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31849
Revelation, 11 November 1831–A [D&C 69]
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<741> Received on the. 11 of Oct 18312
John Whitmer assigned this number to the revelation when recording it in Revelation Book 1.
This heading likely did not appear in the original manuscript; John Whitmer likely added it when he copied the revelation into Revelation Book 1.
Hearken unto me saith the Lord for verily I say unto you for my Servent Olivers [Oliver Cowdery’s] sake it is not wisdom in me that he should be intrusted with the commandments & moneys which he shall carry unto the Land of Zion except one go with him who will be true & faithfull wherefore I the Lord willeth that my Servent John (Whitmer) shall go with my servent Oliver & also that he observe to continue in writing & makeing a history of all the important things which he shall observe & know concerning my Church & also that he receive council & assistance from my Servent Oliver & others3
& also that my Saints which are abroad in the Earth should send forth their accounts4
to the Land of Zion for the Land of Zion shall be a seat & a place to receive & do all these things nevertheless let my Servnt John travel many times from place to place & from Church to Church that he may the more easily obtain knowledge Preaching & expounding writing cop[y]ing & selecting & obtain[in]g all things which shall be for the good of the Church & for the rising generations which shall grow up on the Land of Zion to possess it from generations to generations forever & ever5 Amen [p. 122]
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioJS revelation, dated 20 July 1831, designated Missouri as “land of promise” for gathering of Saints and place for “city of Zion,” with Independence area as “center place” of Zion. Latter-day Saint settlements elsewhere, such as in Kirtland, Ohio, became known...
More Info27 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...
View Full Bio3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioThe Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
View Glossary3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioCowdery apparently kept the church record before Whitmer’s appointment. Cowdery was also the second elder in the church. (Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–B, in JSP, D1:XXX [D&C 47:3]; Whitmer, History, 1, 24–25, in JSP, H2:12–13, 36; Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830, in JSP, D1:XXX [D&C 21:10–11].)
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JSP, H2 / Davidson, Karen Lynn, Richard L. Jensen, and David J. Whittaker, eds. Histories, Volume 2: Assigned Historical Writings, 1831–1847. Vol. 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman. Salt Lake City, Church Historian’s Press, 2012.
When William W. Phelps quoted from this revelation in the August 1832 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star, he included the phrase “of their stewardships” here and asked “the elders at a distance” to send him their accounts of their missions so he could publish them. (Notice, The Evening and the Morning Star, Aug. 1832, [7].)
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The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
JS revelation, dated 20 July 1831, designated Missouri as “land of promise” for gathering of Saints and place for “city of Zion,” with Independence area as “center place” of Zion. Latter-day Saint settlements elsewhere, such as in Kirtland, Ohio, became known...
More InfoJS revelation, dated 20 July 1831, designated Missouri as “land of promise” for gathering of Saints and place for “city of Zion,” with Independence area as “center place” of Zion. Latter-day Saint settlements elsewhere, such as in Kirtland, Ohio, became known...
More Info27 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...
View Full BioJS revelation, dated 20 July 1831, designated Missouri as “land of promise” for gathering of Saints and place for “city of Zion,” with Independence area as “center place” of Zion. Latter-day Saint settlements elsewhere, such as in Kirtland, Ohio, became known...
More InfoSee Revelation, 15 June 1831, in JSP, D1:XXX [D&C 56:20].
On 11 November 1831, JS dictated this revelation assigning “John” to accompany “Oliver” on an upcoming trip to Missouri. Sometime in late October or early November, Oliver Cowdery received the assignment to carry JS’s revelations to Missouri so they could be published at the printing office William W. Phelps was establishing there.1
John Whitmer later wrote that he had been appointed by revelation to accompany Cowdery.2
This 11 November directive for Whitmer—who, according to a March 1831 revelation, was responsible for keeping “the Church Record & History continually”3—to go to Missouri indicates that the records necessary to maintain a history of the church were to be kept there. While this revelation did not enumerate exactly which records should be preserved, it indicated that among them were the accounts of Saints who were “abroad in the Earth,” supplemented by records Whitmer himself was to obtain by traveling to different congregations. The revelation also reiterated the need for Whitmer to write in his history “all the important things which he shall observe & know concerning my Church.”
