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Minutes and Discourse, circa 7 July 1834

Source Note

Minutes and Discourse, , MO, ca. 7 July 1834. Featured version copied [between ca. 6 Apr. and 19 June 1838] in Minute Book 2, pp. 43–45; handwriting of and ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 2.

Historical Introduction

At a 3 July 1834 meeting of , those present organized a standing in , designating three men as presidents of that council and twelve men as counselors. The organization of the council was completed at a meeting held a few days later, at which time JS the selected individuals to their positions. During the meeting, the council also deliberated on some items of business. The date of this meeting is not entirely clear. According to the minutes of the 3 July meeting, the council was to meet on Monday, 8 July. However, 8 July was actually a Tuesday. The existing minutes of the meeting provide a date of 7 July, which is corroborated by a letter written on 30 July 1834 that includes this phrase: “the high council of the organized by the will of God on the 7th of July 1834.” A later JS history also gives the date as 7 July. But and , both of whom attended the meeting, dated it as 8 July. Although it is likely that the meeting was held on 7 July, it is also possible that it occurred the following day.
The circa 7 July meeting of the council, which was held at ’s house, followed in large part the same format as a 19 February 1834 meeting of the , Ohio, high council, at which the “form, and constitution of the high Council” were approved. At that gathering, sixty-two church members voted unanimously to accept the constitution, after which JS instructed the Kirtland high council and then “laid his hands upon the twelve counsellors and commanded a blessing to rest upon them.” and also blessed their sons who were members of the council, and then the council considered its first case. Similarly, in the circa 7 July meeting, after JS addressed the council, those present voted to accept those who were appointed to their positions. According to the minutes, JS then ordained the council members, after which blessed his sons , , and , and blessed his son . Afterward, the council decided that and David Whitmer—two of the newly appointed presidents of the council—should go to Kirtland, a decision that indicated the high council was to deal with administrative matters, as well as serve as an appellate court and disciplinary body.
—the third president of the Missouri high council—had been designated by a 23 June 1834 council to go to , a decision that the high council reaffirmed. Such travels would deprive Missouri church members of their new leaders for a time, but JS explained in an August 1834 letter that he considered it urgent that the “first Elders” of the church obtain an of power in Kirtland and that they “lift up a warning voice and . . . proclaim the everlasting gospel” as they traveled to Ohio. As mandated in a 22 June 1834 revelation, the endowment of power needed to happen before could be redeemed, and JS apparently hoped that by preaching with “every convincing proof and facculty with this generation,” the “first Elders” could help “awaken the sympathy of the people” to the plight of the Missouri Saints who had been driven from their homes in .
Later accounts of the circa 7 July meeting indicate that JS may have also appointed as his successor in leading the church—something that is not mentioned in the minutes. At a 15 March 1838 meeting in , Missouri, JS gave participants “a history of the ordination of David Whitmer, which took place in July 1834, to be a leader, or a prophet to this Church, which (ordination) was on conditions that he (J. Smith jr) did not live to God himself.” , writing over thirty-five years later in an effort to prove Whitmer’s legitimacy as a prophet, provided more detail. According to McLellin, at the circa 7 July council, JS said that “the time has come when I must appoint my successor in office,” and “DAVID WHITMER IS THE MAN.” McLellin stated that Whitmer was then ordained “to be Prophet, Seer, Revelator, Translator, and President of the Church.” But the circa 7 July minutes themselves refer to Whitmer only as “the President of the Church in Zion” and the “President, head and leader in Zion (in the absence of br. Joseph Smith jr.).” As such, Whitmer assumed a role that , in Zion, had been fulfilling. Regardless of whether Whitmer was appointed to be JS’s successor, the minutes indicate that JS believed the organization of the council with its presidents fulfilled a divine mandate; he later stated that the work he did in Missouri “established this church on a permanent foundation.” “If I had been taken away,” he continued, “it would have been enough.”
served as clerk of the council and took its minutes, though his original inscription has not been located. In 1838, and copied the minutes into Minute Book 2.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes, 3 July 1834.

