Joseph Smith presided at a Conference held at
Quincy Ill on the where it was resolved
that 15 of the Seventies Names given also 5 High priest accompany
the Twelve to Europe only two out of the Twenty fulfilled
the mission. May 9th Joseph Smith left Quincy with his family
for Commerce Ill. on the and arrived on the 10th &
sleped with his family in a log home nearly all of the Church
who were driven from Missouri soon followed the
prophet to Commerce, Ill. On the 9 Joseph
Smith commenced dictating his History to his Clerks, who
wrote for him. On the I left Quincy Ill. and
started with my family for Commerce Ill I ownly drove
to the Committee House & spent the night. Brother Brigham
Young & myself started with our families & drove 15 miles
& camped for the night, and on the night of the , we
camped on the bottom of an open prairie. We arrrived in
Commerce on the , and called upon Brother Joseph
Smith & his family. I also say many other old friends
who had been driven from place to place yet
th[e]y felt well, & were not discouraged but felt to
trust in God. The Saints felt determined to ^try to^ build
up a City wherever they went, Commerce was beautiful
for situations yet there was but two or three buildings
in the town. After spending a short time visiting old
acquaintances I crossed the Mississippi River in a
ferry boat and landed in Montrose Iowa. This
was the first time I ever was in the Terr[i]tory.
Montrose was built for a garrison in 1834 by the
United States Army. It contained about 12 blocks of
buildings making about 75 rooms in all. After spending
the night in Doctor Gallands office, I moved my family
and effects into a room on the west side of the public
square. This room I occupied untill I started upon
my mission for England and my family occupied it
after my departure
On the , Joseph the prophet having been
sick for several days, & his home & door yard containg many
of the sick saints who had been driven from Missouri. Joseph
rose from his bed with the power of God resting upon him
and he took the sick by the hand & in a loud voice
commanded them in the Name of Jesus Christ to
arise & be made whole & he healed all that were
in his house & around about he then took some
of the Twelve with him & walked up the River bank
about a mile & healing all that were sick as he went
along & they were many among the number was Elder
Sherwood who lay at the point of death. He crossed
the River to Montrose went into the home where Brigham
Young lay sick & healed him, who walked out of the
home & followed him. The prophet came to where I was
standing & told me to follow him I did so we
then went into the home of Elijah Fordham who
was at the point of death, his friends had looked
for him to breath his last for several hours, he
had lost his speech & nearly his breath. we walked
into the room Brother The Joseph took brother
Fordham by the hand & looking the dying man in
the eyes for several moments. He then said Brother Fordham
in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I comand
you to arise & be made whole. The voice of the prophet
was like the voice of God it seemed as though the whole
home shook from its very foundation. And the man
leaped from his bed & was made whole instaneously
He kicked his poltices off from his feet, dressed himself
eat a boll of bread & milk & followed us out of the house
I went into the House of Bates Nobles who was also
very sick the prophet healed him & we knelt down & prayed
& gave thanks to God. The wicked became alarmed at the seeing
the power of God and followed to see what the end would
be. After the prophet had healed, all the sick saints in
Montrose he with several of the Twelve & S. Rigdon went
to the ferry to return to Nauvoo, a Gentile
came to him & asked him if he would not
go out into the country some two miles & heal
a pair of Twinn Children about 3 months old both
of which were vary sick. He said I cannot go but
I will send a man, who will do just as well. He
Turned The prophet turned to me & said you go
with this man & teach him & his houshold the principles
of faith in Christ then lay your hands upon
the Children & heal them in the name of the Lord
At the same time handing me a silk bandanna
red hankerchief & said wipe their face with that
Handkerchief & they shall get well ^and as long as you will keep^ then the prophet returned
^this Handkerchiaf it shall ever remain as a league between you & me^ home & I went & done as I was comma[nded] & the
Children were healed. The deeds of this day showed me more
of the power of God in healing of the sick than I ever
before saw in the Church & kingdom of God in any day
of my life. I still keep the Handkerchief in memory of
the prophet Joseph
[rest of page blank]
London , Sunday G. A. Smith & myself met at
Father Cornors & held three meetings through the day and evening
we red in the Book of Mormon, broke bread to the
Saints. I felt the Spirit of God bare testimony to
me that there would be a great work in London
We retired to rest in good season. I felt well in
my mind and slept untill about 12 oclok at night
I awoke and meditated upon the things of God untill
about 3 oclok in the morning and while forming a determina-
tion to warn the Inhabitants of London, & overcome
the powers of darkness which were besetting us day by
day and trying to overcome us. As I was forming
this determination in my own mind a personage appeared
unto me which I considered was the prince of darkess
darkness or the Devil, he made war with me and attempted
to take my life he laid hold of me like a strong
armed man, I felt like the wait of a heavy man
lying upon my body and he caught me by the throat
with a strong grip and choaked me nearly to death
I struggled with him as one man would struggled
with another I, felt as though this destroyer would overcom
me & that I must die as I saw no way that I could
escape his grasp, at that instant the thought came to me
why do you not pray, & call upon the Lord for help, I then
