D&C 41-44 Quotes and Notes

Section 41

Doctrine and Covenants 41 is of special importance because it restored the office of bishop in the Church of Christ. Though it would not be until the Church had established itself in the Salt Lake Valley that bishops would function in wards as they do in our day, those holding the office of bishop played an important role in directing temporal affairs in this early period.

This is the first of many revelations that were received in Ohio, where more sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were given than in any other location. Kirtland was designated by the Lord as the first place of gathering for the Saints in this dispensation.

The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote: “The latter part of January, in company with Brothers Sidney Rigdon and Edward Partridge, I started with my wife for Kirtland, Ohio, where we arrived about the first of February, and were kindly received and welcomed into the house of Brother Newel K. Whitney. My wife and I lived in the family of Brother Whitney several weeks, and received every kindness and attention which could be expected, and especially from Sister Whitney.”^[1]McConkie and Ostler, p. 296. See also: History of the Church, 1:145-46.

Elizabeth Ann Whitney, wife of Newel K. Whitney, was born the day after Christmas 1800 in Connecticut.^[2]Of her youth she relates, “”I was born the day after Christmas in the first year of the present century, in the quiet, old-fashioned country town of Derby, New Haven County, Conn. My parents’ … Continue reading

  After she turned 19, Elizabeth relates that her aunt Sarah had a great influence on the direction of her life. Elizabeth relates:

“About this time a new epoch in my life created a turning point which unconsciously to us, who were the actors in the drama, caused all my future to be entirely separate and distinct from those with whom I had been reared and nurtured. My father’s sister, a spinster, who had money at her own disposal, and who was one of those strong-minded women of whom so much is said in this our day, concluded to emigrate to the great West,—at that time Ohio seemed a fabulous distance from civilization and enlightenment, and going to Ohio then was as great an undertaking as going to China or Japan is at the present day. She entreated my parents to allow me to accompany her, and promised to be as faithful and devoted to me as possible, until they should join us, and that they expected very shortly to do; their confidence in aunt Sarah’s ability and self-reliance was unbounded, and so, after much persuasion, they consented to part with me for a short interval of time; but circumstances, over which we mortals have no control, were so overruled that I never saw my beloved mother again. Our journey was a pleasant one; the beautiful scenery through which our route lay had charms indescribable for me, who had never been farther from home than New Haven, in which city I had passed a part of my time, and to me it was nearer a paradise than any other place on earth. The magnificent lakes, rivers, mountains, and romantic forests were all delineations of nature which delighted my imagination.

“We settled a few miles inland from the picturesque Lake Erie, and here in after years, were the saints of God gathered and the everlasting gospel proclaimed. My beloved aunt Sarah was a true friend and instructor to me, and had much influence in maturing my womanly character and developing my home education. She hated the priests of the day, and believed them all deceivers and hypocrites; her religion consisted in visiting the widow and the fatherless and keeping herself ‘unspotted from the world.’

“Shortly after entering my twenty-first year I became acquainted with a young man from Vermont, Newel K. Whitney, who, like myself, had left home and relatives and was determined to carve out a fortune for himself. He had been engaged in trading with the settlers and Indians at Green Bay, Mich., buying furs extensively for the eastern markets. In his travels to and from New York he passed along the charming Lake Erie, and from some unknown influence he concluded to settle and make a permanent home for himself in this region of country; and then subsequently we met and became acquainted; and being thoroughly convinced that we were suited to each other, we were married by the Presbyterian minister of that place, the Rev. J. Badger. We prospered in all our efforts to accumulate wealth, so much so, that among our friends it came to be remarked that nothing of Whitney’s ever got lost on the lake, and no product of his exportation was ever low in the market; always ready sales and fair prices. We had neither of us ever made any profession of religion, but contrary to my early education I was naturally religious, and I expressed to my husband a wish that we should unite ourselves to one of the churches, after examining into their principles and deciding for ourselves. Accordingly we united ourselves with the Campbellites, who were then making many converts, and whose principles seemed most in accordance with the scriptures. We continued in this church, which to us was the nearest pattern to our Saviour’s teachings, until Parley P. Pratt and another elder preached the everlasting gospel in Kirtland.”^[3]Tullidge, The Women of Mormondom, chapter 4.

