Footnotes

1. [1]

   Letter from Lester Brooks et al., 16 Nov. 1841.  

2. [2]

   See Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 3 Jan.–24 June 1838.  

   Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.

3. [3]

   Minutes, 4–5 May 1839; Authorization for Oliver Granger, 6 May 1839.  

4. [4]

   Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840.  

5. [5]

   Letter to Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young, 16 Jan. 1839; Minutes, 4–5 May 1839; Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840; Letter to the Saints in Kirtland, OH, 19 Oct. 1840; Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841. In a 26 January 1841 communication to Oliver Granger, JS appeared to convey a more flexible attitude regarding the individuals migrating from the East: “I feel desireous that the Eastern brethren should come to this place [Nauvoo], but at the same time, those who had rather move to Kirtland than to this place are at liberty to do so.” (Letter to Oliver Granger, 26 Jan. 1841.)  

6. [6]

   Letter to the Saints Abroad, 24 May 1841.  

7. [7]

   Letter from Sidney Rigdon, 3 Apr. 1840; Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:2, 84]; Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841.  

8. [8]

   Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841. Unaware that he had been disfellowshipped earlier in the month, Babbitt wrote to JS on 19 October 1841 to explain his position and seek clarification. While Babbitt may have been the most visible advocate of Kirtland as a gathering place, other members of the Kirtland branch apparently shared his viewpoint by fall 1841. In a 12 September 1841 meeting of the Kirtland elders quorum, President Amos Babcock remarked on “the Elders teaching the places of gethering and he Sho[w]ed that Kirtland [was a] place of gethering for the Saints in the last days and that Nauvoo was Also a place of gethering.” The men then voted and came to a nearly “unanimous agreemment with the Elders that Kirtland was a place of gethering.” (Letter from Almon Babbitt, 19 Oct. 1841; Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 12 Sept. 1841.)  

   Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.

9. [9]

   Revocation of Letter of Attorney, 2 Nov. 1841; JS to Reuben McBride, Letter of Attorney, 2 Nov. 1841, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 213–214; see also Power of Attorney to Reuben McBride, 28 Oct. 1841.  

10. [10]

    Letter from Lester Brooks et al., 16 Nov. 1841. Oliver Granger, JS’s other agent in Kirtland, oversaw various land transfers and was entrusted with the keys to the House of the Lord until he died in August 1841. (Agreement with Oliver Granger, 29 Apr. 1840; Letter to Oliver Granger, between ca. 22 and ca. 28 July 1840; Letter to Oliver Granger, 4 May 1841.)  

11. [11]

    “Kirtland Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1841, 3:587–589. During the same conference, Kirtland church members voted that Bishop Burdick and his counselors establish a publishing company in Kirtland and that the subscription money be “held in trust and managed by the said company, for the benefit of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.” The minutes also stipulated that the company would print a periodical called the Olive Leaf. There is no evidence that the publishing company ever printed anything.  

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

12. [12]

    JS, Journal, 15 Dec. 1841.