Sophie Munroe, Letter to Huldah Salisbury (May 4, 1861) on the Outbreak of the U.S. Civil War and the Fulfillment of D&C 87

The following is a transcription of:

 

Sophia Munroe letter, Bandera, Texas to Huldah Salisbury, Church History Library, Call no.: MS 28609

 

This is important as it was penned just one month after the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War, and the author discusses the fulfillment of portions of D&C 87 as a result:

 

Bandera. May. 4th. 1861.

 

My Dear Mother, Brothers and Sisters one and all I have once more [opportunity?] of sending a letter to you, if I stopped on the way. we boarded a Young Man. this winter he was from the (City of New York) he will soon start for home. i shall ask him to take charge of this hoping it may reach you + our Mails will be uncertain if at all we will go to Catesvill for ours + our portion of the country is as quiet as any part of Texas. we are getting Rangers on the Frontier we think better protection the before but every thing is uncertain in these days. the Indians are worse then common. perhaps gathering up to come down [stronger?] + from what i can learn the North will overpower the South. but those that are in favor of the confederacy think otherwise. i feel willing to let things take there cours i hope to go to Mexico or California in the spring. there is many here that does not want to fight on either side. many have gone to California already we have an abundant rain and will have good harvest we may have war but not famine + Munroe is still got the Bandera Mills + he is putting in a flouring Mill now to grind wheat. there will be a grate deal raised in western Texas this year, corn never looks better. David breaks down some still he goes from morning till knight + and sleeps but little at knight. my health is poore able to be around most time taking Medicine all the time + sew [knitt?] keepe my own some more scrub wash or iron, except my caps + Beanie and family are well + the river is up soe we cannot cross it now fulls slow we have had so much rain [fields?] fair to have more. [Hermenid?] is as large as his Mothers Additional parenthetical notes near the bottom of the page: (Beannie named her baby for me) (his next youngest for Victor)

 

[written upside down:] my love to Huldah tell her she is not forgotten

 

My Friends know that i embraced the or believed the Latter day Saint religion + still believe the first principles as strong as ever the Prophet was killed in prison, his son must succede him or else we have no leader his son has taken his place at the head of a branch of the church, still we cannot gather there now, it is not know[n] where we shal gather yet, i think the time not far distant when we shal know. i want to be gathered with the Church with a Prophet at head i do not believe in the Salt lake Mormons no not I. while the Church was in Missouri the Prophet had a revelation, and it is printed + in a Book of many revelations, the Booke is in Town now, it was printed more then 21 years ago concerning the wars that would begin at South Carolina saying the— [word or words crossed out] north will be divided against the South. and the South will call on Great Britton, and other Nations, to helpe him and it will come to pass that the Slaves will be armed to fight against there Masters. and it shal come to pass that warre shall be poured out on all Nations, this is the sum [briefly?] of the revelation though many more plagues spoken of that will be poured out up on the earth to warn the nations. what i have written on this side of paper may not interest you but if you were to [keep?] track of me it might be som[e] comfort to you that i was gone to a place of Safety. i need not pledge myself to write; if i have opportunity you know i will [write]. And i hope you will [do the same]. this from your affectionate Daughter and Sister

 

Sophia Munroe

 

Brothers and Sisters

Huldah Salisbury

 

Further Reading:

Resources on Joseph Smith's Prophecies

David Kimhi (“Radak”; 1160-1235) on Psalm 51:6 (Hebrew: v. 7)

  

Radak on Psalms 51:7:1

הן. אדוני אבי ז"ל פי' כי אמר דבר זה כדי לסלק מעליו העון ואמר כי מדרך זה העון שעשיתי נבראתי והיא טיפת הזרע וממנה:

 

Radak on Psalms 51:7:2

יחמתני אמי. כאד' שזורע גרעיני מרה האילן והפרי מרים בטבע וכל הדברים ילכו אחר תולדותם והאדם נעשה מטפת זרע בשעת תשמיש ואע"פ שיש בזה מותר ואיסור אם יטעה אדם באותו הדרך טבעו הוא וממנו הוא נוצר ואיננו דבר גדול אם יתקפהו יצרו לעבור על דבר זה וכל חטא אחר אינו מוטבע באדם על כן חייב יותר אם יעשה אותן, והאדם הצדיק המושל בתאותו בדרך תשמיש אם יתקפהו יצרו דבר גדול הוא יותר מאשר ימשול ברוחו מלעבור עבירה אחרת כי זה טבעו וזה אינו טבעו:

 

Radak on Psalms 51:7:3

יחמתני. יחמה אותי כי מהתחממות הנקבה עם הזכר תצא טפת זרע שהולד נוצר ממנה:

 

Radak on Psalms 51:7:4

אמי כי היא סיבת הזכר יותר מן האיש כמו שאמרו אשה מזרעת תחילה יולדת זכר:

 

Radak on Psalms 51:7:5

בעוון. מלא ויש בו דרש רבי אחא אומר בעון מלא אפילו חסיד שבחסידים א"א שלא יהא לו צד עון: (source)

 

 

Radak on Psalms 51:7:1
“‘Behold’ — my father, of blessed memory, explained that he said this in order to remove the guilt from himself, and that the meaning is that because of this sin that I committed, I was created, namely, from the drop of semen from which I came.”

