Minutes, 1–2 November 1831
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Source Note
Minutes, , OH, 1–2 Nov. 1831. Featured version, titled “Minutes of a conference held in Hiram, Portage Co Ohio, Nov 1 1831,” copied [between ca. 6 Apr. and 19 June 1838] in Minute Book 2, pp. 15–16; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 2.
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Historical Introduction
On 1–2 November 1831, ten held a in an upstairs bedroom of the , Ohio, home of and Alice (Elsa) Jacobs Johnson—the room in which JS was working on his Bible revision. The conference focused on a proposal to publish JS’s revelations. Exactly when the decision to publish the revelations was made is unclear. As early as summer 1830, JS and had begun to “arrange and copy” the existing revelations. Whitmer also began copying revelations into a designated book, perhaps at the time he and JS began to arrange them or possibly following his assignment in spring 1831 to keep a history and record of the church. In June 1831, , a former newspaper editor, was directed to help with the church’s printing needs. Just a month later, Phelps was designated as the “Printer unto the Church,” with Cowdery as an assistant. After obtaining “the necessaries” for the printing venture, Phelps and his family moved to in the fall of 1831. With JS and Whitmer copying revelations and Phelps and Cowdery setting up a proper printing establishment, the church had the necessary components to publish the revelations.Public access to the revelations was an issue in fall 1831, in part because of publicity given to a series of letters written by former church member , who was highly critical of JS. The 20 October 1831 issue of the Ohio Star published one of the letters, which contained a lengthy exposition about the revealed “” dictated by JS, most of which, according to Booth, were “concealed from the world.” Booth’s letters claimed that JS’s revelations included commandments requiring “that the Church shall build him an elegant house, and give him 1000 dollars,” though neither demand appears in any known revelation. JS and others may have felt some need to publish the revelations in an attempt to answer Booth’s allegations.The minutes of the 1–2 November conference open with a query regarding how many copies of the Book of Commandments (a compilation of revelations) should be published. Because the conference opened with a question about the size of the print run, the actual decision to print the revelations was likely made prior to the conference. recollected, however, that it was at the conference that “it was first determined to print the revelations.” McLellin may have been correct that the decision was made at the conference, or he may not have been informed about the decision until the conference. Either way, the minutes focus on the number of copies to be printed and fail to note discussion about publishing or a decision to publish. While the minutes of the conference are silent, reminiscent accounts indicate there were frank conversations about major issues surrounding the publication decision. McLellin, for example, recounted many years later that when a committee presented a draft preface to the Book of Commandments to the conference, the “‘Conference picked it all to pieces.’” He also remembered that “hours were spent” discussing whether to publish the revelations before “it was finally decided to have them printed.” More than fifty years after the conference, claimed that he and “a few of the brethren” objected to the decision to publish the revelations, believing “that it was not the will of the Lord that the revelations should be published.” Whitmer claimed that he had cited a March 1831 revelation to support his opposition. That revelation commands, “Keep these things from going abroad unto the world that ye may accomplish this work in the eyes of the people & in the eyes of your enemies that they may not know your works untill ye have accomplished the thing which I have commanded you.” Fearing that publication of the revelations, which included commandments relative to the building of the in , would upset settlers in , Jackson County, Missouri, David Whitmer “withstood Brothers Joseph and to the face.” Whitmer added that JS told him that “any man who objects to having these revelations published, shall have his part taken out of the Tree of Life and out of the Holy City.” The minutes themselves recount no such confrontation, but such dissent seems plausible, given that prior to this time there were no authorized publications of JS revelations, and church members generally accessed them only through verbal recitations or by making their own copies.The four documents that follow these minutes (three revelations and a signed statement) are all associated with this conference. However, because these and other early extant minutes are brief and obviously incomplete, it is difficult to know when in the course of the conference these documents were recorded. The first document referred to by the minutes is a revelation called a “preface” to the Book of Commandments, which the minutes state was “received by inspiration” in the afternoon of 1 November. Another revelation, directed to , , , and , also came sometime on 1 November. The minutes further mention a “testimony” to accompany the printed revelations. Two years earlier, in preparation for the publication of the Book of Mormon, eleven men signed statements attesting to the existence of the . The desire for a similar published testimony for the Book of Commandments led to a revelation outlining procedures the elders could follow to verify that JS’s revelations were the result of inspiration. A statement about the divine origin of the revelations—apparently the “testimony” referred to in the minutes—was presented at the conference and later signed by several elders. The fourth document referred to in the minutes is a revelation that addresses the doubts and concerns of some elders at the conference regarding imperfections in the language of the revelations.and , both appointed clerks of the conference (Cowdery on 1 November, Whitmer on 2 November), kept the minutes. Even though Cowdery was the designated clerk for 1 November, Whitmer apparently kept minutes for that morning’s session rather than Cowdery, possibly because of Cowdery’s involvement in the morning’s discussion. later copied the minutes into Minute Book 2.