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...
View Full Bio3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More Info17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...
View Full BioA later JS history seems to indicate that Cowdery and Whitmer received the assignment “to start for Independence, Missouri,” prior to the 1 November 1831 conference. Although that may have been true for Cowdery—a July 1831 revelation directed him to assist Phelps with printing in Missouri, and a 1 November 1831 revelation instructed him to “cary these sayings unto the land of Zion”—Whitmer apparently did not know about his own assignment until this revelation. (JS History, vol. A-1, 157; Revelation, 20 July 1831, p. XXX herein [D&C 57:13]; Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–A, p. XXX herein [D&C 68:32]; Whitmer, History, 38, in JSP, H2:49.)
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JSP, H2 / Davidson, Karen Lynn, Richard L. Jensen, and David J. Whittaker, eds. Histories, Volume 2: Assigned Historical Writings, 1831–1847. Vol. 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman. Salt Lake City, Church Historian’s Press, 2012.
Whitmer, History, 38, in JSP, H2:49.
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JSP, H2 / Davidson, Karen Lynn, Richard L. Jensen, and David J. Whittaker, eds. Histories, Volume 2: Assigned Historical Writings, 1831–1847. Vol. 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman. Salt Lake City, Church Historian’s Press, 2012.
Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–B, in JSP, D1:XXX [D&C 47:1, 3].
The original manuscript of the revelation is not extant. John Whitmer copied the revelation into Revelation Book 1, probably before his and Cowdery’s departure for Missouri on 20 November.4
When he did so, he dated the revelation 11 October 1831, but he later changed the date to 11 November 1831. Whitmer copied the revelation in between the testimony of the divine origin of JS’s revelations, written sometime around 1 November, and another revelation dated 11 November,5 suggesting that November and not October was the correct month. Although “11” is probably the correct day, an account in a later JS history raises some questions. According to that history, “The Book of Commandments and Revelations was to be dedicated, by prayer, to the service of Almighty God, by me; and after I had done this, I enquired of the Lord concerning these things, and received” the revelation.6 This dedication occurred at a conference held on 12 November. Since that conference focused on the publication of the revelations, it is plausible that the revelation was dictated then, although the minutes of the conference do not record such an event.7 Without additional evidence, 11 November remains the more probable date.
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...
View Full Bio3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoSee Historical Introduction to Revelation Book 1, in JSP, MRB:5; and Whitmer, History, 38, in JSP, H2:49.
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JSP, H2 / Davidson, Karen Lynn, Richard L. Jensen, and David J. Whittaker, eds. Histories, Volume 2: Assigned Historical Writings, 1831–1847. Vol. 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman. Salt Lake City, Church Historian’s Press, 2012.
Testimony, ca. 2 Nov. 1831, and Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B, in Revelation Book 1, pp. 121–122, in JSP, MRB:215–217 [D&C 107 (partial)].
Minutes, 12 Nov. 1831, p. XXX herein.
Revelation, [Hiram Township, OH], 11 Nov. 1831. Featured version, titled “74 Received on the. 11 of Oct1 1831,” copied [between 11 and 20 Nov. 1831] in Revelation Book 1, p. 122; handwriting of John Whitmer; CHL. Includes redactions.
Area settled by immigrants from Pennsylvania and New England, ca. 1802. Located in northeastern Ohio about twenty-five miles southeast of Kirtland. Population in 1830 about 500. Population in 1840 about 1,100. JS lived in township at home of John and Alice...
More InfoJohn Whitmer later crossed out “Oct” and wrote “Nov”.
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...
View Full Bio