On 26 July 1838, JS met with several other church leaders to determine how to manage property that in , Missouri, had recently donated to the church. Earlier in the month, on 8 July, JS dictated a revelation calling for the Latter-day Saints to donate all of their surplus property to the church and thereafter to donate “one tenth of all their interest annually.” Later that day, JS dictated another revelation, directing that donated property be managed by a council consisting of the and the and , acting together under the inspiration of God. In response to the revelation about making donations, the Saints began donating property of various kinds. On 26 July, the council of church leaders that was called for in the latter revelation met to determine how to manage these donations. The council likely convened in , where JS and other church leaders were living at the time. The council members agreed on several resolutions, most of which clarified the relationship between the First Presidency and the in financial matters.

The minutes do not identify an appointed clerk for the council but contain the specificity of and are written in the style of formal minutes. may have taken minutes at the meeting, which would explain why he inscribed them in JS’s journal and why the minutes do not appear in Minute Book 2, where clerks typically recorded the minutes of high council and other meetings. Robinson inscribed the minutes in JS’s journal likely on the day of or within a few days after the meeting, as they appear immediately before a series of daily journal entries, the first of which is dated 27 July 1838.