Footnotes
“Anniversary of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:486.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Record of Seventies, bk. A, 17.
Record of Seventies / First Council of the Seventy. “Book of Records,” 1837–1843. Bk. A. In First Council of the Seventy, Records, 1837–1885. CHL. CR 3 51, box 1, fd. 1.
Record of Seventies, bk. A, 9, 18. Elias Smith prepared these meeting minutes using the journal of Hazen Aldrich. Wilford Woodruff wrote that a reorganization of the leadership of the Seventy was required because of the “difference in the authority and office of the quorums of high Priesthood & Seventies.” (Woodruff, Journal, 6 Apr. 1837.)
Record of Seventies / First Council of the Seventy. “Book of Records,” 1837–1843. Bk. A. In First Council of the Seventy, Records, 1837–1885. CHL. CR 3 51, box 1, fd. 1.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Young and Coltrin noted that members of each quorum argued that theirs held greater authority. Young wrote in 1878 that the debate developed “with so much warmth that it amounted to jealousy.” Coltrin’s account, recorded by L. John Nuttall in 1879, specified that the debate began between Benjamin Winchester and Jared Carter: “Bro. W[inchester] A Seventy and Bro Jared [Carter] a High Priest got to contending which held the highest office. Carter was rebuking him on account of his folly, which he said he had not right to do. as he held a higher Priesthood than he did. and Jared contended that he didn’t because [he] was a High Priest.” Coltrin wrote that the debate came to the attention of Joseph Smith Sr., who then informed JS. (Young, History of the Organization of the Seventies, 4–5; Nuttall, Diary, 31 May 1879.)
Young, Joseph, Sr. History of the Organization of the Seventies: Names of First and Second Quorums. Items in Relation to the First Presidency of the Seventies. Also, a Brief Glance at Enoch and His City. Embellished with a Likeness of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and a View of the Kirtland Temple. Salt Lake City: Deseret News Steam Printing Establishment, 1878.
Nuttall, L. John. Diary, 1876–1884. L. John Nuttall, Papers, 1857–1904. BYU.
“Anniversary of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:486.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
The six men who were removed as presidents of the Seventy were Hazen Aldrich, Leonard Rich, Zebedee Coltrin, Lyman Sherman, Sylvester Smith, and Levi Hancock. The six men appointed to fill the positions were James Foster, Josiah Butterfield, John Gould, John Gaylord, Daniel S. Miles, and Salmon Gee. (Young, History of the Organization of the Seventies, 5.)
Young, Joseph, Sr. History of the Organization of the Seventies: Names of First and Second Quorums. Items in Relation to the First Presidency of the Seventies. Also, a Brief Glance at Enoch and His City. Embellished with a Likeness of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and a View of the Kirtland Temple. Salt Lake City: Deseret News Steam Printing Establishment, 1878.
Levi Hancock, who was removed at this meeting and replaced by John Gould, was not in Kirtland at the time of the meeting. When Hancock returned to Kirtland, he informed church leaders that he had not been ordained a high priest and should not have been removed from his position. It was decided that Hancock should retain his position as a president of the Seventy, and John Gould was removed. (Minutes, 3 Sept. 1837.)
“Anniversary of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:486.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
In contrast to the other members of the presidency, Oliver Cowdery spoke on proselytizing and teaching. (“Anniversary of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:488; Woodruff, Journal, 6 Apr. 1837.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
“Anniversary of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:488; Minutes, 22 Dec. 1836.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Woodruff, Journal, 6 Apr. 1837.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
“Anniversary of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:488. The losses for Jackson County were likely much higher than Rigdon’s figure; on the amount of debt for the House of the Lord, see Historical Introduction to Mortgage to Mead, Stafford & Co., 11 July 1837; for more information on the land purchases in Kirtland, see Historical Introduction to Mortgage to Peter French, 5 Oct. 1836.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
“Anniversary of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, 3:489, italics in original.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
JS and other church leaders hoped that building the city of Kirtland and gathering the Saints and their resources there might aid them in repaying debts. In this 6 April meeting, JS, Hyrum Smith, and Sidney Rigdon each urged church members to come to Kirtland and to purchase land that had already been obtained by church leaders. (See Historical Introduction to Constitution of the Kirtland Safety Society Bank, 2 Nov. 1836.)
At a previous meeting, Frederick G. Williams expressed similar sentiments about the impoverished beginning of the church and the many undertakings that involved church leaders in amassing large debts. (Minutes, 16 June 1836.)
It is not clear to whom JS referred when he mentioned enemies, though he and other church members bought land in Kirtland from individuals who were antagonistic toward him or the church. In selling and transferring the titles of the land, they would have signed away their rights to the land to the church leaders who purchased it. Although no extant deeds document the land purchases, church leaders apparently arranged to buy land from Timothy Martindale and Christopher Crary. Christopher Crary’s brother, Oliver A. Crary, and Martindale were part of the 1834 committee to investigate the validity of the Book of Mormon and try to “avert the evils” of JS’s teachings. The committee provided financial support for Doctor Philastus Hurlbut to travel to the eastern states and collect affidavits concerning JS and the Book of Mormon. (Crary, Pioneer and Personal Reminiscences, 21; Transcript of Proceedings, 5 June 1837, Martindale v. JS, Whitney, Cahoon, and Johnson [Geauga Co. C.P. 1837], Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U, pp. 106–107, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; “To the Public,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 31 Jan. 1834, [3]; for more on the hundreds of acres of land JS purchased in Kirtland between September and November 1836, see Historical Introduction to Mortgage to Peter French, 5 Oct. 1836; and Historical Introduction to Letter from Newel K. Whitney, 20 Apr. 1837.)
Crary, Christopher G. Pioneer and Personal Reminiscences. Marshalltown, IA: Marshall Printing Co., 1893.
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Record Book U. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.
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