After a three year courtship they were married in 1822. She was 22 and Newel was 25 when they were married. In Kirtland, Ann and her husband joined the Disciples of Christ, called the Campbellites at the time, led in the area by Sidney Rigdon. This group denied it had power to give the gift of the Holy Spirit.^[4]Edward Tullidge, The Women of Mormondom, p. 32.This, along with vague answers to Whitney’s questions, caused her and her husband to pray for direction. In response to that prayer, the couple claimed to have seen a vision and a voice stating, “Prepare to receive the word of the Lord, for it is coming!”^[5]Mother Whitney relates that a cloud overshadowed the house. She relates, “”One night—it was midnight—as my husband and I, in our house at Kirtland, were praying to the father to be … Continue reading

Elizabeth Whitney was faithful all her days and a staunch supporter of the Restoration. Throughout her life, she tirelessly served those around her. She was one of the original leaders of the Relief Society, alongside Emma Smith, Eliza R. Snow, and Sarah Cleveland. When the temple was completed in Nauvoo, she was the second woman in this dispensation to be endowed (right after Emma).^[6]Relief Society Women, by Jan Tolman, July 28, 2008. Tolmon relates, “In 1843, she was the second woman, after Emma, to receive the temple ordinances. Joseph Smith officiated in the rites, … Continue reading

In 1850, just two years after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Elizabeth Ann became a widow with nine children. She dealt with her grief through service in the Endowment House when Brigham Young called her to take charge of the “woman’s department” as matron. Only when her health failed late in life did she discontinue her ministrations there. When the first general presidency of the Relief Society in Utah was organized in 1880, Elizabeth, then eighty years old, was called to be Eliza R. Snow’s counselor.  She served until her death two years later.^[7]Jan Tolman, Relief Society Women, Elizabeth Ann Whitney. Accessed 3.24.21.

Elizabeth’s husband, Newel K. Whitney, as already addressed previously, was financially successful and operating a store and post office in the flats of Kirtland, Ohio. The store started as a log cabin in 1823, with the frame structure built in 1827. Newel K. Whitney and his partner Sidney Gilbert (who also would join the Church)^[8]The Joseph Smith Papers. Gilbert was baptized into the Church in the spring of 1831 and was ordained an elder on June 6, 1831. He was ordained a high priest on April 26, 1832, in Kirtland and … Continue reading maintained as large an inventory of goods as any store in the region.^[9]Whitney Store, Encyclopedia of Mormonism.

The Prophet Joseph Smith saw a vision in which Newel was pleading with the Lord that the Prophet would come to Kirtland. On or about 1 February 1831 he arrived at the Whitney store:

“Newel K. Whitney! Thou art the man!” he exclaimed, extending his hand cordially, as if to an old and familiar acquaintance.

“You have the advantage of me,” replied the one addressed, as he mechanically took the proffered hand-a half-amused, half mystified look overspreading his countenance-“I could not call you by name, as you have me.”

“I am Joseph Smith, the Prophet,” said the stranger, smiling. “You’ve prayed me here; now what do you want of me?”^[10]Orson F. Whitney, “Newel K. Whitney,” Contributor 6 (1885): 125.

Elizabeth wrote of this event, “I remarked to my husband that this was the fulfillment of the vision we had seen of a cloud, as of glory, resting upon our house.”^[11]Andrew Jenson, comp., Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4 vols. (1901-36; reprint, Salt Lake City: Western Epics, 1971), 1:224.

The Prophet and his wife Emma resided with the Whitneys for several weeks after they came to Ohio. Newel’s call to the bishopric would require that he open his home to many others (see D&C 72.1-8). One historical account relates: “Newel K. Whitney, staggering under the weight of the responsibility that was about to be placed upon him, said to the Prophet: “Brother Joseph, I can’t see a Bishop in myself.” The Prophet answered, “Go and ask the Lord about it.” Newel asked the Lord, and he heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Thy strength is in me.'”^[12]Susan Easton Black, Who’s Who in the Doctrine and Covenants, p. 340.

