The initial case brought before this “Conference of high priests” in Kirtland, Ohio, was that of Doctor Philastus Hurlbut, Doctor being his given name. Hurlbut, a church member since late 1832 or early 1833, had been ordained an elder by Sidney Rigdon on 18 March 1833 and then called on a mission to the eastern United States. Orson Hyde later reported that he traveled with Hurlbut during part of the mission and then preferred charges against him for an attempted seduction. Sidney Rigdon also reported Hurlbut had directed “obscene language” to a young female church member. The second item of business at the conference concerned the dimensions for the Kirtland house of the Lord that church members had been commanded to construct.

Frederick G. Williams recorded these minutes and subsequently copied them into Minute Book 1. Williams had served as JS’s scribe until he was ordained a president of the high priesthood in March 1833. Though he continued to clerk for various meetings, he began endorsing them with his name and the notation “Clk P. T.,” that is, clerk, pro tempore.