Journal, 1835–1836
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Source Note
JS, “Sketch Book for the use of Joseph Smith, jr.,” Journal, Sept. 1835–Apr. 1836; handwriting of , an unidentified scribe, , , , JS, and ; 195 pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes redactions and archival marking.The text block consists of 114 leaves—including single flyleaves and pastedowns in the front and back—measuring 12¼ x 8 inches (31 x 20 cm). The 110 interior leaves are ledger paper with thirty-four lines in faint—and now faded—black ink that has turned brown. There are nine gatherings of various sizes—each gathering about a dozen leaves. The text block is sewn all along over cloth tapes. The front and back covers of the journal are pasteboard. The ledger has a tight-back case binding with a brown calfskin quarter-leather binding. The outside covers are adorned in shell marbled paper, with dark green body and veins of light green. The bound volume measures 12⅜ x 8¼ inches (31 x 21 cm) and is 13/16 inches (2 cm) thick. One cover of the book is labeled “Repentence.” in black ink. The first page of ledger paper under that cover contains eight lines of references to the book of Genesis under the heading “Scriptures relating to Repentince”. The spine has “No 8” inscribed upside up when the book is standing upright for this side. When the volume is turned upside down and flipped front to back, the other cover is titled “Sabbath Day” with “No 9” written beneath in black ink. The first page of ledger paper under that cover contains two lines of references to the book of Genesis under the heading “Scriptures relating to the Sabbath day”. Thus the book was used to simultaneously house two volumes of topical notes on biblical passages. This book was apparently part of a larger series that included at least two other extant volumes—one bearing “Faith” and “10” on the cover, and the other bearing “Second Comeing of Christ” and “No 3” on one cover and “Gift of the Holy Ghost” on the other cover. In late 1835, JS and scribes began using the book to record his journal for 1835–1836, which begins on the recto of the second leaf of ledger paper. added the title “Sketch Book” to the cover, beneath “Repentence.”The entire journal is inscribed in black ink that later turned brown. Pages 25, 51, 77, 103, 129, and 154 bear the marks of adhesive wafers that were probably used to attach manuscripts until they were copied into the journal. The journal was used in , Illinois, in 1843 as a major source in composing JS’s multivolume manuscript history of the church. At this time, redactions were made in ink and in graphite pencil, and use marks were made in graphite. Also, apparently in Nauvoo, the cover of the journal side of the book was marked with a “D” and then with a larger, stylized “D”. At some point a white paper spine label was added with “1835–6 <> JOURNAL” hand printed or stenciled in black ink that later turned brown. The insertion “Kirtland” is written in graphite. Also, in the “Repentence” side of the volume, the rectos of the third through eighth leaves of ledger paper are numbered on the upper right-hand corners as 195, 197, 199, 201, 203, and 205—all written in graphite and apparently redactions. Except with regard to the title “Sketch Book”, none of the authors of the inscriptions mentioned previously have been identified. This volume is listed in Nauvoo and early Utah inventories of church records, indicating continuous custody.
Footnotes
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1
“Grammar & Aphabet of the Egyptian Language,” Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ca. 1835–1836, CHL; Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record”.
Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ca. 1835–1836. CHL.
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.
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2
“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Catalogue,” [1], Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; Johnson, Register of the Joseph Smith Collection, 7.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
Johnson, Jeffery O. Register of the Joseph Smith Collection in the Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1973.
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1
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Historical Introduction
JS viewed himself as divinely commissioned to gather God’s people in the last days and prepare them for Jesus Christ’s second coming and millennial reign. By 1835, the , a temple in , Ohio, became the centerpiece of this commission and hence of this journal. The Latter-day Saints were commanded in revelations dated as early as December 1832 to establish “a house of God” and were chastised in June 1833 for not having begun the endeavor. Construction began 6 June 1833 after JS and colleagues saw in vision the completed structure. As writing in this journal began, construction was nearing completion. The newly established Quorum of the Twelve and Quorum of the Seventy were returning from preaching assignments and joining with church officers from and as well as with traveling elders. All converged on Kirtland to prepare with increasing intensity for the “solemn assembly” to be held in the House of the Lord, where they were to be “endowed with power from on high.” Thus empowered, they could better fulfill key elements of their mission: preaching God’s message for the last time throughout the world prior to the imminent Second Coming; gathering converts to Missouri, where they would find safety in Zion from the destruction that was to overtake the wicked; and ministering to the Saints. After a hiatus of more than nine months, JS renewed his journal keeping during this period of organization, purification, and preparation.The longest of any of JS’s journals published herein, this volume records his activities in and around during the half year from late September 1835 to early April 1836. It is the last journal that contains JS’s own handwriting: seven entries—four manuscript pages. Entries were sometimes made one or more days after the fact, but an entry was made for every day from the journal’s beginning to its end, providing a continuity lacking in JS’s previous journal and reflecting a time of relative stability for the church in Kirtland. JS is not embattled, defending his people and projects against enemies; rather, he is gathering and preparing his people for what they expect to be a pivotal experience. Blessings, rebukes, and counsel recorded here manifest the hopes and expectations of JS and others in church leadership.While JS, , and penned entries for the first two weeks of the journal, most of the remainder of the journal was kept by , often mentioned in the journal as “my scribe.” Parrish was hired as scribe for JS on 29 October 1835. His duties included keeping JS’s journal and minutes of church meetings and copying certain materials into JS’s 1834–1836 history, which Oliver Cowdery had begun the prior year. Parrish’s first recorded journal entry is for 8 October 1835, suggesting that journal keeping was three weeks behind when he started. Parrish inscribed entries covering the next six weeks. The journal was in Parrish’s possession during at least part of the time he was inscribing it, and the practice may have been for the assigned scribe to retain possession during his tenure. JS recorded four reflective entries for December 19–22 and indicated in the last of those entries that Parrish was ill. JS then passed the journal to Williams, whose entries covered four days ending 26 December 1835. Parrish resumed scribal duties for four weeks’ entries, but then his ill health forced him to relinquish journal keeping to , who recorded the next two weeks’ entries. On 7 February 1836, Parrish then resumed his work, recording entries for the next eight weeks, with occasional help from an unidentified scribe who copied or kept minutes of church meetings. In early April, Parrish was preparing to leave to proselytize, like many others who had sought empowerment in Kirtland for that purpose. Apparently Parrish’s scribal responsibilities for the journal and for JS’s 1834–1836 history were delegated at this time to , older brother of Oliver Cowdery. Cowdery used the first two months of material from the journal, 22 September to 18 November 1835, as the basis for a new section of the 1834–1836 history and also wrote the final two entries in the journal. Parrish’s mission departure was delayed until May. It was apparently during this delay that Parrish retrieved the history and the journal from Cowdery and added a final two months of material from the journal, 18 November 1835 through 18 January 1836, to the history—probably before leaving for his missionary assignment. Parrish made no additional entries to the journal before returning it to JS. Thus the journal ended with Cowdery’s entries.Much of the material in the journal seems to have been dictated by JS to the scribe or recorded as JS spoke to various gatherings. For example, the entry for 21 January 1836 is apparently a dictation because it reports a vision seen only by JS. JS may have had the scribe read back his dictations to him in order to make corrections, as he had sometimes done six years earlier in dictating his translation of the Book of Mormon. In the 21 January entry, the scribe writes, “I am mistaken,” and a paragraph in the entry corrects a statement made earlier in the entry. A few days later, wrote to JS that he could not continue to keep the journal for a time. He explained, “Writing has a particular tendency to injure my lungs while I am under the influence of such a cough”—a possible indication that his scribal duties required reading aloud.The journal reveals aspects not only of the inner spiritual life and the religious fellowship that JS shared with church members and leaders but also of his relations with adherents of other religious persuasions. Various entries describe his interactions with Presbyterians, Methodists, a Baptist, a Universalist, and a Unitarian. The journal records a visit JS received from two followers of the British religious reformer Edward Irving as well as a visit from JS’s contemporary —better known as the Prophet Matthias. During his visit with Matthews, JS shared the foundational religious experiences of his youth, including rare accounts of his visit from the angel Moroni and of his first vision of Deity.The journal also records several other revelations and visions. Of particular theological significance is the aforementioned 21 January 1836 vision of the “celestial kingdom” of heaven, with its revelation that “all who have died with[out] a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it, if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God.” This foreshadows the Latter-day Saint doctrine of redeeming the dead through vicarious ordinances.A number of entries in this journal relate to JS’s revelatory translation of Egyptian writings. In July 1835, JS and associates had purchased from a four Egyptian mummies and some papyri unearthed at Thebes. Chandler had exhibited the artifacts in and other locations and had heard of JS’s claims as a translator. This journal provides glimpses of JS’s early efforts in transcribing and translating material from the papyri and recounts that JS exhibited the papyri to associates and visitors. Journal entries refer to them as the “records of antiquity,” the “Egyptian manuscripts,” the “Egyptian records,” the “sacred record,” the “ancient records,” the “records of Abraham,” or simply “the records.” JS’s efforts led to publication in 1842 of a work that he introduced as “purporting to be the writings of Abraham.”The events of this journal, as in JS’s 1832–1834 journal, unfold in the shadow of the dual priorities of redeeming Zion and preparing the . A revelation that JS announced in June 1834, prior to the close of the Mormons’ armed expedition to , laid out the course of action the Latter-day Saints were to pursue regarding their future in that state. The “redemption of Zion” in Missouri would not take place until church officers had been further instructed in their duties and empowered in the House of the Lord in .In the third entry in this journal, JS himself recorded further plans and preparations for . As the time for the promised endowment neared, so did the anticipated return to . The dispossessed Missouri Saints were again to petition Governor for support in reoccupying their Jackson County lands. JS and other church officers expressed determination to reenter Jackson County in spring 1836, at the risk of their lives if necessary. JS reported the beginning of efforts that same day to enlist a large volunteer army for this purpose—optimistic plans, fed perhaps by growth in church membership in the two years since their small “Camp of Israel” expedition had failed to accomplish the same goal. Less than two weeks later, he advised members of the Quorum of the Twelve to anticipate moving their families to Missouri.Latter-day Saints corresponded with , asking for his assistance and even suggesting that president Andrew Jackson be asked to rectify the Saints’ 1833 eviction from their property by vigilantes. In January 1836, Dunklin effectively foreclosed the possibility of aid from either the state or the federal government in the near future. He ruled out any request for federal intervention on constitutional grounds and again advised the Saints to pursue restoration of their property through the established legal system.Soon after receiving ’s letter, the Latter-day Saints modified their short-term plans for . By March 1836, they had apparently dropped the idea of assembling a large army, at least for the present. Church leaders moved their focus for the near future away from and instead commissioned agents to find a new location in Missouri and to purchase lands there on which to settle. The church’s presidency intended to move to Missouri to direct the relocation.During the time covered in the journal, the immediate attention of Latter-day Saints was focused on northeastern . Prerequisite to their major relocation in , church leaders from Missouri and elsewhere gathered to , the site of the that bore the name “the House of the Lord,” wherein the much-anticipated endowment and solemn assembly were to empower church officers in their ministry. Building the temple in Kirtland—which JS often referred to as the “chapel” or simply “the house”—had been a focal point since summer 1833, when a letter from JS, , and reported that there were only one hundred fifty Saints in Kirtland. In autumn 1834, JS himself helped quarry stone for the building. By late 1835, the nine hundred Mormons in Kirtland, plus the two hundred living nearby, included skilled individuals recruited specifically for the building project, freeing JS to pursue spiritual, educational, and administrative matters. A temple committee composed of JS’s brother , , and oversaw construction of the House of the Lord. The construction workers were compensated in part through goods available at the “.”Preparation for the promised endowment required much more than completion of the . JS’s vision for a church prepared for its expansive mission included an extensive and well-organized priesthood hierarchy. After adding three assistants to the church’s presidency in December 1834, JS further expanded his cadre of leaders. Drawn almost exclusively from the ranks of the 1834 expedition to , the Quorum of the Twelve and the Quorum of the Seventy, organized in February 1835, were assigned primarily to minister outside and Missouri, the two centers of the church. JS gave the new officers short-term assignments to preach in the East and seek financial support for Zion in Missouri and the temple in Ohio. Beginning in January 1836, JS worked to have every office and organization mentioned in the revelations fully staffed—to “set the different quorems in order.” With the entire array of priesthood leadership from both Ohio and Missouri in to prepare for empowerment, many of the regular Kirtland council meetings included the Missouri leadership, especially Missouri president and his counselors and . These three also often joined with the church’s presidency in Kirtland—JS, , , , , and —in a council of presidents that conducted much of the church business.Preparation of church officials for carrying out their responsibilities required ministerial training. This was accomplished in the Elders School, which was a revival of the earlier School of the Prophets. In early January 1836, an additional school was opened offering two months’ intensive study of biblical Hebrew under the tutelage of scholar . This instruction ran concurrently with the Elders School and involved many of the same students. JS himself participated as an enthusiastic student of Hebrew.JS insisted that in addition to being fully staffed and properly organized and trained, the church leadership must have unity and harmony. A prerequisite to the endowment was a sanctification process that in turn required collegiality and love. JS faced significant challenges from within the hierarchy and his own family as he sought to establish this unity. During the apostles’ 1835 mission, JS and other leaders in chastised the Quorum of the Twelve by letter for offensive statements two of them had made about . The Twelve also had reportedly failed to emphasize donations for construction while seeking funds for lands and other church needs. JS concluded later that the latter concern, based on a complaint by an observer in , was unwarranted. After the Twelve returned to Kirtland there were feelings to reconcile, apologies to make, and clarifications required concerning the role of the Twelve. The flurry of accusations and confessions in council meetings recorded in this journal were meant to heal breaches and promote harmony by airing and then resolving all disagreements.To JS’s great dismay, his confrontations with his volatile younger brother , an apostle in the church, contrasted starkly with JS’s ideals. The two strong-willed Smiths clashed in fall 1835. Harmony was not restored until convened a family New Year’s gathering to bring about reconciliation. Passages in this diary about their interaction offer revealing insights into the personalities and temperaments of JS and William.After resolving differences among church leaders, the officers were ready to receive the rituals associated with the and the anticipated endowment. This was a new development. The previous fall JS had told members of the Quorum of the Twelve that they were soon to attend the organization of a school of the prophets that would involve a solemn assembly and the ordinance of foot washing—patterned after Jesus’s ministration to his disciples after the Last Supper and mandated in the same revelation that first called for a temple to be built. This would have repeated the procedures followed at the organization of the initial School of the Prophets in 1833. Instead, JS organized the Elders School on 3 November 1835 without a solemn assembly, and the foot-washing ordinance was performed during a solemn assembly in the House of the Lord at the conclusion of a set of newly instituted ordinances. Before the Lord could “endow his servants,” recorded , “we must perform all the ordinances that are instituted in his house.” To this end, washing, anointing, and blessing the presidents of quorums began 21 and 22 January 1836. In the coming weeks, these rituals were administered in hierarchal order to each church officer in the House of the Lord. The ordinances were accompanied by exclamations of “hosanna” in unison. Visions and other spiritual manifestations were noted by numerous participants.On 27 March 1836, before a general audience of church members, JS dedicated the newly completed . His dedicatory prayer and the accompanying hymns and sermons expressed the vision he and his associates shared for the unfolding of God’s plan for the earth and the role they were to play as God’s authorized representatives. Not only their worldview and proximate goals but also their perceived challenges and obstacles were delineated in the journal’s report.Two days after the dedication of the , JS and the presidency sought revelation about the proposed move to . They emerged from an all-night session in the House of the Lord to announce that the key to redeeming Zion lay in proselytizing and gathering converts to Missouri. As for the presidency, their immediate concern was raising funds to purchase Missouri land. Apparently their planned move was postponed until after such purchases could be made.Now that the was dedicated to the Lord, the long-awaited solemn assembly was finally held. On 30 March 1836, three days after the dedication, about three hundred priesthood officers met in the House of the Lord and received a ritual washing of feet, an ordinance of purification before receiving the endowment of power. JS announced the celebration of a jubilee for the church. While preparing the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to initiate a Passover feast, he instructed the officers that “the time that we were required to tarry in to be endued would be fulfilled in a few days.” Soon afterward, according to several accounts, many who were gathered in the solemn assembly experienced a powerful spiritual outpouring. They remained in the House of the Lord through the night, prophesying, speaking in tongues, and seeing visions. Many felt that the promise of an endowment of spiritual power had been fulfilled, and elders began leaving Kirtland the following day to perform missions.For those officers who remained, the jubilee and the Passover were a week of visiting, feasting, prophesying, and pronouncing blessings on one another. During the Sunday worship service held 3 April 1836, the day for which the final entry in the journal was made, JS and secluded themselves behind drawn curtains at the podium of the . There, the journal indicates, they experienced a vision of the resurrected Jesus Christ, who stated that he accepted the edifice as his house. Afterward, according to this account, Moses, Elias, and Elijah also appeared and conferred priesthood keys and authority for essential ministries over which they each had responsibility. The jubilee ended 6 April 1836, the first day of the church’s seventh year.
Footnotes
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1
Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 and 3 Jan. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 7:36, 1835 ed. [D&C 88:119]; Revelation, 1 June 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 95:1, 1835 ed. [D&C 95:2–3].
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
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2
Angell, Autobiography, 14–15.
Angell, Truman O. Autobiography, 1884. CHL. MS 12334. Also available in Archie Leon Brown and Charlene L. Hathaway, 141 Years of Mormon Heritage: Rawsons, Browns, Angells—Pioneers (Oakland, CA: By the authors, 1973), 119–135.
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3
Revelation, 22 June 1834, in Doctrine and Covenants 102:3, 1844 ed. [D&C 105:11]. For an account of the solemn assembly, see the journal entry for 30 March 1836.
The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith. 2nd ed. Nauvoo, IL: John Taylor, 1844. Selections also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
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4
Woodruff, Journal, 19 Apr. 1836.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
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5
Woodruff, Journal, 27 May 1836.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
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6
JS, Journal, 25 Jan. 1836.
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7
JS, Journal, 21 Jan. 1836.
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8
“The Book of Abraham,” Times and Seasons,1 Mar. 1842, 3:703–706; 15 Mar. 1842, 3:719–722; 16 May 1842, 3:783–784 [Abraham 1–5].
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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9
Revelation, 22 June 1834, in Doctrine and Covenants 102, 1844 ed. [D&C 105].
The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith. 2nd ed. Nauvoo, IL: John Taylor, 1844. Selections also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
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10
JS, Journal, 24 Sept. 1835.
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11
JS, Journal, 5 Oct. 1835.
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12
Daniel Dunklin, Jefferson City, MO, to William W. Phelps et al., Kirtland, OH, 22 Jan. 1836, in JS History, vol. B-1, addenda, 3nH.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
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13
Whitmer, History, 83.
Whitmer, History / Whitmer, John. “The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment,” ca. 1838–1847. CCLA. Available at josephsmithpapers.org.
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14
JS, Journal, 13 Mar. 1836.
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15
Sidney Rigdon et al., Kirtland, OH, to Edward Partridge et al., Independence, MO, 25 June 1833, JS Collection, CHL.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
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16
JS History, vol. B-1, 553; Heber C. Kimball, in Journal of Discourses, 6 Apr. 1863, 10:165.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.
