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Journal, March–September 1838

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Journal, March–September 1838

Revelation for Thomas B. Marsh • 23 July 1837 Page 72 Letter to John Corrill and the Church in Missouri • 4 September 1837 Page 18 Revelation regarding John Whitmer and William W. Phelps • 4 September 1837 Page 23 13 March 1838 • Tuesday Page 16 Motto of the Church of Christ of Latterday Saints Page 16 Questions regarding the Book of Isaiah Page 17 Questions from Elias Higbee regarding the Book of Isaiah Page 18 Letter to the Presidency in Kirtland • 29 March 1838 Page 23 Letter from David Thomas • 31 March 1838 Page 26 Minutes • 6 April 1838 Page 29 Letter to John Whitmer • 9 April 1838 Page 28 Revelation for David W. Patten • 11 April 1838 Page 32 Synopsis of Oliver Cowdery Trial • 12 April 1838 Page 29 Synopsis of David Whitmer and Lyman Johnson Trials • 13 April 1838 Page 31 Revelation for Brigham Young • 17 April 1838 Page 32 Revelation • 26 April 1838 Page 32 27 April 1838 • Friday Page 34 28 April 1838 • Saturday Page 34 29 April 1838 • Sunday Page 37 30 April 1838 • Monday Page 37 1 May 1838 • Tuesday Page 37 2 May 1838 • Wednesday Page 37 3 May 1838 • Thursday Page 38 4 May 1838 • Friday Page 38 5 May 1838 • Saturday Page 38 6 May 1838 • Sunday Page 38 7 May 1838 • Monday Page 39 8 May 1838 • Tuesday Page 39 9 May 1838 • Wednesday Page 39 10 May 1838 • Thursday Page 39 11 May 1838 • Friday Page 40 12 May 1838 • Saturday Page 41 13 May 1838 • Sunday Page 42 14 May 1838 • Monday Page 42 18 May–1 June 1838 • Friday–Friday Page 42 4–5 June 1838 • Monday–Tuesday • With June–July 1838 Postscript Page 45 4 July 1838 • Wednesday Page 46 6 July 1838 • Friday Page 48 8 July 1838 • Sunday Page 51 26 July 1838 • Thursday Page 59 27 July 1838 • Friday Page 60 28 July 1838 • Saturday Page 61 29 July 1838 • Sunday Page 61 30 July 1838 • Monday Page 62 31 July 1838 • Tuesday Page 62 1–3 August 1838 • Wednesday–Friday Page 62 5 August 1838 • Sunday Page 63 6 August 1838 • Monday Page 63 Minutes • 6 August 1838 Page 64 7–9 August 1838 • Tuesday–Thursday Page 65 10 August 1838 • Friday Page 68 11 August 1838 • Saturday Page 68 12 August 1838 • Sunday Page 70 13 August 1838 • Monday Page 70 14 August 1838 • Tuesday Page 70 15 August 1838 • Wednesday Page 70 16–18 August 1838 • Thursday–Saturday Page 70 20–21 August 1838 • Monday–Tuesday Page 71 22 August 1838 • Wednesday Page 71 23 August 1838 • Thursday Page 71 24–30 August 1838 • Friday–Thursday Page 71 31 August 1838 • Friday Page 74 1 September 1838 • Saturday Page 75 2 September 1838 • Sunday Page 77 3 September 1838 • Monday Page 78 4 September 1838 • Tuesday Page 78 5 September 1838 • Wednesday Page 79 6 September 1838 • Thursday Page 79 7 September 1838 • Friday Page 80 8 September 1838 • Saturday Page 81 9 September 1838 • Sunday Page 81 10 September 1838 • Monday Page 82 11 September 1838 • Tuesday Page 83

Source Note

JS, “The Scriptory Book—of Joseph Smith Jr.—President of The Church of Jesus Christ, of Latterday Saints In all the World,” Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838; handwriting of and ; sixty-nine pages; in “General,” Record Book, 1838, verso of Patriarchal Blessings, vol. 5, CHL. Includes redactions and archival marking.
JS’s “Scriptory Book” is recorded on pages 15 to 83 of a large record book entitled “General” that also includes a list of church members in , Missouri (pages 2–14), a copy of JS’s 16 December 1838 letter from the

Located in western Missouri, thirteen miles north of Independence. Settled 1820. Clay Co. seat, 1822. Incorporated as town, May 1829. Following expulsion from Jackson Co., 1833, many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay Co., with church leaders and other...

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Two-story building containing dungeon on lower floor with access through trap door. Constructed, 1833. JS and five others confined there for just over four months, beginning 1 Dec. 1838, while awaiting trial for charges in connection with “Mormon War.” JS...

