License for William Smith, 5 October 1831

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    This is to Certify that William Smith has been received  in this Church of Christ according to the Articles & Covenants  of this Church & ordained a Teacher under the hand of Joseph Smith jr  this therefore authorizes him to act as a teacher in this church accord ing to the ◊rticles & Covenants

    given at Hyrm Oct 5th. 1831

    John Whitmer{Elders
    Joseph Smith Jr

    [p. [1]]

Licenses and certificates denoting ordination to a particular ministerial office were generally issued during church conferences. Candidates were proposed, voted upon by conference participants, and then ordained by someone in authority.

William Smith’s certificate is unusual in that the church did not hold a conference or special meeting on or about 5 October 1831. Moreover, he had been identified as holding the priesthood office of teacher during the June 1831 conference. Since he had apparently been ordained a teacher earlier, this 5 October 1831 certificate may have been a replacement for a previous document.

John Whitmer drafted the certificate, signed by him and JS.

Facts

Editorial Title
License for William Smith, 5 October 1831
ID #
1624