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17
Entries for 5 and 6 Dec. 1834, in JS History, 1834–1836, 17–20.
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
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18
JS, Kirtland, OH, to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 4 Aug. 1835, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 90–93.
JS Letterbook 1 / Smith, Joseph. “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.
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19
JS, Journal, 30 Jan. 1836.
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20
See Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 and 3 Jan. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 7, 1835 ed. [D&C 88]; and Instruction on Priesthood, ca. Apr. 1835, in Doctrine and Covenants 3:11–12, 1835 ed. [D&C 107:27–33].
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
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21
JS, Journal, 5 Oct. 1835; Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 and 3 Jan. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 7:45–46, 1835 ed. [D&C 88:138–141].
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
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22
Whitmer, History, 83.
Whitmer, History / Whitmer, John. “The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment,” ca. 1838–1847. CCLA. Available at josephsmithpapers.org.
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23
JS, Journal, 29 and 30 Mar. 1836.
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24
JS, Journal, 2 Apr. 1836.
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1
Document Transcript
On 12 March 1835, less than a month after it was organized, the Quorum of the Twelve was appointed to a mission to the eastern states to “hold conferences in the vicinity of the several branches of the Church for the purpose of regulating all things necessary for their welfare.” The Twelve left 4 May 1835. Six of the Twelve also crossed into Upper Canada and convened a conference at West Loughborough. (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Record, 12 Mar. and 4 May 1835; see also Esplin, “Emergence of Brigham Young,” 163–170.)
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Record / Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “A Record of the Transactions of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of the Latter Day Saints from the Time of Their Call to the Apostleship Which Was on the 14th Day of Feby. AD 1835,” Feb.–Aug. 1835. In Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–, vol. 2. CHL. CR 500 2.
Esplin, Ronald K. “The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1981. Also available as The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2006).
19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full BioA month and a half earlier, on 4 August 1835, JS and the council of church presidents met to consider a charge that apostles William E. McLellin and Orson Hyde had, while on their mission, “express[ed] dissatisfaction with President Rigdon’s school.”a This was evidently the Kirtland School, a coeducational institution with a secular curriculum, at which McLellin had taught along with Rigdon before leaving Kirtland with the Quorum of Twelve on their mission to the eastern United States.b On the date of this entry, McLellin and Hyde “frankly confessed and were forgiven” by the council. The presidencies also considered the “derogatory” reports made by Warren Cowdery, the president of the church conference in Freedom, New York, which the Quorum of the Twelve attended in the course of their mission. Cowdery’s charges that the Twelve had not been following JS’s commission to raise money for building the House of the Lord were deemed false.c (aJS, Kirtland, OH, to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 4 Aug. 1835, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 90–93; Minute Book 1, 26 Sept. 1835; Orson Hyde and William E. McLellin, Kirtland, OH, Oct. 1835, Letter to the editor, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1835, 2:204–207.b“Notice” and William E. McLellin, Notice, 27 Feb. 1835, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1835, 1:80; Kimball, “History,” 27.cMinute Book 1, 26 Sept. 1835; Porter, “Odyssey of William Earl McLellin,” 318; Esplin, “Emergence of Brigham Young,” 166–170; see also JS, Journal, 16 Jan. 1836.)
JS Letterbook 1 / Smith, Joseph. “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Kimball, Heber C. “History of Heber Chase Kimball by His Own Dictation,” ca. 1842–1856. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 2.
Porter, Larry C. “The Odyssey of William Earl McLellin: Man of Diversity, 1806–83.” In The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836, edited by Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, 291–378. Provo, UT: BYU Studies; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994.
Esplin, Ronald K. “The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1981. Also available as The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2006).
1 Nov. 1800–Jan. 1866. Farmer, hotel worker, waiter, horse groom, grocer, type foundry worker, teacher. Born at Acton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of James Marsh and Molly Law. Married first Elizabeth Godkin, 1 Nov. 1820, at New York City. Moved to ...
View Full Bio14 Nov. 1799–25 Oct. 1838. Farmer. Born in Vermont. Son of Benoni Patten and Edith Cole. Moved to Theresa, Oneida Co., New York, as a young child. Moved to Dundee, Monroe Co., Michigan Territory, as a youth. Married Phoebe Ann Babcock, 1828, in Dundee. Affiliated...
View Full Bio1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...
View Full Bio14 June 1801–22 June 1868. Blacksmith, potter. Born at Sheldon, Franklin Co., Vermont. Son of Solomon Farnham Kimball and Anna Spaulding. Married Vilate Murray, 22 Nov. 1822, at Mendon, Monroe Co., New York. Member of Baptist church at Mendon, 1831. Baptized...
View Full BioThese were the four oldest members of the Quorum of the Twelve. At this time, seniority in the quorum was based on age. (JS History, vol. B-1, 589.)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Primarily referred to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as opposed to other religious sacraments. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed “that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord...
View GlossaryA governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...
View Glossary19 June 1809–30 Nov. 1864. Watchmaker, minister. Born at Livonia, Ontario Co., New York. Son of Isaac Gates Bishop and Mary Hyde. Served as minister in Freewill Baptist Church, by 1831. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ordained...
View Full BioThe conferral of power and authority; to appoint, decree, or set apart. Church members, primarily adults, were ordained to ecclesiastical offices and other responsibilities by the laying on of hands by those with the proper authority. Ordinations to priesthood...
View GlossaryCa. 1809–ca. May 1897. Millwright. Born in New York. Son of Job L. Lewis and Margaret Lowers. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, probably at Westfield, Chautauque Co., New York. Ordained an elder, 13 May 1835, in Kirtland, Geauga Co...
View Full BioFrancis Gladden Bishop was charged with “advancing heretical doctrines which were derogatory to the character of the Church.” Lewis’s partial confession was judged unsatisfactory. (Minute Book 1, 28 Sept. 1835.)
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
A governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...
View GlossaryOct. 1812–19 June 1877. Wainwright. Born at Spafford, Onondaga Co., New York. Son of James Avery and Mercy Baker. Married to Francis Maria Babbitt, 24 Sept. 1834, by Seymour Brunson, in Geauga Co., Ohio. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
View Full BioAvery was charged with rebelling against the decision of the Missouri elders council to take away his elder’s license. However, Avery came forward and “complied with the requisitions of the council” and was restored to his office. (Minute Book 1, 29 Sept. 1835.)
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
16 Feb. 1799–10 Oct. 1879. Printer, saddler, farmer. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Moved to Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont, ca. 1801. Moved to New York. Married first Clarissa Hamilton, 28 Sept...
View Full BioPhineas Young was charged with “unchristian like conduct” in connection with his sale and distribution of a handful of copies of the Book of Mormon during his 1835 proselytizing journey. (Minute Book 1, 29 Sept. 1835.)
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
19 Oct. 1807–21 Nov. 1895. Farmer, plasterer, gardener, blacksmith, nurseryman. Born at Smyrna, Chenango Co., New York. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Married Persis Goodall, 6 June 1826, at Watertown, Jefferson Co., New York. Baptized into Church...
View Full BioLorenzo Young was charged by William W. Phelps with teaching that “poor men ought not to raise up seed or children” but that they might be permitted to marry. After Young “made an humble acknowledgement,” the charge was dismissed. (Minute Book 1, 29 Sept. 1835.)
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
The entry for this same date in JS’s 1834–1836 history reads “stayed at home and labored.”
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
1 Sep. 1835
JS worked periodically on Book of Abraham translation; he and associates produced several manuscripts related to the Egyptian papyri, including an Egyptian alphabet, Kirtland, Ohio.
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full Bio17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...
View Full BioTheir efforts apparently included the creation of three documents—nearly identical in content—that include transcripts of Egyptian characters in parallel with material written in English. (Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ca. 1835–1836, 3, 4, 5, CHL; see also Gee, “Eyewitness, Hearsay, and Physical Evidence,” 196.)
Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ca. 1835–1836. CHL.
Gee, John. “Eyewitness, Hearsay, and Physical Evidence of the Joseph Smith Papyri.” In The Disciple as Witness: Essays on Latter-day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, edited by Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew H. Hedges, 175–217. Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000.
Possibly refers to the astronomical material in three “Egyptian alphabet” documents. Astronomical material also appeared in JS’s published “Book of Abraham.” (Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ca. 1835–1836, 3, 4, 5, CHL; “The Book of Abraham,” Times and Seasons,1 Mar. 1842, 3:703–706; 15 Mar. 1842, 3:719–722 [Abraham 1–5]; see also JS History, vol. B-1, 622; and Gee, “Eyewitness, Hearsay, and Physical Evidence,” 197–203.)
Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ca. 1835–1836. CHL.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Gee, John. “Eyewitness, Hearsay, and Physical Evidence of the Joseph Smith Papyri.” In The Disciple as Witness: Essays on Latter-day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, edited by Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew H. Hedges, 175–217. Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000.
This was the first in a series of three letters written by JS and published in successive issues of the LDS Messenger and Advocate to provide instruction for traveling elders. This first letter provides an account of Mormon settlement in Jackson County and a doctrinal exposition of faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, which JS considered the foundational principles and ordinances of the restored gospel. (JS, “To the Elders of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1835, 1:179–182; see also Nov. 1835, 2:209–212; and Dec. 1835, 2:225–230.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

Oliver Cowdery handwriting ends; Frederick G. Williams begins.
A governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...
View Glossary21 Dec. 1784–25 June 1855. Pastor, farmer. Born in New Hampshire. Married first Oliva Swanson of Massachusetts. Resided at Portsmouth, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire, 1808. Lived in Vermont. Moved to northern Pennsylvania, 1817. Served as minister in Freewill...
View Full Bio19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full BioAccording to council minutes, John Gould was charged with “making expressions which is calculated to do injury to the great cause . . . and manifesting a very strong dissatisfaction against the teachings of the Presidency of the church.” (Minute Book 1, 3 Oct. 1835.)
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Ca. 1810/1820–after 1841. Participated in Camp of Israel expedition to Missouri, 1834. During expedition, baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Lyman Wight, 15 June 1834, in Chariton River, Missouri. Member of elders quorum in Kirtland...
View Full Bio19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full BioA male leader in the church generally; an ecclesiastical and priesthood office or one holding that office; a proselytizing missionary. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto...
View GlossaryMembers of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...
View Glossary17 Sept. 1794–26 Sept. 1842. Surveyor, politician, author. Born at Worcester Co., Massachusetts. Married Margaret Lyndiff, ca. 1830. Lived at Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 10 Jan. 1831,...
View Full BioLocated on southern shore of Lake Erie. Area settled, 1808. Township formed, 1815. Population in 1830 about 1,100. Included Perry village. JS traveled from Kirtland, Ohio, to Perry with John Corrill, Oct. 1835.
More InfoLocated on southern shore of Lake Erie. Area settled, 1808. Township formed, 1815. Population in 1830 about 1,100. Included Perry village. JS traveled from Kirtland, Ohio, to Perry with John Corrill, Oct. 1835.
More Info17 Sept. 1794–26 Sept. 1842. Surveyor, politician, author. Born at Worcester Co., Massachusetts. Married Margaret Lyndiff, ca. 1830. Lived at Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 10 Jan. 1831,...
View Full BioA governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...
View GlossaryMembers of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...
View GlossaryArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...
More InfoA special church meeting or conference convened to conduct church business, administer sacred ordinances, and receive spiritual power and instruction. In November 1831, the Saints were directed by revelation to gather as a body in solemn assemblies. A December...
View GlossaryPresiding officers of the church; also, leading elders of the church. A December 1832 revelation directed the first elders, or “first labourers,” to preach the gospel and instructed them to create a school to prepare for their ministry. A June 1834 revelation...
View GlossaryA term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View GlossaryAn ordinance following the pattern set by Jesus in the New Testament, symbolizing unity and bestowing purification and spiritual power. At the first meeting of the School of the Prophets in January 1833, JS washed the feet of the elders present and pronounced...
View Glossary29 Mar. 1836
JS administered and received ritual washing of feet with priesthood leaders in temple, Kirtland, Ohio.
A December 1832 revelation announced the formation of the School of the Prophets, whose candidates would “be received by the ordinance of the washing of feet.” The school was organized in 1833, but foot washing ceased after the initial school term. The Elders School—a successor to the School of the Prophets—was organized in 1834 and again on 3 November 1835. JS frequently referred to it as the School of the Prophets. After the House of the Lord was completed and dedicated, the anticipated solemn assembly was finally held, which included the ordinance of foot washing. (Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 and 3 Jan. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 7:44–45, 1835 ed. [D&C 88:136–139]; JS, Journal, 29 and 30 Mar. 1836.)
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Bestowal of spiritual blessings, power, or knowledge. Beginning in 1831, multiple revelations promised an endowment of “power from on high” in association with the command to gather. Some believed this promise was fulfilled when individuals were first ordained...
View GlossaryA firm established by the United Firm on 11 September 1833 to print newspapers in Kirtland, Ohio. In December 1833, F. G. Williams & Co. resumed the interrupted printing of the church newspaper The Evening and the Morning Star. After the United Firm was reorganized...
View GlossaryF. G. Williams & Co., the church printing arm, had recently published the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, was producing three newspapers, and was preparing its first hymnal. By October 1835, the expenses outlaid for these projects brought the company close to economic collapse. (Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 47–53, 54–59; Cook, Law of Consecration, 47–50.)
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.
Cook, Lyndon W. Joseph Smith and the Law of Consecration. Provo, UT: Grandin Book, 1985.
12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio6 Oct. 1835
JS attended father, Joseph Smith Sr., during serious illness, Kirtland, Ohio.
Apparently a reference to Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 13:12, 1835 ed. [D&C 42:43]; or Revelation, 27 Feb. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 80:2, 1835 ed. [D&C 89:10].
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...
View Full Bio9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full BioLocated in western New York on eastern shore of Lake Erie at head of Niagara River and mouth of Buffalo Creek. County seat. Settled by 1801. Land for town allocated, 1810. Incorporated as village, 1813, but mostly destroyed later that year during War of 1812...
More InfoEstablished by temple building committee to support those working on Kirtland temple.
More Info3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...
View Full BioAn ecclesiastical and priesthood office. JS appointed Edward Partridge as the first bishop in February 1831. Following this appointment, Partridge functioned as the local leader of the church in Missouri. Later revelations described a bishop’s duties as receiving...
View GlossaryThe Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
View GlossaryThough Whitney was bishop of the church in Kirtland at this time, Edward Partridge was bishop in Missouri; each held regional jurisdictions. In 1847, Whitney was sustained as presiding bishop over the whole church.a JS gave Whitney this blessing through the medium of a seer stone.b (aStaker, “Thou Art the Man,” 101–103; Quinn, “Evolution of the Presiding Quorums,” 32–34, 37.bBlessing, JS to Newel K. Whitney, 7 Oct. 1835, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; Blessing, JS to Newel K. Whitney, 7 Oct. 1835, in Patriarchal Blessings, 1:33–34; see also Van Wagoner and Walker, “Gift of Seeing,” 62–63; and The Joseph Smith Papers, Documents series [forthcoming], 7 Oct. 1835.)
Staker, Mark L. “‘Thou Art the Man’: Newel K. Whitney in Ohio.” BYU Studies 42, no. 1 (2003): 75–138.
Quinn, D. Michael. “The Evolution of the Presiding Quorums of the LDS Church.” Journal of Mormon History 1 (1974): 21–38.
Whitney, Newel K. Papers, 1825–1906. BYU.
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
Van Wagoner, Richard S., and Steven Walker. “Joseph Smith: ‘The Gift of Seeing.’” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 15 (Summer 1982): 49–68.
Initially referred to a bishop’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction, but eventually described the ecclesiastical body comprising the bishop and his assistants, or counselors. John Corrill and Isaac Morley were called as assistants to Bishop Edward Partridge in 1831...
View Glossary
Insertion in the handwriting of JS.

Insertion in the handwriting of JS.
To apply ceremonial oil to the head or body, often in conjunction with priesthood ordinances and the blessing of the sick. The practice of blessing the sick included anointing with oil and laying hands on the sick person. Ritual washings and anointings were...
View Glossary
Frederick G. Williams handwriting ends; Warren Parrish begins.
12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio6 Oct. 1835
JS attended father, Joseph Smith Sr., during serious illness, Kirtland, Ohio.
12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio6 Oct. 1835
JS attended father, Joseph Smith Sr., during serious illness, Kirtland, Ohio.
12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio6 Oct. 1835
JS attended father, Joseph Smith Sr., during serious illness, Kirtland, Ohio.
12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio6 Oct. 1835
JS attended father, Joseph Smith Sr., during serious illness, Kirtland, Ohio.
12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio7 Jan. 1805–25 Jan. 1888. Farmer, livery keeper. Born near Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Raised Presbyterian. Moved to Ontario Co., New York, shortly after birth. Attended German Reformed Church. Arranged...
View Full BioA practice in which individuals place their hands upon a person to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordain to an office or calling, or confer other power, authority, or blessings, often as part of an ordinance. The Book of Mormon explained that ecclesiastical...
View GlossaryJS revelations instructed elders to lay their hands on those who were ill and offer a blessing of healing. By 1834, blessings were often accompanied by an anointing with oil. As in the New Testament, having faith in Christ was a necessary component of being...
View Glossary12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...
View Full BioVillage located in northeastern Ohio at mouth of Chagrin River, about three miles northwest of Kirtland, Ohio, and four miles from Lake Erie. Area settled, 1797. Township formerly named Charlton, then Chagrin. Became home of Willoughby Medical College, 1834...
More Info10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full BioProbably Windsor P. Lyon.
12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio6 Oct. 1835
JS attended father, Joseph Smith Sr., during serious illness, Kirtland, Ohio.
12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full BioFollowing destruction of church printing office in Independence, Missouri, July 1833, JS and other church leaders determined to set up new printing office in Kirtland under firm name F. G. Williams & Co. Oliver Cowdery purchased new printing press in New ...
More InfoAn ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...
View Glossary25 May 1816–11 Mar. 1891. Printer, editor, publisher. Born at Floyd (near Rome), Oneida Co., New York. Son of Nathan Robinson and Mary Brown. Moved to Utica, Oneida Co., ca. 1831, and learned printing trade at Utica Observer. Moved to Ravenna, Portage Co....
View Full BioAlthough he worked in the printing office and had boarded with JS, Robinson did not become a member of the church until this day. Robinson later recalled that he requested baptism during lunchtime and, after finishing work for the day, went to the east branch of the Chagrin River for the ordinance. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” The Return, May 1889, 74.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
JS was boarding men who worked in the printing shop. Ebenezer Robinson, Samuel Brannan, and William W. Phelps were apparently living in the Smith household at this time. Phineas Young, Wilbur Denton, and JS’s brother Don Carlos Smith, printers who, as recorded in JS’s journal, began boarding with JS in 1833, also may have still been living there. (Robinson, “Items of Personal History,” The Return, July 1889, 104; Bagley, Scoundrel’s Tale, 42–44, 144, 193; William W. Phelps, Kirtland Mills, OH, to Sally Phelps, Liberty, MO, 16–18 Sept. 1835, private possession, CHL; JS, Journal, 22 Nov. 1833; 9 and 11 Dec. 1833.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
Bagley, Will, ed. Scoundrel’s Tale: The Samuel Brannan Papers. Kingdom in the West: The Mormons and the American Frontier 3. Spokane, WA: Arthur H. Clark, 1999.
