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Account with the Church of Christ, circa 11–29 August 1834

Source Note

Account with the Church of Christ, [
Kirtland Township

Located 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...

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, Geauga Co., OH], [ca. 11–29 Aug. 1834]; handwriting of
Orson Hyde

8 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, ...

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; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket.
This account was written on four leaves ruled both vertically and horizontally, each measuring 15½ × 12½ inches (39 × 32 cm). The four original leaves were folded down the middle. Debits are displayed on the left side and credits on the right side. The leaves eventually separated at the middle fold, forming eight leaves. Residue from two or three red adhesive wafers per leaf indicate that, prior to separating down the middle, the leaves were at one time connected top to bottom to form a continuous scroll. The joined leaves were folded along the page breaks to form a single stack of pages. Thereafter, crease marks indicate they were folded twice widthwise into thirds; a final half-fold resulted in a document measuring approximately 7¾ × 2½ inches (20 × 6 cm). Additional folding and warping of the paper indicates that after being made into a scroll, other folds or rolling may have been employed in storing the document. A docket on the verso of the bottom left leaf in the handwriting of
Thomas Bullock

23 Dec. 1816–10 Feb. 1885. Farmer, excise officer, secretary, clerk. Born in Leek, Staffordshire, England. Son of Thomas Bullock and Mary Hall. Married Henrietta Rushton, 25 June 1838. Moved to Ardee, Co. Louth, Ireland, Nov. 1839; to Isle of Anglesey, Aug...

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reads: “1834 May 3 | Acct. of Joseph Smith with
Zion’s Camp

A group of approximately 205 men and about 20 women and children led by JS to Missouri, May–July 1834, to redeem Zion by helping the Saints who had been driven from Jackson County, Missouri, regain their lands; later referred to as “Zion’s Camp.” A 24 February...

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—”.
In August 1834,
Orson Hyde

8 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, ...

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submitted the account to the
Kirtland

Located 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 Info
, Ohio,
high council

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...

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.
1

Minutes, 28–29 Aug. 1834.


It is listed in the first Historian’s Office inventory, suggesting continuous institutional custody.
2

“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes, 28–29 Aug. 1834.

  2. [2]

    “Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

Historical Introduction

This record provides an accounting of funds collected and distributed by the
Camp of Israel

A group of approximately 205 men and about 20 women and children led by JS to Missouri, May–July 1834, to redeem Zion by helping the Saints who had been driven from Jackson County, Missouri, regain their lands; later referred to as “Zion’s Camp.” A 24 February...

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expedition in spring and summer 1834. It contains detailed information about the
consecrated

The 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...

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funds contributed to the Camp of Israel—which were then considered the property of the church—and the amounts paid out to the captains of each company of the camp. JS apparently had ultimate oversight of these funds. Although revelations designated the church’s
bishops

An 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...

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—
Edward Partridge

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...

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in
Missouri

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 ...

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and
Newel K. Whitney

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...

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in
Ohio

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...

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—as responsible for overseeing consecration in the church, neither of them was present on the Camp of Israel expedition.
1

Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:30–33]; Revelation, 4 Dec. 1831–B [D&C 72:9–12].


In addition, the
United Firm

An organization that supervised the management of church enterprises and properties from 1832 to 1834. In March and April 1832, revelations directed that the church’s publishing and mercantile endeavors be organized. In accordance with this direction, the...

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, which since 1832 had overseen many of the church’s financial affairs, was reorganized and its assets distributed to its members in April 1834.
2

Revelation, 23 Apr. 1834 [D&C 104].


At that time, JS, as the church’s leader, apparently assumed an expanded supervisory role over the church’s finances, as reflected in this account.
The account shows the contributions to the Camp of Israel by church members who did not go on the expedition as well as contributions by camp members, both of which made up the camp’s general fund. The record is not a complete listing of camp members because it shows donations by only approximately 170 individuals, short of the approximately 230 that constituted the camp.
3

This number includes around twelve women and ten children who accompanied the camp. (Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 11; Bradley, Zion’s Camp 1834, xix–[xxi]; Radke, “We Also Marched,” 149.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Kimball, Heber C. “The Journal and Record of Heber Chase Kimball an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” ca. 1842–1858. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 1.

Bradley, James L. Zion’s Camp 1834: Prelude to the Civil War. Logan, UT: By the author, 1990.

Radke, Andrea G. “We Also Marched: The Women and Children of Zion’s Camp, 1834.” BYU Studies 39 (2000): 147–165.

Joseph Holbrook

16 Jan. 1806–14 Nov. 1885. Farmer, teacher, carpenter, miner, clerk, policeman, probate judge. Born at Florence, Oneida Co., New York. Son of Moses Holbrook and Hannah Lucretia Morton. Moved to Worcester Co., Massachusetts, June 1813. Married first Nancy ...

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remembered that those camp members who were traveling with their families were not asked to contribute money to the camp’s general fund; instead, they were to take care of their families’ needs by themselves.
4

Holbrook, Reminiscences, 34.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Holbrook, Joseph. Autobiography and Journal, not before 1871. Photocopy. CHL. MS 5004. Original in private possession.

In this account, both Holbrook and his brother Chandler, who were traveling with their families, are listed as contributing nothing, indicating they were exempt from the obligation to donate.
This account and another record showing JS’s personal account with the Camp of Israel
5

Account with the Camp of Israel, ca. 11–29 Aug. 1834.


were compiled by
Orson Hyde

8 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, ...