Newel and Elizabeth, as mentioned, were faithful to Joseph and the message of the Restoration. They took care of the poor and needy in many ways.^[13]Newel K. Whitney’s business interests essentially wiped out thousands of dollars of debt that the United Firm (a combination of Ohio and Missouri companies with mercantile interests) had acquired … Continue reading

When they joined the Church, they were wealthy.^[14]By his own estimation, Whitney had $7,761 in net worth when he left Kirtland, including the $2,500 still owed him. Although prices were still high in town, this was substantially less than Whitney … Continue reading They demonstrated their willingness to give their all to the cause of truth. Newel and Elizabeth Ann migrated to Utah and worked to support the Saints in their migration efforts. Newel K. Whitney served as the second Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1850.

Newel K. Whitney

Born in 1795, Newel K. Whitney, when he was 19, entered merchandising in the village of Plattsburgh, New York, on the western shore of Lake Champlain. In September 1814 he fought to save Plattsburgh from the British forces. Because the battle was decided on the water, the British army of 14,000 troops was forced to retreat as they were without naval support. Had the larger British army had the support on the water they needed, it is likely they would have defeated the much smaller American forces, consisting of 1,500 regulars and 2,500 militia commanded by Gen. Alexander Macomb. The American victory at Plattsburgh influenced the terms of the December peace Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812.^[15]Battle of Plattsburgh, History.com.

Even though this was a strategic victory for the United States, through the war Newel lost most of his personal possessions. He left Plattsburgh and moved to Green Bay on Lake Michigan, where he set up as an Indian trader, buying and selling furs for an eastern market. A skirmish with an enraged, drunken Indian caused Newel to abandon the Indian trade.

He settled in Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie, where he accepted employment with Sidney Gilbert as a clerk and bookkeeper. His business success was described by his wife, Elizabeth: “We prospered in all our efforts to accumulate wealth, so much so, that among our friends it came to be remarked that nothing of Whitney’s ever got lost on the lake, and no product of his exportation was ever low in the market; always ready sales and fair prices.”^[16]Susan Easton Black, Who’s Who in the Doctrine and Covenants, Bookcraft, 1997, p. 339.

After gathering with the Saints and being baptized, Newel was called as a bishop, a calling he would faithfully work with for the rest of his life, caring for the poor and needy. One example of this service was a three-day feast for the poor held in the Whitney home in January 1836. The Prophet Joseph recorded in his journal: “Attended a sumptuous feast at Bishop Newel K. Whitney’s. This feast was after the order of the Son of God—the lame, the halt, and the blind were invited, according to the instructions of the Savior. . . . We . . . received a bountiful refreshment, furnished by the liberality of the Bishop. The company was large, and before we partook we had some of the songs of Zion sung; and our hearts were made glad.”^[17]Joseph Smith, in History of the Church, 2:362.

When the Saints moved to Illinois in 1839, Newel was appointed as bishop of the Middle Ward. And when the Saints left Nauvoo and gathered in Winter Quarters, he was sustained as the Presiding Bishop of the Church in 1847.^[18]Whitney, Newel Kimball,” josephsmithpapers.org. Although his sons left Winter Quarters in 1847 with the first companies of pioneers, Bishop Whitney remained until the following year in Nebraska, “where his services were most needed.” In the Salt Lake Valley, he was called as bishop of the Salt Lake 18th Ward in 1849.^[19]Newel K. Whitney: A Man of Faith and Service. See also: ”Whitney, Newel Kimball,” josephsmithpapers.org.

Bishop Whitney died on September 23, 1850, at his home in Salt Lake City. The Deseret Weekly News summed up his life of faith and service as follows: “He has gone down to the grave, leaving a spotless name behind him, and thousands to mourn the loss of such a valuable man.”^[20]Deseret Weekly News, Sept. 28, 1850, quoted in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:227.