asked the Lord in the name of Jesus Christ to deliver
me from the power of the Devil & preserve my life
instantly three personages came throught the door dressed
in white with considerable light surrounding them they
came up to the bed side while I was lying in the grasp
of the Enemy & they laid their hands upon my head & in
the twinkling of an eye I was liberated & the spirit of God
vibrated my whole body from the crown of my head to the souls
of my feet and I was instantly covered all over in a high
state of persperation water stood upon ^me^ in drops. As soon
as I could speak I spoke to Brother G. A. Smith &
I found that he had been labering under the same
difficulty the same power of the Destroyer had been
seeking his life as well as my own, and he was
delivered in the same way. the three personages that
appeared unto me one was a tall man I shoude think
over sisx feet the other m[i]dd[l]e one was another man was
medium size & the 3rd was a short man they we[r]e all clothed
alike Neither of them spoke a word to my hearing but
as soon as they laid hands upon my head & I was
delivered they disappeared, I felt thankful to God for
the presirvation of my life. (Brother Tullage record this
in one of the blank pages & refer to the page)
. In company with the Twelve and many
other Saints I attended a discussion in the evening held
at the Carpenters Hall, Garrett Road, Manchester. One Mr
Barrett had tried hard for a length of time to get
some of the Twelve to hold a discussion with him, though
his continued teazing [president] Brigham Young told him
the Twelve would not stoop to discuss any subject with
him but if he must discuss the subject of Mormonism
he would appo[in]t some body to meet him, as Mr Barrytt
would not take no for an answer Brother Alfred Cordon
was appo[in]ted to meet him Brother Cordon as it were was
a beardless boy yet he had been ordained an Elder &
received much of the Spirit of the Lord and they met
for this purpose at early candle light, the Stand was
occupied on one side by my Methodist Priest, & on the
other side by the Twelve Apostles & Elders. The Home was lyted
by 3 chandeliers with 12 lights in each lighthed with
gass there were some 1500 people present. Mr Barrett pledged him-
self to prove th Book of Mormon false & water baptism
^not^ essential to Salvation while Brother Cordon pleged
himself to prove the Book of Mormon true & water
baptism essential to Salvation. As Mr Barrytt arose
& declyaired to the Assembly that he would prove the Book of
Mormon false & water baptism not essential to
Salvation 4 glass chimneys in each of the chanderliers burst
to peaces & the glass flew among the Congregation
And the man who had tended the gass in the Hall said
for twenty years said he had never known
any [wei[r]der] of the kind. the chimneys were replaced
& the discussions went on I set by the side of Doctor
W Richards, and at the commencement of the meeting
a very interesting old gentleman appeared in the congrega
-tion he sat at the end of a seat joing the ally near
the platform, He made me think of what he s is said of
the Ancient of Days his hair was white as wool & rested
in a large white roll upon his shoulders, he was a noble
looking man he eyed us with great interest &
penetration, he occupied his seat to our view then
some half an hour I called the attention of Doctor
Richards to him we both looked at him with feelings
of both interest, some little disturbance in another part
of the Home attracted our attention & when we
returned our eyes to the seat of our interesting visitor
we found his seat vacant, & he had disappeared
there for the first time we felt that we had been
visited by John the Revelator or one of the three
Ancient Nephite, however the discussion went on
Mr Barrytt was confounded, & Elder Cordon greived
the victory, & quite a number of the methodist who
attended that discussion, was baptized & joined the Latter
Day Saints
Autobiography of Wilford Woodruff
The remaining months of
the year 1841 was spent by the
Twelve, after their return from
this successful mission in G
to Great Britain, in settling
their families in Nauvoo and
taking charge of the affairs of
the affairs Church. Several
noteworthy events took place at this
time among which were the
dedication of the baptismal font
in the Temple by the Prophet and
the Twelve and the first adminis-
trations of the ordinance of
baptism for the dead, both of
which occurred on Sunday . A large congregation
assembled and Elders Brigham
Young, Heber C. Kimball and
John Taylor baptized about forty
and persons and Elders Willard
Richards, George A Smith and
Wilford Woodruff confirmed them.
During the following week
a company of about 200 Saints
arrived from England, and I was
now again in the midst of
hundreds whom I had baptized
in America, the "Islands of the Sea"
and England and Wales.
Just before the April Conference
the Prophet administered the
ordinance of rebaptism to the
Church, baptizing many himself,
among whom were the Twelve,
who afterwards assisted him
in baptizing and confirming
the multitude. This was the
first time I was rebaptized. At
since my [ent] the Prophet
Joseph administered
the close of the administration
the Prophet lifted up his hands
to heaven and blessed the
people and the Spirit of
God rested upon the congregation
At the April Conference
there were 275 ordained to
the office ^under the hands^ of Elders, Brigham
Young, Heber C Kimball,
Orson Pratt, Lyman Wight,
Willard Richards, George A
Smith and Wilford Woodruff.
offi While these ordinations were
going on Elder John Taylor was
in the stand delivering a
discourse to the multitude,
while others of the Elders were
baptizing and confirming
at the font and elsewhere.
On the I started
for St Louis to purchase a stock
of paper for the "Times & Seasons"
and arrived at St Louis on
the after a very
uncomfortable voyage during
which I took a very severe
cold which settled into bilious
fever.
See book marks 3