Minutes, 18 January 1835
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Source Note
Minutes, , Geauga Co., OH, 18 Jan. 1835. Featured version copied [not before 25 Feb. 1836] in Minute Book 1, pp. 82–83; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.
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Historical Introduction
On 18 January 1835, the , Ohio, met and considered a request from “certain brethren” from , New York, for counsel on whether to stay in Kirtland or go to the West (). The minutes for this meeting specifically reference only an “Elder Tanner” from Bolton. It is likely this is , as a later history states that he and his son Sidney were invited by JS to meet with the high council shortly after they reached Kirtland in January 1835. John Tanner was a wealthy church member from Bolton who, according to his son , “owned sawmills & flouring mills,” approximately 2,200 acres of land, and “houses & barns to acomodat [accommodate] a nomber of families & orchides [orchards] in grate abundance.” According to a later account, Tanner sold his land in Bolton in fall 1834 “preparatory to moving to Missouri in the coming Spring.” In December, “he received an impression by dream of vision of the night, that he was needed and must go immediately to the Church in the West.” On 25 December 1834, he departed for Kirtland, arriving there in mid-January.The minutes of this 18 January meeting state that the council discussed the church’s need for funding to complete construction of the and to publish “the word of the Lord.” The council concluded that should remain in to help “build up the cause.” Tanner’s son , who was in at this time, later stated that the high council told his father that the mortgage on the land where the House of the Lord was being constructed “was about to be foreclosed.” No extant contemporary records corroborate this statement, but foreclosure may have been a possibility. had purchased the land for the church in 1833, and had assumed the outstanding $3,000 debt on the land in June of that year. Two payments of $1,500 were due in April 1834 and April 1835; it is possible that the April 1834 payment had not been made, which may have prompted the fear of foreclosure. Whitney also had existing debts for goods purchased in for the church storehouse he operated in Kirtland as part of his , and, as these minutes state, money was needed to obtain materials to construct the House of the Lord and to publish a compilation of JS’s revelations.JS’s journal records that on the evening of 30 November 1834, he prophesied “that in a short time the Lord would arrange his providences in a merciful manner” and provide “assistance to deliver” him and others “from debt and bondage.” ’s later history implies that his father, , provided such assistance by giving JS a $2,000 loan, which was used to stave off foreclosure on the property, although it meant that JS was then in debt to Tanner. On 30 January 1835, paid $500 “to John Tanner on our note,” indicating that Tanner had provided a loan by that time. In accordance with the instructions given by the high council, Tanner remained in until April 1838, when he moved to , Missouri., as clerk of the high council, took the minutes of the 18 January meeting. later entered them into Minute Book 1.
Footnotes
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1
“Sketch of an Elder’s Life,” 9; see also Tanner, “History of John Tanner,” 2.
“Sketch of an Elder’s Life” (John Tanner). In Scraps of Biography, Faith-Promoting Series 10, pp. 9–19. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883.
Tanner, Nathan. “History of John Tanner,” no date. CHL. MS 14605.
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2
Tanner, Address, [3].
Tanner, Nathan. Address, no date. CHL. MS 2815.
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3
“Sketch of an Elder’s Life,” 8–9; Tanner, “History of John Tanner,” 1. Land deed records from Warren County, New York, show that Tanner sold several parcels of land, as well as his interest in a sawmill, in October 1833, April 1834, November 1834, and December 1834, for a total amount of $6,552. In addition to his property in New York, Tanner owned livestock and dairy cattle, which he may have sold as well. (Warren Co., NY, Deed Records, 1813–1876, vol. G, pp. 169–170, 1 Oct. 1833; pp. 298–299, 2 Apr. 1834; pp. 458–459, 1 Dec. 1834; pp. 459–460, 1 Dec. 1834; pp. 465–466, 12 Dec. 1834, microfilm 474,221; Warren Co., NY, Deed Records, 1813–1876, vol. H, pp. 528–530, 4 Nov. 1834, microfilm 474,222, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Tanner, Address, [2]–[3].)
“Sketch of an Elder’s Life” (John Tanner). In Scraps of Biography, Faith-Promoting Series 10, pp. 9–19. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883.
Tanner, Nathan. “History of John Tanner,” no date. CHL. MS 14605.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Tanner, Nathan. Address, no date. CHL. MS 2815.
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4
“Sketch of an Elder’s Life,” 9; Tanner, “History of John Tanner,” 2; see also Tanner, Address, [10].
“Sketch of an Elder’s Life” (John Tanner). In Scraps of Biography, Faith-Promoting Series 10, pp. 9–19. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883.
Tanner, Nathan. “History of John Tanner,” no date. CHL. MS 14605.
Tanner, Nathan. Address, no date. CHL. MS 2815.
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5
Revelation, 4 June 1833 [D&C 96:2]; Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 17, pp. 360–361, 17 June 1833, microfilm 20,237, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
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6
Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 17, pp. 38–39, 10 Apr. 1833, microfilm 20,237, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; “New York Account Book Sept. 1834,” [3]–[17], Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Whitney, Newel K. Papers, 1825–1906. BYU.
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7
JS, Journal, 30 Nov. 1834.
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8
Sketch of an Elder’s Life,” 9; Tanner, “History of John Tanner,” 2.
“Sketch of an Elder’s Life” (John Tanner). In Scraps of Biography, Faith-Promoting Series 10, pp. 9–19. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883.
Tanner, Nathan. “History of John Tanner,” no date. CHL. MS 14605.
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9
F. G. Williams & Co., Account Book, 18. There are no extant records corroborating a loan from Tanner for precisely $2,000, nor are there records indicating that church leaders used such money to make a payment on the House of the Lord property. In 1836, Peter French entered a bill in chancery with the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, requesting the sale of the land where the House of the Lord was located because of defaults in payment. (Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Court Records, 1807–1904, vol. R, pp. 101–106, 13 June 1836, microfilm 20,278, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Loving, “Ownership of the Kirtland Temple,” 18.)
F. G. Williams & Co. Account Book, 1833–1835. CHL. In Patience Cowdery, Diary, 1849–1851. CHL. MS 3493.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Loving, Kim L. “Ownership of the Kirtland Temple: Legends, Lies, and Misunderstandings.” Journal of Mormon History 30, no. 2 (Fall 2004): 1–80.
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10
While in Kirtland, John Tanner apparently invested in the Kirtland Safety Society and made “liberal donations to the building of the temple.” Nathan Tanner also stated that at some point, his father loaned the committee responsible for constructing the House of the Lord “thirteen thousand dollars in merchandize at cost prices in New York.” In addition, Tanner “signed a note with the Prophet Joseph and others for thirty thousand dollars for goods purchased in New York, in which he had no pecuniary interest.” No contemporary records for these loans are extant. (“Sketch of an Elder’s Life,” 9–12; Tanner, “History of John Tanner,” 2.)
“Sketch of an Elder’s Life” (John Tanner). In Scraps of Biography, Faith-Promoting Series 10, pp. 9–19. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883.
Tanner, Nathan. “History of John Tanner,” no date. CHL. MS 14605.
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