[Apostle Wilford Woodruff Journal] 6th I mooved my family & all my effect back to my old place Cornor of Hotchkiss & Durfee street. Had 6 loads in all. It was quite a Cold day. In the evening In company with Mrs Woodruff I attended a party at Elder Taylors house. It was Composed of President Joseph & Hiram Smith & the quorum of the Twelve. We spent an interesting evening. Had a good feast & good feelings. Conversed upon a variety of subjects & went home. (1)
[Brigham Young] --6-- Partook of supper at Brother John Taylor's with Joseph, Hyrum, Sidney and the Twelve and their wives. The Twelve discussed the propriety of establishing a moot congress for the purpose of investigating and informing ourselves on the rules of national intercourse, domestic policy and political economy. Joseph advised us not to do it, lest we might excite the jealousy of our enemies. (2)
At a dinner party at John Taylor's house Joseph Smith "prophesied at the table that 5 years would not roll round before the company would all be able to live without cooking." The official HISTORY OF THE CHURCH deletes this entry from Joseph Smith's manuscript diary. Patriarch John Smith gives a blessing to Mehitabel Duty that "the Priesthood in its fullness shall be conferred upon thee in due time thou shalt have power over they relatives & friends & thy husband & children to lead them wethersoever thou wilt in as much as you seek faithfully & truly to preserve them in the bonds of the new & everlasting covenant." (3)
[Joseph Smith Diary] Tuesday, February 6th [several lines left blank] Evening with Hyrum and Sidney and the 12 [Apostles] and the wives at John Taylor's at 5 P.M. at supper. Very pleasant time. I prophesied at the table that 5 years would not roll round before the company would all be able to live without cooking. (4)
-- Feb 6, 1844 (Tuesday)
The ship Isaac Allerton sailed from Liverpool with 60 Saints, bound for Nauvoo. (5)
-- Feb 07, 1844
Having been aided by W. W. Phelps, Joseph Smith finishes a manuscript outlining his political ideas. It was later published under the title "Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States." (6)
-- Feb 7, 1844
[Apostle Wilford Woodruff Journal] 7th It was an exeeding cold day. I spent my time trying to regulate my affairs. I met in the evening with the Twelve at the Store to make some arangments about political affairs but nothing was done. (1)
Presidential candidate Lieutenant-General Joseph Smith's "Views on the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States" is given its first public reading. He peppers his presentation with phrases from Latin, French, Italian, Hebrew, "Chaldean", and German. The NAUVOO NEIGHBOR asks "Who shall be our next President?" and answers: "General Joseph Smith. A man of sterling worth and integrity, and of enlarged views; a man who has raised himself from the humblest walks of life-" Joseph Smith writes in his diary: "A piece of doggerel appears in the Warsaw Message of this date, entitled 'Buckeye's Lamentations for the Want of More Wives,' evidently the production of Wilson Law, and breathing a very foul and malicious spirit." (3)
Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith met with his brother Hyrum Smith and the Twelve Apostles to devise means to promote the interests of the General Government. (7)
Joseph meets with the Twelve and completes and signs his "views of the powers and policy of the government of the United States." In this platform policy he reviews American leaders from Benjamin Franklin to John Tyler. He then makes eight propositions:1. Reduce Congress by two-thirds. Pay them $2 a day: "That is more than the farmer gets, and he lives honestly. "2. Turn penitentiaries into "seminaries of learning" and pardon all convicts except murderers.3. Abolish slavery by 1850 by paying slave holders a fair price with money from the sale of public lands.4. Abolish court-martials for desertion from the armed forces.5. Work for more government economy and fewer taxes.6. Establish a national bank.7. Give the president power to suppress mobs.8. "When we have the Red Man's consent," let the Union spread from coast to coast, inviting Oregon, Texas, Mexico, and Canada to join the Union if they so desire. (History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (7 volumes) 6:
197-209.)(Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (various issues), Au '68, 17-27 compares Joseph's platform with other platforms of the day, calling it "an intriguing blend of ante bellum political rhetoric, Whig economic doctrines, Democratic expansionism, abolitionism, and the original and wide-range constitutional and political ideas of Joseph Smith himself." See also DLG, Sp '70, 23-36; David E. and Della S. Miller, Nauvoo: The City of Joseph 137-39; James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard, The Story of the Latter-day Saints 187-90.) (8)
Footnotes:
1 - Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies
2 - Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1801-1844, ed. Elden Jay Watson (Salt Lake City: Smith Secretarial Service, 1968).
3 - Advent Adam website (defunct) - based on http://amzn.to/originsofpower
4 - Faulring, Scott (ed.), An American Prophet's Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith: Joseph Smith Diary, 1843-44, http://amzn.to/jsdiaries
5 - Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology
6 - The Woodland Institute 'On This Day Historical Database,' http://www.woodlandinstitute.com
7 - BYU Studies Journal, volume 46, no. 4: A Chronology of the Life of Joseph Smith, http://amzn.to/BYUStudies-JSChron
8 - Conklin, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology
LDS History Timeline
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