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, Missouri (pages 101–108), and an aborted record partially entitled “Recor” in unidentified handwriting (page 110). The book, which measures 13 x 8¼ x 1¾ inches (33 x 21 x 4 cm), has 182 leaves of ledger paper sized 12½ x 7¾ inches (32 x 20 cm) with thirty-seven lines in blue ink per page. There are eighteen gatherings of various sizes, each of about a dozen leaves. The text block is sewn all along over three vellum tapes. The heavy pink endpapers each consist of a pastedown and two flyleaves pasted together. The text block edges are stained green. The volume has a hardbound ledger-style binding with a hollow-back spine and glued-on blue-striped cloth headbands. It is bound in brown split-calfskin leather with blind-tooled decoration around the outside border and along the turned-in edges of the leather on the inside covers. At some point the letter “G” was hand printed in ink on the front cover. The original leather cover over the spine—which appears to have been intentionally removed—may have borne a title or filing notation.
The journal is inscribed in black ink that later turned brown and is almost entirely in the handwriting of . ’s handwriting appears in a copy of the 23 July 1837 revelation for (D&C 112) on pages 72–74. Running heads added by Robinson throughout the journal indicate the months of the entries on the page. The volume was later used in , Illinois, as a source for JS’s multivolume manuscript history of the church. During the preparation of the history, redactions and use marks were made in graphite pencil. Redactions in graphite and ink may have been made at other times as well. In 1845, the book was turned over so that the back cover became the front and the last page became the first. This side of the book was used to record patriarchal blessings. The original spine may have been removed at this time. The spine is now labeled with a number “5”, designating its volume number in a series of books of patriarchal blessings.
The volume is listed in Nauvoo and early Utah inventories of church records, indicating continuous custody. At some point, the leaf containing pages 54 and 55 was torn from the journal. This removed leaf—which is transcribed herein and contains, among other writings, the earliest extant text of an 8 July 1838 revelation for the Quorum of the Twelve (D&C 118)—was for a time kept in Revelation Book 2. It is now part of the Revelations Collection at the Church History Library.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Catalogue,” [2]; Historian’s Office, “Index of Records and Journals,” [12], Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, microfilm, JS Collection, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

    Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.

  2. [2]

    Best, “Register of the Revelations Collection,” 19.

    Best, Christy. “Register of the Revelations Collection in the Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” July 1983. CHL.