Phelps, William W. Letter, Kirtland Mills, OH, to Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, 16–18 Sept. 1835. Private possession. Copy at CHL. MS 4587.
JS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...
More InfoAfter baptism, new converts were confirmed members of the church “by the laying on of the hands, & the giving of the Holy Ghost.” According to JS’s history, the first confirmations were administered at the organization of the church on 6 April 1830. By March...
View GlossaryAn ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...
View GlossaryIncluding Ebenezer Robinson. (Robinson, “Items of Personal History,” The Return, May 1889, 74–76.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
Generally referred to the “fulness of the gospel”—the sum total of the church’s message, geared toward establishing God’s covenant people on the earth; also used to describe individual elements of the gospel, including marriage. According to JS, the everlasting...
View Glossary12 Apr. 1807–13 May 1857. Farmer, editor, publisher, teacher, school administrator, legislator, explorer, author. Born at Burlington, Otsego Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Traveled west with brother William to acquire land, 1823....
View Full Bio20 Sept. 1811–20 Oct. 1890. Merchant, lecturer, scientist, inventor, dentist. Born at East Bradford (later Groveland), Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Eliphalet Boynton and Susanna Nichols. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by JS,...
View Full BioTwo-story structure measuring thirty by thirty-eight feet, built during fall and winter of 1834. Located immediately west of temple lot on Whitney Street (now Maple Street) in Kirtland. School of the Elders met here from winter 1834–1835 to Jan. 1836. Ground...
More InfoJS and other church leaders prayed for the redemption of Zion and for relief from church debts. The prayer offered this day was recorded following the entry of 27 November 1835.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioOrganized as territory, 1805, with Detroit as capital. De facto state government organized within territory, 1836, although not formally recognized as state by federal government until 1837. Lansing became new state capital, 1847. Population in 1810 about...
More Info19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full Bio24 Oct. 1811–20 Dec. 1859. Merchant, lawyer, hotelier. Born at Pomfret, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of John Johnson and Alice (Elsa) Jacobs. Moved to Hiram, Portage Co., Ohio, Mar. 1818. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Sidney Rigdon...
View Full Bio1 Dec. 1798–10 Aug. 1840. Farmer. Born at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York. Son of Reuben Brunson and Sally Clark. Served in War of 1812. Married Harriet Gould of Hector, Tompkins Co., New York, ca. 1823. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day...
View Full Bio26 Jan. 1812–9 May 1893. Farmer, carpenter. Born at Madison, Madison Co., New York. Son of Asahel Perry and Polly Chadwick. Lived at Middlebury, Genesee Co., New York, beginning 1815. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835. Ordained...
View Full Bio5 Oct. 1808–18 Sept. 1885. Born at Sherburne, Chenango Co., New York. Daughter of George Brown and Sally Burniss. Received patriarchal blessing, 12 Mar. 1835, at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married William C. Perry, 25 Oct. 1835, at Kirtland. Lived among ...
View Full BioBrunson—who had obtained a license in Jackson County, Ohio, to solemnize weddings—may have been the only licensed Latter-day Saint at this time. (Bradshaw, “Joseph Smith’s Performance of Marriages in Ohio,” 40.)
Bradshaw, M. Scott. “Joseph Smith’s Performance of Marriages in Ohio.” BYU Studies 39, no. 4 (2000): 23–69.
A specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...
View GlossaryLocated eight miles south of Lake Erie and immediately east of Kirtland Township. Settled by 1812. Included village of Chardon. Population of township in 1820 about 430; in 1830 about 880; and in 1840 about 1,100. Two of JS’s sisters resided in township. ...
More Info9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full Bio13 Mar. 1808–30 July 1844. Farmer, logger, scribe, builder, tavern operator. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, by Mar. 1810; to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811...
View Full Bio25 Mar. 1816–7 Aug. 1841. Farmer, printer, editor. Born at Norwich, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816–Jan. 1817. Moved to Manchester, Ontario Co., 1825. Baptized into Church of Jesus...
View Full Bio13 Mar. 1808–30 July 1844. Farmer, logger, scribe, builder, tavern operator. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, by Mar. 1810; to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811...
View Full BioAs in other states, in Ohio the state militia act required free, white, adult male citizens to serve in the state militia. Fines were levied for failure to attend training. However, the law exempted mail carriers, sailors at sea, and, as in most states, clergymen. Justice of the Peace John C. Dowen originally issued writs against both Samuel Smith and JS for “non-attendance at training” but then excused JS because of his ecclesiastical office. A court of inquiry held 25 September 1833, George Metcalf, Paymaster of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Regiment, 9th Division, Ohio Militia v. Samuel H. Smith, fined Samuel Smith $1.75 for failing to attend company and regimental musters in 1833. In this appeal to the county court of common pleas, where Samuel was fined an additional $20 for not bringing the necessary documentation, Samuel argued that he met the legal requirements of an acting minister. (Act for Organizing and Disciplining the Militia [22 Feb. 1831], Statutes of Ohio, vol. 3, pp. 1983–2005; John C. Dowen, Statement, 2 Jan. 1885, 2, Manuscripts about Mormons at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, Chicago Historical Society; Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Court Records, 1807–1904, vol. S, p. 95–101, 20 Oct. 1835, microfilm 20,279, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
The Statutes of Ohio and of the Northwestern Territory, Adopted or Enacted from 1788 to 1833 Inclusive: Together with the Ordinance of 1787; the Constitutions of Ohio and of the United States, and Various Public Instruments and Acts of Congress: Illustrated by a Preliminary Sketch of the History of Ohio; Numerous References and Notes, and Copious Indexes. 3 vols. Edited by Salmon P. Chase. Cincinnati: Corey and Fairbank, 1833–1835.
Manuscripts about Mormons at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, ca. 1832–1954. Microfilm. Chicago Historical Society.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...
View Glossary28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioBenjamin Bissell. (Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Court Records, 1807–1904, vol. S, p. 97, microfilm 20 Oct. 1835, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
13 Mar. 1808–30 July 1844. Farmer, logger, scribe, builder, tavern operator. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, by Mar. 1810; to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811...
View Full Bio13 Mar. 1808–30 July 1844. Farmer, logger, scribe, builder, tavern operator. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, by Mar. 1810; to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811...
View Full Bio20 Dec. 1808–25 Jan. 1841. Born at Bedford, Hillsborough Co., New Hampshire. Daughter of Joshua Bailey and Hannah Boutwell. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Samuel H. Smith, 26 June 1832, at Boston. Migrated from Boston to Kirtland...
View Full Bio25 Mar. 1816–7 Aug. 1841. Farmer, printer, editor. Born at Norwich, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816–Jan. 1817. Moved to Manchester, Ontario Co., 1825. Baptized into Church of Jesus...
View Full BioLocated eight miles south of Lake Erie and immediately east of Kirtland Township. Settled by 1812. Included village of Chardon. Population of township in 1820 about 430; in 1830 about 880; and in 1840 about 1,100. Two of JS’s sisters resided in township. ...
More Info28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioThe infant was Susanna Bailey Smith, Samuel and Mary Bailey Smith’s first child.
Two-story structure measuring thirty by thirty-eight feet, built during fall and winter of 1834. Located immediately west of temple lot on Whitney Street (now Maple Street) in Kirtland. School of the Elders met here from winter 1834–1835 to Jan. 1836. Ground...
More Info10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full Bio12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio8 July 1775–14 May 1856. Oilcloth painter, nurse, fund-raiser, author. Born at Gilsum, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Daughter of Solomon Mack Sr. and Lydia Gates. Moved to Montague, Franklin Co., Massachusetts, 1779; to Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont, 1788...
View Full Bio27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioEstablished by temple building committee to support those working on Kirtland temple.
More Info10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioA governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...
View Glossary18 Nov. 1799–2 Dec. 1855. Blacksmith. Born at Charleston, Montgomery Co., New York. Son of Peter Elliott and Phebe Holley. Married first Almira Holliday of Solon, Cortland Co., New York, ca. 1821. Married second Margery Quick. Lived at Ithaca, Tompkins Co...
View Full BioThe high council met at Edmund Bosley’s home in Kirtland. William Smith brought charges against both David and Mary Cahoon Elliott for whipping and beating David’s teenage daughter from an earlier marriage. The discipline had caused public commotion in Willoughby, where the Elliotts lived. JS had visited with the daughter and her parents in their home, and he testified that “the girl was in the fault, and that the neighbors were trying to create a difficulty.” (Minute Book 1, 29 Oct. 1835.)
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioThe “large journal,” the contents of which are known in the present edition as JS’s 1834–1836 history, was a 14 x 9 inch volume in which Oliver Cowdery began recording historical information in 1834. However, Cowdery recorded only brief genealogical information for JS and himself and two journal entries, for 5 and 6 December 1834. Later, Frederick G. Williams began copying into the same volume a series of eight historical and doctrinal letters by Cowdery that had been published in the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate between October 1834 and October 1835. By the date of this journal entry, Williams had copied the first Cowdery letter and most of the second. Parrish finished copying the Cowdery letters into the “large journal.” (See JS History, 1834–1836, 9–20, 46–57.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioLocated ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...
More InfoEcclesiastical organization of church members in a particular locale. Stakes were typically large local organizations of church members; stake leaders could include a presidency, a high council, and a bishopric. Some revelations referred to stakes “to” or...
View GlossaryA specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...
View GlossaryMaps dating from 1833 and 1837 depict Latter-day Saint plans for major expansion in the city of Kirtland. The first map shows 49 square plots, each subdivided into 20 lots; the latter has 225 plots similarly divided. (Plats of Kirtland, Ohio, ca. 1833, ca. 1837, CHL.)
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...
View Full Bio17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full Bio3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full Bio17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...
View Full Bio28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioSee Oliver Cowdery, “Letter II,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Nov. 1834, 1:27–32; JS History, 1834–1836, 57.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...
View Full Bio26 Dec. 1800–15 Feb. 1882. Born at Derby, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Daughter of Gibson Smith and Polly Bradley. Moved to Ohio, 1819. Married Newel K. Whitney, 20 Oct. 1822, at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Shortly after, joined reformed Baptist (later Disciples...
View Full Bio17 Mar. 1804–22 Mar. 1886. Farmer. Born in Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by Oct. 1828. Married first Eve Doane, 26 July 1829, in Geauga Co. Elected overseer of poor, 4 Apr...
View Full BioElizabeth Ann Smith Whitney, with Samuel and Susanna Kimball Whitney from Marlborough, Windham County, Vermont.
27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...
View Full BioAn ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...
View GlossaryA governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...
View GlossaryAn organized body of leaders over priesthood quorums and other ecclesiastical organizations. A November 1831 revelation first described the office of president over the high priesthood and the church as a whole. By 1832, JS and two counselors constituted ...
View Glossary20 Sept. 1811–20 Oct. 1890. Merchant, lecturer, scientist, inventor, dentist. Born at East Bradford (later Groveland), Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Eliphalet Boynton and Susanna Nichols. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by JS,...
View Full Bio3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...
View Full Bio27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...
View Full Bio10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full BioA governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...
View Glossary10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full BioAn organized body of leaders over priesthood quorums and other ecclesiastical organizations. A November 1831 revelation first described the office of president over the high priesthood and the church as a whole. By 1832, JS and two counselors constituted ...
View Glossary8 July 1775–14 May 1856. Oilcloth painter, nurse, fund-raiser, author. Born at Gilsum, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Daughter of Solomon Mack Sr. and Lydia Gates. Moved to Montague, Franklin Co., Massachusetts, 1779; to Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont, 1788...
View Full Bio13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...
View Full Bio8 July 1775–14 May 1856. Oilcloth painter, nurse, fund-raiser, author. Born at Gilsum, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Daughter of Solomon Mack Sr. and Lydia Gates. Moved to Montague, Franklin Co., Massachusetts, 1779; to Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont, 1788...
View Full BioThe official minute entry for this date indicates that William Smith also brought a second charge, against Mary Cahoon Elliott only, for “abusing said E[lliott]s daughter as referred to before, and also abusing the rest of her children.” That JS agreed to preside in the case indicates his approval of considering the new charges. JS ruled that his mother, Lucy Mack Smith, was out of order in presenting testimony about matters that had already been resolved by the high council earlier in the day. (Minute Book 1, 29 Oct. 1835.)
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio18 Nov. 1799–2 Dec. 1855. Blacksmith. Born at Charleston, Montgomery Co., New York. Son of Peter Elliott and Phebe Holley. Married first Almira Holliday of Solon, Cortland Co., New York, ca. 1821. Married second Margery Quick. Lived at Ithaca, Tompkins Co...
View Full BioMinutes of the council state that the Elliotts made confession after the council heard new evidence presented by a “Sister Childs” who had lived in the Elliott home. They were “forgiven, and . . . restored to fellowship.” (Minute Book 1, 29 Oct. 1835.)
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Created 1805. Population in 1830 about 48,000. Latter-day Saints proselytized in county, 1830s.
More InfoJS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...
More InfoThe dedicating of money, lands, goods, or one’s own life for sacred purposes. Both the New Testament and Book of Mormon referred to some groups having “all things common” economically; the Book of Mormon also referred to individuals who consecrated or dedicated...
View GlossaryA specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...
View GlossaryPrior to their 1830 conversion to Mormonism, followers of Sidney Rigdon in Kirtland established a communal society featuring group ownership of property. An 1831 JS revelation mandated establishing a new basis for economic reorganization that featured individual stewardships rather than common ownership. The categorical language in this revelation, “thou shalt consecrate all thy properties,” was revised by 1835 to read in the Doctrine and Covenants published that year “thou wilt . . . consecrate of thy properties.” (Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831, in Book of Commandments 44:26, italics added [D&C 42:29–31]; compare Doctrine and Covenants 13:8, 1835 ed., italics added [D&C 42:30]; see also Revelation, 20 May 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 23:1, 1835 ed. [D&C 51:5]; and Revelation, 30 Apr. 1832, in Doctrine and Covenants 88:1, 1835 ed. [D&C 83:3].)
A Book of Commandments, for the Government of the Church of Christ, Organized according to Law, on the 6th of April, 1830. Zion [Independence], MO: W. W. Phelps, 1833. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Approximately nine hundred to thirteen hundred Latter-day Saints, including children, lived in Kirtland Township at this time, with two hundred or more in the surrounding area. (Backman, Heavens Resound, 139–140.)
Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.
13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...
View Full BioA governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...
View Glossary9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full Bio13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...
View Full Bio9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full Bio13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...
View Full BioA governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...
View GlossarySee JS, Journal, 29 Oct. 1835.
9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full Bio9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full Bio9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full BioAn organized body of leaders over priesthood quorums and other ecclesiastical organizations. A November 1831 revelation first described the office of president over the high priesthood and the church as a whole. By 1832, JS and two counselors constituted ...
View Glossary9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full Bio13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...
View Full Bio9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full BioA document certifying an individual’s office in the church and authorizing him “to perform the duty of his calling.” The “Articles and Covenants” of the church implied that only elders could issue licenses; individuals ordained by a priest to an office in...
View Glossary13 Mar. 1808–30 July 1844. Farmer, logger, scribe, builder, tavern operator. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, by Mar. 1810; to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811...
View Full Bio10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full Bio25 Mar. 1816–7 Aug. 1841. Farmer, printer, editor. Born at Norwich, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816–Jan. 1817. Moved to Manchester, Ontario Co., 1825. Baptized into Church of Jesus...
View Full Bio1 Jan. 1789–4 July 1872. Merchant. Born at Rockingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Uriah Roundy and Lucretia Needham. Married Betsy Quimby, 22 June 1814, at Rockingham. Lived at Spafford, Onondaga Co., New York. Member of Freewill Baptist Church in Spafford...
View Full BioVillage located in northeastern Ohio at mouth of Chagrin River, about three miles northwest of Kirtland, Ohio, and four miles from Lake Erie. Area settled, 1797. Township formerly named Charlton, then Chagrin. Became home of Willoughby Medical College, 1834...
More Info1 Jan. 1789–4 July 1872. Merchant. Born at Rockingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Uriah Roundy and Lucretia Needham. Married Betsy Quimby, 22 June 1814, at Rockingham. Lived at Spafford, Onondaga Co., New York. Member of Freewill Baptist Church in Spafford...
View Full BioAn ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...
View Glossary17 Mar. 1804–22 Mar. 1886. Farmer. Born in Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by Oct. 1828. Married first Eve Doane, 26 July 1829, in Geauga Co. Elected overseer of poor, 4 Apr...
View Full BioKirtland bishop Newel K. Whitney’s parents, Samuel and Susanna Kimball Whitney, had recently arrived in Kirtland. Their daughter Caroline probably arrived with them. (JS, Journal, 29 Oct. 1835; Marlboro, Windham Co., VT, Vital Records, 1768–1857, vol. 1, p. 44, microfilm 28,528, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; obituary for Caroline Whitney Kingsbury, The Wasp, 29 Oct. 1842, [3].)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...
View Full Bio30 Apr. 1790–29 Apr. 1861. Farmer, tanner, builder. Born at Cambridge, Washington Co., New York. Son of William Cahoon Jr. and Mehitable Hodges. Married Thirza Stiles, 11 Dec. 1810. Moved to northeastern Ohio, 1811. Located at Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co.,...
View Full BioLess than three months earlier, on 10 August 1835, JS brought charges against Cahoon in a high council meeting for having “failed to do his duty in correcting his children, and instructing them in the way of truth & righteousness.” The council agreed with the charges, and Cahoon “confessed the correctness of the decision, and promised to make public acknowledgement before the church.” (Minute Book 1, 10 Aug. 1835.)
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
17 Sept. 1794–26 Sept. 1842. Surveyor, politician, author. Born at Worcester Co., Massachusetts. Married Margaret Lyndiff, ca. 1830. Lived at Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 10 Jan. 1831,...
View Full Bio17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...
View Full BioA governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...
View GlossarySee Minute Book 1, 17 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102].
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Primarily referred to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as opposed to other religious sacraments. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed “that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord...
View GlossaryAfter baptism, new converts were confirmed members of the church “by the laying on of the hands, & the giving of the Holy Ghost.” According to JS’s history, the first confirmations were administered at the organization of the church on 6 April 1830. By March...
View GlossaryAn ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...
View GlossaryGenerally referred to the “fulness of the gospel”—the sum total of the church’s message, geared toward establishing God’s covenant people on the earth; also used to describe individual elements of the gospel, including marriage. According to JS, the everlasting...
View GlossaryA term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View GlossaryA term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View Glossary19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full Bio3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full Bio28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioVillage located in northeastern Ohio at mouth of Chagrin River, about three miles northwest of Kirtland, Ohio, and four miles from Lake Erie. Area settled, 1797. Township formerly named Charlton, then Chagrin. Became home of Willoughby Medical College, 1834...
