Minutes, 14 September 1835
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Source Note
Minutes, [, Geauga Co., OH], 14 Sept. 1835. Featured version copied [not before 25 Feb. 1836] in Minute Book 1, pp. 107–108; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.
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Historical Introduction
On 14 September 1835, “a high council of the Presidency” consisting of members of the church presidency in , Ohio, including JS, and members of the presidency of the , met to consider issues related to church records. Of special concern was keeping a record of the blessings given by as church patriarch. Joseph Smith Sr.’s first patriarchal blessings were given to a number of his immediate family members and their spouses on 9 December 1834. Between January and August 1835, he gave scores of blessings to other members of the church, but there appears to have been no centralized effort to collect and record those blessings. This changed in September 1835 when church leaders purchased a large leather-bound volume, apparently for the purpose of beginning an official record book for such blessings. soon began copying blessings into the volume, eventually known as Patriarchal Blessing Book 1.At this 14 September meeting, was appointed to serve as the initial scribe for the blessings. The council also decided to provide compensation—both a salary and expenses—to and Williams for their work on the blessings. In addition, the council designated as church recorder, a position that included recording the transcripts of Joseph Smith Sr.’s blessings in the patriarchal blessing book. The role of recorder was distinct from the role of scribe. Williams, as scribe, attended the blessing meetings and provided a transcription of each blessing. Cowdery, as recorder, gathered blessing transcriptions and recorded them in the patriarchal blessing book, sometimes also making copies for the recipients. These duties regularly occupied Cowdery’s time over the following months.The council also endorsed to proceed with the production of a church hymnal, a task given to her in a July 1830 revelation. In April 1832, the assigned to correct “the Hymns selected by sister Emma,” and this 14 September 1835 council again directed Phelps to provide aid in revising and preparing the hymns for publication. It is unclear how much work was done on the hymnal between the 1832 and 1835 directives, but the hymnal was printed shortly after this 1835 instruction.As clerk of the meeting, took the minutes. later copied them into Minute Book 1, probably sometime in 1836.
Footnotes
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1
Patriarchal Blessings, 1:9–11.
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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2
Minutes, 16 Sept. 1835. As recorded in the 16 September minutes, the expense of the book became an issue. Given that the book was purchased shortly before the blessings began to be recorded and that the cost precluded immediately purchasing another such volume, the book discussed in these minutes is almost certainly the one purchased for recording patriarchal blessings.
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3
Previously, the United Firm had voted to provide Williams with $300 a year for his work as assistant scribe. That salary is unlikely to have continued, however, as the United Firm apparently ceased to function as such after April 1834. The task of recording the patriarchal blessings did not appear to have required travel expenses, but costs associated with paper, pen, and ink for original note-taking may have been incurred. (Note, 9 Jan. 1833; Revelation, 23 Apr. 1834 [D&C 104]; Parkin, “Joseph Smith and the United Firm,” 33–34.)
Parkin, Max H. “Joseph Smith and the United Firm: The Growth and Decline of the Church’s First Master Plan of Business and Finance, Ohio and Missouri, 1832–1834.” BYU Studies 46, no. 3 (2007): 5–66.
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4
Copying blessings into Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 required Cowdery to collect blessings that had previously been given, many of which were in the possession of only the recipients. In a 7 October 1835 notation, Cowdery confessed that it would be impossible to collect them all, leaving the volume somewhat incomplete as a record of all of Joseph Smith Sr.’s blessings. Part of the difficulty was that individuals were charged a fee of $0.10 per folio (a unit of one hundred words) to have their blessings recorded in the volume. It is possible that some blessings were not recorded because individuals could not, or simply did not want to, pay. At least one account suggests that payment was required to even have a personal copy of the blessing provided. Other accounts, however, attest that blessings were given free of charge. The willingness of many to pay a fee underscores the interest of church members in having their names recorded in official church records. It is unclear if the fees were retained by Cowdery or divided with the clerks who originally recorded the blessings. (Patriarchal Blessings, 1:16; Cowdery, “Account Book of Writing,” 1; Judd, Autobiography of Zadoc Knapp Judd, 17; Stevenson, Autobiography, 7.)
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
Cowdery, Oliver. “Account Book of Writing,” 1835–1836. CHL. MS 2314.
Judd, Zadoc Knapp. Autobiography of Zadoc Knapp Judd (1827–1909). [Provo, UT]: Brigham Young University Library, 1954. Copy at CHL. MS 4545.
Stevenson, Edward. Autobiography, ca. 1891–1893. Edward Stevenson, Collection, 1849–1922. CHL. MS 4806, box 5, fd. 1.
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5
Revelation, July 1830–C [D&C 25:11].
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7
The hymnal was dated 1835 but was likely printed sometime in early 1836. (William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, to Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, 14 Nov. 1835, in Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 14 Nov. 1835; “Extract from My Journal,” 28 Nov. 1835, William W. Phelps, Papers, BYU; Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:57–59.)
Historical Department. Journal History of the Church, 1896–. CHL. CR 100 137.
Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.
Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.
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