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, who may have created the accounts as part of his duties as clerk of the
presidency of the high priesthood

Both the office of the president of the high priesthood and the body comprising the president and his counselors; the presiding body of the church. In November 1831, a revelation directed the appointment of a president of the high priesthood. The individual...

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. The need for the records was intensified by
Sylvester Smith

25 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...

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’s charges that JS had committed improprieties in “the distribution of monies and other properties” on the expedition.
6

Minutes, 11 Aug. 1834.


Hyde most likely created the records between 11 August 1834, when a council first considered Smith’s accusations,
7

Minutes, 11 Aug. 1834.


and 29 August, when at least one of the accounts was presented to the high council as evidence in the trial for Smith’s membership. The accounts may have been finalized as early as 27 August, the last clear date entered on either of the records.
8

See Account with the Camp of Israel, ca. 11–29 Aug. 1834.


When Hyde presented this record to the high council, he stated that it was “an account current” and “was taken from documents kept during the journey by brother
F. G. Williams

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...

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,” who was the treasurer of the Camp of Israel and “had the charge” of the general fund of the expedition.
9

Minutes, 28–29 Aug. 1834; McBride, Reminiscence, 2; Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 8. Camp members “consecrate[d] all the . . . money” they had to the general fund for the camp’s expenses. “Some of the brethren had considerable, and some had little or none,” Heber C. Kimball declared, “yet all became equal.” (McBride, Reminiscence, 2; Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 8.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

McBride, Reuben, Sr. Reminiscence, no date. CHL. MS 8197.

Kimball, Heber C. “The Journal and Record of Heber Chase Kimball an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” ca. 1842–1858. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 1.

Williams told the council “that the account exhibited was correctly taken from his accounts.”
10

Minutes, 28–29 Aug. 1834. Williams’s records are not extant.


This account with the Church of Christ and the record showing JS’s personal contributions to the Camp of Israel reference each other. JS’s total contribution—the net amount of cash he contributed plus the wear and tear of his equipment—is detailed line by line on that second account
11

See Account with the Camp of Israel, ca. 11–29 Aug. 1834.


and is represented on this
Church of Christ

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...

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record as an expenditure of the church. Including this expenditure, the account shows that the church’s expenditures for the Camp of Israel totaled $2,051.50, which was $391.91 more than its receipts of $1,659.59 of consecrated funds.
Hyde

8 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, ...

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reconciled the contributions and expenditures by adding $391.91 from an old account to the contributions, but the record does not explain anything further about that old account.
Hyde

8 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, ...

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created the double-entry debit and credit account on loose ledger paper, which he then attached together vertically with wafers. The left side of each page contains debit entries (labeled “Dr.”), while the right side contains credit entries (labeled “Crt.”). Although the minutes of the
Kirtland

Located 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 Info
, Ohio, high council meeting at which Hyde presented the account are not clear, the high council probably reviewed the account as it deliberated on the fate of
Sylvester Smith

25 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...

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’s membership in the church.
12

Minutes, 28–29 Aug. 1834.


Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:30–33]; Revelation, 4 Dec. 1831–B [D&C 72:9–12].

  2. [2]

    Revelation, 23 Apr. 1834 [D&C 104].

  3. [3]

    This number includes around twelve women and ten children who accompanied the camp. (Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 11; Bradley, Zion’s Camp 1834, xix–[xxi]; Radke, “We Also Marched,” 149.)

    Kimball, Heber C. “The Journal and Record of Heber Chase Kimball an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” ca. 1842–1858. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 1.

    Bradley, James L. Zion’s Camp 1834: Prelude to the Civil War. Logan, UT: By the author, 1990.

    Radke, Andrea G. “We Also Marched: The Women and Children of Zion’s Camp, 1834.” BYU Studies 39 (2000): 147–165.

  4. [4]

    Holbrook, Reminiscences, 34.

    Holbrook, Joseph. Autobiography and Journal, not before 1871. Photocopy. CHL. MS 5004. Original in private possession.

  5. [5]

    Account with the Camp of Israel, ca. 11–29 Aug. 1834.

  6. [6]

    Minutes, 11 Aug. 1834.

  7. [7]

    Minutes, 11 Aug. 1834.

  8. [8]

    See Account with the Camp of Israel, ca. 11–29 Aug. 1834.

  9. [9]

    Minutes, 28–29 Aug. 1834; McBride, Reminiscence, 2; Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 8. Camp members “consecrate[d] all the . . . money” they had to the general fund for the camp’s expenses. “Some of the brethren had considerable, and some had little or none,” Heber C. Kimball declared, “yet all became equal.” (McBride, Reminiscence, 2; Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 8.)

    McBride, Reuben, Sr. Reminiscence, no date. CHL. MS 8197.

    Kimball, Heber C. “The Journal and Record of Heber Chase Kimball an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” ca. 1842–1858. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 1.

  10. [10]

    Minutes, 28–29 Aug. 1834. Williams’s records are not extant.

  11. [11]

    See Account with the Camp of Israel, ca. 11–29 Aug. 1834.

  12. [12]

    Minutes, 28–29 Aug. 1834.

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Account with the Church of Christ, circa 11–29 August 1834
ID #
6743
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D4:135–155
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