Footnotes
Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:2–3] .
According to Ezra Booth, the arriving elders “expected to find a large Church, which Smith said, was revealed to him in a vision, Oliver had raised up there.” Instead, they found a congregation consisting of only “three or four females.” For Booth, who left the church in fall 1831, this disappointment was difficult to overcome. Apparently, seven people had actually been baptized in Jackson County by this time, including Joshua Lewis and other members of his family. (Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. V,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 10 Nov. 1831, [3]; Knight, Reminiscences, 9; Whitmer, Journal, Dec. 1831, [1].)
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
Knight, Joseph, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. CHL. MS 3470.
Whitmer, Peter, Jr. Journal, Dec. 1831. CHL. MS 5873.
Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:10]; Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:6, 15]; Revelation, 8 June 1831 [D&C 53:4].
Minute Book 2, 10 Mar. 1832; Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. VII,” Ohio Star (Ravenna), 24 Nov. 1831, [1]. In March 1832, Partridge admitted in a conference in Missouri that he had a disagreement with JS sometime prior to “a Conference held on this land at which our brs. Edward & Sidney were present face to face”—most likely the 4 August 1831 conference. “If Br. Joseph has not forgiven him he hopes he will,” the minutes of this meeting state, “as he is & has always been sorry.” (Minute Book 2, 10 Mar. 1832.)
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
The heading that precedes this revelation in Revelation Book 1 records that this revelation was “given to the elders who were assembeled on the land of Zion.”
Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:16] .
Booth, who had become disaffected from the church, quoted a portion of the revelation pertaining to Partridge word for word in a 20 September 1831 letter to Partridge, which indicates that Booth possessed a copy. (Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. VII,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 24 Nov. 1831, [1].)
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 221.
Howe, Eber D. Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators, and a Full Detail of the Manner in Which the Famous Golden Bible Was Brought before the World. To Which Are Added, Inquiries into the Probability That the Historical Part of the Said Bible Was Written by One Solomon Spalding, More Than Twenty Years Ago, and by Him Intended to Have Been Published as a Romance. Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834.
JS was previously appointed to work on a revision of the Bible, for which Rigdon was serving as scribe. Before beginning his mission to the Lamanites in 1830, Cowdery served as JS’s scribe. He had also been appointed second elder in the church. (Revelation, 7 Dec. 1830 [D&C 35:20]; Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830 [D&C 21:10–11]; JS History, ca. Summer 1832; Oliver Cowdery, Norton, OH, to William W. Phelps, 7 Sept. 1834, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:14–15; Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, 69–76.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Bushman, Richard Lyman. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. With the assistance of Jed Woodworth. New York: Knopf, 2005.
Minutes of the conference held on 4 August contain no specific instructions on JS, Rigdon, and Cowdery’s work. (Minutes, 4 Aug. 1831.)
The Howe copy has “given to” instead of “bestowed upon.”
Peterson had traveled to Missouri with Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer Jr., Parley P. Pratt, and Frederick G. Williams. Ezra Booth wrote that Whitmer and Williams had informed him that Peterson was guilty of conduct “on a parallel” with a man who “enters into a matrimonial contract with a young lady, and obtains the consent of her parents; but as soon as his back is turned upon her, he violates his engagements, and prostitutes his honor by becoming the gallant of another, and resolves in his heart, and expresses resolutions to marry her.” Peterson confessed his transgression at the 4 August conference, and a week later married Rebecca Hopper of Lafayette County, Missouri. (Revelation, Oct. 1830–A [D&C 32:3]; Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. VII,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 24 Nov. 1831, [1]; “Mormonism—Nos. VIII–IX,” Ohio Star, 8 Dec. 1831, [1], italics in original; Minutes, 4 Aug. 1831; Lafayette Co., MO, Marriage Records, 1821–1873, vol. B, p. 21, microfilm, 959,414, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Most of those commanded in the June 1831 revelation to go to Missouri had not yet arrived in Independence at this time. Several men, including Samuel Smith, Reynolds Cahoon, John Corrill, John Murdock, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, David Whitmer, and Harvey Whitlock, arrived later in August. Some, including Levi Hancock and Zebedee Coltrin, did not arrive until October or November. (Covenant of Oliver Cowdery and Others, 17 Oct. 1830; Pratt, Autobiography, chaps. 7–8; Murdock, Journal, Aug. 1831; Minutes, 4 Aug. 1831; “Autobiography of Levi Ward Hancock,” ca. 1896, 37, 40; Edward Partridge, Independence, MO, to Lydia Clisbee Partridge, 5–7 Aug. 1831, Edward Partridge, Letters, 1831–1835, CHL.)
Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.
Murdock, John. Journal, ca. 1830–1859. John Murdock, Journal and Autobiography, ca. 1830–1867. CHL. MS 1194, fd. 2.
Hancock, Mosiah Lyman. "Autobiography of Levi Ward Hancock," ca. 1896. CHL. MS 570.
Partridge, Edward. Letters, 1831–1835. CHL. MS 23154.
The Howe copy omits “even above measure.”
In the copy of this revelation in Revelation Book 1, Rigdon inserted here the line “upon this land: and let my Servent Edw. direct the conference.” Rigdon’s insertion may have restored a line from the original revelation inadvertently omitted by copyist John Whitmer when his eye skipped from the end of the phrase “hold a conference” to the end of the phrase “direct the conference.” However, the Howe copy of the revelation does not include the line either. This conference was apparently held on 24 August 1831. (McLellin, Journal, 24 Aug. 1831.)
McLellin, William E. Journal, 18 July–20 Nov. 1831. William E. McLellin, Papers, 1831–1836, 1877–1878. CHL. MS 13538, box 1, fd. 1. Also available as Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, eds., The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836 (Provo, UT: BYU Studies; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994).
See Mark 16:15, 17; and Acts 1:8.
Regarding the closing words of this revelation, Ezra Booth wrote, “The Elders of the Church, by commandment given in Missouri, and of which I was both an eye and ear witness, are to go forth to preach Mormonism to every creature; and now, said Mr. Rigdon—‘The Lord has set us our stint; no matter how soon we perform it—for when this is done, he will make his second appearance.’” (Ezra Booth, Nelson, OH, to Ira Eddy, 12 Sept. 1831, in Ohio Star[Ravenna], 13 Oct. 1831, [3], italics in original.)
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
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