Minutes, 23 June 1833
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Source Note
Minutes, [Kirtland Township, Geauga Co., OH], 23 June 1833. Featured version copied [ca. 23 June 1833] in Minute Book 1, p. 22; handwriting of
Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...
More InfoOrson Hyde; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...
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Historical Introduction
These minutes contain the final decision regarding the church membership ofDoctor Philastus Hurlbut, who was cut off from the church on 1 June 1833 for alleged indiscretions with women while serving a mission in
3 Feb. 1809–16 June 1883. Clergyman, farmer. Born at Chittenden Co., Vermont. “Doctor” was his given name. Preacher for Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamestown, Chautauque Co., New York. Baptized into LDS church, 1832/1833, at Jamestown. Ordained an elder...
View Full BioPennsylvania. Hurlbut appealed to JS and theArea first settled by Swedish immigrants, 1628. William Penn received grant for territory from King Charles II, 1681, and established British settlement, 1682. Philadelphia was center of government for original thirteen U.S. colonies from time of Revolutionary...
More Infopresident’s court on 21 June, requesting they reconsider the decision to excommunicate him. Though the court ruled that his excommunication had been warranted and that theBoth the office of the president of the high priesthood and the body comprising the president and his counselors; the presiding body of the church. In November 1831, a revelation directed the appointment of a president of the high priesthood. The individual...
View Glossarybishop’s councilhad ruled correctly against him, it ultimately determined that Hurlbut “should be forgiven because of the liberal confession which he made.” Hurlbut apparently departed immediately again for Pennsylvania but stopped en route inA governing body comprising a bishop and his counselors. The bishop’s council was charged with overseeing the temporal affairs of the church, administering goods under the law of consecration, and assisting the poor. The bishop’s council had authority to ...
View GlossaryThompson, Ohio, where he publicly flaunted his reinstatement in the church.Located about sixteen miles northeast of Kirtland, Ohio. Settled 1800. Surveyed 1809. Incorporated 1817. Population in 1830 about 700. Population in 1840 about 1,000. Latter-day Saints from Colesville, New York, were directed to settle in area on 759 acres...
More InfoGeorge A. Smith, who was present at the council on 21 June, later explained, “Hurlbut stated to the26 June 1817–1 Sept. 1875. Born at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York. Son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. Baptized into LDS church by Joseph H. Wakefield, 10 Sept. 1832, at Potsdam. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1833. Labored on Kirtland temple...
View Full BioBranchin Thompson, Ohio that he had deceived Joseph Smith’s God or the spirit by which he is actuated, I have proved that Council has no wisdom, I told them I was sorry I confessed and they believed it to be an honest confession. I deceived the whole of them and made them restore me to the Church.”An ecclesiastical organization of church members in a particular locale. A branch was generally smaller than a stake or a conference. Branches were also referred to as churches, as in “the Church of Shalersville.” In general, a branch was led by a presiding...
View Glossary3George A. Smith, in Journal of Discourses, 15 Nov. 1864, 11:8; see also George A. Smith, Discourse, 15 Nov. 1864, in George D. Watt, Discourse Shorthand Notes, 15 Nov. 1864, Pitman Shorthand Transcriptions, CHL; and Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 597. Benjamin Winchester, in a pamphlet designed to discredit Hurlbut’s accusations against the church, claimed, “In returning into Pennsylvania, he stopped at Thompson, Geauga county, Ohio, and immediately commenced his old practices, in attempting to seduce a young female, but Providence interposing, frustrated his diabolical designs. For this crime he was immediately expelled from the church, and his license was called for, but he refused to give it up. On discovering he had irretrievably ruined himself with the church, his tactics were changed, and he now determined to demolish, as far as practicable, what he had once endeavoured to build up.” (Winchester, Plain Facts, 6.)
Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.
Pitman Shorthand Transcriptions, 1998–2013. CHL.
Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.
Winchester, Benjamin. Plain Facts, Shewing the Origin of the Spaulding Story, concerning the Manuscript Found, and Its Being Transformed into the Book of Mormon; with a Short History of Dr. P. Hulbert, the Author of the Said Story . . . Re-published by George J. Adams, Minister of the Gospel, Bedford, England. To Which Is Added, a Letter from Elder S. Rigdon, Also, One from Elder O. Hyde, on the Above Subject. Bedford, England: C. B. Merry, 1841.
A later entry in JS’s journal indicates thatHurlbut“was finally cut off from the church a few days after having his3 Feb. 1809–16 June 1883. Clergyman, farmer. Born at Chittenden Co., Vermont. “Doctor” was his given name. Preacher for Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamestown, Chautauque Co., New York. Baptized into LDS church, 1832/1833, at Jamestown. Ordained an elder...
View Full Biolicenserestored, on the 21st of June. and then saught the distruction of the sainst [Saints] in this place and more particularly myself and family.”A document certifying an individual’s office in the church and authorizing him “to perform the duty of his calling.” The “Articles and Covenants” of the church implied that only elders could issue licenses; individuals ordained by a priest to an office in...
View Glossary4Hurlbut was likely absent for this second excommunication hearing and his initial response to the verdict is not known, but he soon traveled to the region ofJS, Journal, 28 Jan. 1834.
Palmyra, New York, and elsewhere in an effort to collect damaging information, including affidavits, about JS. By mid-August 1833 JS wrote to church leaders inKnown as Swift’s Landing and Tolland before being renamed Palmyra, 1796. Incorporated, Mar. 1827, two years after completion of adjacent Erie Canal. Population in 1820 about 3,700. Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith family lived in village briefly, beginning ...
More InfoMissourithatArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoOhiomembers of the church were “suffering great persicution on account of one man by the name of Docter Hurlburt who has been expeled from the chirch for lude and adulterous conduct and to spite us he is lieing in a wonderful manner and the peapl [people] are running after him and giveing him mony to b[r]ake down mormanism which much endangers our lives at preasnt [present].” By January 1834, JS had filed a suit against Hurlbut because “he became afraid of bodily injury from the defendant.” A judge ruled in JS’s favor, and Hurlbut was ordered to post a $200 bond ensuring that he would keep the peace for the next six months.French explored area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Northeastern portion maintained as part of Connecticut, 1786, and called Connecticut Western...
More Info6Many of the affidavits Hurlbut collected, along with other accusations against JS and the“Mormon Trial,” Chardon (OH) Spectator and Geauga Gazette, 12 Apr. 1834, [3]; Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Court Records, 1807–1904, Final Record Book P, pp. 431–432, 31 Mar. 1834, microfilm 20,278, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
Chardon Spectator and Geauga Gazette. Chardon, OH. July 1833–Nov. 1835.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Church of Christ, were eventually published byThe Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
View GlossaryEber D. Howein his exposé, Mormonism Unvailed, in 1834.9 June 1798–10 Nov. 1885. Newspaper editor and publisher, farmer, wool manufacturer. Born at Clifton Park, Saratoga Co., New York. Son of Samuel William Howe and Mabel Dudley. Moved with family to Ovid, Seneca Co., New York, 1804. Located at Niagara District...
View Full Bio7Eber D. Howe, Statement, 8 Apr. 1885, Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954, Chicago History Museum.
Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954. Chicago History Museum.
Footnotes
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3
George A. Smith, in Journal of Discourses, 15 Nov. 1864, 11:8; see also George A. Smith, Discourse, 15 Nov. 1864, in George D. Watt, Discourse Shorthand Notes, 15 Nov. 1864, Pitman Shorthand Transcriptions, CHL; and Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 597. Benjamin Winchester, in a pamphlet designed to discredit Hurlbut’s accusations against the church, claimed, “In returning into Pennsylvania, he stopped at Thompson, Geauga county, Ohio, and immediately commenced his old practices, in attempting to seduce a young female, but Providence interposing, frustrated his diabolical designs. For this crime he was immediately expelled from the church, and his license was called for, but he refused to give it up. On discovering he had irretrievably ruined himself with the church, his tactics were changed, and he now determined to demolish, as far as practicable, what he had once endeavoured to build up.” (Winchester, Plain Facts, 6.)
Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.
Pitman Shorthand Transcriptions, 1998–2013. CHL.
Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.
Winchester, Benjamin. Plain Facts, Shewing the Origin of the Spaulding Story, concerning the Manuscript Found, and Its Being Transformed into the Book of Mormon; with a Short History of Dr. P. Hulbert, the Author of the Said Story . . . Re-published by George J. Adams, Minister of the Gospel, Bedford, England. To Which Is Added, a Letter from Elder S. Rigdon, Also, One from Elder O. Hyde, on the Above Subject. Bedford, England: C. B. Merry, 1841.
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4
JS, Journal, 28 Jan. 1834.
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6
“Mormon Trial,” Chardon (OH) Spectator and Geauga Gazette, 12 Apr. 1834, [3]; Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Court Records, 1807–1904, Final Record Book P, pp. 431–432, 31 Mar. 1834, microfilm 20,278, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
Chardon Spectator and Geauga Gazette. Chardon, OH. July 1833–Nov. 1835.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
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7
Eber D. Howe, Statement, 8 Apr. 1885, Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954, Chicago History Museum.
Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954. Chicago History Museum.
3 Feb. 1809–16 June 1883. Clergyman, farmer. Born at Chittenden Co., Vermont. “Doctor” was his given name. Preacher for Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamestown, Chautauque Co., New York. Baptized into LDS church, 1832/1833, at Jamestown. Ordained an elder...
View Full BioA gathering of church leaders assembled “for consultation, deliberation and advice”; also a body responsible for governance or administration. As early as 9 February 1831, a revelation instructed that “the Elders & Bishop shall Council together & they shall...
View GlossaryLocated about sixteen miles northeast of Kirtland, Ohio. Settled 1800. Surveyed 1809. Incorporated 1817. Population in 1830 about 700. Population in 1840 about 1,000. Latter-day Saints from Colesville, New York, were directed to settle in area on 759 acres...
More InfoProbably Salmon Gee, who had been appointed to preside over the church in Thompson in February. (Letter to the Church in Thompson, OH, 6 Feb. 1833.)
3 Feb. 1809–16 June 1883. Clergyman, farmer. Born at Chittenden Co., Vermont. “Doctor” was his given name. Preacher for Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamestown, Chautauque Co., New York. Baptized into LDS church, 1832/1833, at Jamestown. Ordained an elder...
View Full BioProbably Curtis Hodges Sr., a resident of Girard Township, Pennsylvania. Mormon missionaries in Pennsylvania stayed at Hodges’s home several times in 1833, and Hurlbut may have been among them. (Hyrum Smith, Diary, 4 and 5 Apr. 1833, [12]–[13]; Coltrin, Diary and Notebook, 4 Apr. 1833.)
Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.
Coltrin, Zebedee. Diary and Notebook, 1832–1833. Zebedee Coltrin, Diaries, 1832–1834. CHL. MS 1443, fd. 2.
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