Revelation, 7 May 1831 [D&C 49]

This revelation directed Sidney Rigdon

19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...

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, Parley P. Pratt

12 Apr. 1807–13 May 1857. Farmer, editor, publisher, teacher, school administrator, legislator, explorer, author. Born at Burlington, Otsego Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Traveled west with brother to acquire land, 1823. Affiliated...

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, and Leman Copley

Ca. 1781–20 Apr./May 1862. Born in Connecticut. Son of Samuel Copley. Moved to Pittsford, Rutland Co., Vermont, by 1800. Married Sally Cooley. Joined United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (Shakers). Moved to Thompson Township, Geauga Co...

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to visit a community of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (popularly called Shakers) in North Union, Ohio. Copley, a recent convert to the Church of Christ and a former Shaker himself,1

See Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41]. The Copley name was associated with the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing from as early as 1803. (De Pillis, “Development of Mormon Communitarianism,” 124.)
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De Pillis, Mario S. “The Development of Mormon Communitarianism, 1826–1846.” PhD diss., Yale University, 1960.

“was anxious that some of the elders should go to his former brethren and preach the gospel.”2

Whitmer, History, 26. Ashbel Kitchell also indicated that Copley had told the Mormons living in Thompson, Ohio, that the Shakers would be converted by the missionary effort. (“Mormon Interview,” 15.)
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Whitmer, History / Whitmer, John. “The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment,” ca. 1838–1847. CCLA.

“A Mormon Interview. Copied from Brother Ashbel Kitchell’s Pocket Journel,” 1856. Elisha D. Blakeman copy of Ashbel Kitchell, Reminiscences. Photocopy in editors’ possession. Original at Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, NY. Also available as Lawrence R. Flake, “A Shaker View of a Mormon Mission,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (Fall 1979): 94–99.

JS’s history characterized Copley as one who was “apparently honest hearted, but still retained ideas that the Shakers were right in some particulars of their faith.” Copley’s retention of some Shaker beliefs was apparently the catalyst for discussions that prompted this revelation. JS’s history explained, “In order to have more perfect understanding on the subject, I [JS] inquired of the Lord and received the following revelation.”3

JS History, vol. A-1, 112.

The visit mandated by this revelation was not the first contact between the two religious societies. The previous fall, Oliver Cowdery

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

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and his missionary companions made initial contact with the community of Shakers living in North Union.4

Shaker leader Richard McNemar left an account of Cowdery’s visit with Shakers living in another Ohio community at Union Village, near present-day Lebanon in Warren County, on his way to preach to American Indian communities west of Missouri. McNemar described Cowdery’s preaching and said that he left a copy of the Book of Mormon with one of their members. (Goodwillie, “Shaker Richard McNemar,” 138–145.)
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Goodwillie, Christian. “Shaker Richard McNemar: The Earliest Book of Mormon Reviewer.” Journal of Mormon History 37 (Spring 2011): 138–145.

That interaction had unsettled the Shaker presiding elder, Ashbel Kitchell, who was uncertain what to make of the new faith. Despite his uneasiness, Kitchell reported that the Shakers “continued on friendly terms” with the Mormons “in the way of trade and other acts of good neighborship untill the spring of 1831.”5

“Mormon Interview,” 4.
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“A Mormon Interview. Copied from Brother Ashbel Kitchell’s Pocket Journel,” 1856. Elisha D. Blakeman copy of Ashbel Kitchell, Reminiscences. Photocopy in editors’ possession. Original at Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, NY. Also available as Lawrence R. Flake, “A Shaker View of a Mormon Mission,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (Fall 1979): 94–99.

Sidney Rigdon

19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...

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and Leman Copley

Ca. 1781–20 Apr./May 1862. Born in Connecticut. Son of Samuel Copley. Moved to Pittsford, Rutland Co., Vermont, by 1800. Married Sally Cooley. Joined United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (Shakers). Moved to Thompson Township, Geauga Co...

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apparently responded by immediately departing for the Shaker settlement at North Union, approximately eighteen miles from Kirtland

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

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, Ohio. It appears Parley P. Pratt

12 Apr. 1807–13 May 1857. Farmer, editor, publisher, teacher, school administrator, legislator, explorer, author. Born at Burlington, Otsego Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Traveled west with brother to acquire land, 1823. Affiliated...

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departed Kirtland the next day. The revelation is dated 7 May, a Saturday, and Kitchell recorded that the Mormon company arrived “on saturday evening.”6

“Mormon Interview,” 4.
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“A Mormon Interview. Copied from Brother Ashbel Kitchell’s Pocket Journel,” 1856. Elisha D. Blakeman copy of Ashbel Kitchell, Reminiscences. Photocopy in editors’ possession. Original at Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, NY. Also available as Lawrence R. Flake, “A Shaker View of a Mormon Mission,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (Fall 1979): 94–99.

Mormon sources report only briefly the Shakers’ reception of this revelation and other teachings by the missionaries. John Whitmer

27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...

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, for instance, later wrote that the assigned elders “went and proclaimed according to the rev[e]lation given to them, but the shakers hearkened not to their words, and receivd not the gospel at that time.”7

Whitmer, History, 26.
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Whitmer, History / Whitmer, John. “The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment,” ca. 1838–1847. CCLA.

