper reported that there were “probably not less than ten thousand persons present.” (“The Mormons,” Western World [Warsaw, IL], 7 Apr. 1841, [3]; “Celebration of the Aniversary of the Church,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, 2:376.)
Western World. Warsaw, IL. 1840–1841.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
, and called upon the saints to be faithful and obedient in all things, and likewise forcibly and eloquently urged the necessity of being united in all their movements, and before he sat down, he wished to know how many of the Saints who were present felt disposed to continue to act in concert, and follow the instructions of the , and called upon those who did so, to arise on their feet; when immediately the saints, almost without exception arose.
The choir sung a hymn, and the meeting after prayer, adjourned until to morrow morning.
Thursday morning April 8th: at an early hour this morning the different , who had previously been organized, came to the ground and took their seats as follows: the Frst Presidency, with the of the quorums on the stand; the , on the front of the stand; the on the front to the right of the stand; the immediately behind the high priesthood; the in the front, to the left; the on the extreme right.
On motion; Resolved: that this session of Congress continue until Sunday evening.
Pres’t. J. Smith declared the rule of voting, to be a majority in each quorum, exhorted them to deliberation, faith and prayer, and that they should be strict, and impartial in their examinations. He then told them that the presidents of the different quorums would be presented before them for their acceptance or rejection.
then presented the First Presidency to the Lesser Priesthood, who were unanimously accepted.
Pres’t. presented them to the elders’ quorum—unanimously accepted.
Pres’t. presented them to the seventies—unanimously accepted.—
Pres’t. presented them to the High Priesthood.
Councellor presented them to the High council—unanimously accepted.
The then presented them to the Presidents of all the quorums, on the stand—unanimously accepted.
Gen. was presented with the First Presidency as assistant president, until ’s health should be restored. The presidents and counselors belonging to the several quorums, were then presented to each quorum seperately for approval or rejection, when the following persons were objected to, viz. , president of the Elders quorum; , Bishop; Elder , one of the twelve; and of the High Priesthood.— , Bishop; moved their cases be laid over until the intermission, to be tried before the several quorums.
Pres’t. Joseph Smith presented the of the “,” to the several quorums collectively, who were unanimously received.
Pres’t. Smith observed, that it was necessary that some one should be appointed to fill the , in the room of the late Elder , whereupon, nominated Elder to that office, which was unanimously accepted. stated, that it was an office of great honor and responsibility, and he felt inadequate to the task, but inasmuch as it was the wish of the authorites of the church, that he should take that office, he would endeavor to magnify it.
On motion; Resolved: that be appointed to the office of High Counsellor, in the place of , who had been chosen as a councillor to the presidency of this .— On motion; Resolved: that be appointed to be one of the High Council in the room of [,] deceased.
The choir sung a hymn, and afte[r] prayer by , the meetin[g] ad[j]ourned for two hours.
Conference met pursuant to adjournment. A hymn was sung by th[e] choir. delivered a di[s]course to the conference on the subje[ct] of “ for the dead” which w[as] set forth in a manner new and intere[s]ting, and with an eloquence peculiar [to] the speaker, which was listened to w[ith] intense interest by the assembly.
made some very ap[pro]priate observations in continuation [of] the subject. [p. 387]
In his account of the first day of the conference, William Clayton explained: “On the 7th I was organized with the High Priestquorum and set with them during the conference. I was much pleased with the order of the meeting. When any case was to appear before the church it was first put by the Bishop to the quorum of the Lesser Priesthood. Then by the president of the Elders to that quorum—then the 70 then High Priests—then High Council and lastly to the presidency. If any objection arose it had to be tried by that quorum who objected but a majority of the quorums decided the matter.” (Clayton, Diary, 7 Apr. 1841.)
That is, the general conference. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines congress as “a meeting of individuals . . . to concert measures for their common good, or to adjust their mutual concerns.” (“Congress,” in American Dictionary.)
An American Dictionary of the English Language; Exhibiting the Origin, Orthography, Pronunciation, and Definitions of Words. Edited by Noah Webster. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1845.
Rigdon had been frequently ill during the previous year. In an August 1840 letter, JS wrote that “Elder Rigdon is very sick, and has been for nearly twelve months with the fever and Ague which disease is very prevalent here at this time.” In Robert B. Thompson’s report of the 6 April 1841 cornerstone ceremony, he noted that Rigdon had long been afflicted and had a “weakness of body.” John C. Bennett gave significant political assistance to the Latter-day Saints; he was particularly instrumental in securing the charters for Nauvoo. Bennett had also been elected as the first mayor of Nauvoo just two months earlier. (Letter to John C. Bennett, 8 Aug. 1840; Robert B. Thompson, “Laying the Corner Stone of the Temple,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, 2:381; Historical Introduction to Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; Historical Introduction to Minutes, 3 Feb. 1841.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
In April and May 1840, John Hicks was tried before the Nauvoohigh council on a complaint by John P. Greene that Hicks had been “slanderously accusing him of lying” and “wrongfully assailing his character.” The high council directed Hicks to publish an article admitting that he had “wrongfully accused him [Greene] of lying” and saying he was “sorry for what he has done.” At this April 1841 conference meeting, “objections were made to him [Hicks] relative to a trial which had been between him and Elder John P Greene. . . . Some were dissatisfied with him thinking that he had not abided the decision of that Council. But however after the matter had been explained and the subject discussed at some length he was approved by a majority.” (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 19 Apr. 1840; 2 May 1840; 7 Apr. 1841.)
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.
During a conference intermission, the Nauvoohigh council met “to approve or disapprove of certain men who had been objected” to by the conference. According to the high council minutes, objection had been made to Alanson Ripley, a bishop, “for his drinking and immoral habits which necessaryly follows and his abusing his brethren while under the influence of Liquor.” Ripley’s “situation and character was discussed at considerable length,” upon which “he was approved by a majority.” Despite this decision by the high council, Ripley was rejected by other quorums later during the conference. An objection had been made to John E. Page, an apostle, for “having written certain abusive letters, criminating certain individuals, wrongfully.” Page’s case was “spoken on, at considerable length,” whereupon “he was unanimously, approved.” An objection had been made against Noah Packard, a counselor in the presidency of the high priests quorum, “for his rash and ignorant expressions.” This, however, was “soon reconciled,” and he “was approved.” Objection was also made to Newel K. Whitney, one of the bishops in Nauvoo, for unspecified reasons. After brief consideration Whitney was “unanimously, approved.” (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 7 Apr. 1841.)
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.
In his account of the conference, William McIntire noted that Rigdon “quoted Peter ‘By the sprit he went & preached to the spirits &c also for this cause was the Gospel preached to them that are Dead! for what cause? why that they might [be] Judged Just Like a man in the flesh; but Live acording to God in the Spirit & Jesus said Except a man be Born of the watter & of the Spirit he Cannot Enter in to the Kingdom of God Now if heaven & Earth should pass away My word shall not fail But all be fullfilled &c.” William Clayton wrote in his journal that Rigdon showed “the propriety and absolute necessity of such an ordinance.” (McIntire, Notebook, [19]–[20]; Clayton, Diary, 8 Apr. 1841.)
McIntire, William Patterson. Notebook, 1840–1845. CHL. MS 1014.