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Minutes, circa 3–4 June 1831

 
In May 1831, some two hundred church members from New York

Located in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...

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relocated to the vicinity of 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. Only days after the last company from New York arrived, the church held a previously scheduled conference. The conference minutes identify sixty-two of the participants, who assembled a mile northeast of Kirtland in a schoolhouse

Also referred to as “little red schoolhouse.” First frame schoolhouse in township. Built on Kirtland “flats” (lowlands on northern side of community just southwest of Kirtland-Chardon Road), 1819. Served as school for community and location of youth Sunday...

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near the home of Isaac Morley

11 Mar. 1786–24 June 1865. Farmer, cooper, merchant, postmaster. Born at Montague, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Thomas Morley and Editha (Edith) Marsh. Family affiliated with Presbyterian church. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, before 1812. Married...

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.
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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recorded the ordinations performed and noted the “exhortations” given, but his minutes provide few details and little hint of the lasting impact of the conference. Several participants later described JS’s powerful preaching. Even more memorable was the ordination of forty-three elders to the High Priesthood, a new office introduced at the conference. (By the end of 1831 those ordained to this office were generally referred to as “high priests” rather than as holders of the high priesthood.) Dramatic spiritual manifestations attended the ordinations, and some regarded the combination of ordination and spiritual outpouring as the “endowment of power” promised in a January 1831 revelation.
Ebenezer Robinson

25 May 1816–11 Mar. 1891. Printer, editor, publisher. Born at Floyd (near Rome), Oneida Co., New York. Son of Nathan Robinson and Mary Brown. Moved to Utica, Oneida Co., ca. 1831, and learned printing trade at Utica Observer. Moved to Ravenna, Portage Co....

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, appointed church clerk and recorder 6 April 1838, copied this text into Minute Book 2 in spring 1838, apparently using records kept at the conference in June 1831.

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