Edward Partridge

Dean Jessee introduces Edward Partridge into our history eloquently with these words:

Well-educated Edward Partridge was a successful hatter in Painesville, Ohio, with significant property holdings, and his community’s respect. He and his wife, Lydia, enjoyed their comfortable home, five children, and the teachings of Alexander Campbell, which gave them “much happiness.” Hence, when four strangers came to his door in the autumn of 1830 claiming that the true gospel had been restored, he dismissed them as imposters. But something—their message? the remark of one who said he was thankful there was a God in heaven who knew the hearts of all men?—motivated Edward to send an employee after a copy of their new scripture.

From that day his life would never be the same. Edward sacrificed all his property; his father’s family rejected him; his own family suffered extreme poverty and hardship; he personally became a victim of mob violence; and finally, his health broken, he died at the age of forty-six, less than a decade after he joined the Church. But like the merchant who sold all he had for the pearl of great price, Edward, the Church’s first bishop, never thought the price was too high.

What kind of a person was Edward Partridge? Early revelations refer to him as a man without guile “like Nathanael of old,” and commend him for the “integrity” of his heart (D&C 41:11; History of the Church, 2:302). Local townsmen trusted Edward’s inquiry at the New York scene of Mormon beginnings because of his reputation as “‘a man who would not lie.’”1 And Joseph Smith described him as “a pattern of piety, and one of the Lord’s great men known by his steadfastness and patient endurance to the end” (“History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1843, vol. 4, p. 320). That same steadfastness and patience were also characteristic of his wife and their children.^[21]Dean Jessee, “Steadfastness and Patient Endurance”: The Legacy of Edward Partridge, June 1979 Ensign.

Historian Dean Jessee writes that not much is known of Partridge’s early life, but when he was 27 he married Lydia Clisbee and together Edward and Lydia would have seven children: Eliza Maria, Harriet Pamelia, Emily Dow, Caroline Ely, Lydia, a male child that died in infancy, and Edward, Jr.^[22]Historian Dean Jessee relates that Edward was born in 1793 and married in 1819. Two of the daughters born to Edward and Lydia would be sealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Nauvoo. Eliza … Continue reading

By the time Edward was twenty he saw “no beauty, comeliness or loveliness in the character of the God … preached by the sects of his day.”^[23]Andrew Jenson, Biographical Encyclopedia, 1 (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson and Deseret News Company, 1901), p. 218. In 1828, however, he and his wife found personal satisfaction when Sidney Rigdon converted them to Campbellism. And then came four missionaries—Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba Petersen.

Edward goes east to Manchester to investigate

Although Lydia was soon baptized, Edward held back and went to Manchester, New York, to investigate the new religion. The Smith family had moved, but Edward viewed their farm and inquired among neighbors about their character. He located Joseph preaching at a meeting in his father’s house in Waterloo. When the Prophet invited comments from listeners, Edward arose and stated that he had been to Manchester, had observed the “good order and industry” exhibited at the Smith farm, noticed the sacrifices they had made for the sake of their faith, and having discovered that the Smith character was questioned upon no other point than that of their religion, he requested immediate baptism. The following day, December 11, Joseph baptized him in the Seneca River.^[24]Dean Jessee, The Legacy of Edward Partridge. See also: Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors for Many Generations (Liverpool: S. W. Richards, … Continue reading

After his baptism, Edward went to his father’s home in Massachusetts to share the good news of his faith and belief in the Restoration. His message was rejected. Edward’s sister, Emily, ordered him out of the house, expressing the hope that she would never see him again. His parents sent a younger brother to accompany him back to Ohio, thinking him “deranged” and not capable of taking care of himself.^[25]See: Dean Jessee, The Legacy. See also: Emily D. Partridge Young, “Incidents in the Life of a Mormon Girl,” MS 5220, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah,” p. … Continue reading

Once Edward returned home, the Lord called him to the office of Bishop unto the Church (D&C 41.9). Four months after this he was among those named to accompany Joseph Smith to Missouri, a place designated “the land of your inheritance” (D&C 52.24, 42).

