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Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, 1 March 1835

Source Note

Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, [
Kirtland Township

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...

More Info
, Geauga Co., OH], 1 Mar. 1835. Featured version copied [not before 25 Feb. 1836] in Minute Book 1, pp. 172–186; handwriting of
Warren Cowdery

17 Oct. 1788–23 Feb. 1851. Physician, druggist, farmer, editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Married Patience Simonds, 22 Sept. 1814, in Pawlet, Rutland Co. Moved to Freedom, Cattaraugus Co., New York, 1816...

View Full Bio
; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.

Historical Introduction

On the morning of 1 March 1835, church members convened a meeting in
Kirtland

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...

More Info
, Ohio, apparently as a continuation of a meeting that had adjourned on 28 February. Several men appointed to the office of
Seventy

A priesthood office with the responsibility to travel and preach and assist the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, similar to the seventy in the New Testament. In February and March 1835, the first members of the Seventy were selected and ordained. All of those...

View Glossary
were given
ordination

The conferral of power and authority; to appoint, decree, or set apart. Church members, primarily adults, were ordained to ecclesiastical offices and other responsibilities by the laying on of hands by those with the proper authority. Ordinations to priesthood...

View Glossary
blessings in that 28 February meeting.
1

For more information about these meetings and the Seventy in general, see Historical Introduction to Minutes and Blessings, 28 Feb.–1 Mar. 1835.


The blessings continued in this 1 March 1835 meeting, and at least thirty-three individuals, including some not designated as seventies, were blessed.
2

Although not all blessings explicitly state that an individual was ordained a seventy, it appears that the only men not made seventies at this time were John Murdock, Solomon Denton, Benjamin Winchester, Hyrum Smith, and Frederick G. Williams.


All those receiving ordinations and blessings in this meeting had participated in the
Camp of Israel

A group of approximately 205 men and about 20 women and children led by JS to Missouri, May–July 1834, to redeem Zion by helping the Saints who had been driven from Jackson County, Missouri, regain their lands; later referred to as “Zion’s Camp.” A 24 February...

View Glossary
expedition.
3

Bradley, Zion’s Camp 1834, 269–275; Account with the Church of Christ, ca. 11–29 Aug. 1834.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Bradley, James L. Zion’s Camp 1834: Prelude to the Civil War. Logan, UT: By the author, 1990.

According to later reminiscences, many of these blessings were performed by members of the church presidency, including JS, his
father

12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...

View Full Bio
,
Sidney Rigdon

19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...

View Full Bio
, and
Oliver Cowdery

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

View Full Bio
.
4

For examples, see Hutchings, Journal, 15 Feb. 1835; Burgess, Autobiography, 4; and “Biographies of the Seventies of the Second Quorum,” 22.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Hutchings, Elias. Journal, Dec. 1834–Sept. 1836. CHL. MS 1445.

Burgess, Harrison. Autobiography, ca. 1883. Photocopy. CHL. MS 893. Also available as “Sketch of a Well-Spent Life,” in Labors in the Vineyard, Faith-Promoting Series 12 (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1884), 65–74.

“Biographies of the Seventies of the Second Quorum,” 1845–1855. In Seventies Quorum Records, 1844–1975. CHL. CR 499.

The minutes indicate that several individuals who had recently been
baptized

An ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...

View Glossary
were also confirmed members of the church at the meeting, and the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was administered. JS also gave instructions on the necessity of worthiness when partaking of the sacrament.
It is unclear who originally recorded the ordination blessings or the minutes of the meeting.
Warren Cowdery

17 Oct. 1788–23 Feb. 1851. Physician, druggist, farmer, editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Married Patience Simonds, 22 Sept. 1814, in Pawlet, Rutland Co. Moved to Freedom, Cattaraugus Co., New York, 1816...

View Full Bio
later copied them into Minute Book 1.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For more information about these meetings and the Seventy in general, see Historical Introduction to Minutes and Blessings, 28 Feb.–1 Mar. 1835.

  2. [2]

    Although not all blessings explicitly state that an individual was ordained a seventy, it appears that the only men not made seventies at this time were John Murdock, Solomon Denton, Benjamin Winchester, Hyrum Smith, and Frederick G. Williams.

  3. [3]

    Bradley, Zion’s Camp 1834, 269–275; Account with the Church of Christ, ca. 11–29 Aug. 1834.

    Bradley, James L. Zion’s Camp 1834: Prelude to the Civil War. Logan, UT: By the author, 1990.

  4. [4]

    For examples, see Hutchings, Journal, 15 Feb. 1835; Burgess, Autobiography, 4; and “Biographies of the Seventies of the Second Quorum,” 22.