More Info18 July 1800–13 May 1843. Physician, author. Born at Amsterdam, Holland. Son of Moses Peixotto and Judith Lopez Salzedo. Moved to Curacao, West Indies, before 1807. Moved to New York City, 18 July 1807. Married Rachel M. Seixas, 19 Mar. 1823. Graduated from...
View Full BioPeixotto, a public health advocate of national prominence, had revised George Gregory’s medical textbook, Elements of the Theory and Practice of Physic, and had recently moved from New York City to become a professor at the newly established Willoughby Medical College in Willoughby, Ohio—the only institution for regular medical training in the Western Reserve—where he taught general medicine and obstetrics. (George Gregory, Elements of the Theory and Practice of Physic, Designed for the Use of Students [New York: M. Sherman, 1830]; Lake County Historical Society, Here Is Lake County, 51; History of Geauga and Lake Counties, 40; Wheeler, “Medicine in the Western Reserve,” 35; “Peixotto,” in Jewish Encyclopedia, 9:583.)
Lake County Historical Society. Here Is Lake County, Ohio. Cleveland: Howard Allen, 1964.
History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Pioneers and Most Prominent Men. Philadelphia: Williams Brothers, 1878.
Wheeler, Robert A. “Medicine in the Western Reserve: 1820–1860.” Western Reserve Magazine, 1979, 31–38.
The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Edited by Isidore Singer. 12 vols. New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906.
16 Dec. 1782–12 Aug. 1874. Innkeeper. Born at Bennington, Bennington Co., Vermont. Son of Charles Cushman and Desiah Branch. Married Polly Weeks, 9 Dec. 1802, at Bennington. Lived at Rutland, Rutland Co., Vermont, 1820. Lived at Willoughby, Lake Co., Ohio...
View Full BioThe lecture impressed church leaders, and Oliver Cowdery planned to insert a copy of it in the church-owned secular newspaper, the Northern Times. Soon afterward, Peixotto was invited to provide instruction in Kirtland. (Oliver Cowdery, [Kirtland, OH], to John M. Henderson, Willoughby, OH, 2 Nov. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 62.)
Northern Times. Kirtland, OH. 1835–[1836?].
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
9 May 1796–31 Mar. 1858. Farmer. Born at Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of Levi Wight Jr. and Sarah Corbin. Served in War of 1812. Married Harriet Benton, 5 Jan. 1823, at Henrietta, Monroe Co., New York. Moved to Warrensville, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, ...
View Full BioA specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...
View GlossaryWight had traveled from Clay County, Missouri, to Kirtland, where he attended the Elders School. He was among the earliest group called by JS to travel to Kirtland to be endowed with “power from on high.” (Minute Book 2, 23 June 1834.)
Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
26 June 1817–1 Sept. 1875. Born at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York. Son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Joseph H. Wakefield, 10 Sept. 1832, at Potsdam. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio,...
View Full BioCa. 1817–ca. 1837. Born at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York. Participated in Camp of Israel expedition to Missouri, 1834. Resident of Concord Township, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1835. Appointed member of First Quorum of the Seventy, 1835. Served mission to eastern...
View Full BioFive months earlier, on 5 June 1835, JS’s cousin George A. Smith departed with Lyman Smith on a proselytizing mission to Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. (Historian’s Office, “Sketch of the Auto Biography of George Albert Smith,” 13, Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880, CHL.)
Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioLocated in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
More Info28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioLocated in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
More InfoCowdery soon left for New York City to “purchase a book-binding establishment and stock, and also a quantity of Hebrew books for the school.” He returned within the month. (Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to Warren Cowdery, [Freedom, NY], 22 Nov. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 63; JS, Journal, 20 Nov. 1835.)
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...
View GlossaryBestowal of spiritual blessings, power, or knowledge. Beginning in 1831, multiple revelations promised an endowment of “power from on high” in association with the command to gather. Some believed this promise was fulfilled when individuals were first ordained...
View Glossary13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...
View Full Bio13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...
View Full Bio14 Nov. 1799–25 Oct. 1838. Farmer. Born in Vermont. Son of Benoni Patten and Edith Cole. Moved to Theresa, Oneida Co., New York, as a young child. Moved to Dundee, Monroe Co., Michigan Territory, as a youth. Married Phoebe Ann Babcock, 1828, in Dundee. Affiliated...
View Full Bio8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...
View Full Bio18 Jan. 1806–14 Mar. 1883. Schoolteacher, physician, publisher. Born at Smith Co., Tennessee. Son of Charles McLellin and Sarah (a Cherokee Indian). Married first Cynthia Ann, 30 July 1829. Wife died, by summer 1831. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of...
View Full BioRevelation, 2 Jan. 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 12:5, 1835 ed. [D&C 38:26].
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
A special church meeting or conference convened to conduct church business, administer sacred ordinances, and receive spiritual power and instruction. In November 1831, the Saints were directed by revelation to gather as a body in solemn assemblies. A December...
View GlossaryRevelation concerning the Quorum of the Twelve and a charge given to its members soon after its founding warned against disunity and inequality. The twelve apostles met with JS nine days later. Tension between the apostles and other church leaders had been partially resolved more than a month earlier on their return but was not fully resolved for weeks to come. (Instruction on Priesthood, ca. Apr. 1835, in Doctrine and Covenants 3:11–12, 1835 ed. [D&C 107:27–33]; JS, Journal, 26 Sept. and 12 Nov. 1835; 16 Jan. 1836.)
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
A term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View GlossaryBestowal of spiritual blessings, power, or knowledge. Beginning in 1831, multiple revelations promised an endowment of “power from on high” in association with the command to gather. Some believed this promise was fulfilled when individuals were first ordained...
View Glossary30 Mar. 1836
Solemn assembly held in temple, Kirtland, Ohio.
An ecclesiastical and priesthood office with the authority to give inspired blessings, similar to the practice of Old Testament patriarchs. JS occasionally referred to patriarchs as “evangelical ministers” or “evangelists.” Joseph Smith Sr. was ordained as...
View GlossaryA patriarchal blessing meeting—more commonly called a “blessing meeting”—at which Patriarch Joseph Smith Sr. gave patriarchal blessings. (Compare usage in Woodruff, Journal, 23 May 1837; see also Skinner, “First Patriarch to the Church,” 91–96.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Skinner, Earnest M. “Joseph Smith, Sr.: First Patriarch to the Church.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1958.
13 Mar. 1808–30 July 1844. Farmer, logger, scribe, builder, tavern operator. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, by Mar. 1810; to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811...
View Full Bio20 Dec. 1808–25 Jan. 1841. Born at Bedford, Hillsborough Co., New Hampshire. Daughter of Joshua Bailey and Hannah Boutwell. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Samuel H. Smith, 26 June 1832, at Boston. Migrated from Boston to Kirtland...
View Full BioSamuel Smith’s in-laws Joshua and Susannah Boutwell Bailey.
27 Oct. 1835–14 Dec. 1905. Schoolteacher. Born at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Daughter of Samuel H. Smith and Mary Bailey. Moved to Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri, Mar. 1838. Moved to Quincy, Adams Co., Illinois, Apr. 1839; to Macomb, McDonough Co., Illinois...
View Full BioOn the birth of Samuel’s daughter Susanna Bailey Smith, see JS, Journal, 27 Oct. 1835. In blessing the infant, Joseph Smith Sr. evidently gave her a name. Rather than having their infants baptized and christened, Latter-day Saints were directed to bring their children “unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name.” (Articles and Covenants, 10 Apr. 1830, in Doctrine and Covenants 2:20, 1835 ed. [D&C 20:70–71].)
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Two-story structure measuring thirty by thirty-eight feet, built during fall and winter of 1834. Located immediately west of temple lot on Whitney Street (now Maple Street) in Kirtland. School of the Elders met here from winter 1834–1835 to Jan. 1836. Ground...
More InfoA term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View GlossaryJS and Sidney Rigdon occasionally instructed in the school, which spent several weeks studying English grammar. (George A. Smith, Autobiography, 81.)
Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.
24/26 July 1788–9 Mar. 1844. Born at Winchester, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Son of John Follett and Hannah Oak (Oake) Alexander. Married Louisa Tanner, by 1815. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spring 1831. Member of Whitmer branch...
View Full BioA specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...
View GlossaryA term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View Glossary11 Mar. 1786–24 June 1865. Farmer, cooper, merchant, postmaster. Born at Montague, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Thomas Morley and Editha (Edith) Marsh. Family affiliated with Presbyterian church. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, before 1812. Married...
View Full Bio17 Nov. 1795/1797–6 Nov. 1877. Farmer, teacher, judge, postmaster, clerk, civil servant. Born at Canajoharie, Montgomery Co., New York. Son of Gideon Burdick and Catherine Robertson. Married Anna Higley, 1828, at Jamestown, Chautauque Co., New York. Baptized...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioA practice in which individuals place their hands upon a person to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordain to an office or calling, or confer other power, authority, or blessings, often as part of an ordinance. The Book of Mormon explained that ecclesiastical...
View GlossaryJS revelations instructed elders to lay their hands on those who were ill and offer a blessing of healing. By 1834, blessings were often accompanied by an anointing with oil. As in the New Testament, having faith in Christ was a necessary component of being...
View Glossary18 Jan. 1806–14 Mar. 1883. Schoolteacher, physician, publisher. Born at Smith Co., Tennessee. Son of Charles McLellin and Sarah (a Cherokee Indian). Married first Cynthia Ann, 30 July 1829. Wife died, by summer 1831. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of...
View Full Bio8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...
View Full BioMembers of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...
View Glossary10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioThe revelation included a rebuke of McLellin and Hyde. (See JS, Journal, 3 Nov. 1835.)
A term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View Glossary1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...
View Full BioA term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View GlossarySee James 5:17–18.
11 Mar. 1786–24 June 1865. Farmer, cooper, merchant, postmaster. Born at Montague, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Thomas Morley and Editha (Edith) Marsh. Family affiliated with Presbyterian church. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, before 1812. Married...
View Full Bio27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...
View Full BioPartridge and Morley had departed on a fund-raising mission to the East almost five months earlier. Partridge returned to Kirtland on 29 October 1835, and Morley on 5 November 1835. They were among a group of Missouri church leaders whom JS appointed in June 1834 to travel to Kirtland to receive the endowment of “power from on high.” (JS, Journal, 29 Oct. and 5 Nov. 1835; Partridge, Journal, 2 June and 29 Oct. 1835; Minute Book 2, 23 June 1834.)
Partridge, Edward. Journal, Jan. 1835–July 1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fd. 2.
Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
A term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View GlossaryA special church meeting or conference convened to conduct church business, administer sacred ordinances, and receive spiritual power and instruction. In November 1831, the Saints were directed by revelation to gather as a body in solemn assemblies. A December...
View Glossary29 Mar. 1809–27 Sept. 1888. Clerk, teacher, merchant, lawyer. Born at St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., Vermont. Son of Levi Snow and Lucina Streeter. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Orson Pratt and Lyman E. Johnson, 1832. Ordained...
View Full Bio7 Apr. 1797–16 July 1881. Farmer, painter, glazier. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Moved to Auburn, Cayuga Co., New York, before 1830. Joined Methodist church, before Apr. 1832. Baptized into Church...
View Full Bio28 Sept. 1806–25 June 1879. Blacksmith, brick maker. Born near Brighton, Beaver Co., Pennsylvania. Son of John Hill and Nancy Warrick. Moved to East Liverpool, Columbiana Co., Ohio, by Dec. 1826. Married first Mary Bell, 7 June 1827, at East Liverpool. Joined...
View Full Bio16 July 1781–23 May 1854. Farmer. Born at Derryfield (later Manchester), Rockingham Co., New Hampshire. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Member of Congregational church. Appointed overseer of highways at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York, 1810. Married...
View Full BioA governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...
View Glossary28 Sept. 1806–25 June 1879. Blacksmith, brick maker. Born near Brighton, Beaver Co., Pennsylvania. Son of John Hill and Nancy Warrick. Moved to East Liverpool, Columbiana Co., Ohio, by Dec. 1826. Married first Mary Bell, 7 June 1827, at East Liverpool. Joined...
View Full Bio28 Sept. 1806–25 June 1879. Blacksmith, brick maker. Born near Brighton, Beaver Co., Pennsylvania. Son of John Hill and Nancy Warrick. Moved to East Liverpool, Columbiana Co., Ohio, by Dec. 1826. Married first Mary Bell, 7 June 1827, at East Liverpool. Joined...
View Full Bio28 Sept. 1806–25 June 1879. Blacksmith, brick maker. Born near Brighton, Beaver Co., Pennsylvania. Son of John Hill and Nancy Warrick. Moved to East Liverpool, Columbiana Co., Ohio, by Dec. 1826. Married first Mary Bell, 7 June 1827, at East Liverpool. Joined...
View Full Bio19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full Bio16 July 1781–23 May 1854. Farmer. Born at Derryfield (later Manchester), Rockingham Co., New Hampshire. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Member of Congregational church. Appointed overseer of highways at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York, 1810. Married...
View Full Bio28 Sept. 1806–25 June 1879. Blacksmith, brick maker. Born near Brighton, Beaver Co., Pennsylvania. Son of John Hill and Nancy Warrick. Moved to East Liverpool, Columbiana Co., Ohio, by Dec. 1826. Married first Mary Bell, 7 June 1827, at East Liverpool. Joined...
View Full BioAn ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...
View Glossary16 July 1781–23 May 1854. Farmer. Born at Derryfield (later Manchester), Rockingham Co., New Hampshire. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Member of Congregational church. Appointed overseer of highways at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York, 1810. Married...
View Full Bio19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full Bio17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...
View Full Bio27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
View Full BioPhelps later inserted here that “they made satisfaction the same day.”
17 Sept. 1794–26 Sept. 1842. Surveyor, politician, author. Born at Worcester Co., Massachusetts. Married Margaret Lyndiff, ca. 1830. Lived at Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 10 Jan. 1831,...
View Full BioPrimarily referred to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as opposed to other religious sacraments. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed “that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord...
View Glossary10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full Bio1788–ca. 1841. Carpenter, joiner, merchant, minister. Born at Cambridge, Washington Co., New York. Raised in Anti-Burgher Secession Church. Married Margaret Wright, 1813, at New York City. Adopted beliefs of Methodism and then Judaism. Moved to Albany, ca...
View Full BioLocated at falls of Genesee River, seven miles south of Lake Ontario, on Erie Canal. Founded 1812. Incorporated as village, 1817. Originally called Rochesterville; name changed to Rochester, 1822. Incorporated as city, 1834. County seat. Population in 1820...
More InfoDutch founded New Netherland colony, 1625. Incorporated under British control and renamed New York, 1664. Harbor contributed to economic and population growth of city; became largest city in American colonies. British troops defeated Continental Army under...
More InfoJohnson and Wilentz, Kingdom of Matthias, 79–100, 137–164.
Johnson, Paul E., and Sean Wilentz. The Kingdom of Matthias. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
French explored and claimed area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Northeastern portion maintained as part of Connecticut, 1786, and called Connecticut...
More InfoLocated in northeastern Ohio, south of Lake Erie. Rivers in area include Grand, Chagrin, and Cuyahoga. Settled mostly by New Englanders, beginning 1798. Formed from Trumbull Co., 1 Mar. 1806. Chardon established as county seat, 1808. Population in 1830 about...
More InfoSee “Matthias,” Western Reserve Chronicle, 5 Nov. 1835, [2].
Western Reserve Chronicle. Warren, OH. 1816–1854.
JS, Journal, 14 Nov. 1835.
The entry for 9 November 1835 in JS’s 1834–1836 history gives the name as “Whitiker.”
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
1788–ca. 1841. Carpenter, joiner, merchant, minister. Born at Cambridge, Washington Co., New York. Raised in Anti-Burgher Secession Church. Married Margaret Wright, 1813, at New York City. Adopted beliefs of Methodism and then Judaism. Moved to Albany, ca...
View Full BioRobert Matthews. In the early 1820s, Matthews proclaimed himself an Israelite, temporarily identified himself with the Zionist movement of Manuel Mordecai Noah, and came to reject Christianity. (Johnson and Wilentz, Kingdom of Matthias, 64–68, 94–95, 103–104.)
Johnson, Paul E., and Sean Wilentz. The Kingdom of Matthias. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Matthews was well known for his peculiar costume and appearance. (Johnson and Wilentz, Kingdom of Matthias, 106–108.)
Johnson, Paul E., and Sean Wilentz. The Kingdom of Matthias. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
See Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9; and James 1:5; compare the account of JS’s early religious experience with JS History, ca. summer 1832, 2; and JS History, vol. A-1, 2.
JS History, ca. Summer 1832 / Smith, Joseph. “A History of the Life of Joseph Smith Jr,” ca. Summer 1832. In Joseph Smith, “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835, 1–[6] (earliest numbering). Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
JS later explained, “I was siezed upon by some power which entirely overcame me and had such astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.” (JS History, vol. A-1, 3; compare Hyde, Ein Ruf aus der Wüste, 15–16.)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Hyde, Orson. Ein Ruf aus der Wüste, eine Stimme aus dem Schoose der Erde: Kurzer Ueberblick des Ursprungs und der Lehre der Kirche “Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” in Amerika, gekannt von Manchen unter der Benennung: “Die Mormonen.” Frankfurt: Im Selbstverlage des Verfassers, 1842. Also available with English translation in Dean C. Jessee, ed., The Papers of Joseph Smith, vol. 1, Autobiographical and Historical Writings (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989), 402–425.
In his 1832 history, JS recorded, “I saw the Lord and he spake unto me saying Joseph my son thy sins are forgiven thee . . . I am the Lord of glory I was crucifyed for the world . . . I come quickly . . . in the glory of my Father.” In the 1832 history, JS recorded seeing only Jesus Christ. This journal entry states that he saw two personages, as does the history he began in 1838, his letter to John Wentworth, and other accounts that identify the two personages as the Father and the Son. (JS History, ca. summer 1832, 3; JS History, vol. A-1, 3; JS, “Church History,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:706–707; see also, for example, Neibaur, Journal, 24 May 1844.)
JS History, ca. Summer 1832 / Smith, Joseph. “A History of the Life of Joseph Smith Jr,” ca. Summer 1832. In Joseph Smith, “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835, 1–[6] (earliest numbering). Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Neibaur, Alexander. Journal, 1841–1862. CHL. MS 1674.
Oliver Cowdery had recently described the angel as wearing a “garment” that was “perfectly white.” JS later clarified that the angel had appeared wearing a “robe of most exquisite whiteness . . . beyond anything earthly I had ever seen.” (Oliver Cowdery, “Letter IV,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1835, 1:79; JS History, vol. A-1, 5.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
In a later history, JS recounted that the angel also quoted from the books of Isaiah, Acts, and Joel. (JS History, vol. A-1, 6.)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Urim and Thummim appears in the Old Testament as a divinatory instrument used by the high priest of Israel. JS here used the phrase to describe an instrument buried with the golden plates, “two stones in silver bows,” which he used to translate characters inscribed on the gold plates into English. (Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8; Numbers 27:21; JS History, vol. A-1, 5.)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full BioJS’s mother later recounted that the angel asked JS why he had not told his father, to which JS responded “he was affraid his father would not beleive him.” Whereupon the angel told him his father would “believe every word you say to him.” (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 3, [11]; compare JS History, vol. A-1, 7.)