Once in Missouri Edward explained to his wife that he was needed to remain there in Missouri. Because of this, Lydia and her children left Kirtland in 1831 and crossed the icy Missouri River along with the Isaac Morley family to build a new home. The Partridge family struggled with the violence in Missouri, several events stand out. One was when Edward was tarred and feathered by a mob on July 20, 1833. Edward related the experience:

“I was taken from my house by the mob, George Simpson being their leader, who escorted me about half a mile, to the court house, on the public square in Independence; and then and there, a few rods form said court house, surrounded by hundreds of the mob, I was stripped of my hat, coat and vest and daubed with tar from head to foot, and then had a quantity of feathers put upon me; and all this because I would not agree to leave the county, and my home where I had lived two years. “Before tarring and feathering me I was permitted to speak. I told them that the Saints had suffered persecution in all ages of the world; that I had done nothing which out to offend anyone; that if they abused me, they would abuse an innocent person that I was willing to suffer for the sake of Christ; but, to leave the country, I was not then willing to consent to it. By this time the multitude made so much noise that I could not be heard: some were cursing and swearing, saying, ‘call upon your Jesus,’ etc.; others were equally noisy in trying to still the rest, that they might be enabled to hear what I was saying. “Until after I had spoken, I knew not what they intended to do with me, whether to kill me, to whip me, or what else I knew not. I bore my abuse with so much resignation and meekness, that it appeared to astound the multitude, who permitted me to retire in silence, many looking very solemn, their sympathies having been touched as I thought; and as to myself, I was so filled with the Spirit and love of God, that I had no hatred towards my persecutors or anyone else.”^[26] 1833: Mobs move in on the Saints in Missouri. The mobs in Jackson county attacked the printing office, throwing the press out the window, scattering the type in the street, and tore down the … Continue reading

The events surrounding this mobbing of the printing press are connected to the often-told story of Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, a young woman of 15, and her 13 year-old sister Caroline, who, at the time, was able to rescue some of the text of the Book of Commandments (later known as the Doctrine and Covenants) from the mobs who had assembled at the printing office of the Church. From her autobiography we read the following account:

 “The mob renewed their efforts again by tearing down the printing office, a two story building, and driving Brother Phelps’ family out of the lower part of the house and putting their things in the street. They brought out some large sheets of paper, and said, ‘Here are the Mormon Commandments.’ My sister Caroline and myself were in a corner of a fence watching them; when they spoke of the commandments I was determined to have some of them. Sister said if I went to get any of them she would go too, but said ‘They will kill us.’ While their backs were turned, prying out the gable end of the house, we went, and got our arms full, and were turning away, when some of the mob saw us and called on us to stop, but we ran as fast as we could. Two of them started after us. Seeing a gap in a fence, we entered into a large cornfield, laid the papers on the ground, and hid them with our persons. The corn was from five to six feet high, and very thick; they hunted around considerable, and came very near us but did not find us. After we satisfied ourselves that they had given up the search for us, we tried to find our way out of the field, the corn was so high we could not see where to go. . . . Soon we came to an old log stable which looked as though it had not been used for years. Sister Phelps and children were carrying in brush and piling it up at one side of the barn to lay her beds on. She asked me what I had. I told her. She then took them from us, which made us feel very bad. They got them bound in small books and sent me one, which I prized very highly.”^[27]Autobiography of Mary E. Lightner, Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, vol. 17 (1926), 193­–96.

After they were evicted from their homes in Jackson county, Edward found a cabin that had been used as a stable. Here in this place he would move his family, along with the John Corrill family, 16 persons in all, for the space of 2 years while trying to establish a community in Clay county Missouri. Amidst these trials, Edward was called on a mission in January 1835 to the east, and so while he was away Lydia and Emily rendered lard in a nearby slaughter yard on the banks of the Missouri River.^[28]Dean Jessee. See also: “Incidents,” p. 81.