  2. [2]

    Nathan West to the “High Council of the Church of Christ,” 30 July 1834, in Minute Book 2, 31 July–1 Aug. 1834.

  3. [3]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 512.

    JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.

  4. [4]

    In a daybook Whitmer was keeping, he recorded that on 8 July he “attended to the organization of high council.” On 7 July, Whitmer’s entry merely states, “At home.” McLellin, writing many years later, referenced the meeting as occurring on 8 July at least five different times. (Whitmer, Daybook, 7 and 8 July 1834; William E. McLellin, Independence, MO, to Davis H. Bays, Lafayette, KS, 23 Nov. 1869, in True Latter Day Saints’ Herald, 15 May 1870, 290–291; William E. McLellin, Independence, MO, to Joseph Smith III, [Plano, IL], July 1872, typescript, Letters and Documents Copied from Originals in the Office of the Church Historian, Reorganized Church, CHL; McLellin, “Some of My Thoughts in 1878,” 1; McLellin, “Some of the Reasons Why I Am Not a Mormon,” 38; Traughber, “Some Statements by Dr. W. E. McLellan,” 3.)

    Whitmer, John. Daybook, 1832–1878. CHL. MS 1159.

    Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.

    McLellin, William E. Letter, Independence, MO, to Joseph Smith III, [Plano, IL], July 1872. Letters and Documents Copied from Originals in the Office of the Church Historian, Reorganized Church, no date. Typescript. CHL. MS 9090. Original at CCLA.

    McLellin, William E. “Some of My Thoughts in 1878, Why I Am Not an L. D. Saint of Any Click or Party,” 1878. William E. McLellin, Papers, 1831–1836, 1877–1878. CHL. MS 13538, box 1, fd. 9. Also available in Stan Larson and Samuel J. Passey, eds., The William E. McLellin Papers, 1854–1880 (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2007).

    McLellin, William E. “Some of the Reasons Why I Am Not a Mormon,” ca. 1880. John L. Traughber, Papers, 1854–1910. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

    Traughber, John L. “Some Statements by Dr. W. E. McLellan,” 1884. John L. Traughber, Papers, 1854–1910. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

  5. [5]

    Wight’s house was located on property owned by non-Mormon Michael Arthur in Clay County, Missouri. (Woodruff, Journal, 1 July 1834.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  6. [6]

    Minutes, 19 Feb. 1834.

  7. [7]

    The same procedures used for disciplinary matters were also followed in cases of more routine business. For more information on the high council’s role as both a judicial and administrative body, see Historical Introduction to Minutes, 3 July 1834. (Woodruff, Journal, 1–3 July 1834.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  8. [8]

    Minutes, 23 June 1834.

  9. [9]

    Letter to Lyman Wight et al., 16 Aug. 1834.

  10. [10]

    Revelation, 22 June 1834 [D&C 105:9–11]; Letter to Lyman Wight et al., 16 Aug. 1834.

  11. [11]

    Minute Book 2, 15 Mar. 1838.

  12. [12]

    William E. McLellin, Independence, MO, to Davis H. Bays, Lafayette, KS, 24 May 1870, in Ture Latter Day Saints’ Herald, 15 Sept. 1870, 555, emphasis in original.

    Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.

  13. [13]

    On 11 September 1833, a council in Missouri acknowledged Partridge as “head of the Church of Zion at present.” (Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:9]; Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:7]; Minute Book 2, 11 Sept. 1833.)