Historical Introduction

Following the climactic events they experienced in the in spring 1836, JS and church members renewed their efforts on three fronts: proselytizing, raising funds to purchase land in on which to settle increasing numbers of Latter-day Saints, and building a larger and stronger Latter-day Saint community in , Ohio. But in neither Missouri nor did events unfold as expected. Success in gathering converts to Missouri provoked renewed external opposition, again forcing church members in that state to relocate. Meanwhile, conflicts engulfed JS in Kirtland.
Revelations directed Latter-day Saint elders to proselytize throughout the world after being empowered in the . A modest beginning during the remainder of 1836 crescendoed the following year with missionary service throughout the and and the successful launching of a ministry in England. Their mission was not only to preach and make converts but also to gather the descendants of the biblical house of Israel, now scattered throughout the world. Converts were encouraged to move to designated locations in and . The Mormon quest to establish Zion in Missouri, temporarily abandoned after the Saints’ expulsion from , was thereby reinvigorated.
Beginning in April 1836, JS and his associates engaged in an aggressive fund-raising campaign for land purchases in . Meanwhile, converts flocked to , Missouri, to join the Latter-day Saints who had been expelled from in 1833. The rapid growth of the Mormon population eroded the tolerance of other Clay County residents, who concluded in late June 1836 that the Saints must leave. By then threats of violence and the intimidation of incoming Mormons made the once welcoming community much less so. Returning to Jackson County was also an unrealistic option.
Attempting to prevent future hostilities—and probably to divert Mormon immigration away from more coveted lands—on 29 December 1836, the legislature created , northeast of , exclusively for Mormon settlement. That act gave rise to conflicting expectations. Many Missourians believed the Latter-day Saints were thereafter to confine their settlement to Caldwell County. The Saints willingly left Clay County and established headquarters at in Caldwell County, but they made no formal commitment to limit their settlement to one county. Indeed, they anticipated establishing numerous additional stakes of Zion elsewhere in northwestern Missouri. Tension over future Mormon expansion was inherent in the arrangement.
Conflict also increased at church headquarters in . In seeking to establish a sacral society directed by prophetic leadership, JS crossed conventional boundaries between religious and secular affairs. For him, God’s commandments made no distinction between the spiritual and the temporal. Subjecting oneself to a religious leader’s direction in temporal matters clashed with American ideals of unfettered individual freedom. As the Mormon population of Kirtland continued to grow, JS and his associates conceived expansive plans for that community. A pivotal element was a bank, which could help provide capital for development. Though they were unable to obtain a state charter—an ultimately fatal flaw—they nevertheless established a financial institution in January 1837. The “Kirtland Safety Society” faltered early, due in part to negative publicity, the refusal of many area banks to accept Safety Society notes, and the predatory actions of outsiders who systematically acquired its notes and quickly demanded payment in specie, thus depleting its reserves. The Safety Society suspended such payments in late January, then failed several months later during the recession that gripped the . Stresses related to the bank failure, mounting personal debt of Kirtland Mormons, and church indebtedness due to construction of the caused some to question the scope and legitimacy of JS’s prophetic leadership. Some of JS’s closest associates became disaffected. Prominent among the dissenters were JS’s former secretary , several apostles, a number of the members of the Quorum of the Seventy, and the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon plates. Their discontent escalated from dismay with JS’s financial leadership to rejection of his religious leadership.
Such views eventually spread to nearly one-third of the church’s general leadership and over ten percent of the local church membership in . Declaring JS a fallen prophet, and others attempted to establish a church of their own and to take control of the . , saddled with crushing personal financial losses, privately disparaged JS. Some dissidents sought to replace JS with as church president. clashed with JS over the Safety Society. Compounding JS’s problems was the antipathy of numerous non-Mormon residents of and vicinity, some of whom used both the legal system and threats of violence to harass him and other Latter-day Saints.
In fall 1837, JS moved vigorously to reassert his authority as church president. At a conference in September, he and church leaders loyal to him disciplined dissidents in —including three apostles and a number of members of the high council. Meanwhile, problems developed among church leaders in , where the high council, the bishopric, and apostles and decried unilateral actions by the Missouri presidency. Concern focused particularly on the management by counselors and of the proceeds from the sale of property in . When Marsh traveled to Kirtland in summer 1837, he probably informed JS of these Missouri leadership issues. To underscore the importance of unity and to prepare the way for changes in Missouri leadership if they should be required, JS sent minutes of the September Kirtland conference to Missouri, along with a revelation, additional written counsel, and verbal instructions conveyed by Marsh and JS’s brother , an assistant counselor in the presidency. Soon after, JS and his loyal first counselor, , traveled to , Missouri, where with Hyrum Smith they met with local church leaders in early November and reached what seemed to be a satisfactory resolution of most of the outstanding issues. At a conference the following day, the local presidency were retained after they made confessions in response to objections raised against them. However, the First Presidency underwent major changes. , JS’s second counselor, was removed from office after considerable discussion and replaced with Hyrum Smith. The name of , who earlier was placed next to JS in the presidency, was not even presented for approval on this occasion; thus he was silently displaced. After JS’s return to Kirtland, it became evident that unresolved issues in Missouri required further attention.
An 1831 revelation had signaled that would eventually yield to as the major gathering center for the Latter-day Saints. When arrangements were completed in late 1836 for Mormon settlement in , renewed large-scale migration of Mormons to Missouri became feasible. JS and the presidency had anticipated moving there earlier in 1836 to direct the resettlement of incoming converts, but the delay in establishing a permanent Missouri location and the entanglements of Kirtland kept them in . By late 1837, JS was planning to move as soon as possible. Threatened by dissidents and pursued by creditors, he learned in January 1838 of his impending arrest on a charge of illegal banking—quite likely a ruse devised by his opponents to drive him from Ohio. JS and had already been found guilty of such a charge in October 1837, had been fined $1,000 each, and had an appeal pending. On 12 January, a new revelation directed that JS and the presidency were to terminate their work in Kirtland “as soon as it is practicable” and move to Missouri. JS and Rigdon left within a few hours and were joined soon afterward by their families.