Over the course of his missionary experiences Edward would travel 2,000 miles, visit 25 branches of the Church, and see many difficult times. He eventually made it back to Kirtland, attended the School of the Prophets for time, studied Hebrew, and participated in the dedication of the Kirtland Temple. By the time he made it back home to Missouri, in less than 2 months, the people of Clay country urged the Saints to leave their lands.^[29]Stephen C. LeSueur, Missouri’s Failed Compromise: The Creation of Caldwell County for the Mormons, Journal of Mormon History, Fall 2005, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Fall 2005), pp. 113-144. Edward would resettle his family north in Far West, Caldwell county. The Saints would eventually have to leave the state in 1838-39. In late November of 1838 Edward, along with 52 others, would be accused of many crimes and be imprisoned at Richmond, Missouri. He relates his suffering:

“We were confined in a large open room where the cold northern blast penetrated freely; our fires were small, and our allowance for wood and for food scanty. They gave us not even a blanket to lie upon. … The vilest of the vile did guard us and treat us like dogs; yet we bore our oppressions without murmuring.” ^[30]“Family Record,” p. 53. As soon as he was released, instead of returning home, he was forced to flee the state “because of trouble with false brethren” ^[31]“Incidents,” p. 167. By arrangement with King Follett, the family left most of their belongings behind, and journeyed to Illinois, “badly crowded in the wagon.” ^[32]Eliza, “Autobiography and Diary,” p. 11.

Living in a tent

Lydia and Edward arrived in Illinois at separate times due to Edward’s incarceration. Dean Jessee relates the following:

When Lydia Partridge and the children arrived in Illinois, the banks of the Mississippi River were lined with curious people who, according to Emily, saw “a forlorn looking set of beings.”^[33]“Incidents,” p. 170. Lydia and the children lived in a rented room in Quincy until Edward found them.

After remaining a short time in Quincy, Edward moved his family to Pittsfield and finally on to Commerce (Nauvoo), where he “pitched a tent under a large elm tree,”^[34]“Incidents,” p. 173. After nearly a year, he moved his family to “the upper stone house” near the steamboat landing where several other families lived, including Hyrum Smith and Robert B. Thompson. While his family lived in the storehouse, Edward worked to construct a home in Nauvoo for his family on a lot a mile from the storehouse.^[35]Saints, volume 1, chapter 35, A Beautiful Place.

Tragedy strikes the Partridge family – May 1840

Even though he suffered from chills and fever, Edward struggled on as bishop of Nauvoo’s Upper Ward. “He did not feel as though he could spend time to be sick,” wrote Emily.^[36]“Incidents,” p. 174. In 1840 tragedy struck the family. Harriet Partridge, then just 19 years old, died of complications associated with malaria on May 16, 1840. Harriet and her siblings lived in a cramped, stifling room in the storehouse and in 1840 many of the Saints were struggling with a malaria epidemic.

Harriet’s death crushed the Partridges. After the funeral, Edward tried to move the family to an unfinished cow stable on their property, hoping it would provide better shelter. But the exertion wore him out and he collapsed. To help the family, fellow Saints William and Jane Law took Emily (then 16) and her siblings into their home and nursed them back to health.

Edward languished in bed several days before passing away, just a week and a half after Harriet’s death. The losses left Emily grief-stricken. She had been close to Harriet, and she knew her father had sacrificed everything to provide for his family and the church—even when grumbling Saints, faithless dissenters, and hostile neighbors wore his soul weary.

In time, Emily emerged from the fog of sickness and grief, but her life was different now. To help provide for their destitute family, she and her nineteen-year-old sister, Eliza, had to find work. Eliza had the skills to hire out as a seamstress, but Emily had no trade. She could wash dishes, sweep and scrub floors, and do other household chores, of course, but so could most everyone else in the community.^[37]Saints, chapter 35. See also: “Autobiography of Emily D. P. Young,” Woman’s Exponent, Aug. 1, 1885, 14:37.