  14. [14]

    JS, Journal, 12 Nov. 1835.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Minutes and Discourse, circa 7 July 1834 Minute Book 2 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 45

Nominated voted and carried that four of the Counsellors <​shall​> speak on the subject, two on each side. Viz: & on the side of the plaintif, and & in behalf of the . After they had said on this subject all th[e]y had to say, the Presidnt descided that it is the duty of Br. to go to to assist in the printing business and that his family remain in this region of country and that he have an honorable discharge of his station in this place for a season (as soon as he can accomplish his business in this place) signed by the & .
Proposed by br. that br. the of the Church in should go to as being one of the three witnesses and assist in promoting the cause of Christ.
The case was argued by br. & in behalf of the Plantiff, and & for the church. And after their pleadings it was descided that br. go to the East and assist in the great work of the and be his own Judge, as to leaving his family or taking them with him. And also that and go to the East. all the above named brethrn to prepare and go as soon as convenient
After all this was done the afore mentioned , , , . & Members covenanted with uplifted hands to heaven that they would uphold Br. as President, head and leader in Zion (in the absence of br. Joseph Smith jr.) and & as assistants Presidents and Counsellors, also covenanted to uphold him and one another at the throne of grace.
Council closed. Prayer by President.
Clerk. [p. 45]
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Page 45

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes and Discourse, circa 7 July 1834
ID #
6705
Total Pages
3
Print Volume Location
JSP, D4:90–96
Handwriting on This Page
  • Ebenezer Robinson

Footnotes

  1. [8]

    The constitution of the Kirtland high council stated that if the council determined that a case was a difficult one, four counselors were designated to speak on it. (Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:13].)

  2. [9]

    Phelps was not a plaintiff in the sense that he was bringing a complaint or charge before the council; he was instead the one raising the question.

  3. [10]

    David Whitmer, the president of the high council. According to the constitution of the Kirtland high council, “After the evidences are heared . . . the president shall give a decision according to the understanding which he shall have of the case.” (Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:19].)

  4. [11]

    In accordance with this decision, Phelps and his son Waterman left the rest of their family in Missouri and, on 28 April 1835, departed for Kirtland, Ohio, remaining there until 9 April 1836. (Whitmer, History, 70, 84; Van Orden, “Writing to Zion,” 545; Partridge, Diary, 9 Apr. 1836.)

    Van Orden, Bruce A. “Writing to Zion: The William W. Phelps Kirtland Letters (1835–1836).” BYU Studies 33, no. 3 (1993): 542–593.

    Partridge, Edward. Diaries, 1818 and 1835–1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fds. 1–2.

  5. [12]

    Whitmer was one of three witnesses of the Book of Mormon who testified that an angel had shown them the gold plates and that they knew the plates had been “translated by the gift and power of God.” The minutes of a council held in Missouri on 23 June 1834 state that Whitmer was “called and chosen . . . to receive an endowment from on high in Kirtland.” (Testimony of Three Witnesses, Late June 1829; Minutes, 23 June 1834.)

  6. [13]

    John Whitmer was selected by a 23 June 1834 council in Missouri “to receive his endowment in Kirtland with power from on high.” There is no record of McLellin receiving similar instructions from this council. (Minutes, 23 June 1834.)

  7. [14]

    David Whitmer left for Kirtland around the first of September 1834 and stayed there at least through the dedication of the Kirtland House of the Lord in March 1836. Records indicate he had returned to Missouri by July 1837. John Whitmer departed for Kirtland on 28 April 1835 and remained there until the House of the Lord had been dedicated. William E. McLellin left with JS for Kirtland on 9 July 1834 and stayed there until fall 1836. (Whitmer, Daybook, 24 Aug. 1834; Oliver Cowdery, Editorial, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:3; Minute Book 2, 29 July 1837; Whitmer, History, 70; JS, Journal, 27 Mar. 1836; Porter, “Odyssey of William Earl McLellin,” 312, 322.)

    Whitmer, John. Daybook, 1832–1878. CHL. MS 1159.

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

    Porter, Larry C. “The Odyssey of William Earl McLellin: Man of Diversity, 1806–83.” In The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836, edited by Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, 291–378. Provo, UT: BYU Studies; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994.

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