Blessing to John Whitmer, 22 September 1835

Source Note

JS, Blessing, to
John Whitmer
27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
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, [
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], 22 Sept. 1835. Featured version copied 2 Oct. 1835 in Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, p. 14; handwriting of
Oliver Cowdery
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
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; CHL. For more complete source information on Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, see the source note for Blessing from Joseph Smith Sr., 9 Dec. 1834.
Historical Introduction
On 22 September 1835, JS dictated blessings for
John Whitmer
27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
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and other
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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church leaders who were then in
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...
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Ohio.
1
For more information on the context of these blessings and their recording in Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, see Blessing to David Whitmer, 22 Sept. 1835.
Whitmer, one of the presidents of the Missouri
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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, had been appointed on 23 June 1834 “to receive his endowment in Kirtland with power from on high” and had traveled there in spring 1835.
2
Minutes, 3 July 1834; Minutes, 23 June 1834; Whitmer, History, 70–71.
He then worked in the church’s
printing office
Following destruction of church printing office in Independence, Missouri, July 1833, JS and other church leaders determined to set up new printing office in Kirtland under firm name F. G. Williams & Co. Oliver Cowdery purchased new printing press in New ...
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as editor of the church newspaper Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate.
3
Editorial, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1835, 1:192.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
The blessing featured here promised Whitmer prosperity in both temporal and spiritual matters.

Oliver Cowdery
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
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served as scribe during the blessing’s dictation on 22 September and recorded the text into Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 on 2 October 1835.
Whitmer
27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
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himself may have possessed a copy of the blessing titled “J. Whitmer—Prophetical Blessing.”
4
M. Wilford Poulson apparently obtained a small collection of original John Whitmer documents in the 1930s. An inventory he made of the collection noted a “Prophetical blessing to John Whitmer Sep. 22, 1835.” Someone—likely Poulson himself—made a typescript of the blessing that has only minor differences from the blessing in the patriarchal blessing book. Unfortunately, whatever document the typescript was made from is no longer extant. (M. Wilford Poulson, “Books Purchased,” 1938–1951, 5; “J. Whitmer—Prophetical Blessing,” 22 Sept. 1835, typescript, M. Wilford Poulson, Papers, BYU.)
Comprehensive Works Cited
Poulson, M. Wilford. Papers, 1826–1964. BYU.

Footnotes
1. 1
  For more information on the context of these blessings and their recording in Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, see Blessing to David Whitmer, 22 Sept. 1835.
2. 2
  Minutes, 3 July 1834; Minutes, 23 June 1834; Whitmer, History, 70–71.
3. 3
  Editorial, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1835, 1:192.
  
  Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
4. 4
  M. Wilford Poulson apparently obtained a small collection of original John Whitmer documents in the 1930s. An inventory he made of the collection noted a “Prophetical blessing to John Whitmer Sep. 22, 1835.” Someone—likely Poulson himself—made a typescript of the blessing that has only minor differences from the blessing in the patriarchal blessing book. Unfortunately, whatever document the typescript was made from is no longer extant. (M. Wilford Poulson, “Books Purchased,” 1938–1951, 5; “J. Whitmer—Prophetical Blessing,” 22 Sept. 1835, typescript, M. Wilford Poulson, Papers, BYU.)
  
  Poulson, M. Wilford. Papers, 1826–1964. BYU.

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Blessed of the Lord is brother : he shall live to a good old age, and his generations after him shall be blessed. He shall live to a good old age, and wax more and more steadfast in the work of the Lord, and he shall make a choice record of Israel unto the memory of his name. He shall truly be chastened wherein he steps aside, yet he shall escape the hand of the Destroyer, and shall never fall by the hands of his enemies: and he shall be avenged of the wrongs he has sustained by them. He shall be blessed, and a means of bringing many blessings upon his ’s family. He shall be blessed with abundance of the good things of the this earth, with houses and lands, in the fruit of the field, with horses and with asses and with she asses, with gold and with silver, and with precious stones, even the things of the lasting mountains. He shall be made mighty in the hands of his God in bringing to pass the redemption of . The Lord shall be on his right hand and on his left; shall go before his face and shall be his rear ward, and shall turn aside all the shafts of the <his> enemies. And he shall go down to his <in> honor and with gray hairs, to the grave, and shall be caught up in the cloud to meet the Lord, and shall ever be with him; even so. Amen.

, Clerk and Recorder.

Given September 22, 1835, and recorded October 2, 1835. [p. 14]

Blessed of the Lord is brother : he shall live to a good old age, and his generations after him shall be blessed. He shall live to a good old age, and wax more and more steadfast in the work of the Lord, and he shall make a choice record of Israel unto the memory of his name. He shall truly be chastened wherein he steps aside, yet he shall escape the hand of the Destroyer, and shall never fall by the hands of his enemies: and he shall be avenged of the wrongs he has sustained by them. He shall be blessed, and a means of bringing many blessings upon his ’s family. He shall be blessed with abundance of the good things of this earth, with houses and lands, in the fruit of the field, with horses and with asses and with she asses, with gold and with silver, and with precious stones, even the things of the lasting mountains. He shall be made mighty in the hands of his God in bringing to pass the redemption of . The Lord shall be on his right hand and on his left; shall go before his face and shall be his rear ward, and shall turn aside all the shafts of his enemies. And he shall go down in honor and with gray hairs, to the grave, and shall be caught up in the cloud to meet the Lord, and shall ever be with him; even so. Amen.

, Clerk and Recorder.

Given September 22, 1835, and recorded October 2, 1835. [p. 14]

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Document Information
Editorial Title
Blessing to John Whitmer, 22 September 1835
ID #
1516
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D4:430–433
Handwriting on This Page
- Oliver Cowdery
Footnotes
1. 1
  Whitmer was appointed to write a history of the church in 1831. (Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–B [D&C 47:1–3]; Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–A [D&C 69:1–3]; Minute Book 2, 9 Apr. 1831; Minutes, 23 June 1834; see also Whitmer, History.)
2. 2
  Peter Whitmer Sr.
3. 3
  See Revelation, 7 Aug. 1831 [D&C 59:3].
4. 4
  See Deuteronomy 33:15.
5. 5
  See Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:88]; Isaiah 52:12; 58:8; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 498–499, 501 [3 Nephi 20:42; 21:29]; and Revelation, 7 May 1831 [D&C 49:27].
6. 6
  See 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17; and Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:96–98].

Blessing to John Whitmer, 22 September 1835

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