/ Places of the D&C / Ramus, Illinois
Ramus, Illinois
1843
Photo Credit: Kenneth Mays, 2012
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Ramus, Illinois
Key Points of Interest
- Ramus, originally the Perkins settlement, was located about 20 miles east of Nauvoo and founded in 1826 by a man named Ute Perkins and his family
- Ute and many family members later converted to the church, and the Crooked Creek Branch was organized 17 April 1839. The town was renamed Ramus, a word for "branch" in Latin, and the branch there later grew into a stake
- Joseph Smith, Jr. would visit Ramus often and preach sermons
- Joseph’s sisters, Sophronia and Katharine, both lived in Ramus
- On 2 April 1843 Joseph went to a meeting and heard Elder Orson Hyde preach. Later he and Orson were eating at Sophronia’s home, and he said he would offer some corrections to what Orson had said, which Orson said would be “thankfully received.” The teachings that followed were the first part of Doctrine and Covenants Section 130 (v. 1-16)
- Later that evening Joseph preached about the Book of Revelation, and his teachings in that sermon make up the second part of Section 130 (v. 17-23)
- The contents of Section 131 come from three events within two days: a conversation on 16 May 1843 that Joseph had with a group of other saints during a visit to Ramus (v. 1-4), a discourse that he preached on 2 Peter 1 the next day (v. 5-6), and corrections regarding Genesis 2:7 he offered to a man after hearing him preach later that evening (v. 7-8)
- In March 1843 Ramus was incorporated and renamed Macedonia. After the saints in Macedonia left to go west in 1846, the town was renamed Webster

