Minutes, , Geauga Co., OH, 17 Aug. 1835. Featured version copied [not before 25 Feb. 1836] in Minute Book 1, pp. 98–106; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.
Historical Introduction
On 17 August 1835, a general assembly of the church met in , Ohio, to review and approve “a book of commandments and covenants” titled Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. This book was a compilation of many of JS’s revelations along with seven lectures dealing with the church’s theology. The book, which presented to the gathering, was compiled by a committee composed of JS, Cowdery, , and . The Kirtland had appointed the committee on 24 September 1834, and church members attending that council had approved the appointment. The high council instructed the committee “to arrange the items of the doctrine of Jesus Christ for the government of the church of Latter-Day Saints.” Such items were “to be taken from the bible, book of mormon, and the revelations which have been given to the church up to this date.” A later JS history noted that after finishing the book, the committee decided “to call a general assembly of the church to see whether the Book be approved, or not, by the authorities of the Church, that it may, if approved, become a Law, and a rule of faith and practice to the church.” However, JS did not attend the assembly because he was with Williams on a mission to . In presenting the book, Cowdery stated that he was acting on the committee’s behalf, suggesting that JS had authorized Cowdery to present the book and the committee’s work to the assembly in his absence.
The book that presented differed from the one foreseen by the high council. It did not contain excerpts from the Bible or the Book of Mormon but instead had two sections, one of which was devoted to seven theological lectures that were prepared in the winter of 1834 and 1835 for the in Kirtland. The other section contained many of JS’s revelations, which constituted the “covenants and commandments of the Lord.” No extant record indicates when or why the committee decided to deviate from its original instructions, but the change had occurred by February 1835, when the committee composed the preface to the book. That preface stated that the theological lectures were included because they “embrac[ed] the important doctrine of salvation,” while the “covenants and commandments” section contained “items or principles for the regulation of the church.”
The book was compiled and prepared for publication over a period of several months. In January 1835, JS obtained a copyright for the book; in February, the committee wrote the preface. In May 1835, , who had spearheaded the publication of the Book of Commandments in 1833, arrived from to help. By the end of May, six gatherings of the book, comprising the first ninety-six pages, had been printed. However, funding the publication was an issue. As late as June 1835, for example, JS wrote a letter soliciting funds for the publication. It is unknown whether church leaders received additional money, but the book was published by the end of the summer. The August 1835 Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate stated that the book was “nearly ready for sale” and that one thousand copies were in the process of being bound.
At least parts of the volume were already in limited circulation before printing was finished. In May 1835, sent the first six gatherings to his wife, , in , and a 4 August 1835 letter from a council of the church’s to the indicated that both the presidency and the apostles had at least a partial copy of the book by that time. Participants in this 17 August meeting also passed around “a book of commandments and covenants,” which was likely a collection of loose gatherings from the book rather than the complete volume, which contained a version of these minutes when it was bound for publication.
Those overseeing publication of the Doctrine and Covenants followed the precedent set in the publication process of the Book of Mormon and the Book of Commandments. When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, it contained statements from three witnesses that the volume came from God. Likewise, beginning in in November 1831, eighteen elders of the church affixed their names to a testimony stating that the revelations to be published in the Book of Commandments were “given by inspiration of God & are profitable for all men & are verily true.” That same month, a special of nine church , including JS, considered the forthcoming Book of Commandments and voted that the revelations contained therein “be prized by this Conference to be worth to the Church the riches of the whole Earth.” The conference also voted to acknowledge those who had worked and would work to publish the revelations.
Similarly, at this August 1835 general assembly, representatives from the , the and high councils, the Kirtland and Missouri , the , and the elders, , , and expressed their belief in the divinity of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants. In the absence of the Quorum of the Twelve, read a statement that was presented as the “testimony of the 12 Apostles” regarding the compilation. All those present who held a priesthood office then voted to approve the publication and the work of the committee that compiled it. The general church membership in attendance, both male and female, also gave their approval. In addition, the assembly voted to include two other documents—“Rules for Marriage among the saints” and a declaration on “laws in general. & church government”—in the Doctrine and Covenants.
Church leaders also used this meeting to some men to priesthood offices and to give blessings to others who had gone on the expedition. Those who received these Camp of Israel blessings were generally either elderly or still in their youth. The younger recipients were told to prepare themselves for the ministry, while the older men were blessed for their sacrifice in going to . Similar to the ordination blessings provided to the Twelve Apostles and members of the Seventy earlier in 1835, these blessings and ordinations made great promises to the recipients if they served the church faithfully in the future.