Smith, Lucy Mack. History, 1844–1845. 18 books. CHL. MS 2049. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
In 1832, JS explained that he attempted to remove the ancient record but was prohibited because he “saught the Plates to obtain riches and kept not the commandment that I should have an eye single to the Glory of God.” (JS History, ca. summer 1832, 4–5; compare JS History, vol. A-1, 7; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 4, [2]; and Jessee, “Joseph Knight’s Recollection,” 31.)
JS History, ca. Summer 1832 / Smith, Joseph. “A History of the Life of Joseph Smith Jr,” ca. Summer 1832. In Joseph Smith, “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835, 1–[6] (earliest numbering). Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Smith, Lucy Mack. History, 1844–1845. 18 books. CHL. MS 2049. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Jessee, Dean C. “Joseph Knight’s Recollection of Early Mormon History.” BYU Studies 17 (Autumn 1976): 29–39.
TEXT: Residue from an adhesive wafer at the top of page 25—as well as some paper residue still stuck to the wafer residue—indicates that a loose leaf had been attached at this point in the journal and suggests that part of the entry for 9–11 November 1835 was probably copied into the journal from an earlier manuscript. The five other instances of wafer residue in this journal appear adjacent to copies of other documents (at the top of manuscript pages 51, 77, 103, 129, and 154).
Other JS accounts of the angel, the gold plates, and the translation of the Book of Mormon provide further details. (See, for example, JS History, ca. summer 1832, 4–6; and JS History, vol. A-1, 5–34; compare Oliver Cowdery, “Letter IV,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1835, 1:78–80.)
JS History, ca. Summer 1832 / Smith, Joseph. “A History of the Life of Joseph Smith Jr,” ca. Summer 1832. In Joseph Smith, “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835, 1–[6] (earliest numbering). Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
View Glossary1788–ca. 1841. Carpenter, joiner, merchant, minister. Born at Cambridge, Washington Co., New York. Raised in Anti-Burgher Secession Church. Married Margaret Wright, 1813, at New York City. Adopted beliefs of Methodism and then Judaism. Moved to Albany, ca...
View Full Bio1788–ca. 1841. Carpenter, joiner, merchant, minister. Born at Cambridge, Washington Co., New York. Raised in Anti-Burgher Secession Church. Married Margaret Wright, 1813, at New York City. Adopted beliefs of Methodism and then Judaism. Moved to Albany, ca...
View Full BioSee Daniel 12:4.
Matthews drew on Daniel 2, a Bible chapter that was also important in early Mormon eschatology. JS later alluded to Daniel 2:44–45 in his prayer dedicating the House of the Lord. (Whittaker, “Book of Daniel in Early Mormon Thought”; JS, Journal, 27 Mar. 1836.)
Whittaker, David J. “The Book of Daniel in Early Mormon Thought.” In By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh W. Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 27 March 1990, edited by John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks, 1:155–201. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1990.
North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...
More InfoMatthews earlier taught his followers that “President Jackson and his government were the toes of this image” and that “this was the last of the republican governments” and “declared this government at an end.” (Stone, Matthias and His Impostures, 167.)
Stone, William L. Matthias and His Impostures: Or, The Progress of Fanaticism. Illustrated in the Extraordinary Case of Robert Matthews, and Some of His Forerunners and Disciples. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1835.
A reference to those who were “slain for the word of God” seen in vision by John the Revelator. (Revelation 6:9.)
An exegesis of the ultimate reversals prophesied by Jesus. (Matthew 20:16.)
Matthews was orphaned in his childhood and later became a farm laborer. However, during his mid- to late twenties he enjoyed a profitable enterprise as a storekeeper. (Johnson and Wilentz, Kingdom of Matthias, 57–62.)
Johnson, Paul E., and Sean Wilentz. The Kingdom of Matthias. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
A paraphrase of Revelation 14:6. Latter-day Saint revelation also used this scripture in a restorationist context. (Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 100:4, 1835 ed. [D&C 133:36–37].)
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
1788–ca. 1841. Carpenter, joiner, merchant, minister. Born at Cambridge, Washington Co., New York. Raised in Anti-Burgher Secession Church. Married Margaret Wright, 1813, at New York City. Adopted beliefs of Methodism and then Judaism. Moved to Albany, ca...
View Full Bio1788–ca. 1841. Carpenter, joiner, merchant, minister. Born at Cambridge, Washington Co., New York. Raised in Anti-Burgher Secession Church. Married Margaret Wright, 1813, at New York City. Adopted beliefs of Methodism and then Judaism. Moved to Albany, ca...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioLocated near Vermont border in eastern New York state. Settled by New England squatters, 1760s. Township (some of which was originally in Vermont) established, 1773, and included Stevenson’s Corner, Centre Cambridge, Buskirk’s Bridge, and Cambridge village...
More InfoSee Revelation 8:1.
In 1830, Matthews marked the beginning of his “Kingdom,” then only an idea, by issuing a “Declaration of Judgement.” He intended to preach until 1836, after which would follow fifteen years of turmoil before the world burned. (Johnson and Wilentz, Kingdom of Matthias, 79–81, 92, 96.)
Johnson, Paul E., and Sean Wilentz. The Kingdom of Matthias. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
1788–ca. 1841. Carpenter, joiner, merchant, minister. Born at Cambridge, Washington Co., New York. Raised in Anti-Burgher Secession Church. Married Margaret Wright, 1813, at New York City. Adopted beliefs of Methodism and then Judaism. Moved to Albany, ca...
View Full Bio1788–ca. 1841. Carpenter, joiner, merchant, minister. Born at Cambridge, Washington Co., New York. Raised in Anti-Burgher Secession Church. Married Margaret Wright, 1813, at New York City. Adopted beliefs of Methodism and then Judaism. Moved to Albany, ca...
View Full BioLocated in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
More Info1788–ca. 1841. Carpenter, joiner, merchant, minister. Born at Cambridge, Washington Co., New York. Raised in Anti-Burgher Secession Church. Married Margaret Wright, 1813, at New York City. Adopted beliefs of Methodism and then Judaism. Moved to Albany, ca...
View Full BioIn April 1835, Matthews was tried in White Plains, New York, and acquitted of murder and manslaughter, but he was charged with contempt of court for shouting during the proceedings. He was then immediately tried for an alleged assault on his daughter, Isabella Laisdell, and found guilty. He was sentenced to jail for three months on the assault charge and for thirty days for contempt of court. Newspapers covering this widely publicized case expressed astonishment over Matthews’s light sentence. (Johnson and Wilentz, Kingdom of Matthias, 144–165.)
Johnson, Paul E., and Sean Wilentz. The Kingdom of Matthias. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
See Genesis 1:3.
Located in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
More Info1788–ca. 1841. Carpenter, joiner, merchant, minister. Born at Cambridge, Washington Co., New York. Raised in Anti-Burgher Secession Church. Married Margaret Wright, 1813, at New York City. Adopted beliefs of Methodism and then Judaism. Moved to Albany, ca...
View Full BioIn his trial held earlier in the year, Matthews declared himself “chief high Priest of the Jews.” (Johnson and Wilentz, Kingdom of Matthias, 145.)
Johnson, Paul E., and Sean Wilentz. The Kingdom of Matthias. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
See Acts 1:15–26.
On Matthews’s claim to be “the spirit of truth,” the same spirit that was once within the New Testament apostle Matthias, see Johnson and Wilentz, Kingdom of Matthias, 94–95.
Johnson, Paul E., and Sean Wilentz. The Kingdom of Matthias. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
On parting, Matthews and JS apparently shared a mutual contempt. (See “Prophet Catch Prophet,” Painesville Telegraph, 20 Nov. 1835, 3.)
Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.
22 May 1775–15 Nov. 1837. Farmer. Born at New Marlboro, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Reuben Beman and Mariam. Married Sarah (Sally) Burt, 18 Aug. 1796. Moved to what became Livonia, Ontario Co., New York, 1799. Moved to Avon, Livingston Co., New York...
View Full BioLocated in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...
More InfoA specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...
View GlossaryA term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View GlossaryA term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View GlossaryJS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...
More Info11 Sept. 1790–19 Nov. 1874. Farmer, lumberman, merchant, builder, stonemason. Born at Westmoreland, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Son of Ebenezer Millet and Catherine Dryden. Moved to Stockbridge, Windsor Co., Vermont, fall 1800; to Shelburn, Chittendon Co...
View Full Bio19 Oct. 1807–21 Nov. 1895. Farmer, plasterer, gardener, blacksmith, nurseryman. Born at Smyrna, Chenango Co., New York. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Married Persis Goodall, 6 June 1826, at Watertown, Jefferson Co., New York. Baptized into Church...
View Full BioMillet, a stonemason, was baptized by Lorenzo Young’s brother Brigham. Apparently at Brigham Young’s suggestion, Hyrum Smith, a member of the temple committee, wrote to Millet instructing him to move to Kirtland to work on the House of the Lord. Millet’s son Joseph later recounted that his father was also asked to donate one thousand dollars toward construction. The contract to plaster the exterior may have functioned as something of a repayment. (See Erekson and Newell, “Conversion of Artemus Millet,” 79–81, 91–92.)
Erekson, Keith A., and Lloyd D. Newell. “The Conversion of Artemus Millet and His Call to Kirtland.” BYU Studies 41, no. 2 (2002): 77–115.
1791–by 10 Oct. 1865. Brickmason, plasterer, carpenter, mechanic, farmer, craftsman. Born at Butternuts, Otsego Co., New York. Son of Asa Bump and Lydia Dandley. Married Abigail Pettingill, ca. 1811. Moved to Meadville, Crawford Co., Pennsylvania, by 1826...
View Full BioJS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...
More InfoBump received fifteen hundred dollars for his labor on the House of the Lord. (JS History, vol. B-1, 684.)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...
View GlossarySee Malachi 4:2; compare Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 505 [3 Nephi 25:2].
The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. Palmyra, NY: E. B. Grandin, 1830.
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...
More InfoBefore leaving on the 1834 military expedition to Missouri, JS established a “high council” for governance of the stake in Kirtland. While in Missouri in July, he similarly organized a high council. In Missouri he also appointed David Whitmer, William W. Phelps, and John Whitmer as a local presidency to preside over the high council, as well as designating David Whitmer as a potential successor in the office of general church president. JS remarked on that occasion that “if he should now be taken away that he had accomplished the great work which the Lord had laid before him.” (Minute Book 2, 3 and 7 July 1834; 15 Mar. 1838.)
Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
A religious rite. JS taught that ordinances were covenants between man and God, in which believers could affirm faith, gain spiritual knowledge, and seek blessings. Some ordinances were considered requisite for salvation. The manner in which ordinances were...
View GlossaryAn ordinance following the pattern set by Jesus in the New Testament, symbolizing unity and bestowing purification and spiritual power. At the first meeting of the School of the Prophets in January 1833, JS washed the feet of the elders present and pronounced...
View Glossary29 Mar. 1836
JS administered and received ritual washing of feet with priesthood leaders in temple, Kirtland, Ohio.
See John 13:4–17; compare New Testament Revision 2, p. 117 (second numbering) [Joseph Smith Translation, John 13:10].
Though JS instituted the washing of feet in the 1833 School of the Prophets, he now prepared to introduce the practice in connection with the House of the Lord. (See Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 and 3 Jan. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 7:44–46, 1835 ed. [D&C 88:137–141].)
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Presiding officers of the church; also, leading elders of the church. A December 1832 revelation directed the first elders, or “first labourers,” to preach the gospel and instructed them to create a school to prepare for their ministry. A June 1834 revelation...
View GlossaryA special church meeting or conference convened to conduct church business, administer sacred ordinances, and receive spiritual power and instruction. In November 1831, the Saints were directed by revelation to gather as a body in solemn assemblies. A December...
View GlossaryJS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...
More InfoA religious rite. JS taught that ordinances were covenants between man and God, in which believers could affirm faith, gain spiritual knowledge, and seek blessings. Some ordinances were considered requisite for salvation. The manner in which ordinances were...
View GlossaryAn ordinance following the pattern set by Jesus in the New Testament, symbolizing unity and bestowing purification and spiritual power. At the first meeting of the School of the Prophets in January 1833, JS washed the feet of the elders present and pronounced...
View Glossary29 Mar. 1836
JS administered and received ritual washing of feet with priesthood leaders in temple, Kirtland, Ohio.
Male church members ordained to a priesthood office. Records of conferences occasionally listed the number of official members present. In March 1836, a gathering of priesthood quorums and councils met in the House of the Lord in Kirtland, Ohio, and approved...
View GlossaryBestowal of spiritual blessings, power, or knowledge. Beginning in 1831, multiple revelations promised an endowment of “power from on high” in association with the command to gather. Some believed this promise was fulfilled when individuals were first ordained...
View GlossaryChrist told John that he would “tarry till” the Second Coming. (John 21:20–24; see also Account of John, Apr. 1829–C, in Doctrine and Covenants 33, 1835 ed. [D&C 7].)
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
The official name for the sacred edifice in Kirtland, Ohio, later known as the Kirtland temple; also the official name for other planned religious structures in Missouri. JS and the Latter-day Saints also referred to the House of the Lord in Kirtland as “...
View GlossaryHighest kingdom of glory in the afterlife; symbolically represented by the sun. According to a vision dated 16 February 1832, inheritors of the celestial kingdom “are they who received the testimony of Jesus, & believed on his name, & were baptized,” “receive...
View GlossaryBestowal of spiritual blessings, power, or knowledge. Beginning in 1831, multiple revelations promised an endowment of “power from on high” in association with the command to gather. Some believed this promise was fulfilled when individuals were first ordained...
View GlossaryJS revelations instructed elders to lay their hands on those who were ill and offer a blessing of healing. By 1834, blessings were often accompanied by an anointing with oil. As in the New Testament, having faith in Christ was a necessary component of being...
View GlossarySee Mark 16:14–18; compare Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 514 [4 Nephi 1:5].
The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. Palmyra, NY: E. B. Grandin, 1830.
To confirm or solemnize. In the early 1830s, revelations often adopted biblical usage of the term seal; for example, “sealed up the testimony” referred to proselytizing and testifying of the gospel as a warning of the approaching end time. JS explained in...
View GlossarySee Isaiah 8:16; and Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 and 3 Jan. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 7:23, 1835 ed. [D&C 88:84]; see also JS, Journal, 27 Mar. 1836.
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
See Revelation, 27 Feb. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 80:3, 1835 ed. [D&C 89:21].
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
See, for example, Matthew 24:15; and Revelation, 16 and 17 Dec. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 97:5, 1835 ed. [D&C 101:22].
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
See, for example, Matthew 25:1–13; and Revelation, Oct. 1830–B, in Doctrine and Covenants 55:3, 1835 ed. [D&C 33:17].
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Bestowal of spiritual blessings, power, or knowledge. Beginning in 1831, multiple revelations promised an endowment of “power from on high” in association with the command to gather. Some believed this promise was fulfilled when individuals were first ordained...
View GlossaryA special church meeting or conference convened to conduct church business, administer sacred ordinances, and receive spiritual power and instruction. In November 1831, the Saints were directed by revelation to gather as a body in solemn assemblies. A December...
View GlossarySee Revelation, 2 Nov. 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 25:3, 1835 ed. [D&C 67:10]; and Matthew 5:8.
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
A term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View GlossaryLocated 110 miles southwest of Albany, New York. Hilly land cut by Susquehanna River. Organized as Jericho, 1791, as part of tract of land given by New York to “Vermont sufferers” who lost land titles after border dispute between New York and Vermont. Name...
More Info19 Jan. 1782–25 Aug. 1850. Millwright. Born at Guilford, Cumberland Co., New York (later in Windham Co., Vermont). Son of Joseph Peck and Elizabeth Read. Moved to Jericho (later Bainbridge), Chenango Co., New York, by 1812. Married Martha Long, by 1812. Baptized...
View Full BioMessinger was a preacher for the First Universalist Society of Smithville Flats, Chenango County, New York. The Peck family, converts from Chenango County, New York, were living at this time in Clay County, Missouri, where Hezekiah was a Latter-day Saint priest. (James H. Smith, History of Chenango and Madison Counties, 303–304; Chenango Co., NY, Deed Records, 1798–1905, vol. TT, pp. 225–226, 20 Mar. 1833, microfilm 818,137, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; George Messinger Jr., South Bainbridge, NY, to S. Presson Landers, Prompton, PA, 1 Aug. 1837, Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Cambridge, MA; Whitmer, History, 80–81.)
Smith, James H. History of Chenango and Madison Counties, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Syracuse, NY: D. Mason, 1880.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Messinger, George, Jr. Letter, South Bainbridge, NY, to S. Presson Landers, Prompton, PA, 1 Aug. 1837. Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Cambridge, MA.
Whitmer, History / Whitmer, John. “The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment,” ca. 1838–1847. CCLA. Available at josephsmithpapers.org.
19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioBestowal of spiritual blessings, power, or knowledge. Beginning in 1831, multiple revelations promised an endowment of “power from on high” in association with the command to gather. Some believed this promise was fulfilled when individuals were first ordained...
View GlossaryThis foreshadowed Parrish’s role as a scribe in the coming weeks for JS’s work on the book of Abraham. Parrish later recounted, “I have set by his side and penned down the translation of the Egyptian Hieroglyphicks as he claimed to receive it by direct inspiration from Heaven.” (Book of Abraham Manuscripts, ca. 1835–1838, ca. 1841–1843; Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ca. 1835–1836, CHL; Warren Parrish, Kirtland, OH, 5 Feb. 1838, Letter to the editor, Painesville Republican, 15 Feb. 1838, [3].)
Book of Abraham Manuscripts, ca. 1835–1838, ca. 1841–1843. CHL.
Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ca. 1835–1836. CHL.
Painesville Republican. Painesville, OH. 1836–1841.
10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full Bio12 Oct. 1800–26 Aug. 1863. Clerk, trader, merchant. Born at Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Connecticut. Son of George Holmes and Betsy Ball. Moved to Newbury (probably later Mulberry), Miami Township, Clermont Co., Ohio, 1821. Married Mary Ann Leming, after Jan...
View Full BioAlso spelled Newberry. Village located in southwest Ohio. Laid out, 1818. Platted by 1833. Post office established, by 1833. Population in 1830 about 45.
More InfoThe Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
View GlossaryJS may have recounted the traumatic leg operation he underwent at age seven, as he did in a later history. His recounting of “the first visitation of Angels” corresponds with the vision he described earlier in the week to Robert Matthews, wherein he saw two “personage[s]” and “many angels” when he “was about 14.” (JS History, vol. A-1, 131nA; JS, Journal, 9–11 Nov. 1835; compare JS History, ca. summer 1832, 1–3; and JS History, vol. A-1, 1–4.)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
JS History, ca. Summer 1832 / Smith, Joseph. “A History of the Life of Joseph Smith Jr,” ca. Summer 1832. In Joseph Smith, “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835, 1–[6] (earliest numbering). Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.
In 1832, JS wrote a narrative of the origin of the Book of Mormon and early church history. (JS History, ca. summer 1832, 1–6; compare Articles and Covenants, 10 Apr. 1830, in Doctrine and Covenants 2:1–2, 1835 ed. [D&C 20:1–12].)
