Minutes, 26 July 1838

Source Note

First Presidency, Zion high council, and Zion bishop’s council, Minutes, [
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...
More Info
, Caldwell Co., MO], 26 July 1838. Featured version copied [ca. 26 July 1838] in JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, pp. 59–60; 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...
View Full Bio
; CHL. Includes use marks. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838.
Historical Introduction
On 26 July 1838, JS met with several other church leaders to determine how to manage property that
Latter-day Saints
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
in
Caldwell County
Located in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More Info
, Missouri, had recently donated to the church. Earlier in the month, on 8 July, JS dictated a revelation calling for the Latter-day Saints to donate all of their surplus property to the church and thereafter to donate “one tenth of all their interest annually.”
1
Revelation, 8 July 1838–C [D&C 119:1, 4]. This direction adapted the church’s original plan, presented in earlier revelations, for consecrating property. (See, for example, Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:30–39].)
Later that day, JS dictated another revelation, directing that donated property be managed by a council consisting of the
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...
View Glossary
and the
Zion
JS revelation, dated 20 July 1831, designated Missouri as “land of Zion” for gathering of Saints and place where “City of Zion” was to be built, with Independence area as “center place” of Zion. Latter-day Saint settlements elsewhere, such as in Kirtland,...
More Info

bishopric
Initially referred to a bishop’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction, but eventually described the ecclesiastical body comprising the bishop and his assistants, or counselors. John Corrill and Isaac Morley were called as assistants to Bishop Edward Partridge in 1831...
View Glossary
and
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...
View Glossary
, acting together under the inspiration of God.
2
Revelation, 8 July 1838–D [D&C 120].
In response to the revelation about making donations, the Saints began donating property of various kinds. On 26 July, the council of church leaders that was called for in the latter revelation met to determine how to manage these donations. The council likely convened in
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...
More Info
, where JS and other church leaders were living at the time.
3
See JS, Journal, 8–28 July 1838.
The council members agreed on several resolutions, most of which clarified the relationship between the First Presidency and 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
in financial matters.

The minutes do not identify an appointed clerk for the council but contain the specificity of and are written in the style of formal minutes.
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...
View Full Bio
may have taken minutes at the meeting, which would explain why he inscribed them in JS’s journal and why the minutes do not appear in Minute Book 2, where clerks typically recorded the minutes of high council and other meetings. Robinson inscribed the minutes in JS’s journal likely on the day of or within a few days after the meeting, as they appear immediately before a series of daily journal entries, the first of which is dated 27 July 1838.
4
See JS, Journal, 26 July–10 Sept. 1838.

Footnotes
1. 1
  Revelation, 8 July 1838–C [D&C 119:1, 4]. This direction adapted the church’s original plan, presented in earlier revelations, for consecrating property. (See, for example, Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:30–39].)
2. 2
  Revelation, 8 July 1838–D [D&C 120].
3. 3
  See JS, Journal, 8–28 July 1838.
4. 4
  See JS, Journal, 26 July–10 Sept. 1838.

Hide editing marks

3rd. Mooved seconded & carried unanymously That the be authorized to pay orders coming from the east inasmuch as they will liberally, but this to be done under the inspection of the

4th That the first presidency shall have the prerogative to say to the Bishop whose orders, shall or may be paid by him in this place or in his Jurisdiction. carried unanymously

5th. Mooved seconded and carried That the receive all consecrations, east, west, & south, who are not in the Jurisdiction of a Bishop of any other .

6th Mooved & carried, that we use our influence to put a stop to the selling of Liquior in the City or in our midst, That our streets may not be filled with drunkeness and that we use our influence to bring down the price of provisions.—

7th. Mooved, seconded & carried unanymously that br. , be requested to draw up a petition to remove the county seat to

This decision was reaffirmed within two weeks.a The legislation that organized Caldwell County in December 1836 included measures for establishing a seat of justice in April 1837.b It is not known whether these measures were followed. However, Far West served as the county’s de facto if not official seat of justice because the town was the place where county justices Elias Higbee and William W. Phelps operated, where the office of county clerk John Cleminson was located, and where the circuit court was held a few days after this 26 July meeting.c The Latter-day Saints in Caldwell County, and apparently other Missourians as well, considered Far West the county seat.d (^aJS, Journal, 6 Aug. 1838.^bAn Act to Organize the Counties of Caldwell and Daviess [29 Dec. 1836], Laws of the State of Missouri [1836–1837], pp. 46–47, sec. 3; see also An Act for Organizing Counties Hereafter Established [9 Dec. 1836], Laws of the State of Missouri [1836–1837], pp. 38–39, secs. 1–4; and An Act to Establish Judicial Circuits, and to Prescribe the Times and Places of Holding Courts [21 Jan. 1837], Laws of the State of Missouri [1836–1837], p. 57, sec. 23.^cPetitions for Habeas Corpus to Elias Higbee, Aug. 1838, George W. Robinson, Papers, CHL; Certificate of William W. Phelps’s Oath of Office, 4 Apr. 1838, William W. Phelps Commissions, CHL; JS, Journal, 30–31 July 1838.^dEditorial, Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 33; see also Greene, Facts relative to the Expulsion, 18; Illustrated Historical Atlas of Caldwell County, Missouri, 8, 10; and History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, Missouri, 121, 259.)

Comprehensive Works Cited

Laws of the State of Missouri, Passed at the First Session of the Ninth General Assembly, Begun and Held at the City of Jefferson, on Monday, the Twenty-First Day of November, in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Six. 2nd ed. St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1841.

Robinson, George W. Papers, 1838. CHL.

Phelps, William W. Commissions, 1837–1838. CHL.

Greene, John P. Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, from the State of Missouri, under the “Exterminating Order.” By John P. Greene, an Authorized Representative of the Mormons. Cincinnati: R. P. Brooks, 1839.

An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Caldwell County, Missouri. Compiled, Drawn and Published from Personal Examinations and Surveys. Philadelphia: Edwards Brothers, 1876.

History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, Missouri, Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources. . . . St. Louis: National Historical Co., 1886.

[p. 60]