 

Radak on Psalms 51:7:2
“‘My mother conceived me.’ It is like someone who plants bitter seeds in a tree, and the fruit is bitter by nature; and all things follow their origin. Human beings are formed from a drop of semen at the time of intercourse, and although there is both permissibility and prohibition in this matter, if a person errs in that way, it is his nature, and he is formed from it. It is therefore not such a great matter if his inclination overpowers him in regard to violating this matter. But any other sin is not innate in a person, and so he is under greater obligation if he commits those sins. A righteous person who masters his desire in matters of intercourse: if his inclination overpowers him, it is a greater matter than if he controls his spirit and refrains from some other transgression, for this is his nature, whereas that is not his nature.”

 

Radak on Psalms 51:7:3
“‘My mother conceived me.’ She conceived me, for from the warming of the female with the male comes forth the drop of semen from which the embryo is formed.”

 

Radak on Psalms 51:7:4
“‘My mother’ — for she is more the cause than the man, as they אמרו, ‘A woman conceives first and gives birth to a male.’”

 

Radak on Psalms 51:7:5
“‘In iniquity’ — with a full spelling. And there is a midrash: Rabbi Aḥa says, ‘“In iniquity” with a full spelling’ means that even the most pious of the pious cannot avoid having some side of iniquity.”

 

Robert Alter on Psalm 51:6 (Hebrew: v. 7)

  

in transgression was I conceived, / and in offense my mother spawned me. Christian interpreters through the ages have understood this verse as a prime expression of the doctrine of Original Sin. Some of the early rabbis register a similar notion—as they put it, David’s father, Jesse, did not have relations with his wife to fulfill a higher obligation but rather out of sheer lust. Such a reading may be encouraged by the fact that the verb attached to the mother, yaḥam, is typically associated with animals in heat. It may, however, be unwarranted to construct a general theology of sinful human nature from this verse. The speaker of this poem certainly feels permeated with sinfulness. He may indeed trace it back to the sexual act through which he was conceived, but there is not much here to support the idea that this is the case of every human born. (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 3:133, emphasis in bold added)

 

Jacob Ryder on Isaiah 43:10

My friend Jacob Ryder has a great new video on Isa 43:10:

The Isaiah Verse Christians Think Refutes Mormonism — What It Actually Means

Aaron Shafovaloff Continues to Deceive Concerning Romans 4, King David, and Related Topics

 The most recent issue of the Pro Pastor Journal published an article that was long refuted before it went to press:

 

Aaron Shafovaloff, “Using David to Talk to Mormons about Grace,” Pro Pastor: A Journal of Grace Bible Theological Seminary 5, no. 1 (Fall 2026): 35-41

 

Don’t take my word for it; to see how Shafovaloff was refuted (and, as a result, did a lousy job in the article), see:

 

Why Reformed Protestant Appeals to King David Refute, Not Support, Their Soteriology

 

And for a fuller discussion of Rom 4:4-8, the concept of “imputation,” and other topics:

 

Response to a Recent Attempt to Defend Imputed Righteousness

 

Again, this only shows that Aaron (1) cannot engage in meaningful exegesis to save his life and (2) is not just deceived, but a deceiver.

Ibn Ezra on Psalm 51:6 (Hebrew: v. 7)

  

הן - בעבור התאוה הנטועה בלב אדם כאילו בעון חוללתי. והטעם: כי בשעת הלידה היצר הרע נטוע בלב. 

 

ומלת יחמתני – זרה כאילו יחמה ממני על דרך: ליחמנה. ויש אומרים: כי זה רמז לחוה שלא ילדה רק אחר שחטאה. (source)

 

“Behold — because of the desire implanted in a human being’s heart, as though I were conceived in iniquity. The meaning is: at the time of birth, the evil inclination is implanted in the heart.

 

And the word yeḥamtani is unusual, as though it were from yeḥammah from me, in the manner of: liḥammenah. And some say that this is a reference to Eve, who did not give birth until after she sinned.”

 

Discussion on Soteriology with Shiloh Lofgran

 

Trying to stump Robert Boylan!