JS History, ca. Summer 1832 / Smith, Joseph. “A History of the Life of Joseph Smith Jr,” ca. Summer 1832. In Joseph Smith, “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835, 1–[6] (earliest numbering). Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
12 Oct. 1800–26 Aug. 1863. Clerk, trader, merchant. Born at Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Connecticut. Son of George Holmes and Betsy Ball. Moved to Newbury (probably later Mulberry), Miami Township, Clermont Co., Ohio, 1821. Married Mary Ann Leming, after Jan...
View Full BioTwo-story structure measuring thirty by thirty-eight feet, built during fall and winter of 1834. Located immediately west of temple lot on Whitney Street (now Maple Street) in Kirtland. School of the Elders met here from winter 1834–1835 to Jan. 1836. Ground...
More InfoJS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...
More Info19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full Bio12 Oct. 1800–26 Aug. 1863. Clerk, trader, merchant. Born at Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Connecticut. Son of George Holmes and Betsy Ball. Moved to Newbury (probably later Mulberry), Miami Township, Clermont Co., Ohio, 1821. Married Mary Ann Leming, after Jan...
View Full Bio12 Oct. 1800–26 Aug. 1863. Clerk, trader, merchant. Born at Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Connecticut. Son of George Holmes and Betsy Ball. Moved to Newbury (probably later Mulberry), Miami Township, Clermont Co., Ohio, 1821. Married Mary Ann Leming, after Jan...
View Full BioPrimarily referred to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as opposed to other religious sacraments. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed “that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord...
View Glossary28 Sept. 1806–25 June 1879. Blacksmith, brick maker. Born near Brighton, Beaver Co., Pennsylvania. Son of John Hill and Nancy Warrick. Moved to East Liverpool, Columbiana Co., Ohio, by Dec. 1826. Married first Mary Bell, 7 June 1827, at East Liverpool. Joined...
View Full BioHill’s case was first heard the previous Sunday. His confession was never published. (JS, Journal, 8 Nov. 1835.)
A religious rite. JS taught that ordinances were covenants between man and God, in which believers could affirm faith, gain spiritual knowledge, and seek blessings. Some ordinances were considered requisite for salvation. The manner in which ordinances were...
View GlossaryThis was the second in a series of three letters written by JS and published in successive issues of the LDS Messenger and Advocate providing instruction for traveling elders. The second letter concerns the gathering of Israel in the last days to Zion, the New Jerusalem, and admonishes elders to proselytize only with the permission of heads of households. (JS, “To the Elders of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Nov. 1835, 2:209–212; see also Sept. 1835, 1:179–182; and Dec. 1835, 2:225–230.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
1809–after 1880. Physician. Born in Massachusetts. Married Minerva Abbott, 21 Nov. 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1831. Ordained an elder, by June 1831. Ordained a high priest, 4 June 1831. Served mission to Jackson Co., ...
View Full Bio22 May 1775–15 Nov. 1837. Farmer. Born at New Marlboro, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Reuben Beman and Mariam. Married Sarah (Sally) Burt, 18 Aug. 1796. Moved to what became Livonia, Ontario Co., New York, 1799. Moved to Avon, Livingston Co., New York...
View Full BioProbably Ezra Strong. (Minute Book 1, 7 Mar. 1835; elder’s certificate for Ezra Strong, 31 Mar. 1836, in Kirtland Elders’ Certificates, 33.)
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Kirtland Elders’ Certificates / Kirtland Elders Quorum. “Record of Certificates of Membership and Ordinations of the First Members and Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Dating from March 21st 1836 to June 18th 1838 Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838. CHL. CR 100 401.

Warren Parrish handwriting ends; Frederick G. Williams begins.
1809–after 1880. Physician. Born in Massachusetts. Married Minerva Abbott, 21 Nov. 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1831. Ordained an elder, by June 1831. Ordained a high priest, 4 June 1831. Served mission to Jackson Co., ...
View Full BioWritten 28 September 1835, as noted in JS’s response, which follows.
Whitlock was ordained a high priest in 1831. (Minute Book 2, 3 June 1831.)
Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

Frederick G. Williams handwriting ends; Warren Parrish begins.
1809–after 1880. Physician. Born in Massachusetts. Married Minerva Abbott, 21 Nov. 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1831. Ordained an elder, by June 1831. Ordained a high priest, 4 June 1831. Served mission to Jackson Co., ...
View Full Bio1809–after 1880. Physician. Born in Massachusetts. Married Minerva Abbott, 21 Nov. 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1831. Ordained an elder, by June 1831. Ordained a high priest, 4 June 1831. Served mission to Jackson Co., ...
View Full BioLocated ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...
More Info1809–after 1880. Physician. Born in Massachusetts. Married Minerva Abbott, 21 Nov. 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1831. Ordained an elder, by June 1831. Ordained a high priest, 4 June 1831. Served mission to Jackson Co., ...
View Full Bio1809–after 1880. Physician. Born in Massachusetts. Married Minerva Abbott, 21 Nov. 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1831. Ordained an elder, by June 1831. Ordained a high priest, 4 June 1831. Served mission to Jackson Co., ...
View Full BioLocated ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...
More InfoLocated ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...
More InfoA term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish...
View GlossaryLocated ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...
More InfoGenerally referred to the “fulness of the gospel”—the sum total of the church’s message, geared toward establishing God’s covenant people on the earth; also used to describe individual elements of the gospel, including marriage. According to JS, the everlasting...
View GlossaryTwo and a half months later, church leaders resolved that Whitlock be “restored to the church in full fellowship on his being rebaptized and after be ordained to the High Priesthood.” (Minute Book 1, 30 Jan. 1836.)
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
22 May 1775–15 Nov. 1837. Farmer. Born at New Marlboro, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Reuben Beman and Mariam. Married Sarah (Sally) Burt, 18 Aug. 1796. Moved to what became Livonia, Ontario Co., New York, 1799. Moved to Avon, Livingston Co., New York...
View Full BioArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...
More Info7 Jan. 1805–25 Jan. 1888. Farmer, livery keeper. Born near Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Raised Presbyterian. Moved to Ontario Co., New York, shortly after birth. Attended German Reformed Church. Arranged...
View Full BioSee JS, Journal, 9–11 Nov. 1835. Whitmer presided over the Latter-day Saints in Missouri. (Minute Book 2, 3 July 1834.)
Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
12 Oct. 1800–26 Aug. 1863. Clerk, trader, merchant. Born at Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Connecticut. Son of George Holmes and Betsy Ball. Moved to Newbury (probably later Mulberry), Miami Township, Clermont Co., Ohio, 1821. Married Mary Ann Leming, after Jan...
View Full BioAn ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...
View Glossary12 Oct. 1800–26 Aug. 1863. Clerk, trader, merchant. Born at Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Connecticut. Son of George Holmes and Betsy Ball. Moved to Newbury (probably later Mulberry), Miami Township, Clermont Co., Ohio, 1821. Married Mary Ann Leming, after Jan...
View Full BioHolmes lived in Newbury, Clermont County, Ohio, and could return overland or by boat on the canal system or the Ohio River. (JS, Journal, 14 Nov. 1835.)
Possibly the “Egyptian alphabet” that JS, Oliver Cowdery, and William W. Phelps apparently worked on seven weeks earlier. (Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ca. 1835–1836, 4, CHL; JS, Journal, 1 Oct. 1835.)
Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ca. 1835–1836. CHL.
12 Oct. 1800–26 Aug. 1863. Clerk, trader, merchant. Born at Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Connecticut. Son of George Holmes and Betsy Ball. Moved to Newbury (probably later Mulberry), Miami Township, Clermont Co., Ohio, 1821. Married Mary Ann Leming, after Jan...
View Full Bio28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioThere is no evidence that Holmes joined the church.
Two-story structure measuring thirty by thirty-eight feet, built during fall and winter of 1834. Located immediately west of temple lot on Whitney Street (now Maple Street) in Kirtland. School of the Elders met here from winter 1834–1835 to Jan. 1836. Ground...
More InfoCa. 1785–18 Apr. 1867. Farmer. Born at Easton, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s Landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married Nancy Warren. One of five to whom JS gave Martin...
View Full BioNathan Harris, father of Preserved and Martin Harris, died the day before at Mentor, Geauga County, Ohio. (Tuckett and Wilson, Martin Harris Story, 178.)
Tuckett, Madge Harris, and Belle Harris Wilson. The Martin Harris Story, with Biographies of Emer Harris and Dennison Lott Harris. Provo, UT: Vintage Books, 1983.
10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full Bio8 July 1775–14 May 1856. Oilcloth painter, nurse, fund-raiser, author. Born at Gilsum, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Daughter of Solomon Mack Sr. and Lydia Gates. Moved to Montague, Franklin Co., Massachusetts, 1779; to Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont, 1788...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full Bio3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...
View Full Bio26 Dec. 1800–15 Feb. 1882. Born at Derby, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Daughter of Gibson Smith and Polly Bradley. Moved to Ohio, 1819. Married Newel K. Whitney, 20 Oct. 1822, at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Shortly after, joined reformed Baptist (later Disciples...
View Full Bio17 Mar. 1804–22 Mar. 1886. Farmer. Born in Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by Oct. 1828. Married first Eve Doane, 26 July 1829, in Geauga Co. Elected overseer of poor, 4 Apr...
View Full BioBishop Newel K. Whitney was accompanied by his wife, Elizabeth Ann Smith Whitney; his parents, Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball Whitney; and probably by Eve Doane Whitney, wife of Newel Whitney’s brother Samuel Whitney, who also lived in Kirtland during this time. (Geauga Co., OH, Probate Court, Marriage Records,vol. B, p. 132, microfilm 873,461, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Geauga Co., OH, Duplicate Tax Records: 1816–1850, Tax Record for 1835, p. 19, microfilm 506,578, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full Bio12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full Bio10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioThe lyceum movement—part of the larger reform movement of Jacksonian America, with its lectures, dramatic performances, class instruction, and debates—contributed significantly to the education of adult Americans in the nineteenth century and provided the cultural context for the schools and debating societies of Kirtland. (See Stevens, “Science, Culture, and Morality,” 69–83; and Bode, American Lyceum.)
Stevens, Edward W., Jr. “Science, Culture, and Morality: Educating Adults in the Early Nineteenth Century.” In “. . . Schools and the Means of Education Shall Forever Be Encouraged”: A History of Education in the Old Northwest, 1787–1880, edited by Paul H. Mattingly and Edward W. Stevens Jr., 68–83. Athens: Ohio University Libraries, 1987.
Bode, Carl. The American Lyceum: Town Meeting of the Mind. New York: Oxford University Press, 1956.
JS expressed this view on other occasions. (See JS, Journal, 29 Oct. and 18 Dec. 1835; see also Thompson, “Recollections of the Prophet,” 399.)
Thompson, Mercy R. “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith.” Juvenile Instructor, 1 July 1892, 398–400.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioJS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...
More Info18 July 1807–24 Dec. 1902. Farmer, millwright, county officer. Born at Onondaga Co., New York. Son of Job L. Lewis and Margaret Lowers. Moved to Westfield, Chautauque Co., New York, by 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by 1835...
View Full BioCa. 1809–ca. May 1897. Millwright. Born in New York. Son of Job L. Lewis and Margaret Lowers. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, probably at Westfield, Chautauque Co., New York. Ordained an elder, 13 May 1835, in Kirtland, Geauga Co...
View Full BioLorenzo Lewis was excommunicated almost two months earlier. (JS, Journal, 28 Sept. 1835.)
1 Sep. 1835
JS worked periodically on Book of Abraham translation; he and associates produced several manuscripts related to the Egyptian papyri, including an Egyptian alphabet, Kirtland, Ohio.
1 Sep. 1835
JS worked periodically on Book of Abraham translation; he and associates produced several manuscripts related to the Egyptian papyri, including an Egyptian alphabet, Kirtland, Ohio.
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioLocated in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
More InfoOn JS’s instructions to Cowdery regarding this trip, see JS, Journal, 2 Nov. 1835; see also Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to Warren Cowdery, [Freedom, NY], 22 Nov. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 63.
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
An educational program established in Kirtland, Ohio, in January 1836 for the study of the Hebrew language. On 4 January 1836, JS organized the school and served as its temporary instructor for three weeks. A committee composed of JS, Sidney Rigdon, Frederick...
View GlossaryThe Hebrew Bible referred to here is probably Augustus Hahn, ed., Biblia Hebraica, 2nd ed. (Leipzig: Caroli Tauchnitz, 1833). The copy housed at the Community of Christ Library-Archives has an “FWC” endorsement inside the back cover, indicating that it was the property of F. G. Williams & Co. That repository also has evidence that this copy was previously in the possession of JS’s descendants. The grammar is probably Moses Stuart, A Grammar of the Hebrew Language, 5th ed. (Andover, MA: Gould and Newman, 1835), as JS owned this manual. His copy is housed in the Community of Christ Library-Archives. The lexicon is probably Josiah M. Gibbs, A Manual Hebrew and English Lexicon Including the Biblical Chaldee. Designed Particularly for Beginners, 2nd ed. (New Haven, CT: Hezekiah Howe, 1832). The copy owned by the Community of Christ has a binding that matches the Stuart grammar and an “FWC” endorsement inside the back cover. “Websters English Lexicon” refers to a reprinting of Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language—possibly one of the N. and J. White editions published in New York that year.
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioLocated ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...
More Info26 Jan. 1836
First day of formal instruction by Joshua Seixas at Hebrew School, Kirtland, Ohio.
An educational program established in Kirtland, Ohio, in January 1836 for the study of the Hebrew language. On 4 January 1836, JS organized the school and served as its temporary instructor for three weeks. A committee composed of JS, Sidney Rigdon, Frederick...
View GlossaryLocated in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
More Info18 July 1800–13 May 1843. Physician, author. Born at Amsterdam, Holland. Son of Moses Peixotto and Judith Lopez Salzedo. Moved to Curacao, West Indies, before 1807. Moved to New York City, 18 July 1807. Married Rachel M. Seixas, 19 Mar. 1823. Graduated from...
View Full BioAlthough Peixotto probably had some skill in Hebrew, JS and his associates now felt they had more promising options. While in New York, Cowdery had become “quite intimately acquainted with a learned Jew,” with whom he may have discussed textbooks or potential instructors for the planned Hebrew School. (O. Cowdery to W. Cowdery, 22 Nov. 1835; see also C. [Oliver Cowdery], Kirtland, OH, 1 Feb. 1836, Letter to the editor, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1836, 2:268–271 .)
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Ten o’clock. (See JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1835.)
7 June 1794–3 Feb. 1869. Farmer. Born at Killingworth, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. Son of Gideon Carter and Johanna Sims. Moved to Benson, Rutland Co., Vermont, by 1810. Married Lydia Kenyon, 2 Dec. 1818, at Benson. Moved to Amherst, Lorain Co., Ohio, by ...
View Full Bio19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full BioTwo-story structure measuring thirty by thirty-eight feet, built during fall and winter of 1834. Located immediately west of temple lot on Whitney Street (now Maple Street) in Kirtland. School of the Elders met here from winter 1834–1835 to Jan. 1836. Ground...
More Info17 Sept. 1815–3 Sept. 1897. Physician, politician. Born at Aurora, Portage Co., Ohio. Son of Ezekiel Squires and Clarissa Stewart. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ordained an elder. Left church and joined briefly with the Methodists...
View Full BioA document certifying an individual’s office in the church and authorizing him “to perform the duty of his calling.” The “Articles and Covenants” of the church implied that only elders could issue licenses; individuals ordained by a priest to an office in...
View Glossary17 Sept. 1815–3 Sept. 1897. Physician, politician. Born at Aurora, Portage Co., Ohio. Son of Ezekiel Squires and Clarissa Stewart. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ordained an elder. Left church and joined briefly with the Methodists...
View Full BioA governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...
View Glossary25 Mar. 1806–22 Feb. 1880. Farmer, carpenter, lawyer, realtor. Born at Tyringham, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Chileab Smith and Nancy Marshall. Moved to Amherst, Lorain Co., Ohio, ca. 1815. Married Elizabeth Frank, 27 Dec. 1827, likely in Chautauque...
View Full BioSquires had joined the Methodists for a time. At this council, JS spoke on the “impropriety of turning away from the truth,” and Sidney Rigdon spoke on the “folly of fellowshiping any doctrine or spirit aside from that of Christ.” (Minute Book 1, 22 Nov. 1835.)
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
14 June 1801–6 July 1849. Born at Killingworth, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. Son of Gideon Carter and Johanna Sims. Moved to Benson, Rutland Co., Vermont, by 1810. Married Lydia Ames, 20 Sept. 1823, at Benson. Moved to Chenango, Broome Co., New York, by Jan...
View Full Bio1 Sep. 1835
JS worked periodically on Book of Abraham translation; he and associates produced several manuscripts related to the Egyptian papyri, including an Egyptian alphabet, Kirtland, Ohio.
9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full Bio24 Nov. 1835
JS solemnized his first recorded wedding, marrying Newel Knight and Lydia Goldthwaite Bailey, Kirtland, Ohio.
13 Sept. 1800–11 Jan. 1847. Miller, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Knight Sr. and Polly Peck. Moved to Jericho (later Bainbridge), Chenango Co., New York, ca. 1809. Moved to Windsor (later in Colesville), Broome Co., New...
View Full Bio9 June 1812–3 Apr. 1884. Boardinghouse operator, weaver, teacher. Born at Sutton, Worcester Co., Massachusetts. Daughter of Jesse G. Goldthwaite and Sally Burt. Married first Calvin Bailey, fall 1828, but deserted by him, 1832. Moved to home of Eleazer Freeman...
View Full Bio10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full Bio13 Sept. 1800–11 Jan. 1847. Miller, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Knight Sr. and Polly Peck. Moved to Jericho (later Bainbridge), Chenango Co., New York, ca. 1809. Moved to Windsor (later in Colesville), Broome Co., New...
View Full Bio9 June 1812–3 Apr. 1884. Boardinghouse operator, weaver, teacher. Born at Sutton, Worcester Co., Massachusetts. Daughter of Jesse G. Goldthwaite and Sally Burt. Married first Calvin Bailey, fall 1828, but deserted by him, 1832. Moved to home of Eleazer Freeman...
View Full BioPower or authority of God. The priesthood was conferred through the laying on of hands upon adult male members of the church in good standing; no specialized training was required. Priesthood officers held responsibility for administering the sacrament of...
