Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, [, Geauga Co., OH], 1 Mar. 1835. Featured version copied [not before 25 Feb. 1836] in Minute Book 1, pp. 172–186; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.
Historical Introduction
On the morning of 1 March 1835, church members convened a meeting in , Ohio, apparently as a continuation of a meeting that had adjourned on 28 February. Several men appointed to the office of were given blessings in that 28 February meeting. The blessings continued in this 1 March 1835 meeting, and at least thirty-three individuals, including some not designated as seventies, were blessed. All those receiving ordinations and blessings in this meeting had participated in the expedition. According to later reminiscences, many of these blessings were performed by members of the church presidency, including JS, his , , and . The minutes indicate that several individuals who had recently been were also confirmed members of the church at the meeting, and the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was administered. JS also gave instructions on the necessity of worthiness when partaking of the sacrament.
It is unclear who originally recorded the ordination blessings or the minutes of the meeting. later copied them into Minute Book 1.
For examples, see Hutchings, Journal, 15 Feb. 1835; Burgess, Autobiography, 4; and “Biographies of the Seventies of the Second Quorum,” 22.
Hutchings, Elias. Journal, Dec. 1834–Sept. 1836. CHL. MS 1445.
Burgess, Harrison. Autobiography, ca. 1883. Photocopy. CHL. MS 893. Also available as “Sketch of a Well-Spent Life,” in Labors in the Vineyard, Faith-Promoting Series 12 (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1884), 65–74.
“Biographies of the Seventies of the Second Quorum,” 1845–1855. In Seventies Quorum Records, 1844–1975. CHL. CR 499.
Blessed thou art and blessed shalt thou be for thou art one of the You shall go to the nations and teach them in their own tongues, the things of the Kingdom. You shall be delivered from all your enemies and go and preach from land to land. and you shall yet have all the promises that the Lord has ever given in this church fulfilled. You shall Lead many to and yet you shall have rejoicings with your family and no man shall take your blessings Even so Amen.
We you to be an in the and one of the . May you be sanctified and filled with light and intelligence. That the importance and duty of your office may be near your heart. You shall go to all the nations afar off and to the Islands of the sea. You shall speak languages that you have never heard even twelve God will prepare you for a great work & you shall do it. You shall have power given you to perform all the duties of your calling, and you shall bear a testimony that shall convince many. And if you are faithful, you shall in the end of your ministry, return to this land with much rejoicing Amen.
We you to be an in the . When you did obey the gospel the eye of the Lord was upon you, and you are now called and set apart. You shall go to many land & Islands, where missionaries are now stationed, and some of them shall receive the truth at your mouth. You shall have powers over all weapons formed against you. You shall see the Heavens opened and the spirits of the Just shall min [p. 181]
Thayer was apparently a member of the Seventy for only a brief period. At a 2 May 1835 council, he was “suspended as an Elder”; the minutes of the meeting make no mention of his status as a seventy. However, when Cyrus Smalling was ordained a seventy, his ordination blessing stated that he would “stand in the office of elder Ezra Thayer, who by transgression fell.” An introduction to that blessing also said that Smalling was being ordained to the Seventy “in the place of Ezra Thayer.” (Minutes and Discourse, 2 May 1835; Ordination and Blessing of Cyrus Smalling, 30 June 1835.)
Harrison Burgess (1814–1883) was baptized in July 1832 in New York and moved with his family to Kirtland in September 1833. After being discharged from the Camp of Israel in July 1834, he traveled back to Kirtland, arriving there “about the last of July” 1834. He later recalled receiving this ordination blessing as a seventy “under the hands of Joseph Smith Jun, Joseph Smith [Sr.], and Sydney Rigdon.” (Burgess, Autobiography, 1, 3–4; Backman, Profile, 11.)
Burgess, Harrison. Autobiography, ca. 1883. Photocopy. CHL. MS 893. Also available as “Sketch of a Well-Spent Life,” in Labors in the Vineyard, Faith-Promoting Series 12 (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1884), 65–74.
Backman, Milton V., Jr., comp. A Profile of Latter-day Saints of Kirtland, Ohio, and Members of Zion’s Camp, 1830–1839: Vital Statistics and Sources. 2nd ed. Provo, UT: Department of Church History and Doctrine and Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1983.
Alden Burdick (1803–1845) was born in western New York, the son of Gideon Burdick and Catherine Robertson. He and his family were baptized near Buffalo, New York, in June 1833. His father moved to Kirtland sometime in November 1833. Alden may have moved there around the same time. (Bennett, “Ancestors of Gideon Burdick,” 2–3; “Short Sketch of the Life of Mother/Laura Burdick Smith,” 1.)
Bennett, Archibald F. “ The Ancestors of Gideon Burdick,” no date. Typescript. Burdick Family Histories. CHL. MS 18469.
“Short Sketch of the Life of Mother/Laura Burdick Smith,” no date. Typescript. Burdick Family Histories. CHL. MS 18469.
This probably refers to missionaries from other churches. Except for excursions into Upper Canada, no missionaries for the church had yet preached outside of the United States or on any islands. (For an example of preaching in Upper Canada, see JS, Journal, 14–29 Oct. 1833.)