While JS was en route to , his supporters there were working to root out dissent among local church leadership. Senior apostle and members of the high council conducted, in each of five settlements, meetings of church members in which the conduct of the Missouri presidency was reviewed. Marsh indicated that the meetings were conducted according to instructions from JS. The outcome of each meeting was that the leadership of the presidency—consisting of , , and —was rejected. The Missouri high council and bishopric replaced the presidency with an interim presidency of Marsh and apostle , and soon afterward the high council excommunicated Phelps and John Whitmer. The reassertion of authority in Missouri under JS and those loyal to him was well under way when JS reached Far West on 14 March 1838.
, who was appointed the church’s general clerk and recorder in in September 1837, arrived in on 28 March 1838, two weeks after JS, and was immediately pressed into service. Within a day or two of arriving, he began writing what would become the present journal. Robinson made his initial inscriptions in a general church record book that already included a roster of Latter-day Saints living in . He began writing on the first blank page following the previously inscribed roster. The journal Robinson kept for JS documents critical developments in the struggle of JS and the presidency to maintain leadership of the church and to fulfill ambitious plans for Zion in . It records their efforts to found settlements outside their headquarters and gathering center in Caldwell County during spring and summer 1838, as well as the first signs of the deterioration of that effort. The journal is primarily a documentary record. Several key developments are depicted only by documents copied into the record without narrative ligatures.
The journal entries only occasionally provide insights into intentions, perceptions, evaluations, and feelings. When they do so, ’s perspective is usually represented. In the journal entries, Robinson refers to JS in the third person and to himself in the first. Thus references to “I” or “myself” in the journal entries usually indicate Robinson rather than JS.
The journal opens with a brief retrospective account, apparently dictated by JS, of his arrival in on 14 March 1838. Then follows a copy of a motto recently composed by JS and signed by JS, , and a half-dozen prominent Latter-day Saints. The motto reflected JS’s experiences with dissent and persecution in and signaled his determination to vigorously assert the Latter-day Saints’ right to establish themselves in and to pursue their goals without harassment. JS’s letter of 29 March 1838, copied on pages 23–26 of the journal, indicates that the motto was already inscribed in the journal by that date.
Following the motto are two sets of questions and answers about the book of Isaiah. A series of transcripts or summaries of eight documents follows. These materials relate to a seven-month series of events that culminated in the 12–13 April 1838 excommunications of and . As indicated by the date on the title page of the journal, 12 April 1838, apparently began transcribing these documents and entries on the same day that Cowdery was excommunicated. Cowdery’s trial seems to have been the motivating factor for transcribing this set of documents and creating an ongoing record with its own identity. These documents include minutes, instructions, and revelations originally written in as early as 3 September 1837; minutes of a conference in which joined and as “Presidents Pro. Tem” of the church in ; and terse synopses of the excommunication proceedings. In stark contrast to the frank evaluations of key leaders that JS dictated for his earliest journal, the present journal’s businesslike documentary treatment yields little insight into the interpersonal dynamics of their estrangement or the impact that severing ties to former close associates had on JS. Robinson also copied a letter from a Missouri landholder offering property at , Carroll County, to JS as a strategic site for control of commerce in the region. A purchase was eventually consummated, and Latter-day Saints settled there, angering those Missourians who objected to Mormon settlement outside .
Following copies of brief personal revelations that JS dictated for apostles and in mid-April 1838, recorded JS’s 26 April 1838 revelation mandating the continued growth of , the construction of a there, and the establishment of Latter-day Saint settlements in that vicinity. The revelation sanctioned the name for the church that JS and others had recently begun to use: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
After inscribing this substantial body of recapitulations and copied documents, recorded daily journal entries, beginning with an entry for 27 April 1838. By this point, Robinson was serving as a scribe to the First Presidency, and the journal focused not only on JS but also on (Robinson’s father-in-law) and , both counselors in the church presidency. Frequently, but not consistently, the scribe accompanied JS and the presidency on trips away from . However, since the record book was large, Robinson likely did not carry it with him on every occasion, and a number of entries may not have been recorded until several days later.
The first day of ’s regular journal entries, 27 April, was the same day JS, , and Robinson started JS’s history. Thus a promising record-keeping routine began to be established, which lasted for six weeks. Entries for the first three weeks document a brief interlude of settled existence in , with JS and his counselors collaborating on the history, studying grammar, and attending meetings, and JS working his garden. However, the presidency was soon on the move again. After receiving word of a sizable migration of Latter-day Saints to , they left Far West for in mid-May to select and survey lands for future arrivals. JS’s labors in the north were punctuated by brief visits home, during one of which gave birth to their son .
Settling in sparsely settled offered incoming Latter-day Saints, many of whom were poor, a place to live while neither buying nor renting. As squatters on government land, heads of households could apply for preemption rights (first right of purchase) on up to 160 acres of land that they occupied, pending completion of official government land surveys. Applicants were not required—or even allowed—to pay the government for the land until after the surveys were completed. Then, to acquire title to the property, they were to pay the relatively low price of $1.25 per acre prior to an announced date, after which their property would otherwise be offered for sale to the general public, along with the unclaimed land in the surveyed area. The selection and private surveying of Daviess County land by JS and his colleagues provided the basis for orderly and relatively compact settlement coordinated by church officials. Settling in , by contrast, involved more conventional purchases. Government surveys were already completed for that county, and government land was already being sold.
The pattern of record keeping became more varied after the presidency and their scribe traveled to in early June. ’s daily entries lapsed as the Mormons laid out a city plot for a Latter-day Saint settlement at , began building homes, and organized a stake. They persisted in creating the new settlement despite their neighbors’ earlier attempt to frighten the area’s first Mormon settlers into leaving Daviess County.
