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Minutes, 3 March 1836

Source Note

Minutes, , Geauga Co., OH, 3 Mar. 1836. Featured version copied [between ca. 4 Apr. and ca. 16 May 1836] in Minute Book 1, pp. 140–143; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.

Historical Introduction

On 24 February 1836, all of the and of the met in the in , Ohio, “to conclude the business concerning the ” of men to offices. Recognizing the imperfect state of record keeping in the church’s and , church authorities believed that new rules and regulations on the issuance and recording of were needed to standardize, organize, and better supervise the ordaining of priesthood holders to various offices. This task was made more urgent because of the extensive ministry that traveling were expected to assume after the and of power from on high. At the 24 February meeting, the church’s governing bodies appointed , , and as a committee to draft “regulations concerning licenses” and selected to officiate as the clerk responsible for recording licenses in Kirtland. The committee drafted resolutions on 27 February 1836 and presented them at the meeting featured here, held on the evening of 3 March 1836.
After the meeting commenced, , who served as the chair of the committee, presented the draft of the resolutions for centralizing priesthood licensing. The resolutions called for all licenses to be signed by proper authority, issued by the chairman and clerk of each conference, and recorded, thereby establishing an organized system of licensing in the growing church.
Two contemporary versions of the 3 March 1836 minutes are extant. One version is found in the February 1836 issue of the church newspaper, the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, which was not published until early March. The other is found in Minute Book 1, the official record for meeting minutes. Both of these copies may have derived from the original text, no longer extant, which was written by , who served as the meeting’s clerk. The copy in Minute Book 1 was made by sometime after he began his scribal duties in April 1836. There are slight differences in capitalization, punctuation, and words used between the two extant versions, suggesting that Warren A. Cowdery did not copy the minutes from the Messenger and Advocate version. Because Minute Book 1 was the official record for meetings held in , it is the version featured here. Significant differences between the two copies are noted below.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minute Book 1, 24 Feb. 1836. Deliberations concerning ordinations had been ongoing since 30 January 1836. (Minutes, 30 Jan. 1836; Minutes, 12 Feb. 1836; Minutes, 22 Feb. 1836.)

  2. [2]

    Minute Book 1, 24 Feb. 1836; JS, Journal, 24 Feb. 1836; Minutes, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1836, 2:266. The Messenger and Advocate version of the minutes erroneously indicates that the 24 February meeting occurred on 26 February.

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

  3. [3]

    Cowdery, Diary, 27 Feb. 1836.

    Cowdery, Oliver. Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL. MS 3429. Also available as Leonard J. Arrington, “Oliver Cowdery’s Kirtland, Ohio, ‘Sketch Book,’” BYU Studies 12 (Summer 1972): 410–426.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 3 Mar. 1836.

  5. [5]

    Cannon, “Licensing in the Early Church,” 105.

    Cannon, Donald Q. “Licensing in the Early Church.” BYU Studies 22, no. 1 (Winter 1982): 96–105.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. Journal, 1835–1836 Minutes, 3 March 1836, as Published in Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate *Minutes, 3 March 1836 Minute Book 1 History, 1838–1856, volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 142

to the person hereafter authorized to sign as clerk of , such person shall, together with the chairman of conference, immediately sign a license, and said clerk of conference shall, after the same has been recorded, forward it to the proper person.
4th That all in good standing & fellowship in the various of this , be requested to forward their present licences accompanied accompanied by their <​a certificate of their virtuous &​> faithful walk before the Lord, signed by the chairman and clerk, of a general conference, or by the clerk of the branch of the church in which such official member resides, by the advic[e] & direction of such Church, to the clerk of conference, whose duty it shall be to fill a new licence as directed in the 3d. article: And that all licences signed recorded and endorsed, as specified in the first article shall be considered good and valid to all intents & purposes in the business, in and spiritual affairs of this church as a religious society, or before any court of record of this or any court of record of this or any court of other country wherein preachers of the Gospel are entitled to special privileges, answering in all respects as an original record without the necessity of refering to any other document.
5 That the recording clerk be required to publish quarterly in a paper published by some member or members of this church, a list of the names of the several persons for whom he has recorded licences within the last quarter.
6 That this appoint two persons to sign as chairman and clerk of conference, Pro. Tempore licencens for the standing chairman and clerk, who shall be appointed as named in the 2d article and also to act in their absence in signing other licences. [p. 142]
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Source Note

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Page 142

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 3 March 1836
ID #
8386
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D5:180–185
Handwriting on This Page
  • Warren A. Cowdery

Footnotes

  1. [4]

    The words “& faithful” are not present in the Messenger and Advocate version. (Minutes, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1836, 2:267.)

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

  2. [5]

    On 3 June 1836, Thomas Burdick wrote a list “containing the names of Ministers of the Gospel, belonging to the church of the Latter Day Saints, whose Licenses were recorded, the preceeding Quarter, in the License Records, in Kirtland, Ohio.” The Messenger and Advocate published that list in its June issue. Burdick submitted another list to the Messenger and Advocate on 3 September 1836. (List, LDS Messenger and Advocate, June 1836, 2:335–336; see also Minute Book 1, 24 Feb. 1836; and List, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1836, 2:383.)

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

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