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Revelation, 15 March 1833 [D&C 92]

Source Note

Revelation, , Geauga Co., OH, 15 Mar. 1833. Featured version copied [ca. late Mar. 1833] in Revelation Book 2, p. 55; handwriting of ; Revelations Collection, CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 2.

Historical Introduction

On 8 March 1833, a revelation declared equal “in holding the of this Last Kingdom” with JS and in the . A week later, the following revelation, dated 15 March, elevated Williams within the from assistant scribe to a member in full partnership with JS, Rigdon, and other founding members of the firm. In addition to becoming equal with JS and Rigdon in holding the keys, Williams now became similarly responsible for overseeing the financial and temporal matters of the church under JS’s direction.
In accordance with a revelation dated 1 March 1832, JS organized a group of men called the on 26 April 1832 to manage the “Literary and Merchantile establishments” of the church. As a governing financial council, the firm was responsible for printing church publications, holding church properties in trust, assisting the poor, and operating general stores in , Missouri, and , Ohio, to generate funds for the church. Among other duties, members of the United Firm oversaw city planning for Independence and Kirtland, including the construction of a and other buildings. The firm was also directed to manage land, including allotting portions of Williams’s farmland to members of the church.
On 26 April 1832, JS dictated a revelation that named the initial members of the United Firm as himself, , , , , , , , and . Cowdery, Gilbert, Partridge, Phelps, and Whitmer oversaw the business and financial affairs in , while JS, Harris, Rigdon, and Whitney represented the firm in . The 26 April revelation also emphasized that members of the organization were equal with one another: they were to “have equal claims on the properties” managed by the United Firm, “every man according to his wants & his needs,” in order to “improve upon his tallent,” which was “to be cast into the Lords Storehouse to become the common property of the whole Churc[h].”
was the first member added to the firm since its organization. JS wrote to the members of the United Firm on 21 April 1833 and inserted the featured revelation in the letter to inform them of Williams’s new status. Members of the United Firm in Missouri apparently raised questions in a follow-up letter about Williams’s intended role in the firm. On 25 June 1833, JS, , Williams, and responded to their letter and affirmed Williams’s status to the Missouri members when they wrote, “As to Bro Frederick, all members of the United Firm are considered one” for the support of “the mercantile establishment God commanded.”
inscribed the revelation featured here into Revelation Book 2. He also made note of this revelation in Minute Book 1. Williams later copied the revelation into JS’s letterbook as part of the 21 April 1833 letter to the church leaders.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation, 8 Mar. 1833 [D&C 90:6].

  2. [2]

    Williams had been serving as assistant scribe, paid by the United Firm, as early as January 1833. Williams also served as scribe for JS and as clerk for the Kirtland council meetings recorded in Minute Book 1. Since an administrative record for the United Firm is not extant, it is unclear if Williams continued to act as a part-time scribe for the firm after this revelation was dictated. Williams did, however, continue his scribal duties for JS and the Kirtland council meetings for the next several months. (Minute Book 1, 9 Jan. 1833.)

  3. [3]

    Revelation, 1 Mar. 1832 [D&C 78:3]; see also Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:11–22]; Backman, Heavens Resound, chap. 5; and Cook, Joseph Smith and the Law of Consecration, chap. 5.

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

    Cook, Lyndon W. Joseph Smith and the Law of Consecration. Provo, UT: Grandin Book, 1985.

  4. [4]

    The activities of the United Firm accelerated in June 1833 as the planning for the city of Zion and construction of the Kirtland House of the Lord began. (See Minutes, ca. 1 June 1833; Minutes, 6 June 1833; Plat of the City of Zion, ca. Early June–25 June 1833; Plan of the House of the Lord, between 1 and 25 June 1833; and Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 6 Aug. 1833.)

  5. [5]

    A January 1833 revelation directed Frederick G. Williams to consecrate his farm for the “bringing forth of the revelations.” Williams officially deeded his farmland to JS on 5 May 1834. The land became central to church development in Kirtland. (Revelation, 5 Jan. 1833; Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 18, pp. 497–498, 480–481, 5 May 1834, microfilm 20,237, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; see also Revelation, 2 Aug. 1833–B [D&C 94]; Plat of Kirtland, OH, not before 2 Aug. 1833; and Parkin, “Joseph Smith and the United Firm,” 17.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Parkin, Max H. “Joseph Smith and the United Firm: The Growth and Decline of the Church’s First Master Plan of Business and Finance, Ohio and Missouri, 1832–1834.” BYU Studies 46, no. 3 (2007): 5–66.

  6. [6]

    Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:11–12].

  7. [7]

    Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:17–18].

  8. [8]

    The United Firm added another member, John Johnson, in early June 1833. (Revelation, 4 June 1833 [D&C 96].)

  9. [9]

    Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 21 Apr. 1833.

  10. [10]

    Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 25 June 1833, underlining in original.

  11. [11]

    Note, 15 Mar. 1833.

  12. [12]

    Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 21 Apr. 1833.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Revelation, 15 March 1833 [D&C 92]
Revelation Book 2 Revelation, 15 March 1833, Frederick G. Williams Copy [D&C 92] Letterbook 1 Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 Revelation, 15 March 1833, Howard Coray Copy [D&C 92] History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] “History of Joseph Smith” Doctrine and Covenants, 1844 “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 55

15th March 1833—
Verely thus saith the Lord I give unto the organized agreeable to the commandment previously given a revelation & commandment concerning my servant that ye shall r[e]ceive him into the firm what I say unto one I say unto all. and again I say unto you my servent thou shalt be a lively member in this firm and inas much as thou art faithful in keeping all former commandments thou shalt be blessed for ever Amen—— [p. 55]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revelation, 15 March 1833 [D&C 92]
ID #
2964
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D3:35–37
Handwriting on This Page
  • Frederick G. Williams

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation, 1 Mar. 1832 [D&C 78]; Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82].

  2. [2]

    In Minute Book 1, Williams expanded on this statement, writing that this revelation indicated he “should be received into the United firm in full partnership agreeable to the specification of the bond.” The “bond” refers to the covenant, or legal agreement, that William W. Phelps and Sidney Gilbert were assigned to draft the day after the United Firm was constituted. The founding members of the firm entered into this agreement, which enabled them to act as equal trustees of the church’s financial resources. The bond is not extant and its exact wording is unknown, but it seems to have had both religious and legal elements. The revelation dictated by JS on 26 April 1832 offers some insight into the content of the bond and Williams’s understanding of his new role as a member of the United Firm. The revelation states: “I give unto you this commandment that ye bind yourselves by this covenant & it shall be done according to the Laws of the Land behold here is wisdom also in me for your good & you are to be equal or in other words you are to have equal claims on the properties” and to seek “the interest of his neighbour & doing al[l] things with an eye single to the glory of God.” (Note, 15 Mar. 1833; Minutes, 26–27 Apr. 1832; Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82:15–17, 19].)

  3. [3]

    See Mark 13:37; Luke 7:8; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 255 [Alma 12:5].

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