JS’s journal states that on 22 September 1835, he and labored “in obtaining and writing blessings” for their “most beloved Brotheren.” JS dictated these blessings for church leaders who were then residing in , Ohio: , , and —the presidency of the Missouri —and , a counselor to . However, it is unknown whether the recipients were present for any of these blessings. The blessings were written in the third person, in contrast with blessings given in the second person by and JS to individuals who were present, suggesting that some or all of these four recipients were absent, though all were in Kirtland at this time.

Blessings were the subject of considerable discussion in the days leading up to the recording of these blessings. In the previous weeks, a church council had decided to compensate for his service as a patriarch and to call as his scribe. In addition, the council appointed to record the blessings Smith gave as patriarch, presumably in a leather-bound volume recently purchased for that purpose. Cowdery’s task of recording largely entailed collecting and transcribing the blessings Joseph Smith Sr. had given to his family and other members of the church since his ordination as patriarch in December 1834, but Cowdery also recorded blessings JS had given to him, Williams, and in November and December 1833. The first blessings recorded in the book were those given to JS’s immediate family and those given to Cowdery, Williams, and Rigdon. They are followed by the blessings for church leaders and , , and . This order may reveal a desire to have the blessings of trusted leaders featured at the beginning of the patriarchal blessing book, which may explain why these blessings were given soon after the volume was purchased. No other pressing deadline required the visiting Missouri leaders to obtain blessings immediately, since they all remained in until after March 1836.

’s blessing was the first of the leaders’ blessings recorded in Patriarchal Blessing Book 1. Whitmer was “President of the Church in ,” which may be why his blessing was recorded first, but there is no other indication that JS followed a hierarchical order in giving the blessings or that the order in which the blessings were recorded matches the order in which they were given. Whitmer was in because he had been instructed in June 1834 to travel there to receive “an from on high.” At the time of this blessing, he had been in Kirtland since at least October 1834, and he remained there until after the dedication of the in late March 1836. Whitmer’s blessing highlighted his role as an early and steadfast supporter of JS, reinforced his high standing among church leaders, and promised that he would witness the redemption of and enjoy great blessings thereafter.

recorded the initial dictation of this blessing on 22 September 1835 and entered it into Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 on 2 October 1835.