TEXT: “[Hole in paper]8th”.  

Extant records of general conferences held in 1831 and 1832 indicate that all other general conferences during that time period were held in Ohio. (Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831; Minutes, 25–26 Oct. 1831; Revelation, 25 Jan. 1832–A [D&C 75:1–22].)  

Knight lived twelve miles southwest of Independence, two miles east of the state border. His stewardship was in the northwestern quarter of Section 33 of Township 49 North, Range 33 West, in Jackson County. (Jackson Co., MO, Land and Property Records, 1832–1857, “Record of Original Entries to Lands in Jackson County Missouri,” 20 Dec. 1898, Township 49 North, Range 33 West, p. [16], microfilm 1,019,781, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Berrett, Sacred Places, 4:84, 109–112.)  

U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

Berrett, LaMar C., ed. Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites. 6 vols. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1999–2007.

“H.P.H.” refers to the high priesthood (in this instance, the office of high priest). Minutes from a 25–26 October 1831 conference at Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, similarly begin with a list of “those ordained to the Highpriesthood.” All but three of those on this list (William W. Phelps, Newel Knight, and Oliver Cowdery) received the high priesthood at an early June 1831 conference held in Kirtland, Ohio. (Minutes, 25–26 Oct. 1831; Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831.)  

Cowdery and Whitmer had recently brought Revelation Book 1, a manuscript book of JS’s revelations, to Missouri.  

Isaac Beebe Sr. is listed in the 1820 census as living in Chardon, Ohio, and Isaac Beebe Jr. and George Beebe are listed in the 1830 federal census as living in Chardon. The Beebes apparently relocated to Missouri in 1831. Which Isaac is referred to here is not clear. (1820 U.S. Census, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH, 101A; 1830 U.S. Census, Chardon, Geauga Co., OH, 253A; “Deaths,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Aug. 1834, 182.)  

Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

This number and the number “30” on the following line apparently refer to corresponding numbers that appear on revelations in Revelation Book 1. In that book, the revelation numbered “39” concerns Partridge’s call to preach. The revelation numbered “30” states that only JS can receive revelation for the church as a whole and gives Cowdery the responsibility to lead the mission to the Lamanites. (Revelation, 9 Dec. 1830, in Revelation Book 1, p. 48 [D&C 36]; Revelation, Sept. 1830–B, in Revelation Book 1, p. 40 [D&C 28].)  

Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:46–59]. In November 1831, a revelation called for the organization of the various offices in the church into bodies of designated sizes and for the appointment of presidents for each to “set in council with them & to teach them their duty.” (Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:85].)  

A November 1831 revelation outlined a hierarchy of offices in the church, ascending “from Deacon to Teacher & from Teacher to Priest & from Priest to Elder,” after which came “the high Priest hood which is the greatest of all.” (Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:63–64].)  

The “Articles and Covenants” of the church merely instructed that “every elder, priest, teacher, or deacon, is to be ordained according to the gifts and calling of God unto them by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is in the one who ordains them.” However, at a November 1831 conference in Hiram, Ohio, where two individuals from Nelson, Ohio, wanted to know whether they could preach the gospel, the conference decided that the two should “be ordained according to the voice of the church in which they live.” That decision was similar to the action taken at this Missouri conference. (Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:60]; Minutes, 9 Nov. 1831.)  

The Articles and Covenants directed that congregations “send one of their priests or teachers to attend the several conferences held by the elders of the church with a list of the names the several persons uniting themselves to the church since the last conference.” Presenting Ohio records in Zion was in harmony with a November 1831 revelation that stated that the “Saints which are abroad in the Earth should send forth their accounts to the Land of Zion for the Land of Zion shall be a seat & a place to receive & do all these things.” (Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:81–82]; Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–A [D&C 69:5–6].)  

Partridge purchased these lands in several different transactions, all in his own name. They included a sixty-three-acre plot purchased in December 1831, which the Saints dedicated for the building of a temple. (Jones H. Flournoy and Clara Hickman Flournoy to Edward Partridge, Deed, Jackson Co., MO, 19 Dec. 1831, CHL; Edward Partridge, Petition for Redress, 15 May 1839, Edward Partridge, Papers, CHL; Land Patents for Edward Partridge, Jackson Co., MO, nos. 14, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1961, 1962, General Land Office Records, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior.)  

Flournoy, Jones H., and Clara Hickman Flournoy. Deed to Edward Partridge, Jackson Co., MO, 19 Dec. 1831. CHL. MS 14294.

Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892.

General Land Office Records. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior. Digital images of the land patents cited herein are available at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/.

“Pertaining to artisans or mechanics.” As evidenced by the request later in the letter for specific individuals skilled in blacksmithing, shoemaking, and masonry to come to Jackson County, “mechanics” as used here apparently meant craftsmen of various kinds. (“Mechanic,” in American Dictionary [1845], 523.)  

