Minutes, 21 April 1838

Anderson charged Wight “for unjust deal and for abuse to me and for defamation of character.” Wight had moved to Daviess County, Missouri, and probably required notice to attend the high council meeting to answer the charge. The charge was presented again on 24 May, but the investigation did not take place until late June. (Minute Book 2, 28–29 June 1838; Minutes, 7–8 Apr. 1838; JS, Journal, 18 May–1 June 1838.)  

The Elders’ Journal, the church newspaper edited by JS, commenced in Kirtland with two issues, dated October and November 1837. The printing shop was destroyed by fire shortly after JS fled to Missouri. Wilford Woodruff, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy who was preaching in Maine, wrote a letter to Bishop Edward Partridge and the First Presidency on 9 March in which he pleaded that the Elders’ Journal be revived. Correspondence between Marsh and Woodruff traveled in less than four weeks, suggesting that Woodruff’s letter arrived in Far West sometime in early or mid-April. (John Smith and Don Carlos Smith, Kirtland Mills, OH, to George A. Smith, Shinnston, VA, 15–18 Jan. 1838, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; Letter from Wilford Woodruff et al., 9 Mar. 1838.)  

Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.

Marsh was listed as publisher of the October and November 1837 issues of the Elders’ Journal, which were published in Kirtland. However, Marsh departed Kirtland for Far West shortly after the September 1837 reorganization conference, so it is unclear what role he played in the publication of these two issues. (Letter to Wilford Woodruff, ca. 18 June 1838; Masthead, Elders’ Journal, Oct. 1837, 16; Masthead, Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 32.)  

As the bishop of Zion, Partridge received donations for the church. A 17 May 1837 bond governing the transfer of the Far West plat from William W. Phelps and John Whitmer to Partridge authorized him to use the funds from the sale of lots “for the benefit of the printing office or literary firm” as well as for other purposes. (Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:31–34]; Edward Partridge, Bond, Far West, MO, to William W. Phelps and John Whitmer, 17 May 1837, John Whitmer Family Papers, CHL; see also Minute Book 2, 5–7 Apr. 1837.)  

John Whitmer Family Papers, 1837–1912. CHL.

Phelps and Whitmer purchased the land in Far West with money raised and borrowed with interest from church members. When Phelps and Whitmer agreed to turn over the land to Partridge, they made the transaction conditional on a mortgage and two bonds that required Partridge to pay them $1,450 and to take responsibility for their subscription of $2,000 for the House of the Lord in Far West. When the building plans fell through and others withdrew their subscriptions, Phelps and Whitmer withdrew theirs as well and sought payment in cash for the $2,000 and the $1,450. Because the original money was donated by church members for the cause of Zion or was still owed with interest and because the sale of public lands was supposed to support the church, the high council believed that Phelps and Whitmer had swindled the church. Partridge’s last recorded payment on the mortgage occurred on 13 March 1838, although his estate made two additional payments in the 1840s. (Letter to Wilford Woodruff, ca. 18 June 1838; see also Minute Book 2, 25 July 1836; 5–7 Apr. 1837; 10 Mar. 1838; “T. B. Marsh,” [2], Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861, CHL; and Edward Partridge and Lydia Partridge, Mortgage, Far West, MO, to William W. Phelps and John Whitmer, 17 May 1837, John Whitmer Family Papers, CHL.)  

Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.

John Whitmer Family Papers, 1837–1912. CHL.

On 3 March 1838, the high council authorized Partridge to give lots in Far West to JS, Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith. (Minute Book 2, 3 Mar. 1838.)  

See Psalm 82:4; and Revelation, 4 Dec. 1831–B [D&C 72:12].  

The role of the storehouse in Zion was firmly established by revelation in the early 1830s.a John Corrill was appointed “keeper of the Lord’s store House” in May 1837, suggesting that the Latter-day Saints in Missouri already had a storage place. This resolution indicates that if the Saints did already have a storage place, it might have been inadequate to accommodate the increased donations anticipated as a result of the previous resolution.b