View GlossaryThis marriage solemnized by JS for Newel Knight—a friend from JS’s New York years—and Lydia Goldthwaite Bailey is the first known wedding performed by JS; ten more followed over the next two months.a Newel Knight recorded, “We received much Instruction from the Prophet concerning matrimony, & what the ancient order of God was, & what it must be again concerning marriage.”b A statement on marriage published in August 1835 stated that weddings could be performed by either priesthood officers or “other authority,”c but on this occasion JS emphasized priesthood authority. After Geauga County authorities refused to issue Sidney Rigdon a license to perform marriages, apparently no other Latter-day Saint priesthood holders applied in that county.d Ohio state law allowed for regularly ordained ministers to solemnize marriages with or without a license if they fulfilled the statutory requirement for recording.e Thus JS probably believed—with some justification—that he acted within his statutory rights in performing marriages. However, the church was not legally incorporated in the state of Ohio at this time.f The arrest of Joseph Smith Sr., an ordained Latter-day Saint minister, in early 1838 on a charge of illegal performance of marriage suggests that the authority of Latter-day Saints to perform marriages in Ohio was still at least an open question at that time. The senior Smith was allowed to escape, and so the case did not come to trial.g (aBradshaw, “Joseph Smith’s Performance of Marriages in Ohio,” 24; see also Hartley, “Newel and Lydia Bailey Knight’s Kirtland Love Story.”bKnight, Autobiography, [60]].c“Marriage,” ca. Aug. 1835, in Doctrine and Covenants 101, 1835 ed.dGeauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Court Records, 1807–1904, vol. M, p. 380–381, Mar. 1835, microfilm 20,277, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.eAn Act Regulating Marriages [6 Jan. 1824], Statutes of Ohio, vol. 2, p. 1407, sec. 2.fVilate Kimball, Kirtland, OH, to Heber C. Kimball, Preston, England, 19, 21, and 24 Jan. 1838, Heber C. Kimball, Collection, CHL.gHistorian’s Office, “History of Luke Johnson,” 6–7, Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880, CHL.)
Bradshaw, M. Scott. “Joseph Smith’s Performance of Marriages in Ohio.” BYU Studies 39, no. 4 (2000): 23–69.
Hartley, William G. “Newel and Lydia Bailey Knight’s Kirtland Love Story and Historic Wedding.” BYU Studies 39, no. 4 (2000): 7–22.
Knight, Newel. Autobiography and Journal, ca. 1846. CHL. MS 767.
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
The Statutes of Ohio and of the Northwestern Territory, Adopted or Enacted from 1788 to 1833 Inclusive: Together with the Ordinance of 1787; the Constitutions of Ohio and of the United States, and Various Public Instruments and Acts of Congress: Illustrated by a Preliminary Sketch of the History of Ohio; Numerous References and Notes, and Copious Indexes. 3 vols. Edited by Salmon P. Chase. Cincinnati: Corey and Fairbank, 1833–1835.
Kimball, Heber C. Collection, 1837–1898. CHL. MS 12476.
Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.
31 Aug. 1807–27 Dec. 1878. Teamster, farmer, merchant, coroner. Born at Herkimer, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of Samuel Russell Redfield and Sarah Gould. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by 1831. Ordained a priest by Sidney Rigdon...
View Full Bio10 Aug. 1801–ca. 1846. Born in Ashe Co., North Carolina. Son of Isaac Hitchcock and Elizabeth Wheeler. Married Mary Polly Hopper, 4 July 1821, at Lafayette Co., Missouri. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder by Oliver...
View Full BioArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...
More InfoJS History, 1834–1836, 136, adds: “by the hand of an enemy, with the intention to kill him. It sickened him & he vomited it up.”
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
1 Sep. 1835
JS worked periodically on Book of Abraham translation; he and associates produced several manuscripts related to the Egyptian papyri, including an Egyptian alphabet, Kirtland, Ohio.
The transcriptions made this day may have been the manuscripts now known as Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ca. 1835–1836, 8–9, CHL. (Gee, “Eyewitness, Hearsay, and Physical Evidence,” 196.)
Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ca. 1835–1836. CHL.
Gee, John. “Eyewitness, Hearsay, and Physical Evidence of the Joseph Smith Papyri.” In The Disciple as Witness: Essays on Latter-day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, edited by Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew H. Hedges, 175–217. Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000.
16 Mar. 1798–14 Apr. 1856. Minister, blacksmith. Born at Cayuga Co., New York. Son of Robert Rathbun and Anna Allen. Moved to Wayne Co., Ohio, by 1817. Married first Hannah Warner, 1817, in Wayne Co. Moved to Mantua, Portage Co., Ohio, 1828. Baptist minister...
View Full Bio30 Nov. 1803–15 Dec. 1875. Farmer. Born at Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., New York. Son of William Morey and Anda Martin. Moved to Collinsville, Butler Co., Ohio, 1814. Married Sylvia Butterfield, 29 Oct. 1825, at Butler Co. Moved to Vermillion Co., Illinois,...
View Full BioA specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...
View Glossary10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioA practice in which individuals place their hands upon a person to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordain to an office or calling, or confer other power, authority, or blessings, often as part of an ordinance. The Book of Mormon explained that ecclesiastical...
View GlossaryJS revelations instructed elders to lay their hands on those who were ill and offer a blessing of healing. By 1834, blessings were often accompanied by an anointing with oil. As in the New Testament, having faith in Christ was a necessary component of being...
View Glossary3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full Bio7 Jan. 1805–25 Jan. 1888. Farmer, livery keeper. Born near Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Raised Presbyterian. Moved to Ontario Co., New York, shortly after birth. Attended German Reformed Church. Arranged...
View Full Bio9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full Bio27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
View Full Bio19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full Bio13 Mar. 1808–30 July 1844. Farmer, logger, scribe, builder, tavern operator. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, by Mar. 1810; to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811...
View Full Bio28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...
View Full BioSee also the earlier journal entry for 23 October 1835. The assembled group constituted the full membership of the church presidencies from both Ohio and Missouri, except for Joseph Smith Sr., for whom his son Samuel Smith may have been standing in.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
TEXT: Residue from an adhesive wafer at the top of page 51 indicates that Warren Parrish probably copied the prayer into the journal from a loose manuscript that had been attached at that point.
A specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...
View Glossary22 Jun. 1834
Revelation in Clay County, Missouri, stated that redemption of Zion must wait until elders were “endowed with power from on high” in Kirtland, Ohio, House of the Lord. [D&C 105].
22 Jun. 1834
Revelation in Clay County, Missouri, stated that redemption of Zion must wait until elders were “endowed with power from on high” in Kirtland, Ohio, House of the Lord. [D&C 105].
In August 1834, JS declared to Missouri church leaders that 11 September 1836 was the “appointed time for the redemption of Zion.” (JS, Kirtland, OH, to Lyman Wight et al., Missouri, 16 Aug. 1834, in JS Letterbook 1, p. 86.)
JS Letterbook 1 / Smith, Joseph. “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...
More InfoA specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...
View GlossaryHighest kingdom of glory in the afterlife; symbolically represented by the sun. According to a vision dated 16 February 1832, inheritors of the celestial kingdom “are they who received the testimony of Jesus, & believed on his name, & were baptized,” “receive...
View Glossary3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioThe entry for this date in JS’s 1834–1836 history reads, “He spent the morning in comparing & correcting his journal.” JS may have made the revisions near the end of the entry for 7 October 1835 at this time.
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
Ca. 1794–Aug. 1869. Farmer. Born in New Jersey. Married Parthenia. Lived at Columbia, Hamilton Co., Ohio, 1830. Moved to Campbell Co., Kentucky, by May 1833. Subscriber to LDS Messenger and Advocate, 1836. Represented Cincinnati branch of church at conference...
View Full BioArea settled largely by emigrants from New England and New Jersey, by 1788. Village founded and surveyed adjacent to site of Fort Washington, 1789. First seat of legislature of Northwest Territory, 1790. Incorporated as city, 1819. Developed rapidly as shipping...
More Info1 Sep. 1835
JS worked periodically on Book of Abraham translation; he and associates produced several manuscripts related to the Egyptian papyri, including an Egyptian alphabet, Kirtland, Ohio.
Ca. 1794–Aug. 1869. Farmer. Born in New Jersey. Married Parthenia. Lived at Columbia, Hamilton Co., Ohio, 1830. Moved to Campbell Co., Kentucky, by May 1833. Subscriber to LDS Messenger and Advocate, 1836. Represented Cincinnati branch of church at conference...
View Full BioA practice in which individuals place their hands upon a person to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordain to an office or calling, or confer other power, authority, or blessings, often as part of an ordinance. The Book of Mormon explained that ecclesiastical...
View GlossaryTo apply ceremonial oil to the head or body, often in conjunction with priesthood ordinances and the blessing of the sick. The practice of blessing the sick included anointing with oil and laying hands on the sick person. Ritual washings and anointings were...
View GlossaryJS revelations instructed elders to lay their hands on those who were ill and offer a blessing of healing. By 1834, blessings were often accompanied by an anointing with oil. As in the New Testament, having faith in Christ was a necessary component of being...
View Glossary11 Mar. 1786–24 June 1865. Farmer, cooper, merchant, postmaster. Born at Montague, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Thomas Morley and Editha (Edith) Marsh. Family affiliated with Presbyterian church. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, before 1812. Married...
View Full Bio27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...
View Full BioSee Proverbs 25:11.
Veterans of the spring 1834 Camp of Israel expedition to Clay County, Missouri. A 22 June 1834 revelation indicated that the Zion brethren were eligible to receive “a blessing and endowment” because of their faithfulness. See also “Camp of Israel.”
View GlossaryVeterans of the 1834 expedition to Missouri.
8 Jan. 1811–17 Mar. 1896. Farmer. Born at Danby, Tompkins Co., New York. Son of Luther Foster and Ruth Hedges. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1833. Participated in Camp of Israel expedition to Missouri, 1834. Ordained an elder,...
View Full BioThe conferral of power and authority; to appoint, decree, or set apart. Church members, primarily adults, were ordained to ecclesiastical offices and other responsibilities by the laying on of hands by those with the proper authority. Ordinations to priesthood...
View GlossaryA male leader in the church generally; an ecclesiastical and priesthood office or one holding that office; a proselytizing missionary. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto...
View GlossaryPrimarily referred to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as opposed to other religious sacraments. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed “that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord...
View GlossaryThe snow and frozen rivers of winter often made travel easier than did the furrowed, muddy roads of other seasons. Wintertime in agrarian communities provided more leisure time for travel and visiting.
As directed by early revelations, church members “gathered” in communities. A revelation dated September 1830, for instance, instructed elders “to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect” who would “be gathered in unto one place, upon the face of this land...
View GlossaryThis was the third in a series of three letters written by JS and published in successive issues of the LDS Messenger and Advocate to provide instruction for traveling elders. The third letter contained an exegesis of Jesus’s parables in Matthew 13, which JS applied to the establishment of the kingdom of God in the last days. (JS, “To the Elders of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1835, 2:225–230; see also Sept. 1835, 1:179–182; and Nov. 1835, 2:209–212.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
14 Mar. 1815–18 Jan. 1865. Farmer, town officer. Born in New York. Son of Joseph Capron and Sabra Avery. Moved to Perrinton, Ontario Co., New York, by 1820. Lived next to JS’s family at Manchester, Ontario Co. Visited JS, 30 Nov. 1835, in Kirtland, Geauga...
View Full BioSettled 1793. Formed as Burt Township when divided from Farmington Township, 31 Mar. 1821. Name changed to Manchester, 16 Apr. 1822. Included village of Manchester. Population in 1825 about 2,700. Population in 1830 about 2,800. JS reported first vision of...
More InfoWhen Warren Parrish copied JS’s journal into the contemporaneous history, he omitted this entry for 1 December and instead copied in a revised version of the journal entry for 2 December. (JS History, 1834–1836, 138–139.)
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
Located on Grand River twelve miles northeast of Kirtland. Created and settled, 1800. Originally named Champion. Flourished economically from harbor on Lake Erie and as major route of overland travel for western emigration. Included Painesville village; laid...
More Info10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioJS History, 1834–1836, 138, states that he was joined by his family and by “some others of his house hold.”
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
Road running southwest from Painesville to Mentor and on to Willoughby. Intersected at Mentor with road leading south to Kirtland. JS took family on sleigh ride over part of road, 2 Dec. 1835.
More InfoRoad running southwest from Painesville to Mentor and on to Willoughby. Intersected at Mentor with road leading south to Kirtland. JS took family on sleigh ride over part of road, 2 Dec. 1835.
More InfoMentor Street (now Mentor Avenue) ran northeast from Mentor to Painesville. Before joining with the Latter-day Saints, Sidney Rigdon led the Reformed Baptist congregation in Mentor, some of whom now deeply resented the new religion that had taken Rigdon and many from the neighboring Kirtland congregation. On Mentor-based opposition to the Mormons in 1835, see Adams, “Grandison Newell’s Obsession,” 170–173.
Adams, Dale W. “Grandison Newell’s Obsession.” Journal of Mormon History 30 (Spring 2004): 159–188.
See Revelation 6:9–10.
See Isaiah 14:23. A besom is a broom, especially one made of twigs.
See Matthew 5:5; and Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 and 3 Jan. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 7:4, 1835 ed. [D&C 88:17].
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Located on Grand River twelve miles northeast of Kirtland. Created and settled, 1800. Originally named Champion. Flourished economically from harbor on Lake Erie and as major route of overland travel for western emigration. Included Painesville village; laid...
More InfoCa. 1796–1856. Born at Clifton Park, Saratoga Co., New York. Daughter of Samuel William Howe and Mabel Dudley. Sister of Eber D. Howe. Resided near Queenstown, Lincoln Co., Niagara District (later in Queenston, Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario), ...
View Full Bio10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full BioJS History, 1834–1836, 139, adds: “at the bank, and at various other places.”
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
Ca. 1798–12 Mar. 1853. Jeweler, silversmith. Born in New Hampshire. Married first Dianthe Stiles, 20 July 1826. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1827. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder by John P. Greene, 9...
View Full BioCa. 1796–1856. Born at Clifton Park, Saratoga Co., New York. Daughter of Samuel William Howe and Mabel Dudley. Sister of Eber D. Howe. Resided near Queenstown, Lincoln Co., Niagara District (later in Queenston, Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario), ...
View Full BioWhen Warren Parrish copied JS’s journal into the contemporaneous history that they were working on, he copied this journal entry for 2 December into the history entry for 1 December. For 2 December, Parrish wrote, “Nothing of much importance transpired, suffice it to say that he of whom we write, spent the day in the society of his family, manageing his domestic concerns, visiting, & receiving visitors, and instructing such, as desired a knowledge of the things of God.” (JS History, 1834–1836, 138–139.)
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
6 Jan. 1793–10 Mar. 1841. Farmer, miller. Born at Gilsum, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Son of John Dort and Elishaba Briggs. Married first JS’s cousin Mary (Polly) Mack, 2 June 1813, at Gilsum. After Mary’s death, married her sister Fanny Mack. Moved to Pontiac...
View Full Bio28 Apr. 1805–10 Mar. 1886. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Daughter of Stephen Mack and Temperance Bond. Moved to Detroit, 1822. Moved to Pontiac, Oakland Co., Michigan Territory, 1823. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by ...
View Full BioLocated in western Missouri, thirteen miles north of Independence. Settled 1820. Clay Co. seat, 1822. Incorporated as town, May 1829. Following expulsion from Jackson Co., 1833, many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay Co., with church leaders and other...
More InfoJS’s letters to his maternal cousin Almira Scobey and her sister’s husband David Dort remain unlocated. He may have written to encourage them to move to Kirtland, where both apparently settled in 1836. (See Minutes, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Mar. 1837, 3:477; and Cumming and Cumming, Pilgrimage of Temperance Mack, 21.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Cumming, John, and Audrey Cumming. The Pilgrimage of Temperance Mack. Mount Pleasant, MI: By the authors, 1967.
10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full Bio20 Sept. 1801–22 Feb. 1882. Shoemaker. Born at Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Thomas Carrico and Deborah Wallis. Baptized into Unitarian church, 27 Sept. 1801, at Beverly. Married first Mary E. Raymond, 30 Aug. 1827, at Beverly. Wife died, 1833...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full Bio1 Dec. 1804–1/14 July 1875. Born in Massachusetts. Married to Warren F. Parrish by JS, 3 Dec. 1835, at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Lived at Chardon, Geauga Co., 1840; at Mendon, Monroe Co., New York, 1850; at Rockford, Winnebago Co., Illinois, 1860; and at...
View Full BioThe Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
View GlossaryThe term “articles and covenants”—applied originally to the 10 April 1830 statement of the church’s principles and practices—refers here to the recently published Doctrine and Covenants, which compiled revelations and statements of belief such as the new article on marriage. (Minute Book 2, 9 June 1830; “Marriage,” ca. Aug. 1835, in Doctrine and Covenants 101, 1835 ed.; see also Minute Book 1, 17 Aug. 1835.)
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835.
Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
14 Mar. 1804–31 July 1842. Farmer, druggist, school warden. Born at Norwich, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Rudolphus Knight and Rispah (Rizpah) Lee. Married Martha McBride, July 1826. Moved to Perrysburg, Cattaraugus Co., New York, by 1830. Owned farm...
View Full BioOrganized, Oct. 1831, with capital stock of $100,000. Originally located on first floor of building at corner of Main and State streets in Painesville village. Made loan to JS, Dec. 1835. New building completed, 1836.
More InfoApparently the Bank of Geauga, founded in 1831. (History of Geauga and Lake Counties, 216.)
History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Pioneers and Most Prominent Men. Philadelphia: Williams Brothers, 1878.
A firm established by the United Firm on 11 September 1833 to print newspapers in Kirtland, Ohio. In December 1833, F. G. Williams & Co. resumed the interrupted printing of the church newspaper The Evening and the Morning Star. After the United Firm was reorganized...
View Glossary3/5 Feb. 1795–23 Sept. 1850. Trader, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Samuel Whitney and Susanna Kimball. Moved to Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York, 1803. Merchant at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., New York, 1814. Mercantile clerk for...
View Full Bio11 Apr. 1778–30 July 1843. Farmer, innkeeper. Born at Chesterfield, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Son of Israel Johnson and Abigail Higgins. Married Alice (Elsa) Jacobs, 22 June 1800. Moved to Pomfret, Windsor Co., Vermont, ca. 1803. Settled at Hiram, Portage...
View Full Bio14 Mar. 1804–31 July 1842. Farmer, druggist, school warden. Born at Norwich, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Rudolphus Knight and Rispah (Rizpah) Lee. Married Martha McBride, July 1826. Moved to Perrysburg, Cattaraugus Co., New York, by 1830. Owned farm...
View Full Bio9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full Bio14 Mar. 1804–31 July 1842. Farmer, druggist, school warden. Born at Norwich, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Rudolphus Knight and Rispah (Rizpah) Lee. Married Martha McBride, July 1826. Moved to Perrysburg, Cattaraugus Co., New York, by 1830. Owned farm...
View Full Bio14 Mar. 1804–31 July 1842. Farmer, druggist, school warden. Born at Norwich, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Rudolphus Knight and Rispah (Rizpah) Lee. Married Martha McBride, July 1826. Moved to Perrysburg, Cattaraugus Co., New York, by 1830. Owned farm...
View Full BioJS History, 1834–1836, 140, revises this to two hundred fifty dollars.
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
10 Sept. 1776–after 1836. Born at Exeter, Washington Co., Rhode Island. Son of Joseph Lewis and Mary Stanton. Married Margaret Lowers, New York, ca. 1807. Lived at Westfield, Chautauque Co., New York, 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day...
