Minutes, 25–26 October 1831
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Source Note
Minutes, , Cuyahoga Co., OH, 25–26 Oct. 1831. Featured version copied [between ca. 6 Apr. and 19 June 1838] in Minute Book 2, pp. 10–15; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 2.
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Historical Introduction
On 25–26 October 1831, the church held a general in Serenus Burnett’s house in , Cuyahoga County, Ohio. The participants included twelve men who had previously been to the , seventeen , four , three , four , and according to a later JS history, “a large congregation” of additional members of the church. The business of the conference included ordinations to various offices, preaching by some of the participants, and the sharing of testimonies of the Book of Mormon. JS himself declined during the meeting to give details of “the coming forth” of the Book of Mormon. The conference also provided new converts a chance to meet JS and other prominent elders. , for example, wrote in his journal that he “first saw brother Joseph the Seer, also brothers , & and a great many other Elders” at the conference. Many of those present publicly declared their commitment to the church and to God, which, according to McLellin, provided “much spiritual edification & comfort.” recounted that he “received much instruction and was highly edified and blessed of the Lord during the conference.”This was the first general conference since members of the church had been ordained to the high priesthood in June 1831, and it provided an opportunity for JS and to offer instruction concerning the power of that priesthood. Minutes of the June 1831 meeting do not provide much information about what was said to those ordained to the high priesthood, making it difficult to assess how the ordination was understood at that time. But , who was present at the June conference, later recalled a conversation he had in January 1832 with , who ordained several individuals to the high priesthood at the June conference. Speaking about the priesthood, Hancock remarked that “neither of us understood what it was.” “I did not understand it,” wrote Hancock, “and he [Wight] could give me no light.”Although no lengthy discussion on high priesthood is captured in the record, the 25–26 October minutes show that JS and provided some instruction to conference attendees. According to the minutes, JS and Rigdon viewed those elders holding the high priesthood as having powers that other elders did not have. The minutes suggest that willingness to relinquish all to God may have been a requirement to obtain the high priesthood and its power “to seal up the Saints unto eternal life.” Accordingly, some participants in the 25–26 October conference made or renewed a covenant to consecrate all to God. Nearly all who did so had been previously ordained to the high priesthood or were ordained at the conference.The conference also considered business discussed in prior meetings. At an 11 October gathering, for example, had moved that six elders be appointed “to visit the several branches of this church setting them in order” and to raise money for JS and so they could devote themselves to the Bible revision. and had been assigned to these tasks, and this 25–26 October conference appointed four others to assist. The conference provided instructions on proselytizing as well, perhaps as a result of a declaration in a 1 October conference that the elders were “to go forth and warn the inhabitants of the earth of the things known in the Church of Christ in these last days.” Several elements of the conference—including ordinations, discussions of how the needs of missionaries’ families would be met, and instruction on the high priesthood and consecration—seemed to foreshadow an increase in missionary labor. The conference was followed by a public preaching meeting, as the concluding minutes indicate.served as clerk of the conference and took the minutes. entered these minutes into Minute Book 2 in 1838.
Footnotes
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1
JS History, vol. A-1, 156. Although the minutes list four priests in attendance, John Whitmer wrote that five priests were present. (Whitmer, History, 38.)
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2
McLellin, Journal, 25–26 Oct. 1831; Whitmer, History, 38; “History of Luke Johnson,” 3, Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880, CHL. Luke Johnson’s history states that the eleven witnesses to the Book of Mormon, “with uplifted hands, bore their solemn testimony to the truth of that book; as did also the Prophet Joseph.” Although the conference clearly included testimonies of the Book of Mormon, and although many of the eleven witnesses who attested to the existence of the gold plates were present, the minutes of the conference do not reflect the particular event Johnson describes. Of the eleven, neither Christian Whitmer, who held the office of elder, nor Hiram Page, who held the office of teacher, was present at the commencement of the conference when the names of attending priesthood officers were recorded. There is no indication that Jacob Whitmer, another of the eleven witnesses, attended. (Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831; Minutes, 6 Sept. 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).
Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.
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3
McLellin, Journal, 25–26 Oct. 1831. Joel Johnson also recounted that he first saw JS at the conference. (Johnson, Autobiography, 2.)
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).
Johnson, Joel H. Autobiography, ca. 1882. Photocopy. CHL. MS 15025.
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4
McLellin, Journal, 25–26 Oct. 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).
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5
Johnson, Reminiscenses and Journals, vol. 1, p. 16.
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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7
“Autobiography of Levi Ward Hancock,” ca. 1896, 43.
Hancock, Mosiah Lyman. "Autobiography of Levi Ward Hancock," ca. 1896. CHL. MS 570.
