Minutes, , Geauga Co., OH, 3 Mar. 1836. Featured version copied [between ca. 4 Apr. and ca. 16 May 1836] in Minute Book 1, pp. 140–143; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.
Historical Introduction
On 24 February 1836, all of the and of the met in the in , Ohio, “to conclude the business concerning the ” of men to offices. Recognizing the imperfect state of record keeping in the church’s and , church authorities believed that new rules and regulations on the issuance and recording of were needed to standardize, organize, and better supervise the ordaining of priesthood holders to various offices. This task was made more urgent because of the extensive ministry that traveling were expected to assume after the and of power from on high. At the 24 February meeting, the church’s governing bodies appointed , , and as a committee to draft “regulations concerning licenses” and selected to officiate as the clerk responsible for recording licenses in Kirtland. The committee drafted resolutions on 27 February 1836 and presented them at the meeting featured here, held on the evening of 3 March 1836.
After the meeting commenced, , who served as the chair of the committee, presented the draft of the resolutions for centralizing priesthood licensing. The resolutions called for all licenses to be signed by proper authority, issued by the chairman and clerk of each conference, and recorded, thereby establishing an organized system of licensing in the growing church.
Two contemporary versions of the 3 March 1836 minutes are extant. One version is found in the February 1836 issue of the church newspaper, the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, which was not published until early March. The other is found in Minute Book 1, the official record for meeting minutes. Both of these copies may have derived from the original text, no longer extant, which was written by , who served as the meeting’s clerk. The copy in Minute Book 1 was made by sometime after he began his scribal duties in April 1836. There are slight differences in capitalization, punctuation, and words used between the two extant versions, suggesting that Warren A. Cowdery did not copy the minutes from the Messenger and Advocate version. Because Minute Book 1 was the official record for meetings held in , it is the version featured here. Significant differences between the two copies are noted below.
Minute Book 1, 24 Feb. 1836; JS, Journal, 24 Feb. 1836; Minutes, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1836, 2:266. The Messenger and Advocate version of the minutes erroneously indicates that the 24 February meeting occurred on 26 February.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
resolutions to regulate the manner of to the of said which were to be presented to said authorities for their consideration.
Whereas the records of the several , held by the of the church, and the of many of the official members of the same, in many cases have been imperfectly kept since its organization, to avoid ever after, any inconvenience, difficulty or injury in consequence of such neglect your committee recommend.
1st That all licences hereafter granted by these authoroties assembled as a or by general conference held for the purpose of transacting the business of the church, be recorded at full length <by a clerk> appointed for that purpose in a in a book to be kept in this of the church until it shall be thought advisable by the heads of the church, to order other books and appoint other clerks to record record licences as above. And that said recording clerk be required to endorse a certificate under his own hand and signature on the back of said licences, specifying the time when & place where such license was recorded, and also a reference to the letter and page of the Book containing the same;
2d That this quorum appoint two persons to sign Licences given as aforesaid. one as chairman, and the other as clerk of conference, and that it shall be the duty of said person appointed to sign licences as clerk of Conference, immediately thereafter, to deliver the same into the hands of the recording Clerk,
3d That all general conferences abroad give each individual, whom they ordain a certificate signed by the chairman & clerk of said conference, stating the time and place of such conference, and the office to which the individual has been ordained; and that when such certificate has been forwarded to [p. 141]
A resolution offered on 30 January 1836 provides another example of church leaders’ concern about imperfect record keeping. At a meeting held that day, JS and the church’s presidency charged Alvah Beman with creating a “list of the names of the several Elders comprising his quorum and all other Elders in Kirtland”—a directive indicating that neither Beman nor the church presidency had a complete list of who had been ordained to that office. (Minutes, 30 Jan. 1836.)