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Minutes, 26–27 April 1832

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Minutes, 26–27 April 1832

Source Note

Minutes, , Jackson Co., MO, 26–27 Apr. 1832. Featured version copied [between ca. 6 Apr. and 19 June 1838] in Minute Book 2, pp. 24–25; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 2.

Historical Introduction

On 26–27 April 1832, JS held a council of and in , Jackson County, Missouri. This was in accordance with a 1 March 1832 revelation that instructed JS, , and to travel from to and “sit in councel with the saints who are in .” The revelation also directed the three men to “organize . . . by an everlasting covinent which cannot be broken” the “Literary and Merchantile establishments of my church.” JS and Whitney, accompanied by and , left for Missouri on 1 April 1832, meeting up with Rigdon the following day. The group arrived in Independence on 24 April. On 26 April, the council of high priests and elders convened, transacting several items of business. The high priests present also acknowledged JS as .
The council then resolved a long-standing difficulty between and . In September 1831, Rigdon charged Partridge with insulting JS and disrespecting his position as prophet. On 10 March 1832, before the arrival of the visitors, a considered Rigdon’s charges, after which Partridge stated his willingness “to make every confession which br. Sidney as a disciple of Christ could require & forever bury the matter.” The April conference marked the first opportunity for the two to reconcile their differences face to face. After the two made amends, JS dictated a revelation that discussed the concept of forgiveness and instructed the council to organize the church’s publishing and mercantile endeavors through the establishment of a governing firm. On 27 April, the council took steps towards the creation of this firm (which would become known as the ) and assigned and to prepare a bond that presumably all in the firm would sign.
By taking these actions, the council solidified church administration in and fostered greater unity between the church in and the church in , Ohio. In acknowledging JS as president of the high priesthood on 26 April, for example, extended to JS “the right hand of fellowship” on behalf of the Missouri church. This action was particularly significant given ’s earlier charges that Partridge “assumed authority” over JS “in open violation of the Laws of God.” JS’s acceptance of “the right hand of fellowship” from Partridge may have confirmed to those present his continuing regard for Partridge as the leader of the Saints in Missouri. In a similar way, the formation of the governing firm promoted unity between Independence and Kirtland leaders by joining them together in an enterprise that would benefit the church in both areas. As a later JS history declared, the business conducted by the 26–27 April council furthered JS’s efforts “to so organize the church, that the brethren might eventually be independent of every incumbrance beneath the celestial Kingdom, by bonds and covenants of mutual friendship, and mutual love.”
As clerk, kept minutes of the 26–27 April council. In 1838, entered the minutes into Minute Book 2.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation, 1 Mar. 1832 [D&C 78]. For more information on the church’s publishing and mercantile concerns, see Historical Introduction to Revelation, 1 Mar. 1832 [D&C 78].

  2. [2]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 209. Although this entry in JS’s multivolume manuscript history suggests Sunday was 2 April, it was actually 1 April. When the manuscript was first published as “History of Joseph Smith” in the Times and Seasons, the date remained “Sunday, April second,” an error that was corrected in a later publication. (“History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 2 Sept. 1844, 5:624; History of the Church, 1:265.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

    History of the Church / Smith, Joseph, et al. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Edited by B. H. Roberts. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1902–1912 (vols. 1–6), 1932 (vol. 7).

  3. [3]

    This is according to Whitney’s recollection. However, Whitney also stated that the group departed Hiram, Ohio, on 25 March, which conflicts with JS’s account. (Newel K. Whitney, Statement, ca. 1842, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1856, CHL.)

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

  4. [4]

    See Historical Introduction to Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58].

  5. [5]

    Minute Book 2, 10 Mar. 1832.

  6. [6]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 210–211; Revelation, 26 Apr. 1832 [D&C 82].

  7. [7]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 210; Minute Book 2, 10 Mar. 1832.

  8. [8]

    See Minute Book 2, 11 Sept. 1833.

  9. [9]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 212–213. John Whitmer, church historian, later recorded his view of what the council accomplished: “Joseph the seer and Sidney the Scribe and N. W. [Newel K.] Whitney and one Jesse Gause came to Zion to comfort the Saints and Setle som little dificulties, and regulate the church and affairs concerning it.” (Whitmer, History, 38.)

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Minutes, 26–27 April 1832
Minute Book 2 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 24

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April 26. 1832.
Met in
Present
Joseph Smith jr.
Present
Joshua Fairchilds [Fairchild] ( taken at present)
Sanford Porter
First: Joseph Smith jr. acknowledged by the High priests in the land of to be , according to and in , at the held in January 25. 1832. [p. 24]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 26–27 April 1832
ID #
6752
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D2:229–233
Handwriting on This Page
  • Ebenezer Robinson

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    There may have been some sort of order to this listing of high priests. JS, listed first, was the president of the high priesthood. Sidney Rigdon and Jesse Gause, listed next, were his counselors. Newel K. Whitney and Edward Partridge were the two bishops in the church. William W. Phelps and Oliver Cowdery were the printers of the church. John Corrill and Isaac Morley were counselors to Partridge. (Minutes, ca. 1 May 1832; Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:11–13]; Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831.)

  2. [2]

    This parenthetical notation about Fairchild (who was also in attendance at the 23–24 January 1832 conference in Jackson County, Missouri) does not seem to be contemporaneous. It is unclear exactly when Fairchild’s license was taken. In 1833, John Whitmer may have copied loose minutes into a discrete record book, and if so, it is possible Whitmer made the note at that time. The note may have also originated with Ebenezer Robinson when he copied Whitmer’s minutes into Minute Book 2 in 1838, although based on notations next to other names in the minute book, it is more likely Whitmer’s work. (See Minute Book 2, 23 Jan. 1832; Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 28 Jan. 1832; and Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831.)

  3. [3]

    Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:65]; “History of Orson Pratt,” 11, Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.

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