Kitchell, by contrast, recorded a detailed account of the visit. He reported that the group “tarried all night, and in the course of the evening, the doctrines of the cross and the Mormon faith were both investigated.” The next day, 8 May, Pratt arrived from Kirtland, and the Mormon delegation spoke to congregated Shakers after their morning Sabbath meeting. Rigdon reportedly declared to the congregation that “he had a message from the Lord Jesus Christ to this people” and explained to his hearers that it was a written message. When he obtained leave of the Shakers, he commenced to read aloud, apparently verbatim, this revelation. According to Kitchell, the Mormon preachers—Rigdon, Pratt, and Copley—asked permission to hear how the congregated Shakers felt about their message. Kitchell wrote that his people indicated “they were fully satisfied with what they had, and wished to have nothing to do with either them or their Christ.— On hearing this Rigdon professed to be satisfied, and put his paper by; but Parley Pratt arose and commenced shakeing his coattail; he said he shook the dust from his garments as a testimony against us, that we had rejected the word of the Lord Jesus.”8

Pratt’s actions roused Kitchell, who recorded, “Before the words were out of his mouth, I was to him, and said;— You filthy Beast, dare you presume to come in here, and try to imitate a man of God by shaking your filthy tail; confess your sins and purge your soul from your lusts, and your other abominations before you ever presume to do the like again, &c. . . . I then turned to Leman who had been crying while the message was reading, and said to him, you hypocrite, you knew better;— you knew where the living work of God was; but for the sake of indulgence, you could consent to deceive yourself & them . . . This struck him dead also, and dryed up his tears;— I then turned to the Believers and said, now we will go home and started.” (“Mormon Interview,” 13–14.)
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“A Mormon Interview. Copied from Brother Ashbel Kitchell’s Pocket Journel,” 1856. Elisha D. Blakeman copy of Ashbel Kitchell, Reminiscences. Photocopy in editors’ possession. Original at Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, NY. Also available as Lawrence R. Flake, “A Shaker View of a Mormon Mission,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (Fall 1979): 94–99.

After this contentious exchange, Pratt departed immediately for Kirtland, while Rigdon stayed for supper before departing and Copley spent the night in North Union.9

“Mormon Interview,” 4, 6–7, 12–14.
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“A Mormon Interview. Copied from Brother Ashbel Kitchell’s Pocket Journel,” 1856. Elisha D. Blakeman copy of Ashbel Kitchell, Reminiscences. Photocopy in editors’ possession. Original at Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, NY. Also available as Lawrence R. Flake, “A Shaker View of a Mormon Mission,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (Fall 1979): 94–99.

This encounter apparently fulfilled Pratt’s commission to preach to the Shakers because a revelation dated the following Monday assigned Pratt a different missionary companion and directed him to “go forth among the Churches & strengthen them by the word of exhortation.”10

Revelation, 9 May 1831 [D&C 50:37].

Copley

Ca. 1781–20 Apr./May 1862. Born in Connecticut. Son of Samuel Copley. Moved to Pittsford, Rutland Co., Vermont, by 1800. Married Sally Cooley. Joined United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (Shakers). Moved to Thompson Township, Geauga Co...

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returned shortly thereafter to North Union and asked to be readmitted into the Shaker society. Kitchell and Copley then went to Copley’s farm in Thompson

Located about twenty miles northeast of Kirtland, Ohio. Settled 1800. Surveyed 1809. Incorporated 1817. Population in 1830 about 700. Population in 1840 about 1,000. Latter-day Saints from Colesville, New York, were directed to settle in area on 759 acres...

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and confronted the Mormons who had recently settled there from Colesville

Area settled, beginning 1785. Formed from Windsor Township, Apr. 1821. Population in 1830 about 2,400. Villages within township included Harpersville, Nineveh, and Colesville. Susquehanna River ran through eastern portion of township. JS worked for Joseph...

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, New York, at Copley’s invitation. Copley reportedly ordered the Mormons off of his land.11

“Mormon Interview,” 15; Knight, Autobiographical Sketch, 2–3; see also Historical Introduction to Revelation, 10 June 1831 [D&C 54].
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“A Mormon Interview. Copied from Brother Ashbel Kitchell’s Pocket Journel,” 1856. Elisha D. Blakeman copy of Ashbel Kitchell, Reminiscences. Photocopy in editors’ possession. Original at Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, NY. Also available as Lawrence R. Flake, “A Shaker View of a Mormon Mission,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (Fall 1979): 94–99.

Knight, Joseph Jr. Autobiographical sketch, 1862. CHL.

Following the failed attempt to convert the Shakers at North Union, Mormon missionary interactions with Shakers were apparently rare.

The 1833 Book of Commandments and the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants both erroneously date this revelation to March 1831. When John Whitmer

27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...

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copied it into Revelation Book 1, likely in May or June 1831, he dated it to 7 May 1831. Ashbel Kitchell copied the revelation into his pocket journal and also listed its date as 7 May 1831, so his copy likely originated from the same text that was copied into Revelation Book 1. Kitchell probably either asked to copy the revelation after Rigdon

19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...

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recited it to the congregation or obtained a copy prepared for and left with the Shakers by the missionaries. The first published version of the revelation, in The Evening and the Morning Star, listed only May 1831 as the date.12

“Revelation, Given May, 1831,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Nov. 1832, [7].
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The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

Revelation, 7 May 1831 [D&C 49]

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