Because many church leaders had been sent on missions from in spring and summer 1835, a number of leaders, including JS, were absent from this meeting. None of the Twelve Apostles were at the gathering, and only four members of the high council and two members of the high council were in attendance. , president of the Missouri high council; ; and Partridge’s counselor were absent as well, as were many members of the Seventy. Because of this, several individuals were appointed as acting officers for the day. Six individuals were also appointed as “assistant Presidents” of the assembly itself, responsible for “preserving order, &c. in the whole assembly.”
, , and were appointed clerks of the meeting and presumably took the minutes. Two published versions of the minutes appeared shortly after the meeting, one in the Messenger and Advocate and one in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. These two versions closely resemble each other. Probably sometime after becoming one of JS’s scribes in 1836, entered the minutes into Minute Book 1. Cowdery’s minutes, which are featured here, are a more complete record of the meeting than the minutes published in the Messenger and Advocate and the Doctrine and Covenants, which appear to be more of a summary of the proceedings. The minutes featured here include a record of the ordinations and other blessings given at the meeting, whereas the published minutes focus entirely on the approval of the Doctrine and Covenants.
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.
For a detailed discussion of the contents of the Doctrine and Covenants and the publication of the volume, see Historical Introduction to Doctrine and Covenants, 1835.
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.
Copyright for Doctrine and Covenants, 14 Jan. 1835, Copyright Records, Ohio, 1831–1848 (Department of State), unnumbered vol., Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress, Washington DC; Preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, 17 Feb. 1835.
Copyright for Doctrine and Covenants, 14 Jan. 1835. Copyright Records, Ohio, 1831–1848 (Department of State). Unnumbered vol. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress, Washington DC.
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.
“Doctrine and Covenants,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1835, 1:170. The size of the print run for the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants is unclear.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Testimony, ca. 2 Nov. 1831. The testimony was to be included at the end of the volume; however, mob action destroyed the printing office before the final signature was printed, and the testimony never appeared in the printed Book of Commandments.
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.
That church leaders decided to hold this assembly in the absence of so many high-level church leaders suggests the importance they placed on publishing the Doctrine and Covenants as soon as possible.
The major difference between the published versions is that the Messenger and Advocate version includes the texts of the articles on marriage and the government and the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants version does not. The Messenger and Advocate version also shows Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon signing the minutes as presidents. (“General Assembly,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1835, 1:161–164; “General Assembly,” in Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 ed., 255–257.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
gospel to the inhabitants of the earth. because thou hast offerd thy life as a sacrafice thou shalt be numbered with the 2d to proclaim the Gospel to the nations of the Earth. The Lord shall bless the[e] with blessing upon blessing & wisdom upon wisdom; also visions and instructions from heaven, until the heart is stored with all wisdom, and thou shalt have an in the land of , whither thou wentest to lay down thy life for thy brethren, that thou mayest have a place to lay thy head, when thou shalt have accomplished thy mission that the Lord has alloted unto thee and if thou art faithful, all these blessings shall crown thy head, even so, Amen;
Also Brother , blessed in the name of Jesus Christ, in the following manner, because thou didst leave thy family in thy old age and go up to Zion to redeem thy brethren, blessing after blessing shall roll upon the[e] until thou art satisfied, and <thou> shalt know the truth of the Religion that thou dost profess, by the administration of angels, and wisdom from on high shalt rest upon thee. The Lord himself shall be upon thy right hand to uphold thee. And if thou desirest thou shalt go forth to proclaim the fullness of my gospel, with all the qualifications necessary to accomplish a good work. and if thou art faithful, thou shalt come down to thy grave in peace, having over come all things, even so, Amen.
Also Brother was blessed in the following manner. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray that blessings may rest upon thee because thou wentest to Zion to lay down thy life for thy brethren, Thou art young but shalt, if faithful be called to the ministry in maturer age, and proclaim the gospel to many people, and live to the coming of the son of man. Waters shall not drown thee, fire shall not burn thee, Enemies shall not prevail against thee in if faithful & if not thy end shall be in darkness & bitterness for ever. [p. 101]
When Gould went on the Camp of Israel expedition, he was not yet a member of the church. He was baptized in June while on the expedition. (“Extracts from H. C. Kimball’s Journal,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1845, 6:789.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
It is unclear when Gould was born, but the 1840 census lists a Dean Gould living in Rutland, Lake County, Ohio, as being between twenty and twenty-nine years old. (1840 U.S. Census, Rutland, Lake Co., OH, 93.)
Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.