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Minutes, 9 February 1834

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Minutes, 9 February 1834

Source Note

Minutes, , Geauga Co., OH, 9 Feb. 1834. Featured version copied [ca. 9 Feb. 1834] in Minute Book 1, pp. 26–27; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.

Historical Introduction

The 9 February 1834 chronicled in these minutes was evidently called to help church leaders in , Ohio, including JS, better understand the situation of the of the church in , Medina County, Ohio, and to provide instruction to members living there. The New Portage branch was relatively new; several , including , , , and , had preached in the area to counteract ’s derogatory letters against the church that had been published in the Ohio Star in fall 1831, but no one in the area reportedly joined the church until spring 1833, when “a number of persons, some of whom belonged to the Methodist Church.” Soon thereafter, baptized sixteen people in New Portage, and by early 1835, according to one estimate, more than sixty church members lived in the area. The New Portage branch continued to grow after the 9 February conference was over.
In the minutes featured here, church members in were instructed to build a “temporary house” for meetings. The proceedings of several councils and conferences held in the New Portage area over the next two years were recorded in Minute Book 1, and the last such meeting of record, dated 10 June 1836, was held at the home of , suggesting that branch members may not have built the meetinghouse as they had been instructed to do.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Historical Introduction to Revelation, 1 Dec. 1831 [D&C 71].

  2. [2]

    Ambrose Palmer, 28 Jan. 1835, Letter to the Editor, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Jan. 1835, 1:62; “Progress of the Church of Christ,” The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1833, 100.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  3. [3]

    The branch comprised ninety-three members by January 1835 and one hundred members by 6 June 1835. (Ambrose Palmer, 28 Jan. 1835, Letter to the Editor, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Jan. 1835, 1:62; Minute Book 1, 6–7 June 1835.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  4. [4]

    See Minute Book 1, 8 Sept. 1834; 18 Nov. 1835; 10 June 1836.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Minutes, 9 February 1834 Minute Book 1 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] “History of Joseph Smith”
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Page 27

of Bro. was taken into consideration whether he should remove from to or not; it was decided that he should not remove. The work of the building of the in was also taken into Consid[e]ration it was decided that the brethren in this place should assist in Erecting the all that is in their power, that the of the Church may be endowed with power from on high according to the promise of God, that the work of the father may roll forth. It was also advised that the brethren in this place, build a temporary house to meet in for the present, knowing that a of will not be established in this place at present, and by building a cheap house in this place, the brethren can be able to do more towards building the in .
Clk [p. 27]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 9 February 1834
ID #
7878
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D3:425–427
Handwriting on This Page
  • Orson Hyde

Footnotes

  1. [4]

    It is unclear who was contemplating having Rigdon move to New Portage, Medina County, or why. One church member living in Medina County singled out Rigdon as the missionary “who opened the scriptures to our understanding in that clear light in which we had never before understood them.” Rigdon had also successfully presided over a council held in nearby Norton, Ohio, that settled a local controversy. JS’s later history explicitly linked the decision to keep Rigdon in Kirtland with the recital of “the proceedings of a former Conference” mentioned in the minutes here. The history states, “It had been suggested that Elder Rigdon might remove from Kirtland to New Portage, but after listening to the proceedings of a previous conference, in Portage, . . . it was decided that Elder Rigdon should not remove.” (Ambrose Palmer, 28 Jan. 1835, Letter to the Editor, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Jan. 1835, 1:62; Minutes, 2 May 1833; JS History, vol. A-1, 424.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  2. [5]

    The effort to enlist the help of church members to build the House of the Lord in Kirtland began on 4 May 1833, when a conference of high priests appointed Hyrum Smith, Jared Carter, and Reynolds Cahoon as a committee to oversee the collection of funds for constructing the building. One month later, on 1 June 1833, the committee issued a circular to branches of the church advising them how to collect funds from its members. (Minutes, 4 May 1833; Hyrum Smith et al., Kirtland, OH, to “the Churches of Christ,” 1 June 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 36–38.)

  3. [6]

    A revelation dated 2 January 1831 directed members of the Church of Christ living in New York to move to Ohio, where they would be “endowed with power from on high” preparatory to engaging in “a great work . . . among all Nations.” A later revelation associated this endowment of power with the House of the Lord in Kirtland. (Revelation, 2 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38:32–33]; Revelation, 1 June 1833 [D&C 95:8]; see also Revelation, Feb. 1831–A [D&C 43:16].)

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