Fortunately, the Saints did not forget how much her father had sacrificed for the church. “No man had the confidence of the church more than he,” read the obituary for Bishop Partridge in the Times and Seasons, the Saints’ new newspaper. “His religion was his all; for this he spent his life, and for this he laid it down.”^[38]Obituary for Edward Partridge, Times and Seasons, June 1, 1840, 1:127–28.

Life Continues

To honor his memory and care for his family, the Saints finished the house the bishop had begun, giving his family a place they could call their own.^[39]“Autobiography of Emily D. P. Young,” Woman’s Exponent, July 15, 1885, 14:26; Lyman, Journal, 13. William Law cared for the Partridge family until their home was finished. In August 1840, Lydia remarried to William Huntington, a widower whose wife had died the previous year. Emma Smith hired 20 year-old Eliza and 16 year-old Emily during this time as well. It was during this time in 1840 when the sisters were sealed to Joseph Smith in Nauvoo.^[40]Dean Jessee writes, “Emily and Eliza continued to live in the Smith home, where, in the summer of 1842, both girls “were married to Bro. Joseph about the same time, but neither of us knew about … Continue reading

After the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, Emily would be sealed to Brigham Young. Her plural marriage to him would be a difficult challenge to say the least.^[41]Dean Jessee relates: While living in Nauvoo, Emily, now married to Brigham Young, gave birth to one of the first children of a plural marriage in October 1845. At first she kept the child in hiding. … Continue reading)

To escape mob violence, Lydia and William hey left Nauvoo with the first companies in February 1846, crossing the river on the ice with their teams and wagons. They took Edward, Jr., and two of the daughters, Emily and young Lydia, to Mount Pisgah, where William was called to preside over the settlement. Then he suddenly became ill and died on August 19, 1846, leaving his new family more or less on their own through the winter of 1846–47.

Life after Edward and William

Lydia continued to press forward after the death of her second husband. In the spring of 1847, Lydia and family were moved to Winter Quarters on the Mississippi River by teams sent by President Brigham Young, and arrived in Salt Lake Valley with the Saints in 1848.  She lived in Salt Lake City for some time with her daughter Emily Dow (who was married to Brigham Young), but later moved to Oak City and Fillmore with her other children.  Eliza Maria, Caroline and Lydia were married to Amasa Mason Lyman. 

Although their property was sacrificed in becoming identified with the Saints and her husband had labored for the people and worn himself out in the cause of establishing Zion, Lydia was hesitant to ask others for help, working to support herself and her family.  

One biographer wrote:

She was exemplary in her daily life, and never was known to be anything other than a true and faithful Latter-Day Saint, and it was known she never had a personal enemy.  In disposition she was quiet and unassuming, and her good works were performed without boasting, but from an innate love of the right, and the natural kindness of her heart. 

She lived until she was nearly eighty-five years of age and up to within a few days of her death was busy constantly making quilt blocks, sewing carpet rags, braiding straw and making hats.  She was especially skilled in making buckskin gloves and when they were taking up donations for the Manti Temple, she donated seven pairs of home-made gloves, equivalent to about fourteen dollars.^[42]Lydia Clisbee Partridge, Taken from the Edward Partridge Family Association News Bulletin in August, 1955.

D&C 42 The Law

42.12 The elders, priests and teachers shall teach the law

42.13 They shall live the law

42.14 How they are to teach: by the Spirit

42.18 The shift: the Lord addresses the Church

Ten Commandments for this Dispensation

In this section of the podcast, Bryce lays out essentially what he calls “The Ten Commandments” for the Church today. The first three: do not kill (18), do not steal (20), nor lie (21) are worded similarly to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. The commandment in 42.22 for spouses to love each other is a more positively worded verse than the edict in Exodus 20 to “not commit adultery.” The fifth command to not speak evil of others (27) is followed by the command to serve God (29), to consecrate monies to support the poor (30), cease pride (40), work (42), and finally, to live together in love (45).

