Mormon Publications: 19th Century - Circular of the Twelve, and Trustees in Trust

Times and Seasons—Extra. Nauvoo, January 22, 1845. Circular of the Twelve, and trustees in trust. An epistle of the Twelve, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in all the world. Greeting: [Nauvoo, 1845]
Broadside 40 x 31 cm.

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This epistle, dated in the broadside January 14, 1845, was actually composed by Brigham Young, John Taylor, Willard Richards, and Amasa Lyman at Taylor’s house the evening of January 11. It describes the progress on the Nauvoo Temple and urges those able–bodied men “who have it in their hearts to stretch forth this work with power” to come to Nauvoo for the summer and work on the building. It asks the branches to send whatever raw materials, livestock, manufactured goods, and money they can to help finance the project. By December, it reports, the temple should be sufficiently complete for the Saints to being using it.

Finishing the temple was an overriding concern of the Twelve. At the time they issued this epistle, they were also contemplating the possibility of moving from Nauvoo, and the revelation to Joseph Smith of January 19, 1841 (Doctrine and Covenants 124) mandated that they finish the temple enough so the Saints could participate in its ordinances before they evacuated the city. On March 15, 1845, for example, the Twelve decided to put all available help to work on the temple, which, within two days, increased the number of laborers by 105.

Excerpted and edited from Peter Crawley, A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. Volume One, 1830-1847. (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, Religious Studies Center, [1997]). Item 254, p. 293.

Used by permission of the author and the Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University