Revelation, 6 June 1831 [D&C 52]
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Source Note
Revelation, , OH, 6 June 1831. Featured version, titled “55th. Commandment given at Kirtland June 6th. 1831,” copied [ca. June 1831] in Revelation Book 1, pp. 87–89; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 1.
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Historical Introduction
In June 1831 a was held in , Ohio, which all of the of the church had been directed to attend by a February revelation. As part of the conference, according to , many church members gathered on 5 June “on the hill in a field whare there was a larg concours of people collected.” JS addressed the congregation and told them that “from that time the Elders would have large congregations to speak to and they must soon take there departure into the Reagions west.” The next day, 6 June, the conference continued, and that night JS dictated the text featured here, later writing that he received it “by an heavenly vision.”The revelation declared that the next conference would be held in and directed the elders to travel to Missouri two by two, by different routes, preaching along the way. Nearly all the men who had been to the “” a few days earlier were now called to preach, as were several others. The revelation further instructed JS and to leave for Missouri as soon as possible, promising that if they were faithful, the Lord would make known the location in Missouri of “the land of your inheritance.”
Footnotes
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1
Revelation, Feb. 1831–B [D&C 44:1–2]; see also Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831.
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2
Hancock, Autobiography, 92.
Hancock, Levi. Autobiography, ca. 1854. Photocopy. CHL. MS 8174.
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3
Hancock, Autobiography, 94; John Smith, Journal, 3–4; JS, “To the Elders of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1835, 1:179.
Hancock, Levi. Autobiography, ca. 1854. Photocopy. CHL. MS 8174.
Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1, fd. 1.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
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Document Transcript
Footnotes
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1
John Whitmer likely created this heading when he copied the text into Revelation Book 1.
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2
Minute Book 2, 4 Aug. 1831.
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3
See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 501 [3 Nephi 21:22–26]. A September 1830 revelation declared, “The decree hath gone forth from the father that they shall be gethered in unto one place upon the face of this land.” (Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:8].)
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4
John Whitmer apparently added the surnames parenthetically when he copied this revelation into Revelation Book 1.
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5
See Romans 9:28.
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6
See Matthew 12:20.
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7
This “Pattern” provided further guidance in dealing with the persistent problem of what JS deemed unacceptable spiritual phenomena since his arrival in Ohio four months earlier. (See Historical Introduction to Revelation, 9 May 1831 [D&C 50]; see also Letter to Hyrum Smith, 3–4 Mar. 1831.)
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8
Ezra Booth later noted that he preached in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri before reaching Independence, Missouri. (Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. V,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 10 Nov. 1831, [3].)
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
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9
Lydia Clisbee Partridge left an account of the circumstances under which her husband, Edward, received this revelatory injunction. Their children had all contracted the measles from some of the recently arrived New York members who were staying with their family. She wrote that their “eldest daughter was taken down with lung fever, and while she was at the worst, my husband was called by revelation to go with a number of others to Missouri to locate a place for the gathering of the Saints, the unbelievers thought he must be crazy or he would not go. And I thought myself that I had reason to think my trials had commenced, and so [they] had, but this trial like all others was followed with blessings for our daughter recovered.” (Partridge, Genealogical Record, 6.)
Partridge, Edward, Jr. Genealogical Record. 1878. CHL. MS 1271.
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10
On their way to Missouri, Whitmer and Whitlock passed through Paris, Illinois, where William E. McLellin heard them preach. He recorded in his diary that they “expounded the Gospel the plainest I thot that I ever heard.” Whitmer “bore testimony to having seen an Holy Angel who had made known the truth of this record to him.” As a result, McLellin decided to accompany the Mormon elders to Missouri and listen to them preach along the way. Though the men eventually separated in their travels, McLellin went on to Independence, Missouri, where on 20 August he was baptized by JS’s brother Hyrum Smith. (McLellin, Journal, 1, 6–7.)
McLellin, William E. Journal, 18 July–20 Nov. 1831. William E. McLellin, Papers, 1831–1836, 1877–1878. CHL. MS 13538, box 1, fd. 1. Also available as Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, eds., The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836 (Provo, UT: BYU Studies; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994).
