Minutes, 17 September 1837–A

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Minutes, 17 September 1837–A
Source Note

Minutes,
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, 17 Sept. 1837. Featured version copied [ca. 17 Sept. 1837] in Minute Book 1, p. 242; handwriting of
George W. Robinson
14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high...
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; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.

Historical Introduction
JS and
Sidney Rigdon
19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
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, members of the
church
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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’s
First Presidency
The highest presiding body of the church. An 11 November 1831 revelation stated that the president of the high priesthood was to preside over the church. JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood on 25 January 1832. In March 1832, JS appointed two...
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, presided over and participated in a Sunday meeting on 17 September 1837 in the
House of the Lord
JS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...
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in
Kirtland
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, Ohio, during which
William Marks
15 Nov. 1792–22 May 1872. Farmer, printer, publisher, postmaster. Born at Rutland, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of Cornell (Cornwall) Marks and Sarah Goodrich. Married first Rosannah R. Robinson, 2 May 1813. Lived at Portage, Allegany Co., New York, where he...
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and
George W. Robinson
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received new assignments. After Kirtland
bishop
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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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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nominated Marks to become the
agent
A specific church office and, more generally, someone “entrusted with the business of another.” Agents in the church assisted other ecclesiastical officers, especially the bishop in his oversight of the church’s temporal affairs. A May 1831 revelation instructed...
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to the bishop, Marks was unanimously sustained by the members in attendance.
1
Whitney’s request for an agent and Marks’s appointment were printed in minutes in the Elders’ Journal summarizing events that occurred on 17 September. (Minutes, Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 17.)
Comprehensive Works Cited
Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.
Marks appears to have acted as an agent for JS and Rigdon beginning in April 1837, and this appointment may have been an extension of that role.
2
In April 1837, JS and Rigdon each transferred land to Marks, and in May 1837 they transferred ownership of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate and the church’s Kirtland printing office to Marks. It is not clear whether any money was exchanged in these transactions, but Marks’s willingness to transfer his right to land involved in the mortgage of the House of the Lord to Mead, Stafford & Co. suggests he was likely holding this land as an agent. (Deed to William Marks, 10 Apr. 1837; Sidney Rigdon to William Marks, Geauga County Deed Record, vol. 23, p. 535, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; “Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, May 1837, 3:512; Mortgage to Mead, Stafford & Co., 11 July 1837.)
Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, vol. 23. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
He formally accepted the position in an evening meeting of the elders of the church on 17 September.
3
Minutes, 17 Sept. 1837–B.

After
Marks
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was sustained,
Sidney Rigdon
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spoke of the need to appoint a new general recorder and clerk for the church since
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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, who had previously acted in this position, had recently moved to
Far West
Originally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
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, Missouri.
4
Oliver Cowdery left Kirtland with his family to travel to Far West shortly after 15 September 1837, the date of his last docket entry as a Kirtland justice of the peace. (Cowdery, Docket Book, 14 June–15 Sept. 1837.)
Cowdery, Oliver. Docket Book, June–Sept. 1837. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Rigdon nominated one of his sons-in-law,
George W. Robinson
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, for the office, and the assembled church members unanimously elected him. Robinson appears to have promptly undertaken his new office; he recorded the minutes featured here, acknowledging his position as “Clerk of the Church.”
Footnotes
[1]
Whitney’s request for an agent and Marks’s appointment were printed in minutes in the Elders’ Journal summarizing events that occurred on 17 September. (Minutes, Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 17.)
Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.
[2]
In April 1837, JS and Rigdon each transferred land to Marks, and in May 1837 they transferred ownership of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate and the church’s Kirtland printing office to Marks. It is not clear whether any money was exchanged in these transactions, but Marks’s willingness to transfer his right to land involved in the mortgage of the House of the Lord to Mead, Stafford & Co. suggests he was likely holding this land as an agent. (Deed to William Marks, 10 Apr. 1837; Sidney Rigdon to William Marks, Geauga County Deed Record, vol. 23, p. 535, Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH; “Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, May 1837, 3:512; Mortgage to Mead, Stafford & Co., 11 July 1837.)
Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, vol. 23. Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, OH.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
[3]
Minutes, 17 Sept. 1837–B.
[4]
Oliver Cowdery left Kirtland with his family to travel to Far West shortly after 15 September 1837, the date of his last docket entry as a Kirtland justice of the peace. (Cowdery, Docket Book, 14 June–15 Sept. 1837.)
Cowdery, Oliver. Docket Book, June–Sept. 1837. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Minutes, 17 September 1837–A Minute Book 1 History, 1838–1856, volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838] “History of Joseph Smith”
Page 242
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Sunday 17th Sept. 1837 In an assembly of the Saints in the
house of the Lord
JS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...
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, the following business was transacted by the
Church
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...
View Glossary
,
N[ewel] K. Whitney
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the
Bishop
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...
View Glossary
of the Church in
Kirtland
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, stated to the Saints that the time had now arraved when it was necessary for him to have an
agent
A specific church office and, more generally, someone “entrusted with the business of another.” Agents in the church assisted other ecclesiastical officers, especially the bishop in his oversight of the church’s temporal affairs. A May 1831 revelation instructed...
View Glossary
, agreeable to the provisions made for him in the revelations,
1
JS revelations in 1832 and 1833 had directed Newel K. Whitney to obtain an agent. The timing of Marks’s appointment may be related to Whitney’s need for additional help with the financial matters of the Kirtland church or to church leaders’ decision to appoint additional stakes of Zion and relocate the majority of Kirtland Saints to Missouri. (See Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:112–113]; and Revelation, 8 Mar. 1833 [D&C 90:22–23].)
he proceded to nominate
Elder
A male leader in the church generally; an ecclesiastical and priesthood office or one holding that office; a proselytizing missionary. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto...
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William Marks
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, and then Called upon the Church to know if it was their minds that
Elder Marks
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Should officiate as Agent to the Bishop, Voted in the affirmative. by the unanymous voice of the Church,

Pres. [Sidney] Rigdon
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then stated that it was necessary that the Church should have a general recorder & Clerk, to fill the place of
O[liver] 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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who had lately removed to the west,
George W. Robinson
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was nominated & elected by a unanymous voice of the Church, to act in that office as general Clerk & recorder of the whole Church.
Pres. Rigdon
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made some remarks upon the duties responsibility &c. of the Bishop his Agent & Councilors, & the nesessity of their standing forth immediately to degnify their office, After some remarks by Presidents Smith &
Rigdon
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and others upon the disipline of Children, &c. the administration of the
Lords Supper
Primarily referred to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as opposed to other religious sacraments. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed “that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord...
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being attended to, the meeting Closed by a benediction from the
Bishop
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.——

G.W. Robinson
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.} Clerk of the— Church [p. 242]
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Footnotes
[1]
JS revelations in 1832 and 1833 had directed Newel K. Whitney to obtain an agent. The timing of Marks’s appointment may be related to Whitney’s need for additional help with the financial matters of the Kirtland church or to church leaders’ decision to appoint additional stakes of Zion and relocate the majority of Kirtland Saints to Missouri. (See Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:112–113]; and Revelation, 8 Mar. 1833 [D&C 90:22–23].)