Minutes, 4 April 1834
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Source Note
Minutes, , Geauga Co., OH, 4 Apr. 1834. Featured version copied [between ca. late Apr. and 5 May 1834] in Minute Book 1, p. 48; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information on Minute Book 1, see the source note for Minute Book 1.
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Historical Introduction
On the evening of 4 April 1834, JS presided over a council of who met in his home to consider the church standing of of Brownhelm, Ohio. In a July 1833 letter, JS, , and asked James, who may have been functioning as the presiding in Brownhelm, to come to , Ohio, and “take a tower [tour]” with JS, likely to preach. Sometime between July 1833, when the letter was written, and 4 April 1834, James was apparently disciplined for not accompanying JS on the tour, for neglecting to attend his meetings, and for treating “lightly some of the weak” among his “brethren.” The minutes do not indicate what governing body originally heard James’s case or who was part of this 4 April council. Nor do they explain why the standing high council, formed in February 1834 in part to act as an appellate court for “important difficulties which might arise in the church,” did not conduct the rehearing. There may have been a need to act quickly, while both James and JS were in , and it is possible that seven members of the standing high council—the required minimum to act—were not able to convene quickly enough to conduct this business.During the first week of April, JS was in for only a few days. On 2 and 3 April, he attended the trial of before the Court of Common Pleas in , Ohio. The court was considering JS’s complaint that he “had ground to fear” that Hurlbut “would wound, beat or kill him, or destroy his property.” After the trial adjourned for the weekend on Friday, 4 April, JS returned to his home in Kirtland, where he presided over this council. He left for Chardon again on the morning of 5 April.As clerk of the council, took the minutes of the meeting. later copied the minutes into Minute Book 1.
Footnotes
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1
A 7 May 1833 letter from Emer Harris for the Brownhelm congregation was addressed to James, possibly indicating he was a leader over the church there. (Emer Harris, Springville, PA, to “Dearly Beloved Brethern,” Brownhelm, OH, 7 May 1833, Harris Family Papers, BYU.)
Harris Family Papers, 1818–1969. BYU.
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3
Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:2].
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4
Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:6].
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5
JS, Journal, 2–5 Apr. 1834; Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Court Records, 1807–1904, vol. P, pp. 431–432, 31 Mar. 1834, microfilm 20,278, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
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6
JS, Journal, 2–5 Apr. 1834. It is not clear how James reacted to the decision of this conference. In November 1834, JS and Sidney Rigdon wrote James a letter requesting that he come to Kirtland to answer “serious complaints” that had been made against him. Until then, the letter states, he was “suspended from acting in the authority” of his office in the church. It is unclear whether James ever came to Kirtland for this purpose, but in March 1836, he was one of a group of elders anointed in the House of the Lord. (Letter to George James, 10 Nov. 1834; Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 26 Mar. 1836.)
Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.
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