    Hutchings, Elias. Journal, Dec. 1834–Sept. 1836. CHL. MS 1445.

    Burgess, Harrison. Autobiography, ca. 1883. Photocopy. CHL. MS 893. Also available as “Sketch of a Well-Spent Life,” in Labors in the Vineyard, Faith-Promoting Series 12 (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1884), 65–74.

    “Biographies of the Seventies of the Second Quorum,” 1845–1855. In Seventies Quorum Records, 1844–1975. CHL. CR 499.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, 1 March 1835 Minute Book 1 History, 1838–1856, volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 179

unless he be a man of God. You shall (if very faithful) have all the powers necessary to fill this ministry. You shall travel and journey much, and do great things in the name of the Lord and bring many to the
New Covenant

Generally referred to the “fulness of the gospel”—the sum total of the church’s message, geared toward establishing God’s covenant people on the earth; also used to describe individual elements of the gospel, including marriage. According to JS, the everlasting...

View Glossary
34

See Revelation, 16 Apr. 1830 [D&C 22]; Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:69]; and Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:57].


and return after having done much in the Ministry. Amen.
This being done
Elder

A male leader in the church generally; an ecclesiastical and priesthood office or one holding that office; a proselytizing missionary. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto...

View Glossary
Brigham Young

1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...

View Full Bio
arose and in the Spirit of God sung a song of Zion in a foreign tongue.
35

This appears to be an incident where Brigham Young was exercising the gift of tongues, which the Bible indicated was bestowed on an individual by God’s spirit. Kirtland church members first experienced this gift in 1830 and 1831, but it largely disappeared after JS “identified some of the ecstatic manifestations” of the Saints as excessive and “ungodly” at a June 1831 conference. However, when Brigham Young first met JS in November 1832, Young spoke in tongues, which, according to a later JS history, was the first time JS “had heard this Gift among the brethren.” Singing in tongues, which Young did in this meeting, had occurred previously. At a 27 February 1833 gathering, an individual later identified as David W. Patten sang a song in tongues. When William W. Phelps published the translation of this song in The Evening and the Morning Star, he placed it under the title “Songs of Zion.” (Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 175; JS History, vol. A-1, addenda, 2nA; Song, 27 Feb. 1833, in Revelation Book 2, pp. 48–49; Mysteries of God, [no date], copy at CHL; “Songs of Zion,” The Evening and the Morning Star, May 1833, [8]; see also Acts 2:4; 1 Corinthians 12:8–10; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 586 [Moroni 10:15–17]; Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–A [D&C 46:24–25]; Historian’s Office, Brigham Young History Drafts, 4; and Esplin, “Emergence of Brigham Young,” 92–94; for more information on the gift of tongues among church members, see Vogel and Dunn, “Tongue of Angels,” 1–34.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.

JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.

Murray, Joyce Martin, and Martin Richard Murray. Greene County, Tennessee, Deed Abstracts, 1810–1822. 2 vols. Dallas, TX: J. M. Murphy, 1996.Mysteries of God, As Revealed to Enoch, on the Mount Mehujah, and Sung in Tongues by Elder D. W. Patton, of the “Church of Latter Day Saints,” (Who Fell a Martyr to the Cause of Christ, in the Missouri Persecution,) and Interpreted by Elder S. Rigdon. Broadside, [After 1838]. Copy at CHL.

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

Historian’s Office. Brigham Young History Drafts, 1856–1858. CHL. CR 100 475, box 1, fd. 5.

Esplin, Ronald K. “The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1981. Also available as The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2006).

Vogel, Dan, and Scott C. Dunn. “‘ The Tongue of Angels’: Glossolalia among Mormonism’s Founders.” Journal of Mormon History 19, no. 2 (Fall 1993): 1–34.

After which he delivered a very animated address to to his brother ministers. Meeting proceeded.
Hiram Stratten [Stratton]
In the name of the Lord Jesus we
ordain

The conferral of power and authority; to appoint, decree, or set apart. Church members, primarily adults, were ordained to ecclesiastical offices and other responsibilities by the laying on of hands by those with the proper authority. Ordinations to priesthood...

View Glossary
you to be and
Elder

A male leader in the church generally; an ecclesiastical and priesthood office or one holding that office; a proselytizing missionary. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto...

View Glossary
and one of the
70

A priesthood office with the responsibility to travel and preach and assist the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, similar to the seventy in the New Testament. In February and March 1835, the first members of the Seventy were selected and ordained. All of those...

View Glossary
. You shall have part in this ministry because the Lord has proved you, that you would lay down your life for your brethren.
36

A reference to Stratton’s participation in the Camp of Israel.