Bryce spoke about the three steps regarding living Consecration

1. Lay it before the Lord (31)
2. Individuals are stewards over their own property (32), in other words, they receive back a stewardship, an amount of goods with which to utilize means of support.
3. If the individual creates an increase, thus creating more gain by diligence, this “more” is a “residue” (33) that can be consecrated to the Lord (see also D&C 42.55).

Elder M. Russell Ballard said: Church members today have been blessed greatly to have some of our financial burdens lifted. Faithful payment of tithes that are administered carefully now provides funds for constructing our buildings, paying for utilities, and meeting many other obligations that formerly necessitated additional contributions. We must realize that decreasing these needs for financial contributions gives birth to enlarged opportunities for us to live a higher law. By this I mean that on our own initiative we can find ways to extend ourselves in helping others and contributing to the building of the Lord’s kingdom. The Lord has instructed us that we “should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of [our] own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in [us], wherein [we] are agents unto [ourselves].”^[43]M. Russell Ballard, “The Blessings of Sacrifice,” Ensign, May 1992, 77.

Death addressed in D&C 42

This section dealt with death in verses 46-48. We mentioned in the podcast a talk by Spencer W. Kimball called Tragedy or Destiny? You can listen to the audio of this talk given by Elder Kimball at BYU on December 6, 1955 here.

42.70-73 Property… which is consecrated to the bishop, for the good of the poor… and the bishop… shall receive for his support, or a just remuneration for all his services in the church

Reference to the bishop and his counselors in this passage refers to the presiding bishopric. This is the first mention of counselors to assist the bishop. On 4 February 1831 Edward Partridge was called to the office of bishop, being the first so called in this dispensation. On 6 June 1831 Isaac Morley and John Corrill were set apart as counselors to Bishop Partridge.

Justification for full-time employees of the Church being remunerated for their labor is found in this verse. Earlier, the Lord revealed that the Prophet Joseph Smith should be supported in his temporal needs by the Church. See also D&C 43.13 and D&C 24.3. Joseph McConkie and Craig Ostler have commented:

The Master could have chosen another way to provide for his servant. He might have rained manna from heaven, sent quail to his doorstep, or commanded Joseph to let his nets down to capture a school of fish, as occurred on other occasions. In this instance he chose to do as had been done before with the prophet Elijah. During a famine the Lord sent Elijah to a widow woman in Zarephath. She and her son prepared for Elijah their last handful of meal and a little cruse of oil with which to make a cake. Elijah stayed with these two faithful souls for the duration of the famine, in which the Lord provided that neither the meal nor the oil ran out (1 Kings 17:8-23). Similarly, the Saints were to provide Joseph with life’s temporal necessities so that he might continue to do the work of the kingdom. The work of the Restoration required all of the Prophet’s attention at this time. Without the assistance of the Saints, he would have been unable to do the work of restoring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth. That work will bless the lives of all who embrace the gospel in this dispensation and will, in turn, aid them in blessing the lives of their progenitors who lived before the gospel was restored.^[44]Revelations of the Restoration.

42.75 If ye find that they left their companions for the sake of adultery… they shall be cast out from among you

Nearly ten years after this law was revealed, the importance of these instructions evidenced itself in the case of John C. Bennett. Mr. Bennett came to Nauvoo, Illinois, and was extended a cordial welcome by the Prophet Joseph Smith. In the course of time it was learned that he had left a wife and three children in the East and was a man of gross sexual immorality. Following the revelation of his true character, John C. Bennett was excommunicated from the Church.^[45]McConkie and Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration.

D&C 43 Advocates for the Age

Soon after the foregoing revelation was received, a woman came making great pretensions of revealing commandments, laws and other curious matters; and as almost every person has advocates for both theory and practice, in the various notions and projects of the age, it became necessary to inquire of the Lord, when I received the following: [Section 43] (Joseph Smith, HC 1:154).

Understanding that there will always be advocates for every age, the Lord has given us the key whereby we can know and understand what is important, how to discern truth, and where to place our energies. It is important for us to distinguish between the cause and the call of God and the advocates of our age. One of the purposes of our attending church is to bind ourselves to act before the Lord in holiness (D&C 43.8-9).

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