View Full BioIn March 1834, Lewis evidently loaned JS or the church approximately one hundred dollars, which JS hoped to pay back at the end of 1835. JS’s 1834–1836 history explains that JS was “much perplexed” concerning the debt. If JS paid Lewis, it must have been after May 1836. (JS History, 1834–1836, 140; Minute Book 1, 23 May 1836; see also JS, Journal, 1–2 Mar. 1834.)
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
12 Oct. 1792–1839. Farmer. Born at Marbletown, Ulster Co., New York. Son of Isaac Hollister and Elizabeth Newcomb. Married Lavina (Vina) Clearwater, ca. 1817. Lived at Tompkins Co., New York, ca. 1820–ca. 1835. Moved to Portage Co., Ohio, ca. 1835. Member...
View Full BioLocated in northeastern Ohio. Settled by 1799. Established June 1807. Bordered by Geauga Co. on north. Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal ran through county; completed 1825. Population in 1830 about 19,000. Population in 1840 about 23,000. Included Portage and Hiram...
More InfoClosed Communion Baptists took the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper only with other Baptists. (Jeter, Baptist Principles Reset, chap. 13.)
Jeter, Jeremiah B. Baptist Principles Reset. Richmond, VA: Religious Herald Co., 1901.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full Bio16 June 1803–26 Feb. 1891. Farmer. Born at Chester, Washington Co., New York. Son of Daniel McBride and Abigail Mead. Married Mary Ann Anderson, 16 June 1833. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4 Mar. 1834, at Villanova, Chautauque...
View Full BioAlso spelled Villenova. Located in southwest corner of state. Settled by 1810. Taken from Hanover Township, Jan. 1823. Population in 1830 about 1,100; in 1835 about 1,500; and in 1840 about 1,700. While recruiting Camp of Israel volunteers, JS and Parley ...
More Info12 Apr. 1807–13 May 1857. Farmer, editor, publisher, teacher, school administrator, legislator, explorer, author. Born at Burlington, Otsego Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Traveled west with brother William to acquire land, 1823....
View Full BioThankful Cooper Halsey.
On this date, JS inserted a notice in the LDS Messenger and Advocate to inform the public “that whenever they wish to address me thro’ the Post Office, they will be kind enough to pay the postage on the same. . . . [I] am unwilling to pay for insults and menaces,—consequently, must refuse all, unpaid.” Until the introduction of postage stamps in the 1840s, the option of collecting postage from the addressee led to many abuses. Letters containing several pages or sent from afar could cost as much as a dollar. (JS, “To the Editor of the Messenger and Advocate,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1835, 2:240; italics in original; Summerfield and Hurd, U.S. Mail, 45–46; Kelly, United States Postal Policy, 57–58.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Summerfield, Arthur E., with Charles Hurd. U.S. Mail: The Story of the United States Postal Service. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1960.
Kelly, Clyde. United States Postal Policy. New York: D. Appleton, 1932.
1798–25 Oct. 1838. Born at Killingworth, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. Son of Gideon Carter and Johanna Sims. Moved to Benson, Rutland Co., Vermont, by 1810. Married first Hilah (Hilda) Burwell, 1822. Moved to Amherst, Lorain Co., Ohio, 1831. Baptized into ...
View Full BioSee JS History, 1834–1836, 141.
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
1798–25 Oct. 1838. Born at Killingworth, Middlesex Co., Connecticut. Son of Gideon Carter and Johanna Sims. Moved to Benson, Rutland Co., Vermont, by 1810. Married first Hilah (Hilda) Burwell, 1822. Moved to Amherst, Lorain Co., Ohio, 1831. Baptized into ...
View Full BioPrimarily referred to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as opposed to other religious sacraments. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed “that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord...
View Glossary16 Jan. 1811–30 Apr. 1881. Shoemaker, farmer. Born at Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Nathaniel Holmes and Sarah Harriman. Lived at Napoli, Cattaraugus Co., New York, 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by 1834. Moved...
View Full BioThis journal entry may refer to Holmes’s letter of 2 November 1835 reporting his preaching throughout 1835 in Tennessee and Illinois and his success in baptizing over forty people. (Milton Holmes, Hamilton Co., IL, 2 Nov. 1835, Letter to the editor, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Jan. 1836, 2:255.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
12 Oct. 1792–1839. Farmer. Born at Marbletown, Ulster Co., New York. Son of Isaac Hollister and Elizabeth Newcomb. Married Lavina (Vina) Clearwater, ca. 1817. Lived at Tompkins Co., New York, ca. 1820–ca. 1835. Moved to Portage Co., Ohio, ca. 1835. Member...
View Full Bio3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full Bio28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full Bio19 Sept. 1811–3 Oct. 1881. Farmer, writer, teacher, merchant, surveyor, editor, publisher. Born at Hartford, Washington Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Moved to New Lebanon, Columbia Co., New York, 1814; to Canaan, Columbia Co., fall...
View Full BioTwo-story structure measuring thirty by thirty-eight feet, built during fall and winter of 1834. Located immediately west of temple lot on Whitney Street (now Maple Street) in Kirtland. School of the Elders met here from winter 1834–1835 to Jan. 1836. Ground...
More InfoThis proposal to gather wood and the entries for the next two days suggest that JS’s remarks included an expression of material and financial need.
7 May 1796–17 Feb. 1860. Farmer, surveyor, miner. Born at Plainfield, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Noah Packard and Molly Hamblin. Moved to Parkman, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1817. Married Sophia Bundy, 29 June 1820, at Parkman. Baptized into Church of Jesus...
View Full Bio10 Aug. 1801–ca. 1846. Born in Ashe Co., North Carolina. Son of Isaac Hitchcock and Elizabeth Wheeler. Married Mary Polly Hopper, 4 July 1821, at Lafayette Co., Missouri. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder by Oliver...
View Full BioIn the largely barter economy, debts were often recorded on handwritten scraps of paper. These notes became a sort of scrip and circulated until retired by cash, labor, or barter. As in this case, the debt could be settled by the creditor’s presenting his copy of the note as a gift to the debtor. (See McCabe, “Early Ledgers and Account Books,” 5–12.)
McCabe, James M. “Early Ledgers and Account Books: A Source for Local Vermont History.” Vermont History 37 (Winter 1969): 5–12.
Established by temple building committee to support those working on Kirtland temple.
More Info17 Sept. 1794–26 Sept. 1842. Surveyor, politician, author. Born at Worcester Co., Massachusetts. Married Margaret Lyndiff, ca. 1830. Lived at Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 10 Jan. 1831,... View Full Bio | $5.00 |
28 July 1797–23 July 1876. Carpenter, wainwright. Born at Vershire, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Moses French Jackman and Elizabeth Carr. Moved to Batavia, Genesee Co., New York, 1810. Married first Angeline Myers Brady, 13 Nov. 1817, at Alexander, Genesee... View Full Bio | 3.25 |
12 Apr. 1798–9 Sept. 1879. Carpenter. Born at New York City. Son of George Fordham and Mary Baker. Married first Jane Ann Fisher, 23 Nov. 1822. Married second Bethiah Fisher, 12 Apr. 1830. Lived at Pontiac, Oakland Co., Michigan Territory, 1831–1833. Baptized... View Full Bio | 5.25 |
22 Feb. 1803–28 Dec. 1852. Farmer, policeman, explorer, miner. Born at Boone Co., Kentucky. Son of Silas Emmett and Elizabeth Trowbridge. Married Phebe Jane Simpson, 13 Apr. 1823. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1831, in Boone Co... View Full Bio | 5.00 |
13 Sept. 1800–11 Jan. 1847. Miller, merchant. Born at Marlborough, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Knight Sr. and Polly Peck. Moved to Jericho (later Bainbridge), Chenango Co., New York, ca. 1809. Moved to Windsor (later in Colesville), Broome Co., New... View Full Bio | 2.00 |
5 June 1810–16 Oct. 1887. Carpenter, joiner, architect, farmer. Born at North Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. Son of James W. Angell and Phebe Morton. Joined Freewill Baptist Church, ca. 1829. Married Polly Johnson of Genesee Co., New York, 7 Oct... View Full Bio | 3.00 |
Wm. Felshaw | 3.00 |
29 May 1781–28 Nov. 1869. Carpenter, scribe, sawmill operator, blacksmith. Born at Cambridge, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s Landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married... View Full Bio | 1.00 |
Ca. 1802–after 1880. Farmer. Born in Vermont. Lived in Verona, Oneida Co., New York, 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained member of elders quorum in Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 27 Feb. 1836. Ordained a seventy, 3 Jan. ... View Full Bio | 1.00 |
26 Aug. 1794–July 1867. Carpenter. Born at Concord, Merrimack Co., New Hampshire. Son of Benjamin Rolfe and Mary (Molly) Swett. Moved to Maine, 1810. Married Elizabeth Hathaway, 4 Mar. 1818. Lived at Rumford, Oxford Co., Maine, when baptized into Church of... View Full Bio | 1.25 |
23 Oct. 1795–8 June 1843. Clerk, judge, surveyor. Born at Galloway, Gloucester Co., New Jersey. Son of Isaac Higbee and Sophia Somers. Moved to Clermont Co., Ohio, 1803. Married Sarah Elizabeth Ward, 10 Sept. 1818, in Tate Township, Clermont Co. Lived at ... View Full Bio | 1.00 |
13 Nov. 1807–28 Jan. 1902. Carpenter. Born at Windsor, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of James Brown and Mary. Lived in Hoosick, Rensselaer Co., New York, 1830. Joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1832. Participated in Camp of Israel expedition... View Full Bio | 3.00 |
7 Nov. 1813–6 Apr. 1893. Shoemaker, carpenter, joiner. Born at Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co., Ohio. Son of Reynolds Cahoon and Thirza Stiles. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, 16 Oct. 1830, at Kirtland, Geauga Co.... View Full Bio | 1.00 |
Harlow Crosier | .50 |
16 Oct. 1792–13 Sept. 1845. Farmer. Born at Lyme, New London Co., Connecticut. Son of Zopher Gee and Esther Beckwith. Moved to Lebanon, Warren Co., Ohio, by 1814. Married Sarah (Sally) Watson Crane, 15 Nov. 1814, at Ashtabula Co., Ohio. Baptized into Church... View Full Bio | .75 |
21 Dec. 1812–16 Feb. 1862. Stonecutter, dairyman. Born in Vermont. Son of Benjamin Stanley and Ruth. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by Apr. 1834. Participated in Camp of Israel expedition to Missouri, 1834. Labored on temple in... View Full Bio | 1.00 |
Zemira Draper | 1.00 |
30 Nov. 1803–15 Dec. 1875. Farmer. Born at Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., New York. Son of William Morey and Anda Martin. Moved to Collinsville, Butler Co., Ohio, 1814. Married Sylvia Butterfield, 29 Oct. 1825, at Butler Co. Moved to Vermillion Co., Illinois,... View Full Bio | 1.00 |
16 June 1779–after 1835. Distiller. Born at Bennington, Bennington Co., Vermont. Son of John Rudd and Chloe Hills. Moved to Richfield, Otsego Co., New York, by Aug. 1800. Married first Avis Whitaker, 1 Feb. 1801. A pioneer settler of Springfield, Erie Co.... View Full Bio | .50 |
28 Nov. 1808–30 Nov./1 Dec. 1894. Coachmaker, realtor, inventor, author. Born at Dorchester, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts. Son of Ezra Badlam and Mary Lovis. Married Mary Ann Brannan, ca. 1833, near Saco, York Co., Maine. Participated in Camp of Israel expedition... View Full Bio | 1.00 |
$40.50 | |
with the adition of the 2, notes above | 24.00 |
Probably John Tanner.
1 Jan. 1789–4 July 1872. Merchant. Born at Rockingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of Uriah Roundy and Lucretia Needham. Married Betsy Quimby, 22 June 1814, at Rockingham. Lived at Spafford, Onondaga Co., New York. Member of Freewill Baptist Church in Spafford...
View Full BioSee JS, Journal, 8 Dec. 1835.
A specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...
View GlossaryHighest kingdom of glory in the afterlife; symbolically represented by the sun. According to a vision dated 16 February 1832, inheritors of the celestial kingdom “are they who received the testimony of Jesus, & believed on his name, & were baptized,” “receive...
View Glossary1800–1868. Farmer. Born in New York. Married first Keziah. Lived at Warsaw, Genesee Co., New York, 1830. Participated in Camp of Israel expedition to Missouri, 1834. Served as a president of First Quorum of the Seventy, 1835–1837. Stockholder in Kirtland ...
View Full BioA biblical title for God, as in, for example, Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58.
7 Jan. 1805–25 Jan. 1888. Farmer, livery keeper. Born near Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Raised Presbyterian. Moved to Ontario Co., New York, shortly after birth. Attended German Reformed Church. Arranged...
View Full Bio22 Aug. 1814–8 Apr. 1880. Schoolteacher. Born at Aurelius, Cayuga Co., New York. Daughter of Asa Works and Abigail Marks. Sister of Brigham Young’s first wife, Miriam Works Young. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835, at Kirtland...
View Full BioPossibly Lorenzo Dow Booth, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. (Record of Seventies, bk. A, 4.)
Record of Seventies / First Council of the Seventy. “Book of Records,” 1837–1843. Bk. A. In First Council of the Seventy, Records, 1837–1885. CHL. CR 3 51, box 1, fd. 1.
A practice in which individuals place their hands upon a person to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordain to an office or calling, or confer other power, authority, or blessings, often as part of an ordinance. The Book of Mormon explained that ecclesiastical...
View GlossaryJS revelations instructed elders to lay their hands on those who were ill and offer a blessing of healing. By 1834, blessings were often accompanied by an anointing with oil. As in the New Testament, having faith in Christ was a necessary component of being...
View GlossaryUsed to dry wood for building projects, principally for temple in Kirtland. Possibly located near Latter-day Saint sawmill, as dried wood was finished at mill; JS’s scribe Warren Parrish wrote that kiln was near temple. Caught fire several times, 1835–1836...
More InfoUsed to dry wood for building projects, principally for temple in Kirtland. Possibly located near Latter-day Saint sawmill, as dried wood was finished at mill; JS’s scribe Warren Parrish wrote that kiln was near temple. Caught fire several times, 1835–1836...
More InfoThe board kiln—an oven used for drying and seasoning wood—was preparing lumber for finishing the House of the Lord. The great loss of wood delayed completion of the House of the Lord. (JS History, 1834–1836, 144–145.)
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. Historian's Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, box 1, vol. 1.
15 June 1803–21 Mar. 1883. Shoemaker, innkeeper, farmer. Born at Chesterfield, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Son of Thomas Johnson and Elizabeth (Betsey) Smith. Married first Nancy Mason, 24 Oct. 1827, at Bath, Grafton Co., New Hampshire. Baptized into Church...
View Full BioProbably Moses and Almira Barber Daley.
10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full Bio13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...
View Full Bio22 Aug. 1814–8 Apr. 1880. Schoolteacher. Born at Aurelius, Cayuga Co., New York. Daughter of Asa Works and Abigail Marks. Sister of Brigham Young’s first wife, Miriam Works Young. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835, at Kirtland...
View Full Bio17 Sept. 1794–26 Sept. 1842. Surveyor, politician, author. Born at Worcester Co., Massachusetts. Married Margaret Lyndiff, ca. 1830. Lived at Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 10 Jan. 1831,...
View Full BioA practice in which individuals place their hands upon a person to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordain to an office or calling, or confer other power, authority, or blessings, often as part of an ordinance. The Book of Mormon explained that ecclesiastical...
View GlossaryJS revelations instructed elders to lay their hands on those who were ill and offer a blessing of healing. By 1834, blessings were often accompanied by an anointing with oil. As in the New Testament, having faith in Christ was a necessary component of being...
View GlossaryAlso referred to as “little red schoolhouse.” First frame schoolhouse in township. Built on Kirtland “flats” (lowlands on northern side of community just southwest of Kirtland-Chardon Road), 1819. Served as school for community and location of youth Sunday...
More Info10 Aug. 1801–ca. 1846. Born in Ashe Co., North Carolina. Son of Isaac Hitchcock and Elizabeth Wheeler. Married Mary Polly Hopper, 4 July 1821, at Lafayette Co., Missouri. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder by Oliver...
View Full Bio27 Sept. 1809–22 Sept. 1836. Tailor. Born at Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, in Seneca Lake, Seneca Co. One of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, June 1829. Among six...
View Full Bio28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioPrimarily referred to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as opposed to other religious sacraments. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed “that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord...
View Glossary7 Jan. 1805–25 Jan. 1888. Farmer, livery keeper. Born near Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Raised Presbyterian. Moved to Ontario Co., New York, shortly after birth. Attended German Reformed Church. Arranged...
View Full Bio10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full Bioca. Dec. 1793–20 Aug. 1868. Born in Vermont. Served in War of 1812. Married Electa Willard, by ca. 1819. Moved to Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1823; to Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois, by May 1842; and to Genesee Co., Michigan. Died in Genesee Co.
View Full Bio25 May 1816–11 Mar. 1891. Printer, editor, publisher. Born at Floyd (near Rome), Oneida Co., New York. Son of Nathan Robinson and Mary Brown. Moved to Utica, Oneida Co., ca. 1831, and learned printing trade at Utica Observer. Moved to Ravenna, Portage Co....
View Full Bio22 Aug. 1814–8 Apr. 1880. Schoolteacher. Born at Aurelius, Cayuga Co., New York. Daughter of Asa Works and Abigail Marks. Sister of Brigham Young’s first wife, Miriam Works Young. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835, at Kirtland...
View Full Bio22 Aug. 1814–8 Apr. 1880. Schoolteacher. Born at Aurelius, Cayuga Co., New York. Daughter of Asa Works and Abigail Marks. Sister of Brigham Young’s first wife, Miriam Works Young. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835, at Kirtland...
View Full Bio1778–4 May 1851. Farmer. Born in New York. Married Hannah Taylor of Vermont. Moved to Covington, Genesee Co., New York, by 1820. Lived at Bennington, Genesee Co., with family of five, 1830. Ordained an elder, 15 Feb. 1833. Lived at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio...
View Full BioCa. 1813–after 1902. Blacksmith, carpenter. Born at Hanover, Chautauque Co., New York. Son of James Webb and Hannah Griswold. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, likely 1834. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, before Dec. 1835. Married...
View Full Bio1817–before 1860. Born in New York. Daughter of Isaac McWithy and Hannah Taylor. Married to Edwin Densmore Webb by JS, 13 Dec. 1835, at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Moved to Rochester, Peoria Co., Illinois, by June 1840. Lived in Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois...
View Full BioCa. 1813–after 1902. Blacksmith, carpenter. Born at Hanover, Chautauque Co., New York. Son of James Webb and Hannah Griswold. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, likely 1834. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, before Dec. 1835. Married...
View Full Bio1817–before 1860. Born in New York. Daughter of Isaac McWithy and Hannah Taylor. Married to Edwin Densmore Webb by JS, 13 Dec. 1835, at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Moved to Rochester, Peoria Co., Illinois, by June 1840. Lived in Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois...
View Full BioTo confirm or solemnize. In the early 1830s, revelations often adopted biblical usage of the term seal; for example, “sealed up the testimony” referred to proselytizing and testifying of the gospel as a warning of the approaching end time. JS explained in...
View Glossary