Meanwhile, tensions continued between JS and the majority who supported him on the one hand and prominent excommunicants who remained in after being expelled from the church on the other. JS and came to feel that peace and harmony among the Latter-day Saints—essential if they were to succeed in establishing Zion in —was impossible as long as these individuals remained among them. After Rigdon denounced these former leaders in a sermon in mid-June, they were threatened with violence, and several of them left the county. Active in compelling their departure was a new volunteer paramilitary organization of Mormon men called the Danites, of which was an officer. The Danites sought to rid the church of dissent, to ensure the fulfillment of church leaders’ directives, and later to help combat external threats against the Saints.
Although ’s journal keeping for JS lapsed for most of June and July, he did note significant developments in three early July entries consisting primarily of copied correspondence and revelations. He wrote an entry for 4 July, when ’s oration at the Mormons’ celebration of Independence Day at signaled their intentions to expand beyond the confines of and warned that they would not countenance persecution. The entry for 6 July is a copy of a letter received that day from and , en route to Far West after completion of their mission to the British Isles. It is followed by Robinson’s transcription of a letter from JS’s brother reporting the circumstances of members of the extended Smith family moving together from to Far West. At least six of the eight revelations recorded at that point in the journal were read to a church congregation at Far West on 8 July. Three dated 12 January 1838, the day that JS left Kirtland for Far West, focused on the church presidency, reinforcing their authority, establishing stringent requirements for any attempts to discipline them, and directing them to leave Kirtland and move to as soon as possible. Five more revelations, all dated 8 July, provided directions for the reorganization of the Quorum of Twelve and a proselytizing mission that they were to undertake in Europe, called for tithing to be instituted in the church, and gave instructions for several church leaders and former leaders. Between the January revelations and the July revelations, Robinson recorded a brief synopsis, from a millenarian perspective, of contemporary developments affecting the church in Missouri, including consequences of the expulsion of dissidents in June and the influx of numerous Latter-day Saint settlers to northwestern Missouri.
did not resume regular journal entries until 26 July. From that point, his journal keeping was relatively consistent through 10 September, when the journal ends. These entries show that expansion beyond —an integral part of Mormon plans—came at a price. Mormon immigrants from were assigned to settle in during summer 1838, and on 6 July, “Kirtland Camp,” the largest single group of Saints to leave for , began their laborious trek. Their arrival made it evident to the Mormons’ neighbors in Daviess County that within a few months the Mormons would outnumber other citizens. Meanwhile, in late July, Carroll County residents pressed the Saints to leave . Further growth of Mormon numbers and influence was unthinkable for many residents of northwestern Missouri.
On election day, 6 August, , a candidate for the state legislature, mounted a whiskey barrel at the village square at , Daviess County, to persuade a crowd of men to prevent the Latter-day Saints from voting. A brawl ensued, and at , JS heard from an otherwise credible non-Mormon source that the corpses of Latter-day Saint casualties were being withheld from church members in , a report later proved false. JS accompanied a body of armed men to Daviess County to recover the bodies for burial but learned at that, despite multiple injuries, there were no fatalities on either side. There they also heard a rumor that local justice of the peace was raising a mob to avenge blows the Mormons had landed in the Gallatin fracas. JS and his associates, now including prominent Adam-ondi-Ahman resident , visited the home of Black, who a year earlier had warned Latter-day Saints to leave the county. The Mormons found no mob but obtained a signed commitment from Black that the rights of Latter-day Saints would be protected. The following day, a delegation of prominent Daviess County citizens met with JS, Wight, and other Latter-day Saints at Adam-ondi-Ahman, where both sides exchanged pledges to avoid injuring the other and to settle any disputes through legal channels.
In violation of these commitments, and used an embellished account of the encounter at Black’s home to mobilize both legal and vigilante action against the Mormons. Peniston traveled with others to , Ray County, to recruit volunteers to help protect the old settlers of . While there, Peniston showed local citizens an affidavit from Black claiming that the Mormon party that visited his house had threatened him with immediate death if he refused to sign their agreement. Peniston filed a complaint with , judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of . King’s jurisdiction included both and Daviess counties, as well as , , Carroll, Clinton, and counties. King issued a warrant for the arrest of JS and . Then Black, Peniston, and their allies fanned out to recruit volunteers from additional counties. After Black’s visit to Livingston County, Missouri newspapers spread claims that Mormons had threatened additional Daviess County settlers, destroyed crops, and perhaps even murdered Peniston and other prominent residents. Some counties, such as Ray and , responded by sending investigative committees. When JS and Wight were not arrested as anticipated, Peniston and other members of a Daviess County “Committee of Vigilance” again agitated throughout northwestern Missouri for volunteers to gather to Daviess County—this time to drive the Latter-day Saints out of the county.
’s assertion that JS and other Latter-day Saints had threatened his life, coupled with a new claim that JS and were resisting arrest, confirmed Missourians’ fears that the Latter-day Saints considered themselves above the law. Many Missourians concluded that they should take the law into their own hands. The vigilantes called for men from other counties to come armed to on 7 September in preparation for an 8 September offensive against the Mormons.
In hopes of heading off confrontation and to counter the notion that they would not be subject to the law, JS and submitted to arrest and attended a preliminary hearing on a charge of riot. On 7 September 1838, when JS appeared at the hearing, he was greeted by the anti-Mormons who had gathered in . heard testimony and bound JS and Wight over for trial, but the anti-Mormon vigilantes were not pacified. The assault originally scheduled to begin on 8 September was merely postponed for two days while the vigilantes arranged with sympathizers in to deliver a stockpile of rifles on 9 September. As the present journal was coming to a close, Mormon companies of militia headed for Daviess County to protect the Latter-day Saints residing there. Another Mormon militia unit intercepted the shipment of weapons from Ray County, foiling plans for the offensive. After the vigilantes’ plan was thwarted, they confined their efforts for a time to terrorizing outlying Mormon homes; in response, Latter-day Saint militia from entered Daviess County. In mid-September, state militia intervened. Mormon and non-Mormon groups from outside Daviess County were sent home, and crisis, for the moment, was averted.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minute Book 1, 2 Apr. 1836; JS, Journal, 2 Apr. 1836.

    Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

  2. [2]

    “Public Meeting,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1836, 2:353–355; Stokes, “Wilson Letters,” 504–509.

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

    Stokes, Durward T., ed. “The Wilson Letters, 1835–1849.” Missouri Historical Review 60, no. 4 (July 1966): 495–517.

  3. [3]

    An Act to Organize the Counties of Caldwell and Daviess [29 Dec. 1836], Laws of the State of Missouri [1836], 46–47; History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, 103–105; Riggs, “Economic Impact of Fort Leavenworth,” 129.

    An Act to Organize the Counties of Caldwell and Daviess [29 Dec. 1836], Laws of the State of Missouri [1836], 46–47

    History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, Missouri, Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources. . . . St. Louis: National Historical Co., 1886.

    Riggs, Michael S. “The Economic Impact of Fort Leavenworth on Northwestern Missouri, 1827–1838. Yet Another Reason for the Mormon War?” In Restoration Studies IV: A Collection of Essays about the History, Beliefs, and Practices of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, edited by Marjorie B. Troeh and Eileen M. Terril, 124–133. Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1988.

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    “The Mormons in Carroll County,” Missouri Republican, 18 Aug. 1838, [2], daily edition; “Mormonism,” Kansas City Daily Journal, 12 June 1881, 1; Willard Snow, Petition for redress, no date, Library of Congress Collection, National Archives, Washington DC.

    Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1919.

    Kansas City Daily Journal. Kansas City, MO. 1878–1891.

    Library of Congress Collection. National Archives, Washington DC. Redress petitions from this collection are also available in Clark V. Johnson, ed., Mormon Redress Petitions: Documents of the 1833–1838 Missouri Conflict, Religious Studies Center Monograph Series 16 (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992).

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    Revelation, Sept. 1830–A, in Doctrine and Covenants 10:9, 1835 ed. [D&C 29:34–35].

    Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).

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    Adams, “Chartering the Kirtland Bank,” 467–482; Backman, Heavens Resound, 314–321; “James Thompson’s Statement,” in Naked Truths about Mormonism, Apr. 1888, 3.

    Adams, Dale W. “Chartering the Kirtland Bank.” BYU Studies 23 (Fall 1983): 467–482.

    Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.

    Naked Truths about Mormonism: Also a Journal for Important, Newly Apprehended Truths, and Miscellany. Oakland, CA. Jan. and Apr. 1888.

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    Esplin, “Emergence of Brigham Young,” chaps. 5–6.

    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).

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    Backman, Heavens Resound, 323–329, 437n68.

    Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.

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    Minute Book 2, 12 Apr. 1838; Oliver Cowdery, Far West, MO, to Warren Cowdery, [Kirtland, OH], 21 Jan. 1838, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 80–83.

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

    Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

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    Historian’s Office, “History of Brigham Young,” 15.

    Historian’s Office. “History of Brigham Young.” In Manuscript History of Brigham Young, ca. 1856–1860, vol. 1, pp. 1–104. CHL. CR 100 150, box 1, fd. 1.

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    Williams, “Frederick Granger Williams,” 254–256.

    Williams, Frederick G. “Frederick Granger Williams of the First Presidency of the Church.” BYU Studies 12 (Spring 1972): 243–261.

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    Adams, “Grandison Newell’s Obsession” 168–188.

    Adams, Dale W. “Grandison Newell’s Obsession.” Journal of Mormon History 30 (Spring 2004): 159–188.

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    Minute Book 2, 3 and 5–7 Apr. 1837; Thomas B. Marsh, [Far West, MO], to Wilford Woodruff, [Vinalhaven, ME], 1838, Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 37–38. Missouri church president David Whitmer spent most of 1836 and 1837 in Kirtland.

