Blessing to James Ivins, 7 January 1840
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Source Note
JS, Blessing, to , [, NJ], 7 Jan. 1840. Featured version inserted in Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, at p. 147, two pages; unidentified handwriting; CHL. Includes docket.One leaf, measuring 10½ × 7½ inches (27 × 19 cm). Three of the four sides of the leaf have the square cut of manufactured paper; the bottom side is unevenly cut. Writing appears on the recto and the verso. A docket was inscribed, upside down and in graphite, on the verso. The document was folded twice for filing. The leaf was taped to the endpaper of Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 sometime after the Church Historian’s Office received the document from DeLoss H. Patten on 22 August 1956; Patten donated it on behalf of an Ivins descendant. The custodial history of the document before that time is unknown.
Footnotes
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1
See source note for Blessing from Joseph Smith Sr., 9 Dec. 1834. A notation on the endpaper of Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 indicates that the page on which this blessing was recorded was received from Patten on 22 August 1956. (Patriarchal Blessings, 1:147.)
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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Historical Introduction
On 7 January 1840, JS pronounced a blessing upon , presumably in , New Jersey, or elsewhere in the Delaware River Valley. JS identified this blessing as “a Patriarchal Blessing,” a type of pronouncement typically delivered by a person appointed as a . JS the first patriarch of the in December 1834. According to a later account written by , JS conferred upon his father the “keys of the patriarchal priesthood over the Kingdom of God on earth, even the Church of the Latter Day Saints” at the time of the ordination, but he did not fully explain the responsibilities of the office. The following year, Cowdery stated that a patriarch was expected to bless the fatherless and those whose fathers either were not church members or lived far from their children. Cowdery further referred to JS as “the first patriarch of the church.”It is unclear why JS gave a patriarchal blessing. No record exists of JS pronouncing patriarchal blessings on other men or women in the eastern during his travels in that region. It is possible that Ivins was the only church member in the area to request a patriarchal blessing from JS or that this is the only surviving transcript for blessings JS gave at that time and place. In any case, this copy of the blessing was recorded by an unidentified scribe.
Footnotes
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1
The Ivins family lived in Monmouth County in 1840. JS was then traveling in the area and preached several times at a schoolhouse just north of Hornerstown in Monmouth County. (Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 30 Dec. 1839, 71; Sharp, “Latter-day Saints or ‘Mormons’ in New Jersey,” 1–2; Fleming, “Early Mormonism in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey,” 77–78.)
Sharp, William. “The Latter-day Saints or ‘Mormons’ in New Jersey.” Typescript of unpublished paper. 1897. CHL.
Fleming, Stephen J. “‘Sweeping Everything Before It’: Early Mormonism in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.” BYU Studies 40 (2001): 72–104.
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2
Oliver Cowdery, Note, in Patriarchal Blessings, 1:8–9; see also Historical Introduction to Blessing from Joseph Smith Sr., 9 Dec. 1834. JS taught that “an Evangelist Is a patriarch even the oldest man of the Blood of Joseph or of the seed of Abram.” An instruction on priesthood prepared by JS in 1835 explained, “It is the duty of the twelve in all large branches of the church, to ordain evangelical ministers, as they shall be designated unto them by revelation.” Nevertheless, the next patriarch after Joseph Smith Sr. was not appointed until November 1837, when JS, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith ordained Isaac Morley a patriarch for the church in Far West, Missouri. (Discourse, between ca. 26 June and ca. 2 July 1839; Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107:39]; JS, Journal, 18 Dec. 1833; Minutes, 7 Nov. 1837.)
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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3
Oliver Cowdery, Note, in Patriarchal Blessings, 1:9; Historical Introduction to Blessing from Joseph Smith Sr., 9 Dec. 1834.
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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4
Oliver Cowdery, Note, in Patriarchal Blessings, 1:8.
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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