General Church Officers, September 1839–January 1841
The following charts identify the general leadership of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between September 1839 and January
1841. Several of the charts reflect important changes to these
organizations during the period covered in this
volume.
First Presidency
Membership in the remained
consistent throughout most of the period between September 1839 and
January 1841. JS served as president and and served as his
counselors for almost all of the period. However, a 19 January 1841 revelation appointed as a counselor to
JS so that Hyrum Smith could assume “the office of
priesthood and patriarch, which was appointed unto him by his by blessing and also by right.” The revelation also
expanded Hyrum’s responsibilities to include “the blessing and glory,
and honor and priesthood and gifts of the priesthood, that once were put
upon . . . Oliver Cowdery.” had received the
keys of the priesthood in connection with JS, had been sustained as
“Second Elder of the Church” on 6 April 1830, and had served in the
church’s presidency from December 1834 to April 1838 under the titles
“assistant president” and “assistant Councillor.” Later church
historians who knew Hyrum and were familiar with his role in church
leadership applied the term “associate president” to Hyrum
Smith’s unusual office, but that term was not used during his
lifetime.
| President | Associate President | Counselors |
| Joseph Smith (6 Apr. 1830–27 June 1844) | (19 Jan. 1841–27 June 1844) | (8 Mar. 1832–27 June 1844) |
| (7 Nov. 1837–19 Jan. 1841) | ||
| (19 Jan. 1841–before 8 Jan. 1844) |
Patriarch
was appointed as the
of the church in December 1834 and served in that
position until his death on 14 September 1840. On
19 January 1841, was designated by revelation to take “the office of priesthood and patriarch,
which was appointed unto him by his father by blessing and also by
right.” That same revelation appointed him, as patriarch, to hold the
sealing power and to be “a prophet and a Seer and a revelator unto my
church as well as my servant Joseph that he may act in concert also,
with my servant Joseph . . . and be crowned with the same blessings . .
. and glory, and honor and priesthood and gifts of the priesthood, that
once were put upon him that was my servant .”
| 1 September 1839 | 31 January 1841 |
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Between 1 September 1839 and 31 January 1841, the continued to rebuild its
membership after six members of the quorum died or disaffected during
the turmoil in both and in 1837 and 1838.
In late 1838 and early 1839, four new apostles were ordained, bringing
the membership total to ten. In April 1840, while serving
a mission with the Quorum of the Twelve in , , who had been appointed as an apostle in
July 1838, was ordained to that office, becoming the eleventh member of
the quorum.
| 1 September 1839 | 31 January 1841 |
Presidents of the Seventy
From September 1839 through January 1841, there were
apparently three quorums of the in the , as there is no
record of the dissolution of the quorums established in 1835. In 1837,
however, the record book of the Seventy started referring to the quorums
of the Seventy as a singular quorum, and many men ordained to that
office in the United States and Great Britain in
1839 and 1840 were not assigned to a specific quorum. Unlike most other quorums in the church,
which were presided over by one president and two counselors, the
quorums of the Seventy were led by seven presidents. Throughout this period, the same seven men
served as presidents of the Seventy, positions that were reaffirmed in a
19 January 1841 revelation. The
order in which the presidents are listed below is based on the order in
which they were listed in that revelation and is not necessarily based
on seniority.
| 1 September 1839–31 January 1841 |