Footnotes
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1
William E. McLellin, Independence, MO, to Mark H. Forscutt, Plano, IL, 1 Oct. 1871, Saints’ Herald, 15 July 1872, 435–436.
Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.
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2
JS History, vol. A-1, 50.
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3
See Historical Introduction to Revelation Book 1; and Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–B [D&C 47:1].
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4
Revelation, 14 June 1831 [D&C 55:4]; Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:11].
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5
Edward Partridge, Independence, MO, to Lydia Clisbee Partridge, 5–7 Aug. 1831, Edward Partridge, Letters, 1831–1835, CHL; see also JS History, vol. A-1, 154.
Partridge, Edward. Letters, 1831–1835. CHL. MS 23154.
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6
Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. II,” Ohio Star (Ravenna), 20 Oct. 1831, [3].
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
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7
Others before Booth made similar charges about the secrecy of the revelations, but the Booth letters made a larger impact and evoked a larger response. (See, for example, “The Mormon Creed,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 19 Apr. 1831, [4]; and JS History, vol. A-1, 179.)
Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.
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8
William E. McLellin, Independence, MO, to Mark H. Forscutt, Plano, IL, 1 Oct. 1871, Saints’ Herald, 15 July 1872, 435.
Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.
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9
“Letter from Elder W. H. Kelley,” Saints’ Herald, 1 Mar. 1882, 67.
Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.
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10
William E. McLellin, “From a Letter Dated Dec. 14th, 1878,” John L. Traughber Papers, Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
McLellin, Wiliam E. “From a Letter Dated Dec. 14th, 1878.” John L. Traughber Papers. J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
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11
Whitmer, Address to All Believers in Christ, 54.
Whitmer, David. An Address to All Believers in Christ. Richmond, MO: By the author, 1887.
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12
Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:72].
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13
Whitmer, Address to All Believers in Christ, 54–55. Whitmer’s account, published in 1887, mistakenly gave the date of the decision to publish the revelations as “the spring of 1832,” although he correctly provided the location of the conference as Hiram. Since Whitmer’s purpose in publishing this account was to argue that JS was a fallen prophet (for several reasons including JS’s willingness to publish the revelations), and since the account was written so much later, Whitmer may have overstated his own opposition to the decision.
Whitmer, David. An Address to All Believers in Christ. Richmond, MO: By the author, 1887.
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14
Unauthorized publications of the revelations, however, had appeared in a number of regional newspapers. The Painesville Telegraph published the church’s “Articles and Covenants” on 19 April 1831, having obtained a copy from Martin Harris. The Western Courier published the February 1831 revelation giving the “Laws of the Church of Christ” in September 1831, having obtained it from “a responsible and intelligent individual, who has devoted much time to make himself acquainted with the principles, practices and objects of the Mormonite leaders”—probably Symonds Rider, a disaffected elder. (“The Mormon Creed,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 19 Apr. 1831, [4]; Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20]; “Secret Bye Laws of the Mormonites,” Western Courier [Ravenna, OH], 1 Sept. 1831, [1]; see also “Joseph Smith–Era Publications of Revelations.”)
Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.
Western Courier. Ravenna, OH. 1826–1833.
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15
Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 1].
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16
Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–A [D&C 68].
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17
Testimony of Three Witnesses, Late June 1829; Testimony of Eight Witnesses, Late June 1829.
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18
JS History, vol. A-1, 161; Revelation, ca. 2 Nov. 1831 [D&C 67].
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19
Testimony, ca. 2 Nov. 1831; JS History, vol. A-1, 162–163.
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