Minutes, 6 June 1833
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Source Note
Minutes, [, Geauga Co., OH], 6 June 1833. Featured version copied [ca. 6 June 1833] in Minute Book 1, p. 21; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.
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Historical Introduction
At a of held on 6 June 1833, participants sustained as a clerk for the . For much of the year prior to this conference, Hyde had traveled in the eastern as a missionary. Beginning in March 1833, he served with on a mission to several areas in the East, including , Pennsylvania. Then in April, Hyde was assigned to serve with at Conneaut Township, Pennsylvania. Hyde likely returned to , Ohio, before 1 June 1833. He began his duties as clerk by 6 June and served alongside , who had served as a clerk pro tempore for the first half of the year. Williams continued to act in that capacity until September 1833, and Hyde served as clerk and sole scribe for entries in Minute Book 1 from 26 December 1833 to 17 February 1834.The following minutes of the 6 June conference, which recorded, note the authorization to immediately begin constructing the . Building the House of the Lord had been mandated by a JS revelation in late 1832. At a conference held on 4 May 1833, , , and were appointed as a committee to raise funds for the construction of the House of the Lord. On 1 June, JS dictated a revelation that chastised the church leaders for their lack of progress on building the house and, likely in response to that revelation, the aforementioned committee prepared a circular addressed to the that requested funds needed to begin construction.Following the dictation of that revelation, a conference of high priests appointed JS, , and —the presidency of the high priesthood—“to obtain a draft or construction of the inner court of the ” and to serve as a planning committee. At the conference of high priests featured in the minutes here, , , and received counsel, and their responsibilities expanded from fund-raising to overseeing the construction of the House of the Lord. The conference also directed the building committee to commence work on the house immediately. A day later, Hyrum began clearing ground and digging the foundation for the building; he wrote in his journal, “This Day Commenced making Preparation for the Building the House of the lord.” By 25 June, JS reported to church leaders in that although the “number of disciples in is, about 150,” they had “commenced building the House of the Lord in this place, and it goes on rapidly.” According to a July 1835 account, the first stone for the House of the Lord was “laid on the twenty-third of July, 1833.” By fall 1833 the stone foundation walls were in place and bricks had been produced locally for the external walls, though the bricks were never used for that purpose. On 10 October 1833, Frederick G. Williams wrote that in the absence of JS, who was serving a proselytizing mission in , a council decided to “discontinue the building of the temple for the winter for want of materials and to prepare and get all things ready to recommence it early in the spring.” The next phase of substantial construction on the House of the Lord began in mid-1834.
Footnotes
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1
See Hyde, Journal, 22 Dec. 1832.
Hyde, William. Journal, ca. 1868–1873. CHL. MS 1549.
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3
“History of Orson Hyde,” Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861, CHL; see also Hyrum Smith, Diary, 5 Apr. 1833, [12]–[13]; Historical Introduction to Minutes, ca. 1 June 1833; and Coltrin, Diary and Notebook, 4 Apr. 1833.
Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.
Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.
Coltrin, Zebedee. Diary and Notebook, 1832–1833. Zebedee Coltrin, Diaries, 1832–1834. CHL. MS 1443, fd. 2.
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4
While the date of Hyde’s arrival in Kirtland is uncertain, it was likely before 1 June, as he was apparently present at a conference of high priests held that day to consider the case of Doctor Philastus Hurlbut. Hyde later explained that at the meeting he preferred charges against Hurlbut “for an attempt at seduction and crime.” (Minutes, ca. 1 June 1833; Orson Hyde, London, England, to George J. Adams, Bedford, England, 7 June 1841, in Winchester, Plain Facts, 26.)
Winchester, Benjamin. Plain Facts, Shewing the Origin of the Spaulding Story, concerning the Manuscript Found, and Its Being Transformed into the Book of Mormon; with a Short History of Dr. P. Hulbert, the Author of the Said Story . . . Re-published by George J. Adams, Minister of the Gospel, Bedford, England. To Which Is Added, a Letter from Elder S. Rigdon, Also, One from Elder O. Hyde, on the Above Subject. Bedford, England: C. B. Merry, 1841.
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5
See Minute Book 1, 28 Sept. 1833.
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6
Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:119].
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8
Revelation, 1 June 1833 [D&C 95:3]; Hyrum Smith et al., Kirtland, OH, to “the Churches of Christ,” 1 June 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 36–38.
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10
Hyrum Smith, Diary, 7 June 1833, [15].
Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.
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11
Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 25 June 1833; [William W. Phelps], “The House of God,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, July 1835, 1:147.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
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12
When Ira Ames arrived in Kirtland around the beginning of October 1833, he “found the Saints had begun to build a Temple there, it was raised up to the first floor.” Artemus Millet wrote that when he first visited Kirtland in 1833 the work on the temple had been suspended. (Ames, Autobiography, [10]; Millet, Reminiscences, 3; see also Johnson, Reminiscences and Journal, 18.)
Ames, Ira. Autobiography and Journal, 1858. CHL. MS 6055.
Millet, Artemus. Reminiscences, ca. 1855 and ca. 1872, as copied in 1936. CHL. MS 1600.
Johnson, Joel Hills. Reminiscences and Journals, 1835–1882. 3 vols. Joel Hills Johnson, Papers, 1835–1882. CHL. MS 1546, fds. 1–3.
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13
Frederick G. Williams, Kirtland, OH, to “Dear Brethren,” 10 Oct. 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 57–58.
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