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11
Hancock later related how he felt after being named in this revelation: “At knight A Revelation came from Joseph to many Elders to go to Missouri and preach by the way Among the rest was my name with Zebed[ee] Coltrin this was a tryal indeed I had not thought of being called upon to go so far I had a little money to be sure left but I spent nearly all for other Elders that I had traveled with I began to think that all I traveled with depended of me for money and I must not look back I had just hired a room and moved my tooles there I had left it nearly filled with furnature and I knew that some people must be disapointed all of these things together with a promis to a young Lady wrought on my mind all manner of impressions but when I would think of the old jack and the man of sin who had bin revealed before us all I found myself harnessed and I said let all other things go I will do as I am told in the Revelation.” (Hancock, Autobiography, 94–95.)
Hancock, Levi. Autobiography, ca. 1854. Photocopy. CHL. MS 8174.
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12
Selah Griffin was listed in a record of ordinations dated 6 June as one of those ordained to the office of elder. Newel Knight had been ordained an elder previously. (Note on Ordinations, ca. 16 June 1831; Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831.)
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13
According to Levi Hancock, Heman Bassett had been one of the elders manifesting unusual spiritual gifts prior to Joseph Smith’s arrival in Ohio, including “receving Revilations seeing Angels falling down [and] frothing at the mouth.” Bassett claimed he “had a revelation that he had received in Kirtland from the hand of an Angel he would read it [and] show the Picture of a crown the Angel declared to be gods then would bare testmony of the truth of the work.” His testimony was apparently convincing, as Hancock added that he “beleived it all like a fool” even though Bassett behaved “like a Babbon [baboon].” Perhaps in consequence of the attempt to regulate such perceived excesses following JS’s arrival in Ohio, Bassett apparently became disaffected prior to the conference. On 24 May the Painesville Telegraph carried this notice: “One of the Mormon apostles, named Basset, a copy of whose commission we published some weeks since, which he pretended he obtained from the clouds, with the seal of God, has recently abandoned the Bible speculation, and declares it to be all a miserable hoax.” Notwithstanding this article, Bassett was apparently present at the 3 June conference, and JS rebuked him directly, saying, “Heamon Basset you sit still the Devil wants to sift you.” (Hancock, Autobiography, 79, 91; “Backing Out,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 24 May 1831, [2].)
Hancock, Levi. Autobiography, ca. 1854. Photocopy. CHL. MS 8174.
Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.
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14
Jared Carter wrote, “While in Kirkland there was some conversation among some of the Elders as though I had ought to be ordained but I informed them not with standing I felt as though it was my indispensabl duty to preach the gospel that I was unwilling to be ordained unless it was by the consent of all the Elders or it should be made known by Revalation for I had heard that newel knights had said that it was not expediant that I should be ordained but it did appear by revelation that god required that I should be ordained.” (Carter, Journal, 19.)
Carter, Jared. Journal, 1831–1833. CHL. MS 1441.
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15
John Whitmer apparently made an error when copying this revelation into Revelation Book 1. He later crossed out the preceding phrase “is not my deciple these things.”
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16
The purpose for this recommend is uncertain. It is not likely that the usage here refers simply to a license to preach, since several of the elders called to preach by this revelation would also have needed such licenses but were not named for the recommend. Three of those named for the recommend—JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery—were arguably the most prominent leaders in the church at the time. The fourth, Edward Partridge, was the first bishop called in the church. It is possible the recommend mentioned here was designed to satisfy the demands of the federal Indian agent in the territory west of Missouri. In an 8 April 1831 letter, Oliver Cowdery, then in Missouri, explained that “the agent for The Lamanites is very strict with us and we think somewhat strenuous respecting our having liberty to visit our brethren the Lamanites but we trust that when our brother Parly [Parley P. Pratt] returns we shall have a permit from General [William] Clark who is the Superintendent of Indian affairs west of the Missi[ssi]ppi who must have a reccommend or security before he can give a permit for any stranger or foreigner to go among them to teach or preach.” (Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 8 Apr. 1831; see also License for Edward Partridge, [ca. 4 Aug. 1831–ca. 5 Jan. 1832].)
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17
See Isaiah 60:22. Likely a reference to the New Jerusalem. (See Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:9, 35, 62, 67] ; Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:66]; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 501 [3 Nephi 21:23–24].)