An American Dictionary of the English Language; Exhibiting the Origin, Orthography, Pronunciation, and Definitions of Words. Edited by Noah Webster. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1845.

TEXT: “be[hole in paper]efit”.  

TEXT: “o[hole in paper]e”.  

TEXT: “o[hole in paper]e”.  

TEXT: “Sm[hole in paper]h”.  

Because the Santa Fe Trail began at Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, the town probably already had some craftsmen. This resolution indicates that the elders were committed to building a self-sustaining Mormon community. (See History of Jackson County, Missouri, 170.)  

The History of Jackson County, Missouri, Containing A History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc. . . . Cape Girardeau, MO: Cape Ramfre Press, 1966.

TEXT: “abo[hole in paper]e”.  

The conference report in Minute Book 2 records that John Corrill offered the closing prayer. Corrill offered the opening prayer at the conference held at Sidney Gilbert’s home on 27 January 1832, which may have confused the recorder of the minutes in Minute Book 2. (Minute Book 2, 23 Jan. 1832.)  

See Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:34–36]; and Revelation, 20 May 1831 [D&C 51:8].  

Partridge distributed funds to elders who were required by a 6 June 1831 revelation to travel to Zion. An 8 August 1831 revelation instructed Partridge to aid these elders on their return journey as well. (Revelation, 6 June 1831 [D&C 52]; Revelation, 8 Aug. 1831 [D&C 60:10].)  

It is unclear how much Partridge had expended on land to this point. He purchased much of the land for $1.25 an acre. This would mean that he had paid approximately $1,500 for the nearly 1,200 acres he had purchased. Records indicate that he had spent at least $875 for nearly 660 acres by the end of 1831. (Land Patents for Edward Partridge, Jackson Co., MO, nos. 14, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1961, 1962, General Land Office Records, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior; Jones H. Flournoy and Clara Hickman Flournoy to Edward Partridge, Deed, Jackson Co., MO, 19 Dec. 1831, CHL.)  

General Land Office Records. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior. Digital images of the land patents cited herein are available at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/.

Flournoy, Jones H., and Clara Hickman Flournoy. Deed to Edward Partridge, Jackson Co., MO, 19 Dec. 1831. CHL. MS 14294.

A June 1831 revelation assigned Cowdery and Phelps the task of publishing schoolbooks. Some leaders in Kirtland objected to the appointment of Corrill to superintend schools, believing that his work as an assistant to Partridge required his full attention. (Revelation, 14 June 1831 [D&C 55:4]; Charges against Missouri Conference Preferred to JS, ca. Mar. 1832.)  

About sixty church members from Colesville, New York, relocated together to Kaw Township after a sojourn in Thompson, Ohio, arriving in late July 1831. They settled on an eighty-acre tract of land in the northwest corner of Section 33 of Township 49 North, Range 33 West. (Knight, Reminiscences, 9; Jackson Co., MO, Land and Property Records, 1832–1857, “Record of Original Entries to Lands in Jackson County Missouri,” 20 Dec. 1898, Township 49 North, Range 33 West, p. [16], microfilm, 1,019,781, U. S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Berrett, Sacred Places, 4:110n12.)  

Knight, Joseph, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. CHL. MS 3470.

U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

That is, the Articles and Covenants. These stated that a “regular list of all the names of the members of the whole church” were to be kept in a book “by one of the elders whomesoever the other elders shall appoint from time to time.” That list was called “the general church record of names.” Although a March 1831 revelation gave John Whitmer the responsibility to “keep the Church Record & History continually,” Corrill was here appointed to keep the record for Zion—an assignment to which some Ohio leaders objected. (Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:82–83]; Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–B [D&C 47:3]; Charges against Missouri Conference Preferred to JS, ca. Mar. 1832.)  

TEXT: “i[hole in paper]”.  

There is no extant record that a “house of entertainment” was ever built or begun. By 1838, Smallwood Noland, who was not a member of the church, was operating a log hotel and tavern in Independence that Parley P. Pratt called a “respectable hotel.” Whether that hotel was in operation in January 1832 is unclear. (Berrett, Sacred Places, 4:49–50; Pratt, History of the Late Persecution, 46.)  

U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

Pratt, Parley P. History of the Late Persecution Inflicted by the State of Missouri Upon the Mormons, In Which Ten Thousand American Citizens were Robbed, Plundered, and Driven From the State, and Many Others Imprisoned, Martyred, &c. For Their Religion, and All This by Military Force, by Order of the Executive. By P. P. Pratt, Minister of the Gospel. Written During Eight Months Imprisonment in that State. Detroit: Dawson and Bates, 1839.