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

    Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.

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    Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 21:4, 1835 ed. [D&C 64:21–22].

    Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).

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    Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.

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    Adams, “Grandison Newell’s Obsession”; Historian’s Office, “History of Luke Johnson,” 6, Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880, CHL.

    Adams, Dale W. “Grandison Newell’s Obsession.” Journal of Mormon History 30 (Spring 2004): 159–188.

    Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.

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    Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583.

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    Walker, “Mormon Land Rights.”

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    Gentry, “Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri,” 153–156; Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 106.

    Gentry, Leland Homer. “A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri from 1836 to 1839.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1965. Also available as A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri from 1836 to 1839, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).

    Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).

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    Reed Peck, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, pp. 23–25, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA; Corrill, Brief History, 30.

    Peck, Reed. Letter, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

    Corrill, John. A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, (Commonly Called Mormons;) Including an Account of Their Doctrine and Discipline; with the Reasons of the Author for Leaving the Church. St. Louis: By the author, 1839.

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    Oration Delivered by Mr. S. Rigdon, 12.

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    Tyler, Samuel D. Journal, July–Oct. 1838. CHL. MS 1761.

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    Hartley, William G. My Best for the Kingdom: History and Autobiography of John Lowe Butler, a Mormon Frontiersman. Salt Lake City: Aspen Books, 1993.

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    Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 103–111.

    Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).

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    “Public Meeting,” Missouri Republican, 8 Sept. 1838, [1], “for the country” edition.

    Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1919.

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    William Peniston, Affidavit, Ray Co., MO, 10 Aug. 1838, private possession, copy in CHL; State of Missouri, Warrant for JS and Lyman Wight, Ray Co., MO, 10 Aug. 1838, private possession, copy in CHL.

    Peniston, William. Affidavit, Ray Co., MO, 10 Aug. 1838. Private possession. Copy in CHL.

    Missouri, State of. Warrant for Joseph Smith and Lyman Wight, Ray Co., MO, 10 Aug. 1838. Private possession. Copy in CHL.

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    See, for example, “The Mormons,” Missouri Argus, 6 Sept. 1838, [1].

    Missouri Argus. St. Louis. 1835–1841.

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    JS, Journal, 11 Aug. 1838; “The Mormon Difficulties,” Niles’ National Register, 13 Oct. 1838, 103.

    Niles’ National Register. Washington DC, 1837–1839; Baltimore, 1839–1848; Philadelphia, 1848–1849.

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    “Mormons Once More,” Hannibal Commercial Advertiser, 25 Sept. 1838, [1].

    Hannibal Commercial Advertiser. Hannibal, MO. 1837–1839.

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    LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 70.

    LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.

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    LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 77–83.

    LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.

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    David R. Atchison, Grand River, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, Jefferson City, MO, 17 Sept. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA; LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 87–89, 96–97.

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

    LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from Don Carlos Smith, circa Late May 1838 *Revelation, 8 July 1838–D [D&C 120] *Revelation, 8 July 1838–B *Revelation, 8 July 1838–C [D&C 119] *Revelation, 8 July 1838–A [D&C 118] *Revelation, 8 July 1838–E [D&C 117]
The 4th & 5th Charges were rejected & the 6th withdrawn Consequently he () was of the Voted by the that be no longer a Committee to select locations for the of the Saints——
Editorial Note
The day following ’s trial, the high council tried former Missouri president for his membership in the church. At this high council hearing, Whitmer was to be tried as a high priest, which Whitmer rejected because he still considered himself president and refused to recognize as legitimate the earlier proceedings that removed him from office. Although the 7 November 1837 conference clarified that he presided only over the church in Missouri, Whitmer still believed that he should instead be tried not only as president in Missouri but as a president of the high priesthood and therefore not subject to the decision of a regular council of high priests—and that attending the council and “a[n]swering to charges as a High Priest, should be acknowledgeing the correctness and legality of those former assumed Councils.” Nonetheless, believing that the high council was determined to remove him at all costs—even, he charged, if it required violating the church order outlined in revelations—Whitmer announced by letter his withdrawal from the church’s “fellowship and communion.” After reading Whitmer’s letter, the council concluded that “it was not considered necessary to investigate the case, as he had offered contempt to the Council by writing the above letter” and that Whitmer was therefore “not worthy a membership in the Church,” whereupon he was excommunicated.
This same day the high council also heard the case of , a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. The letter of charges against Johnson included specific instructions regarding an earlier judicial matter, instructions that Johnson rejected as a violation of his constitutional rights. He therefore responded to the letter by refusing to cooperate and by announcing his withdrawal from fellowship with the Saints until that matter was removed from the charges. Johnson’s hearing, which included testimony of a number of witnesses, resulted in his excommunication.
Synopsis of David Whitmer and Lyman Johnson Trials • 13 April 1838
The following against before the which assembled on the 13th of April 1838 for the purpose of attending to such Charges. Which Charges are as follows
1st For not observing the words of wisdom, 2nd For unchristianlike conduct in neglecting to attend to meetings in uniting with and possesing the same spirit of the desenters 3rd In writing letters to the desenters in unfaivorable to the Cause, and to the Character of Joseph Smith Jr. 4th In neglecting the duties of his calling and seperating himself from the Church while he has a name among us. 5th. For Signing himself of the after he had been cut off, in an insulting, letter to the High Council,
After reading the above Charges together with a letter sent to the Pres. of said Council, (a copy of which may be found recorded in record Book A.) The Council considered the charges sustained and Consequently Considred him of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints.—
Also the same day and date a against consisting of 3 charges which which were read together with a letter from him in answer to them Which will be <​found​> recorded in record [p. 31]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Journal, March–September 1838
ID #
6664
Total Pages
69
Print Volume Location
JSP, J1:225–320
Handwriting on This Page
  • George W. Robinson