If you are faithful you shall have great power, and that which shall be peculiar to yourself. You have a part in this ministry and shall be able to fill it. You shall be sent afar off to preach the gospel to barbarous nations. You shall be preserved while afar off but you shall be drawn in close straits, but nevertheless you shall gather up those who will hear you: and when you return, you shall be altogether changed and be a man beloved of the Lord and of the faithful, amen
Sylvester Smith

25 Mar. 1806–22 Feb. 1880. Farmer, carpenter, lawyer, realtor. Born at Tyringham, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Chileab Smith and Nancy Marshall. Moved to Amherst, Lorain Co., Ohio, ca. 1815. Married Elizabeth Frank, 27 Dec. 1827, likely in Chautauque...

View Full Bio
We
seal

To confirm or solemnize. In the early 1830s, revelations often adopted biblical usage of the term seal; for example, “sealed up the testimony” referred to proselytizing and testifying of the gospel as a warning of the approaching end time. JS explained in...

View Glossary
your Ministry upon your ministry upon your head, and also
ordain

The conferral of power and authority; to appoint, decree, or set apart. Church members, primarily adults, were ordained to ecclesiastical offices and other responsibilities by the laying on of hands by those with the proper authority. Ordinations to priesthood...

View Glossary
you to be one of the
70

A priesthood office with the responsibility to travel and preach and assist the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, similar to the seventy in the New Testament. In February and March 1835, the first members of the Seventy were selected and ordained. All of those...

View Glossary
and a President among the 70 Your mind shall become pure and chaste, and the importance of your calling shall lie near your heart from this hour. You shall preside with dignity and with honor forever. You shall have great affliction and persecution because of your office. Your enemies shall seek your life with great diligence, but if you dedicate [p. 179]
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Source Note

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Page 179

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, 1 March 1835
ID #
6818
Total Pages
15
Print Volume Location
JSP, D4:264–279
Handwriting on This Page
  • Warren A. Cowdery

Footnotes

  1. [34]

    See Revelation, 16 Apr. 1830 [D&C 22]; Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:69]; and Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:57].

  2. [35]

    This appears to be an incident where Brigham Young was exercising the gift of tongues, which the Bible indicated was bestowed on an individual by God’s spirit. Kirtland church members first experienced this gift in 1830 and 1831, but it largely disappeared after JS “identified some of the ecstatic manifestations” of the Saints as excessive and “ungodly” at a June 1831 conference. However, when Brigham Young first met JS in November 1832, Young spoke in tongues, which, according to a later JS history, was the first time JS “had heard this Gift among the brethren.” Singing in tongues, which Young did in this meeting, had occurred previously. At a 27 February 1833 gathering, an individual later identified as David W. Patten sang a song in tongues. When William W. Phelps published the translation of this song in The Evening and the Morning Star, he placed it under the title “Songs of Zion.” (Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 175; JS History, vol. A-1, addenda, 2nA; Song, 27 Feb. 1833, in Revelation Book 2, pp. 48–49; Mysteries of God, [no date], copy at CHL; “Songs of Zion,” The Evening and the Morning Star, May 1833, [8]; see also Acts 2:4; 1 Corinthians 12:8–10; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 586 [Moroni 10:15–17]; Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–A [D&C 46:24–25]; Historian’s Office, Brigham Young History Drafts, 4; and Esplin, “Emergence of Brigham Young,” 92–94; for more information on the gift of tongues among church members, see Vogel and Dunn, “Tongue of Angels,” 1–34.)

    Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.

    JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.

    Murray, Joyce Martin, and Martin Richard Murray. Greene County, Tennessee, Deed Abstracts, 1810–1822. 2 vols. Dallas, TX: J. M. Murphy, 1996.Mysteries of God, As Revealed to Enoch, on the Mount Mehujah, and Sung in Tongues by Elder D. W. Patton, of the “Church of Latter Day Saints,” (Who Fell a Martyr to the Cause of Christ, in the Missouri Persecution,) and Interpreted by Elder S. Rigdon. Broadside, [After 1838]. Copy at CHL.

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

    Historian’s Office. Brigham Young History Drafts, 1856–1858. CHL. CR 100 475, box 1, fd. 5.

    Esplin, Ronald K. “The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1981. Also available as The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2006).

    Vogel, Dan, and Scott C. Dunn. “‘ The Tongue of Angels’: Glossolalia among Mormonism’s Founders.” Journal of Mormon History 19, no. 2 (Fall 1993): 1–34.

  3. [36]

    A reference to Stratton’s participation in the Camp of Israel.

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