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8
Cahoon, Diary, 9 Nov. 1831; Minutes, 11 Oct. 1831.
Cahoon, Reynolds. Diaries, 1831–1832. CHL. MS 1115.
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10
The minutes include parenthetical redactions that were probably added after the creation of the original document. (See the source note for Minute Book 2.)
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1
Document Transcript
| Names of those ordained to the | |
| Joseph Smith jr. | (Died.) |
| (cut off.) | |
| John Smith ( taken) | Edward Johnson (denied the faith) |
| Benjamine Carpenter (not felloshiped | |
| (cut off) | Hiram Griffith |
| Silvester Parker, (left the church) | |
| Serenes Burnett and | |
Footnotes
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1
Of the twelve individuals listed here, ten were ordained to the high priesthood at the June 1831 conference. Oliver Cowdery was ordained on 28 August 1831, immediately following his return from Missouri. There is no extant record of John Smith’s ordination. (Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831; see also Minutes, 4 Aug. 1831.)
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2
The “Articles and Covenants” mention “deacon” as an office in the church, but no extant record documents a deacon’s presence at a meeting prior to this conference. (Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:57–58].)
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3
Probably the traditional hymn “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken.” The conference held in Missouri on 4 August 1831 also opened by singing this hymn.
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4
See John 17:20–23.
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5
Psalm 149:1–2 describes Israel and Zion singing a new song and rejoicing in God. Several other psalms refer either to singing a new song or to Zion. (See, for example, Psalms 40:3; 137:3; 146:10.)
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6
Speaking about JS’s journey to Missouri in the summer of 1831, a later JS history recounts that, “notwithstanding the corruptions and abominations of the times, and the evil spirits manifested towards us on account of our belief in the Book of Mormon, at many places, and among various persons, yet the Lord continued his watchful care and loving-kindness to us day by day.” (JS History, vol. A-1, 126–127.)
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7
See Revelation 21:27; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 237 [Alma 5:58].
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8
When JS revised the book of Genesis, he added that Enoch established a Zion community among his followers “because they were of one heart and of one mind and dwelt in righteousness.” (Old Testament Revision 1, p. 16 [Moses 7:18].)
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9
See Revelation, 2 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38:8]. Just a few days after this meeting, another revelation further explained that it was the “privilege” of those “ordained unto the ministry” to have the veil rent and to see Christ, if they would rid themselves “from Jealesies & fears & humble [them]selves.” (Revelation, ca. 2 Nov. 1831 [D&C 67:10].)
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10
See Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20].
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11
Several individuals were proselytizing elsewhere at this time, including Ezra Thayer and Joseph Coe. (See Joseph Coe, Report, 7 Mar. 1832, Missionary Reports, 1831–1900, CHL.)
Missionary Reports, 1831–1900. CHL. MS 6104.
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12
In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Benjamin told his people that if they would be “steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works,” Christ would “seal you his.” This meant, Benjamin continued, that they would have “everlasting salvation and eternal life.” (Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 167 [Mosiah 5:15].)
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13
John Smith (no relation to JS), who was from Northampton, Ohio, wrote that he came to the conference with his sons Eden, Micah, and Yeats, as well as with JS’s brothers Samuel and William Smith. (John Smith, Journal, 25–26 Oct. 1831.)
Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1, fd. 1.
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14
See Ephesians 1:13–14.
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15
Revelation, 6 June 1831 [D&C 52:27].
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16
An April 1830 revelation instructed church members to receive the “words & commandments” given to them by JS “as if from mine [the Lord’s] own mouth.” (Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830 [D&C 21:4–5].)
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17
When JS and other elders returned from Missouri in August 1831, they discovered that in their absence, “many” in Ohio had “apostitized.” Conferences in September and October 1831 took disciplinary action against several members of the church in Ohio. (Whitmer, History, 33; see, for example, Minutes, 1 Sept. 1831; Minutes, 12 Sept. 1831; and Minutes, 21 Oct. 1831.)
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18
Johnson had been baptized a Free Will Baptist in 1825 before converting to Mormonism in June 1831. (Johnson, Reminiscences and Journals, vol. 1, pp. 6, 10.)
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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19
Durfee’s repetition of Joel Johnson’s remarks may be an error in transcription. In Minute Book 2, the Joel Johnson comment is at the bottom of page 12, while the Edmund Durfee comment is at the top of page 13. Ebenezer Robinson may have mistakenly transcribed the same statement for Durfee after beginning a new page.