Footnotes

  1. [62]

    The minutes show no discussion of charges 4 through 6, noting only the rejection of charges 4 and 5 and the withdrawal of charge 6. The council may have rejected the very charges that Cowdery acknowledged in order to avoid addressing the problematic issues highlighted in Cowdery’s protest: ecclesiastical control of individuals’ temporal affairs and the sale of Jackson County property. After Cowdery sold his property, the prospects for returning to Jackson County continued to dwindle, and within months Bishop Newel K. Whitney sold the central church lots. (Minute Book 2, 12 Apr. 1838; Jackson Co., MO, Deed Records, 1827–1909, vol. F, p. 52, 3 July 1838, microfilm 1,017,980, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  2. [63]

    According to the Missouri council minutes, the decision to remove Cowdery from the committee was made the following day in connection with the trial for David Whitmer. This committee—which originally consisted of Cowdery, David W. Patten, John Corrill, and Lyman Wight—was appointed at a church council on 6 November 1837 to search for possible sites for Latter-day Saint settlements in northern Missouri. (Minute Book 2, 13 Apr. 1838; 6 Nov. and 7 Dec. 1837; [JS], Editorial, Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 27–28; Oliver Cowdery, Far West, MO, to Warren Cowdery, [Kirtland, OH], 21 Jan. 1838, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 80–83.)

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

    Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.

    Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

  3. [64]

    Minute Book 2, 13 Apr. 1838.

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

  4. [65]

    For a more detailed record of the hearings involving Whitmer and Johnson, see Minute Book 2, 13 Apr. 1838.

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

  5. [66]

    Apostle Thomas B. Marsh presided over this Missouri high council meeting in his capacity as temporary president of the church in Missouri, assisted by apostles David W. Patten and Brigham Young, acting in their capacities as Marsh’s assistants. JS also attended the trial. (Minute Book 2, 13 Apr. 1838.)

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

  6. [67]

    An 1833 revelation that referred to itself as “a word of wisdom” proscribed tobacco, wine, “strong drinks,” and “hot drinks”—commonly understood to include tea and coffee.a However, individuals were generally disciplined for nonobservance only in instances of flagrant intoxication or in combination with more serious charges of other kinds.b Whitmer used tobacco, coffee, and tea and reportedly stated that he did not consider coffee and tea to be hot drinks.c

    (aRevelation, 27 Feb. 1833, in Doctrine and Covenants 80, 1835 ed. [D&C 89]; Peterson, “Word of Wisdom,” 20, 22–23. bBackman, Heavens Resound, 257–261. cMinute Book 2, 26 Jan. and 5 Feb. 1838; compare “Letters from David and John C. Whitmer,” Saints’ Herald, 5 Feb. 1887, 89.)

    Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).

    Peterson, Paul H. “An Historical Analysis of the Word of Wisdom.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1972.

    Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

    Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.

  7. [68]

    No Whitmer letters of this nature are known to be extant.

  8. [69]

    Minute Book 2 includes a copy of Whitmer’s 13 April letter in connection with the minutes of the 13 April disciplinary proceedings against Whitmer.

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

  9. [70]

    According to the official record, seven charges were preferred against apostle Johnson, not three: first, for “persecuting brethren” by encouraging and supporting “vexatious lawsuits”; second, for “virtually denying the faith” by supporting dissenters and “treating the Church with contempt” by failure to attend church meetings and observe church practices; third, for “seeking to injure the character” of JS; fourth, for physically attacking Phineas Young; fifth, for “speaking reproachfully of the authority of Caldwell County” by saying that he could not obtain justice in a lawsuit before the county court and that he would appeal the decision; sixth, for lying; and seventh, for cheating a man out of property. (Minute Book 2, 13 Apr. 1838.)

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

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