Revelation, 7 May 1831 [D&C 49]
-
Source Note
Revelation, , OH, to , , and , 7 May 1831. Featured version, titled “51st. Commandment May 7th. 1831,” copied [between ca. May and June 1831] in Revelation Book 1, pp. 80–82; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 1.
-
Historical Introduction
This revelation directed , , and to visit a community of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (popularly called Shakers) in North Union, Ohio. Copley, a recent convert to the and a former Shaker himself, “was anxious that some of the should go to his former brethren and preach the gospel.” JS’s history characterized Copley as one who was “apparently honest hearted, but still retained ideas that the Shakers were right in some particulars of their faith.” Copley’s retention of some Shaker beliefs was apparently the catalyst for discussions that prompted this revelation. JS’s history explained, “In order to have more perfect understanding on the subject, I [JS] inquired of the Lord and received the following revelation.”The visit mandated by this revelation was not the first contact between the two religious societies. The previous fall, and his missionary companions made initial contact with the community of Shakers living in North Union. That interaction had unsettled the Shaker presiding elder, Ashbel Kitchell, who was uncertain what to make of the new faith. Despite his uneasiness, Kitchell reported that the Shakers “continued on friendly terms” with the Mormons “in the way of trade and other acts of good neighborship untill the spring of 1831.”and apparently responded to the revelation by immediately departing for the Shaker settlement at North Union, approximately eighteen miles from , Ohio. It appears departed Kirtland the next day. The revelation is dated 7 May, a Saturday, and Kitchell recorded that the Mormon company arrived “on saturday evening.” Mormon sources report only briefly the Shakers’ reaction to this revelation and other teachings by the missionaries. , for instance, later wrote that the assigned elders “went and proclaimed according to the rev[e]lation given to them, but the shakers hearkened not to their words, and receivd not the gospel at that time.” Kitchell, by contrast, recorded a detailed account of the visit. He reported that the group “tarried all night, and in the course of the evening, the doctrines of the cross and the Mormon faith were both investigated.” The next day, 8 May, Pratt arrived from Kirtland, and the Mormon delegation spoke to congregated Shakers after their morning Sabbath meeting. Rigdon reportedly declared to the congregation that “he had a message from the Lord Jesus Christ to this people” and explained to his hearers that it was a written message. When he obtained leave of the Shakers, he commenced to read aloud, apparently verbatim, this revelation. According to Kitchell, the Mormon preachers—Rigdon, Pratt, and Copley—asked permission to hear how the congregated Shakers felt about their message. Kitchell wrote that his people indicated “they were fully satisfied with what they had, and wished to have nothing to do with either them or their Christ.— On hearing this Rigdon professed to be satisfied, and put his paper by; but Parley Pratt arose and commenced shakeing his coattail; he said he shook the dust from his garments as a testimony against us, that we had rejected the word of the Lord Jesus.” After this contentious exchange, Pratt departed immediately for Kirtland, while Rigdon stayed for supper before departing and Copley spent the night in North Union. This encounter apparently fulfilled Pratt’s commission to preach to the Shakers because a revelation dated the following Monday assigned Pratt a different missionary companion and directed him to “go forth among the Churches & strengthen them by the word of exhortation.”returned shortly thereafter to North Union and asked to be readmitted into the Shaker society. Kitchell and Copley then went to Copley’s farm in and confronted the Mormons who had recently settled there from , New York, at Copley’s invitation. Copley reportedly ordered the Mormons off of his land. Following the failed attempt to convert the Shakers at North Union, Mormon missionary interactions with Shakers were apparently rare.The 1833 Book of Commandments and the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants both erroneously date this revelation to March 1831. When copied it into Revelation Book 1, likely in May or June 1831, he dated it to 7 May 1831. Ashbel Kitchell copied the revelation into his pocket journal and also listed its date as 7 May 1831, so his copy likely originated from the same text that was copied into Revelation Book 1. Kitchell probably either asked to copy the revelation after recited it to the congregation or obtained a copy prepared for and left with the Shakers by the missionaries. The first published version of the revelation, in The Evening and the Morning Star, listed only May 1831 as the date.
Footnotes
-
1
See Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41]. The Copley name was associated with the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing from as early as 1803. (De Pillis, “Development of Mormon Communitarianism,” 124.)
De Pillis, Mario S. “The Development of Mormon Communitarianism, 1826–1846.” PhD diss., Yale University, 1960.
