On January 22, 1886, John M. Whitaker queried Anson Call concerning if the Prophet Joseph Smith ever prophesied the date of the Second Coming:
Did you ever hear the prophet say what time the Savior
would come to the people, <and> scenes incident to that time? (John M.
Whitaker,
letter to Anson Call, January 22, 1886, CR 100 394, Church History Library)
In response, Anson Call
wrote:
In answer to your questions.
First. I have frequently heard Joseph Smith converse on
your first question, but I have never heard him say what year, but I have
formed an opinion from his conversation that in 1891 he would make his
appearances to certain individuals of the priesthood not to reign as King, but
would deliver His people and the Gentile reign would begin to wane and His
people would begin to have dominion, and the law of God would have influence in
all the civilized nations of the earth. (Anson Call, letter
to John M. Whitaker, January 30, 1886, CR 100 394, Church History Library)
On January 11, 1891, John
Steele, Jr., in a letter to his parents, wrote:
I am very glad [18]91 is here & I am of the opinion
that if Jesus does not come in his glory this year, that some will be
privileged to see him in the Temple of the Lord & no doubt the Prophet
Joseph Smith also . . . (John Steele, letter
to John Steele, Sr., and Elizabeth Steele, January 11, 1891, MS 24404,
Church History Library)
Commenting on these and
other writings of the time, Christopher Blythe concluded that
There is no indication that Mormons were devastated when
Christ did not appear in 1890 or 1891. Many continued to expect the Second
Coming would occur in their lifetimes or even in the very near future.
(Christopher James Blythe, Terrible Revolution: Latter-day Saints and the
American Apocalypse [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020], 184)
Again, this shows that
Latter-day Saints did not believe that the Parousia would take place in
1890/91 based on Josehp’s teachings in D&C 130:14-17 and other sources. For
more, see, for e.g.:
Did
Joseph Smith Predict that the Second Coming would happen in 1890/91?
And for more on Joseph’s
prophecies, see:
Resources
on Joseph Smith’s Prophecies
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