Minutes and Discourse, circa 7 July 1834

Footnotes

1. 

   Levi Richards handwriting begins.  

2. 1

   On 27 February 1833, a song beginning with the words, “Age after age has rolled away, according to the sad fate of man,” was sung in an unknown language and translated by the gift of tongues. The translation was written in Revelation Book 2. A later printing of the song, titled “Mysteries of God,” states that it was sung by David W. Patten and translated by Sidney Rigdon. William W. Phelps took the song and turned it into a twenty-three-verse hymn that he published in The Evening and the Morning Star under the heading “Songs of Zion.” The first verse read, “Age after age has roll’d away / Since man first dwelt in mortal clay; / And countless millions slept in death, / That once supplied a place on earth.” (Song, 27 Feb. 1833, in Revelation Book 2, pp. 48–49; Mysteries of God, as Revealed to Enoch, on the Mount Mehujah [no publisher: not before 1838], copy at CHL; “Songs of Zion,” The Evening and the Morning Star, May 1833, [8]; see also Hicks, Mormonism and Music, 36.)  

   Comprehensive Works Cited

   Murray, Joyce Martin, and Martin Richard Murray. Greene County, Tennessee, Deed Abstracts, 1810–1822. 2 vols. Dallas, TX: J. M. Murphy, 1996.Mysteries of God, As Revealed to Enoch, on the Mount Mehujah, and Sung in Tongues by Elder D. W. Patton, of the “Church of Latter Day Saints,” (Who Fell a Martyr to the Cause of Christ, in the Missouri Persecution,) and Interpreted by Elder S. Rigdon. Broadside, [After 1838]. Copy at CHL.

   The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

   Hicks, Michael. Mormonism and Music: A History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989.

3. 2

   The 19 February 1834 meeting of the Kirtland high council in which its constitution was approved consisted of twenty-six high priests, eighteen elders, three priests, one teacher, and fourteen “private members.” (Minutes, 19 Feb. 1834.)  

4. 3

   As John Whitmer later explained, the Missouri high council was organized “according to the Patron [pattern] received in Kirtland Ohio.” (Whitmer, History, 68; see also Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102].)  

5. 

   Levi Richards handwriting ends; Ebenezer Robinson begins.  

6. 4

   Minutes, 3 July 1834.  

7. 5

   The process of drawing lots to determine who would speak first was prescribed in the constitution of the Kirtland high council. (Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:12].)  

8. 6

   A later JS history clarifies Partridge’s statement: “Bishop Partridge stated to the council that a greater responsibility rested upon him than before their organization as it was not his privilege to counsel with any of them except the president, and his own counselors.” The high council served as an appellate court for business that “could not be settled by the Bishop and his council,” which may be why Partridge believed that he could not consult with those serving as counselors, even though he had likely counseled with many of them on matters of church business before. Partridge’s counselors were Isaac Morley and John Corrill. (JS History, vol. A-1, 511, 513; Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:2]; Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831.)  

   Comprehensive Works Cited

   JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.

9. 7

   At a 23 June 1834 council in Missouri, Phelps was told to “help carry on the printing establishment in Kirtland till Zion is reedeamed.” (Minutes, 23 June 1834.)  

10. 8

    The constitution of the Kirtland high council stated that if the council determined that a case was a difficult one, four counselors were designated to speak on it. (Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:13].)  

11. 9

    Phelps was not a plaintiff in the sense that he was bringing a complaint or charge before the council; he was instead the one raising the question.  

12. 10

    David Whitmer, the president of the high council. According to the constitution of the Kirtland high council, “After the evidences are heared . . . the president shall give a decision according to the understanding which he shall have of the case.” (Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:19].)  

13. 11

    In accordance with this decision, Phelps and his son Waterman left the rest of their family in Missouri and, on 28 April 1835, departed for Kirtland, Ohio, remaining there until 9 April 1836. (Whitmer, History, 70, 84; Van Orden, “Writing to Zion,” 545; Partridge, Diary, 9 Apr. 1836.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Van Orden, Bruce A. “Writing to Zion: The William W. Phelps Kirtland Letters (1835–1836).” BYU Studies 33, no. 3 (1993): 542–593.

    Partridge, Edward. Diaries, 1818 and 1835–1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fds. 1–2.

14. 12

    Whitmer was one of three witnesses of the Book of Mormon who testified that an angel had shown them the gold plates and that they knew the plates had been “translated by the gift and power of God.” The minutes of a council held in Missouri on 23 June 1834 state that Whitmer was “called and chosen . . . to receive an endowment from on high in Kirtland.” (Testimony of Three Witnesses, Late June 1829; Minutes, 23 June 1834.)  

15. 13

    John Whitmer was selected by a 23 June 1834 council in Missouri “to receive his endowment in Kirtland with power from on high.” There is no record of McLellin receiving similar instructions from this council. (Minutes, 23 June 1834.)  

16. 14

    David Whitmer left for Kirtland around the first of September 1834 and stayed there at least through the dedication of the Kirtland House of the Lord in March 1836. Records indicate he had returned to Missouri by July 1837. John Whitmer departed for Kirtland on 28 April 1835 and remained there until the House of the Lord had been dedicated. William E. McLellin left with JS for Kirtland on 9 July 1834 and stayed there until fall 1836. (Whitmer, Daybook, 24 Aug. 1834; Oliver Cowdery, Editorial, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:3; Minute Book 2, 29 July 1837; Whitmer, History, 70; JS, Journal, 27 Mar. 1836; Porter, “Odyssey of William Earl McLellin,” 312, 322.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Whitmer, John. Daybook, 1832–1878. CHL. MS 1159.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

    Porter, Larry C. “The Odyssey of William Earl McLellin: Man of Diversity, 1806–83.” In The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836, edited by Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, 291–378. Provo, UT: BYU Studies; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994.