-
2
Whitmer, History, 26. Shaker elder Ashbel Kitchell also indicated that Copley had told the Mormons living in Thompson, Ohio, that the Shakers would be converted by the missionary effort. (“Mormon Interview,” 15.)
“A Mormon Interview. Copied from Brother Ashbel Kitchell’s Pocket Journel,” 1856. Elisha D. Blakeman copy of Ashbel Kitchell, Reminiscences. Photocopy in editors’ possession. Original at Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, NY. Also available as Lawrence R. Flake, “A Shaker View of a Mormon Mission,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (Fall 1979): 94–99.
-
3
JS History, vol. A-1, 112.
-
4
Shaker leader Richard McNemar left an account of Cowdery’s visit with Shakers living in another Ohio community at Union Village, near present-day Lebanon in Warren County, on his way to preach to American Indian communities west of Missouri. McNemar described Cowdery’s preaching and said that he left a copy of the Book of Mormon with one of their members. (Goodwillie, “Shaker Richard McNemar,” 138–145.)
Goodwillie, Christian. “Shaker Richard McNemar: The Earliest Book of Mormon Reviewer.” Journal of Mormon History 37 (Spring 2011): 138–145.
-
5
“Mormon Interview,” 4.
“A Mormon Interview. Copied from Brother Ashbel Kitchell’s Pocket Journel,” 1856. Elisha D. Blakeman copy of Ashbel Kitchell, Reminiscences. Photocopy in editors’ possession. Original at Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, NY. Also available as Lawrence R. Flake, “A Shaker View of a Mormon Mission,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (Fall 1979): 94–99.
-
6
“Mormon Interview,” 4.
“A Mormon Interview. Copied from Brother Ashbel Kitchell’s Pocket Journel,” 1856. Elisha D. Blakeman copy of Ashbel Kitchell, Reminiscences. Photocopy in editors’ possession. Original at Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, NY. Also available as Lawrence R. Flake, “A Shaker View of a Mormon Mission,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (Fall 1979): 94–99.
-
7
Whitmer, History, 26.
-
8
Pratt’s actions roused Kitchell, who recorded, “Before the words were out of his mouth, I was to him, and said;— You filthy Beast, dare you presume to come in here, and try to imitate a man of God by shaking your filthy tail; confess your sins and purge your soul from your lusts, and your other abominations before you ever presume to do the like again, &c. . . . I then turned to Leman who had been crying while the message was reading, and said to him, you hypocrite, you knew better;— you knew where the living work of God was; but for the sake of indulgence, you could consent to deceive yourself & them . . . This struck him dead also, and dryed up his tears;— I then turned to the Believers and said, now we will go home and started.” (“Mormon Interview,” 13–14.)
“A Mormon Interview. Copied from Brother Ashbel Kitchell’s Pocket Journel,” 1856. Elisha D. Blakeman copy of Ashbel Kitchell, Reminiscences. Photocopy in editors’ possession. Original at Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, NY. Also available as Lawrence R. Flake, “A Shaker View of a Mormon Mission,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (Fall 1979): 94–99.
-
9
“Mormon Interview,” 4, 6–7, 12–14.
“A Mormon Interview. Copied from Brother Ashbel Kitchell’s Pocket Journel,” 1856. Elisha D. Blakeman copy of Ashbel Kitchell, Reminiscences. Photocopy in editors’ possession. Original at Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, NY. Also available as Lawrence R. Flake, “A Shaker View of a Mormon Mission,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (Fall 1979): 94–99.
-
10
Revelation, 9 May 1831 [D&C 50:37].
-
11
“Mormon Interview,” 15; Knight, Autobiographical Sketch, 2–3; see also Historical Introduction to Revelation, 10 June 1831 [D&C 54].
“A Mormon Interview. Copied from Brother Ashbel Kitchell’s Pocket Journel,” 1856. Elisha D. Blakeman copy of Ashbel Kitchell, Reminiscences. Photocopy in editors’ possession. Original at Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, NY. Also available as Lawrence R. Flake, “A Shaker View of a Mormon Mission,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (Fall 1979): 94–99.
Knight, Joseph, Jr. Autobiographical Sketch, 1862. CHL. MS 286.
-
12
“Revelation, Given May, 1831,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Nov. 1832, [7].
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
-
1
Cite this page
