Minutes, 20 February 1834
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Source Note
Minutes, , Geauga Co., OH, 20 Feb. 1834. Featured version copied [ca. 20 Feb. 1834] in Minute Book 1, pp. 39–41; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.
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Historical Introduction
These 20 February 1834 minutes document a decision made by the regarding the Word of Wisdom, as well as various missionary assignments. JS and others had finished organizing the high council one day earlier, voting unanimously to accept the revised minutes of a meeting held on 17 February as a “form, and constitution” for the council. These revised minutes noted that the council was organized “for the purpose of settleing important difficulties” that other councils were not able to settle “to the satisfaction of the parties” and outlined the procedures the council should follow as it adjudicated such cases. As these 20 February minutes illustrate, however, the council’s duties extended well beyond those of an appellate church court.Almost a year earlier, on 27 February 1833, JS recorded the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom, which specifically counseled against the consumption of alcohol and hot drinks and the use of tobacco. The revelation outlined no official penalty for disobeying its instructions, and church members appear to have disagreed on how strictly the revelation’s directives should be followed. An earlier decision made by a different council in regarding a “Bro Rich,” likely , who was accused of disobeying the Word of Wisdom, failed—at least according to known records—to clarify either issue.The case presented in the minutes featured here involved , , and church members in , Erie County, Pennsylvania, and probably had its genesis in early December 1833 when Pratt and Johnson were in Springfield on a mission. Pratt returned to from that mission on 13 February 1834, a few days after Johnson returned and a week before the meeting detailed in the minutes featured here was held. Pratt noted in his journal that he “attended a council” in Kirtland on 20 February 1834, which suggests that he presented the case concerning the Word of Wisdom to the high council in person. Using the case encountered by Pratt and Johnson in to start a discussion about the revelation, the high council decided that transgressing the Word of Wisdom was grounds for losing one’s office in the church. The council’s decision was published in a church newspaper in 1836 and provided church leaders with a policy that was referenced and enforced, to one degree or another, into the early 1840s in , Illinois.The council then turned its attention to missionary assignments. Two sets of men— and , and and —were assigned to go to , where JS and had established a small branch of the church the previous October. Before the council made these assignments, JS noted that the Canadian church members had written “a number of letters for help.” One of these petitioners was , who had written to Rigdon on 29 December 1833 requesting that “a couple of preachers” be sent to carry on the work Rigdon and JS had started. No evidence indicates whether any of the four appointed men went to at this time, though Johnson could have been on his way to or from Canada when noted his presence in , New York, on 2 March 1834.The council made other missionary assignments, some of which were apparently not fulfilled as envisioned in the minutes featured here. , for example, who was assigned to travel with , ultimately went to with , while Carter instead traveled in , , , and and was eventually appointed to collect funds for building the in . Some of these plans may have been altered because a revelation that was recorded four days later, at a 24 February 1834 meeting, called for men from and eastern of the church to march to to help reestablish church members on their lands in , from which anti-Mormon Missourians had driven them the previous year. Missouri (instead of ) appears to have been on Johnson’s mind in , for example, while neither nor , both of whom traveled to Missouri the following summer to help church members there, appears to have fulfilled the mission he was given in the 20 February 1834 meeting.As with the case of and , no evidence indicates whether and Edmund Marvin went east at this time as they were appointed to do. Whether and traveled to nearby , Ohio, as appointed, is unclear as well; however, Greene departed for western and “to gather men and means for the redemption of ” on or shortly after 25 February, indicating that if Rigdon and Greene did travel to Strongsville, their visit was brief. was given two assignments—the first to travel with “for the time being” and the second to travel east with “to obtain donations for , and means to redeem the on which the stands.” Pratt held a meeting four miles east of on 22 February and at , Ohio, the following day, but he recorded nothing in his journal about being accompanied by Sagers. The 24 February 1834 revelation amended Pratt’s second assignment; instead of gathering funds, he was to obtain both “Brethern & means for the redemption of Zion.”The 20 February also scheduled a at , Maine, on 13 June 1834 “in answer to a special request of the church in that place, through the medium of a letter from one of the elders now laboring in that vicinity.” The request may have come from , who had about forty people in the Saco area and by 20 January 1834 had organized a branch there. The conference, which was advertised in The Evening and the Morning Star, met from 13–15 June and included both “public” meetings for all church members and an “elders’ conference” for priesthood holders. Seventeen branches of the church were represented at the elder’s conference—two from , three from , and the rest from places “east of the State of N. York.” attended the conference and spoke on “his mission concerning the building the in ,” and several people were baptized.
Footnotes
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1
Minutes, 19 Feb. 1834; Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:2].
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2
See Historical Introduction to Revelation, 27 Feb. 1833.
