Footnotes
JS History, vol. A-1, 139; Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:2–3].
Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 8 Apr. 1831; Richard W. Cummins, Delaware and Shawnee Agency, to William Clark, [St. Louis, MO], 15 Feb. 1831, U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency, Records, vol. 6, pp. 113–114; Whitmer, Journal, Dec. 1831, [1]; Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. V,” Ohio Star (Ravenna), 10 Nov. 1831, [3].
U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency. Records, 1807–1855. Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Also available at kansasmemory.org.
Whitmer, Peter, Jr. Journal, Dec. 1831. CHL. MS 5873.
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57: 2–3] ]; Edward Partridge, Independence, MO, to Lydia Clisbee Partridge, 5–7 Aug. 1831, Edward Partridge, Letters, 1831–1835, CHL.
Partridge, Edward. Letters, 1831–1835. CHL. MS 23154.
Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. V,” Ohio Star (Ravenna), 10 Nov. 1831, [3]; Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. VII,” Ohio Star, 24 Nov. 1831, [1].
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—No. VII,” Ohio Star (Ravenna), 24 Nov. 1831, [1].
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
Minute Book 2, 10 Mar. 1832; Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 28 Jan. 1832.
Minute Book 2, 10 Mar. 1832.
Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:3].
Gilbert, Notebook, [54].
Gilbert, Algernon Sidney. Notebook of Revelations, 1831–ca. 1833. Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583, box 1, fd. 2.
See Minutes, 12 Sept. 1831. The minutes do not indicate that any revelation was dictated at the meeting.
See, for example, Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831, Newel K. Whitney, Papers [D&C 64]; and Hyde and Smith, Notebook, [43].
Whitney, Newel K. Papers, 1825–1906. BYU.
Hyde, Orson, and Samuel Smith. Notebook of Revelations and Missionary Memoranda, ca. Oct. 1831–ca. Jan. 1832. Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583, box 1, fd. 2.
Gilbert, who had been appointed an agent to the church in June 1831, was told in a July revelation to “establish a store” in Independence so that he could “obtain money to buy lands for the good of the Saints & that he may Obtain provisions.” He had returned to Kirtland, Ohio, with William W. Phelps, the designated printer for the church, “to procure the necessaries for their establishments” in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri. (Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:8]; Revelation, 8 June 1831 [D&C 53:4]; 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, 146.)
Partridge, Edward. Letters, 1831–1835. CHL. MS 23154.
See 1 Corinthians 10:13.
JS and Emma Smith had been living on Morley’s farm since April 1831. A 30 August revelation told Titus Billings, Morley’s brother-in-law (to whom Morley had given power of attorney in June), to “dispose of the land” and send the resulting money “unto the land of Zion unto them whom I have appointed to receive.” Approximately eighty acres of Morley’s land was sold in October 1831 to Richie and Hercules Carrel. (Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 309; Revelation, 30 Aug. 1831 [D&C 63:38–40]; Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 14, pp. 583–584 and vol. 15, pp. 492–494, microfilms 20,235 and 20,236, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Williams obtained a farm in Kirtland in the winter of 1829–1830 through a land exchange with Isaac Moore. Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith were living there by May 1831. (See Historical Introduction to Revelation, 15 May 1831.)
Earlier revelations specified that only those who were “appointed”—either by conferences of elders or by JS—would be able “to receive their inheritance” in Missouri. (Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:44, 56]; Revelation, 30 Aug. 1831 [D&C 63:41].)
No set process for tithing members of the church was in place at this time. Instead, the “Laws of the Church of Christ” instructed members to consecrate their property to the church and receive back an inheritance. Over a year later, JS stated in a letter to William W. Phelps that consecration was a way that God tithed his people: “it is conterary to the will and commandment of God that those who receive not the inherttenc [inheritance] by consecration agree[a]ble to his law which he has given that he may tithe his people to prepare them against the day of vengence and burning should have there names enrolled with the people of God.” (Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:30–38]; Letter to William W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832.)
See Malachi 4:1.
Whitney and Gilbert were partners in N. K. Whitney & Co., which operated a store and an ashery in Kirtland. The two also jointly owned a single lot of land at the intersection of Chillicothe and Chardon roads. (Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 217–219, 229.)
Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.
The February 1831 revelation known as the “Laws of the Church of Christ” specifically directed the elders to “contract no debts” with “the world.” (Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831, in Revelation Book 1, pp. 62–67 [D&C 42:1–73].)
Both Gilbert and Whitney had been designated as official agents of the church. (Revelation, 8 June 1831 [D&C 53:4]; Revelation, 30 Aug. 1831 [D&C 63:45].)