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Minutes, 21 June 1833

Source Note

Minutes, [, Geauga Co., OH], 21 June 1833. Featured version copied [ca. 21 June 1833] in Minute Book 1, pp. 21–22; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.

Historical Introduction

The meeting recorded in these minutes dealt exclusively with disciplinary action against . This is the second record dated 21 June in the , Ohio, minute book; the other record describes a president’s council that heard the appeal of , Copley’s missionary companion during most of the previous four months. It is unclear if Hurlbut’s and Copley’s trials were related to their missionary service together. Although the proceedings of each trial were recorded in a separate set of minutes, both trials were apparently conducted in a single meeting of the ’s council.
was the twenty-two-year-old son of . Leman had been estranged from the church in mid-1831 but by late 1832 was again involved in Mormon ecclesiastical efforts in , Ohio. In November 1832, Daniel Copley was a ; the following March, he traveled to to learn from a church council “the will of the Lord concerning him.” That council instructed Copley to depart on a proselytizing mission to the East with . Because of some apparent difficulty between the two men, however, convened a council with several in Conneaut Township, Pennsylvania, on 5 April. The council decided to separate Copley and Hurlbut, and Copley was assigned to preach with instead. At some point Copley apparently abandoned his mission and returned to the Kirtland area, which prompted the disciplinary council described in these minutes.
Although the minutes neither indicate whether was present at the meeting nor provide any record of his statements, , who was present, later related that Copley was “a young man of [a] good deal of timidity who had been ordained a priest and been required to go to preach the gospel.” He had been “called to account for not going on mission [and] he said he was too timid [and] weak to preach.” In response, the “council decided he was too weak and timid [to] belong to the church [and] cut him off.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Appeal and Minutes, 21 June 1833. George A. Smith, who was present at both hearings, described the two proceedings as “the same council,” suggesting the two sets of minutes are from the same meeting. (George A. Smith, Discourse, 15 Nov. 1864, in George D. Watt, Discourse Shorthand Notes, 15 Nov. 1864, Pitman Shorthand Transcriptions, CHL; see also Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 597; and George A. Smith, in Journal of Discourses, 15 Nov. 1864, 11:8.)

    Pitman Shorthand Transcriptions, 1998–2013. CHL.

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

    Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.

  2. [2]

    See Historical Introduction to Revelation, 10 June 1831 [D&C 54].

  3. [3]

    Minute Book 1, 19 Mar. 1833.

  4. [4]

    Hyrum Smith, Diary, 5 Apr. 1833, [12]–[13].

    Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.

  5. [5]

    George A. Smith, Discourse, 15 Nov. 1864, in George D. Watt, Discourse Shorthand Notes, 15 Nov. 1864, Pitman Shorthand Transcriptions, CHL; see also Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 597; and George A. Smith, in Journal of Discourses, 15 Nov. 1864, 11:8. George A. Smith’s statement that Copley did not serve any of his mission is incorrect, as Hyrum Smith’s diary indicates Copley was gone for at least all of April, if not longer, on a missionary journey with Hurlbut and later with Boynton. George A. Smith’s later discourse also links JS directly to the decision to excommunicate Copley. George wrote, “I wonder what our missionary men would think of so rigid a discipline as was expected of us at the time 31 years ago under the immediate supervision of the prophet.” (Hyrum Smith, Diary, 5 Apr. 1833, [12]–[13].)

    Pitman Shorthand Transcriptions, 1998–2013. CHL.

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

    Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.

    Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Minutes, 21 June 1833 Minute Book 1 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 22

membership were taken from him by the Court because he refused to fulfil his mission according to the Council of the High Priesthood of the holy order of God [p. 22]
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Page 22

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 21 June 1833
ID #
7243
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D3:118–119
Handwriting on This Page
  • Orson Hyde

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    The phrase “holy order of God” is not found in the Bible. It is, however, found in several places in the Book of Mormon. (See, for example, Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 259 [Alma 13:6].)

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