Documents, Volume 5, Part 7 Introduction: 17 September 1837–21 January 1838
Part 7: 17 September 1837–21 January 1838
Documents from 17 September 1837 to 21 January 1838 reflect profound changes
in JS’s life, including the
excommunication of several dissenting members—many of whom had been close friends—and
the relocation of JS and his family from , Ohio, to , Missouri.
In September, JS and associates began work on a
new publication called the Elders’ Journal. Late that same
month, JS and other church leaders left to travel to , Missouri. They arrived by early November and
attended to various matters of church business, including the
reorganization of church leadership positions at a 7 November 1837
meeting, similar to what occurred in
during the 3 September 1837 conference. The conference included a change in the , with replacing as
second counselor to JS. Other concerns
were discussed at these early November meetings, including land
purchases in Missouri and the need to have adequate space for new
arrivals there. The next month, in an editorial in the
Elders’ Journal, JS expressed his intention to
move his family to Far West and encouraged Saints in Kirtland to
also make preparations to gather with the Saints in Missouri.
JS and his party returned to in early December to find that dissent had
revived. Divisions in Kirtland became more pronounced in January
1838 as dissidents, excommunicated church members, and others made
threats against the lives of JS and other church leaders. In
addition, JS and faced litigation brought
by their opponents, which meant their property might be seized and
auctioned by the local sheriff. On 12 January
1838, JS dictated three revelations that established rules to deter
attempts at undermining the First Presidency’s authority and to
limit the influence of dissenters. One of the
revelations also directed the First Presidency to leave Kirtland
with their families “as soon as it is practicable” and commanded all
their “faithfull friends” to likewise depart for . JS and Rigdon
left Kirtland the evening of 12 January and were later joined by
their families in , Ohio; the
group started for Missouri by 16 January. The
leaders of the dissenters in Kirtland, now excommunicated from the
church, took steps to organize their own church, which they called
the Church of Christ. Identifying themselves as the “old standard”
and arguing that the church under JS had been led astray and now
required reform, the dissenters formally incorporated their church
in the state of on 18 January, solidifying the separation
between themselves and the Church of the Latter Day Saints.