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4
Pratt and Johnson left Kirtland for a mission to “the Eastern Churches” on 27 November 1833. They were in Springfield on 1, 3, 4, and 5 December 1833, after which they traveled to other areas in Pennsylvania and New York. The two men separated on their return trip on 6 February and evidently did not travel together through Springfield. (“History of Orson Pratt,” 18, Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861, CHL; Pratt, Diary, 1, 3, 4, and 5 Dec. 1833; 6 and 13 Feb. 1834.)
Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.
Pratt, Orson. Journal, 1833–1837. Orson Pratt, Autobiography and Journals, 1833–1847. CHL. MS 587, fds. 2–4.
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5
“History of Orson Pratt,” 18, Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.
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6
Pratt, Diary, 20 Feb. 1834.
Pratt, Orson. Journal, 1833–1837. Orson Pratt, Autobiography and Journals, 1833–1847. CHL. MS 587, fds. 2–4.
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7
“To the Churches of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Nov. 1836, 3:412; Historical Introduction to Revelation, 27 Feb. 1833 [D&C 89].
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
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8
Historical Introduction to Revelation, 12 Oct. 1833 [D&C 100]; Letter to Moses Nickerson, 19 Nov. 1833; see also JS, Journal, 4–28 Oct. 1833.
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9
Moses Nickerson, Windham, Canada, to [Sidney Rigdon], 29 Dec. 1833, in The Evening and the Morning Star, Feb. 1834, 134.
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
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10
Murdock, Journal, 2 Mar. 1834.
Murdock, John. Journal, ca. 1830–1859. John Murdock, Journal and Autobiography, ca. 1830–1867. CHL. MS 1194, fd. 2.
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11
Young, “Life of Phineas Howe Young,” [4].
Young, Phineas Howe. “Life of Phineas Howe Young,” ca. 1857. Typescript, not after 1963. Phineas Howe Young, Papers, 1846–1898. CHL. MS 14458, fd. 16.
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12
John F. Boynton, Bolton, NY, 31 Aug. 1834, Letter to the Editor, The Evening and the Morning Star, Sept. 1834, 191. Granger, who was appointed in the minutes featured here to travel alone, preached several times over the course of the summer and fall of 1834 in Huntsburg, Ohio. (William E. McLellin, Huntsburg, OH, 16 Apr. 1835, Letter to the Editor, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1835, 1:102–103.)
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
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13
Revelation, 24 Feb. 1834 [D&C 103].
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14
According to Murdock’s journal, by March 1834 Johnson “spoke of our going to Zion in May.” (Murdock, Journal, 2 Mar. 1834.)
Murdock, John. Journal, ca. 1830–1859. John Murdock, Journal and Autobiography, ca. 1830–1867. CHL. MS 1194, fd. 2.
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15
Greene, “Biographical Sketch of the Life and Travels of John Portenus Greene,” 2.
Greene, Evan Melbourne. “A Biographical Sketch of the Life and Travels of John Portenus Greene,” 1857. CHL. MS 15390.
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16
The farm referred to here was the Peter French farm, which Joseph Coe had contracted to buy on behalf of the church on 10 April 1833 for $5,000. Coe made a down payment of $2,000 and promised to pay the remaining $3,000 in two payments of $1,500 each, the first of which was due 10 April 1834. (See Historical Introduction to Minutes, 23 Mar. 1833–A.)
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17
Pratt, Diary, 22 and 23 Feb. 1834.
Pratt, Orson. Journal, 1833–1837. Orson Pratt, Autobiography and Journals, 1833–1847. CHL. MS 587, fds. 2–4.
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18
Pratt, Diary, 24 Feb. 1834. Pratt and Hyde left Kirtland on 26 February 1834 and arrived in Geneseo, New York, on 15 March. Other than noting that “3 or 4 of the middle aged & young men” in China, New York, said they would go to Missouri if they could, Pratt did not indicate in his diary how successful his and Hyde’s recruiting efforts were. Pratt, accompanied by John Murdock, returned to Kirtland on 24 April 1834. (Pratt, Diary, 26 Feb. 1834; 13 Mar. 1834; 21 Apr. 1834.)
Pratt, Orson. Journal, 1833–1837. Orson Pratt, Autobiography and Journals, 1833–1847. CHL. MS 587, fds. 2–4.
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19
Notice, The Evening and the Morning Star, Feb. 1834, 134.
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
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20
John F. Boynton, Saco, ME, 20 Jan. 1834, Letter to the Editor, The Evening and the Morning Star, Feb. 1834, 134.
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
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21
Notice, The Evening and the Morning Star, Feb. 1834, 134; “The Minutes of the Conference in Maine,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Aug. 1834, 181.
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
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