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20
At this time, Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith were living on Frederick G. Williams’s farm. According to Lucy, “My family were all established with this arrangement that we were to cultivate the farm and the products were to support our several families . . . and sustain strange[r]s who were traveling that being either Members of the church or others in search of the truth or on a visit to the place.” Minutes from a 10 October 1831 conference record the decision that Joseph Smith Sr. was to “see to the management of the farm & to the distribution of its productions as the Lord’s agent.” (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 12, [6]–[7]; Minute Book 2, 10 Oct. 1831.)
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21
To this point, JS apparently had not written a history of the production of the Book of Mormon. In April 1834, he provided “a relation of obtaining and translating the Book of Mormon” to a conference in Norton, Ohio, though the conference minutes do not provide any other information about what he said. An account was finally published in 1842, but it gave few details. (Minute Book 1, 21 Apr. 1834; JS, “Church History,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:707; see also “The Histories of Joseph Smith, 1832–1844.”)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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22
“Sister Marsh” is likely Elizabeth Godkin Marsh. If so, Marsh’s dire financial situation may have resulted in part from her husband’s absence: Thomas B. Marsh was directed in a 6 June 1831 revelation to travel to Missouri and did not return to Ohio until January 1832. “While near the end of our journey” to Missouri, he later recalled, “I was attacked with chills and fever and arrived there very sick. I stayed at the house of Br. Benj. Slade till I got well.” (Revelation, 6 June 1831 [D&C 52:22] ; “T B Marsh,” [3], Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880, CHL ; see also Cahoon, Diary, 9 Aug. 1831.)
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23
That is, JS’s Bible revision.
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24
See Revelation, 6 June 1831 [D&C 52:11].
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25
As clerk of the conference, Cowdery apparently issued letters of recommendation to those appointed to travel to the different churches. According to Harris’s letter, those so appointed were “to go two by two to visit the churches, set them in order, explain the mysteries of the Kingdom unto them, and also obtain whatever they should feel free to give for the support of the families of Bro. Joseph and his scribes, while they are employed in translating, writing and copying the fulness of the Sacred Scriptures.” (Letter of Recommendation for Emer Harris, in Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 26 Oct. 1831.)
Historical Department. Journal History of the Church, 1896–. CHL. CR 100 137.
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26
These fifteen individuals are listed in the same order here as in the elders’ roster at the beginning of the minutes. Only two men from that roster, Joel Johnson and Sylvester Parker, are not listed as having been ordained to the high priesthood on this occasion. Since the minutes say that “it was the privilege of those Elders present to be ordained to the High Priesthood,” Johnson and Parker may not have been in attendance at the evening’s reconvening of the conference. The minutes also explain, however, that several were “indifferen[t]” to being ordained, raising the possibility that Johnson and Parker may have declined to be ordained. McLellin recorded in his journal his thoughts about being “ordained to the High-Priesthood of the Holy order of God”: “Though I felt unworthy, I was ordained and took upon me the high responsibility of that office.” (McLellin, Journal, 25–26 Oct. 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).
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27
Nearly four decades later, McLellin recounted that JS “asked if we were willing to take upon us the office? I arose and said that I was willing to do anything that was the will of God, but I did not understand the duties of the office, and asked an explanation. Br. Joseph said we were to take upon us the office, and it would explain its duties.” (William E. McLellin, Independence, MO, to D. H. Bays, Lafayette, KS, 24 May 1870, Saints’ Herald, 15 Sept. 1870, 553.)
Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.
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28
See Matthew 25:14–30; and Revelation, 8 Aug. 1831 [D&C 60:2, 13].
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29
McLellin wrote in his journal that “a number of others present were ordained to the lesser Priest-Hood,” using “lesser Priest-Hood” to refer to the office of priest. (McLellin, Journal, 25–26 Oct. 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).
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30
This hymn, also known as “A Crumb for the Pilgrims,” was written by Benjamin Cleaveland (1733–1811), a Baptist deacon. (Hicks, Mormonism and Music, 11; “Reviews of Recent Theological Literature,” 164.)
Hicks, Michael. Mormonism and Music: A History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989.
Morris, Larry E. “The Conversion of Oliver Cowdery.” In Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 16, no. 1 (2007): 4–17.“Reviews of Recent Theological Literature.” Presbyterian Review 10, no. 37 (Jan. 1889): 125–176.
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31
Because these instructions do not appear in the minutes, and because Cowdery felt the need to report them to the conference, they may have been given to Cowdery and David Whitmer earlier in the morning, prior to the reconvening of the conference. Cowdery and Whitmer were directed in June 1829 to “search out the twelve” who would “be my [the Lord’s] disciples, and they shall take upon them my name.” These twelve were to be those who “desire[d] to take upon them my name, with full purpose of heart.” They were to “go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature.” (Revelation, June 1829–B [D&C 18:27–28, 37].)