A specific church office and, more generally, someone “entrusted with the business of another.” Agents in the church assisted other ecclesiastical officers, especially the bishop in his oversight of the church’s temporal affairs. A May 1831 revelation instructed...
View GlossaryThe Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
View GlossaryInitially referred to a bishop’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction, but eventually described the ecclesiastical body comprising the bishop and his assistants, or counselors. John Corrill and Isaac Morley were called as assistants to Bishop Edward Partridge in 1831...
View Glossary27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...
View Full Bio28 Dec. 1789–29 June 1834. Merchant. Born at New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Eli Gilbert and Lydia Hemingway. Moved to Huntington, Fairfield Co., Connecticut; to Monroe, Monroe Co., Michigan Territory, by Sept. 1818; to Painesville, Geauga Co...
View Full BioThe complainants may have been referring to the 1 August 1831 revelation, which stated that the bishop was to be assisted by his counselors in his mission “to divide the lands of the heritage of God unto his children & to Judge his people.” Even though Cowdery had been designated as second elder of the church in 1830, it was specifically the responsibility of the bishop and his counselors to deal with the consecration of land. (Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:17–18]; License for John Whitmer, 9 June 1830.)
A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...
View GlossaryThe minutes do not reveal how the clerk was appointed, stating only, “Edward Partrage appointed moderator and Oliver Cowdery Clerk.” Minutes of other conferences in 1831 do not provide information about how clerks were selected, although Cowdery or John Whitmer almost always acted in that capacity when they were in attendance. The minutes of special conferences held during the first two weeks of November use the same language and sentence structure to record the appointment of their clerks that Cowdery used in the January 1832 minutes. (Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 28 Jan. 1832; Minutes, 1–2 Nov. 1831; Minutes, 8 Nov. 1831; Minutes, 9 Nov. 1831; Minutes, 12 Nov. 1831.)
17 Sept. 1794–26 Sept. 1842. Surveyor, politician, author. Born at Worcester Co., Massachusetts. Married Margaret Lyndiff, ca. 1830. Lived at Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 10 Jan. 1831,...
View Full Bio27 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...
View Full BioGenerally, a divine mandate that church members were expected to obey; more specifically, a text dictated by JS in the first-person voice of Deity that served to communicate knowledge and instruction to JS and his followers. Occasionally, other inspired texts...
View GlossaryJS revelation, dated 20 July 1831, designated Missouri as “land of Zion” for gathering of Saints and place where “City of Zion” was to be built, with Independence area as “center place” of Zion. Latter-day Saint settlements elsewhere, such as in Kirtland,...
More InfoThe “Articles and Covenants” of the church stated that “a regular list of all the names of the members of the whole church” was to be kept in a book “by one of the elders whomsoever the other elders shall appoint from time to time.” That list was to be called “the general church record of names.” In an 8 March 1831 revelation, Whitmer was appointed to “write & keep a regulal [regular] history” of the church and to “Keep the Church Record & History continually,” a calling reiterated in an 11 November 1831 revelation. (Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:82–83]; Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–B [D&C 47:1, 3]; Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–A [D&C 69:1–3].)
17 Sept. 1794–26 Sept. 1842. Surveyor, politician, author. Born at Worcester Co., Massachusetts. Married Margaret Lyndiff, ca. 1830. Lived at Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 10 Jan. 1831,...
View Full BioTEXT: Possibly “requires”.
27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...
View Full BioThe conference appointed Corrill, Cowdery, and William W. Phelps to “superintend Schools in the Churches in this land.” A 14 June 1831 revelation had already given Cowdery and Phelps the responsibility of “Printing & of Selecting & writing Books for Schools in this Church that little Children also may receive instruction before me.” Corrill was ordained an “assistant” to Partridge on 3 June 1831. It is unclear whether Corrill ever functioned as a superintendent of schools, but his daughter Nancy apparently became the teacher of a Mormon school in Jackson County, Missouri. (Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 28 Jan. 1832; Revelation, 14 June 1831 [D&C 55:4]; Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831; Emily D. P. Young, “Autobiography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Dec. 1884, 13:103.)
Woman’s Exponent. Salt Lake City. 1872–1914.
The authority and power held by certain officers in the church. The Book of Mormon referred to the high priesthood as God’s “holy order, which was after the order of his Son,” and indicated that Melchizedek, a biblical figure, was a high priest “after this...
View GlossaryThe administration of the court of the high priesthood was set forth in a revelation dated 11 November 1831. (Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:78–79].)
TEXT: Handwriting of Sidney Rigdon ends; individual signatories begin.
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...
View Full BioCa. 1784–ca. Sept. 1836. Schoolteacher. Born at East Marlborough, Chester Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Gause (Goss) and Mary Beverly. Joined Society of Friends (Quakers), 1806. Moved to Fayette Co., Pennsylvania, 1808; to Chester Co., 1811; and to Wilmington...
View Full Bio7 Jan. 1805–25 Jan. 1888. Farmer, livery keeper. Born near Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Raised Presbyterian. Moved to Ontario Co., New York, shortly after birth. Attended German Reformed Church. Arranged...
View Full Bio27 Sept. 1809–22 Sept. 1836. Tailor. Born at Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, in Seneca Lake, Seneca Co. One of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, June 1829. Among six...
View Full Bio9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full Bio30 Apr. 1790–29 Apr. 1861. Farmer, tanner, builder. Born at Cambridge, Washington Co., New York. Son of William Cahoon Jr. and Mehitable Hodges. Married Thirza Stiles, 11 Dec. 1810. Moved to northeastern Ohio, 1811. Located at Harpersfield, Ashtabula Co.,...
View Full Bio