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Minutes, 22 December 1836

Source Note

Minutes, [, Geauga Co., OH], 22 Dec. 1836. Featured version published in “Minutes of a Conference,” Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, Jan. 1837, 3:443–444. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Oliver Cowdery, Dec. 1834.

Historical Introduction

On 22 December 1836 a conference of authorities was held in the , Ohio, to address difficulties created by the growth of the church in the area, a problem made worse by the the influx of impoverished Saints moving to Kirtland.
Over the course of 1836, the number of Latter-day Saints living in and the surrounding area expanded significantly. Writing in the December issue of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, noted, “It is impossible to give an accurate account of the increase of members to this church during the last year; but we feel authorized to say, that during no preceeding year since the same was organized have their numbers been so great.” Concurrent with this growth was an increase in the number of church members in Kirtland in need of financial assistance. Many had used all or most of their means to move to ; others, such as missionaries and their wives, were trying to care for their families with little or no income. Church leaders, who themselves were in substantial debt, found it difficult to provide for the destitute already living in their community as well as the new members arriving with little money.
To improve the situation, church leaders relied on other members, particularly the affluent, to provide charity, but some members proved less than willing to contribute to the poor. The church leaders in attendance at the 22 December meeting discussed the problem, established procedures for the care of the poor, and provided instructions for those who wished to move to . Notably, the conference referred to principles from a December 1833 revelation originally intended for those moving to and used these principles to direct members on how they should gather to Kirtland. The objective of the conference was not to dissuade church members from moving to Kirtland but to create guidelines for those moving so that they might be adequately cared for and not become a financial burden to the church.
Church leaders informed members of the new policies by publishing the minutes of this conference in the January 1837 issue of the Messenger and Advocate, the version featured here. In the newspaper, the minutes were immediately preceded by the 2 January 1837 “Articles of Agreement for the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company” and by remarks from JS appended to the articles. In language similar to that of the conference minutes, JS’s remarks addressed all those intending to help build Zion. He instructed that “wise men” should be appointed by their families or local congregations to come to , where they could receive further counsel and likely purchase land. With such encouragement from church leaders, Saints moved to Kirtland throughout 1837 and continued to increase the number of church members living there.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS’s journal notes that in October 1835, the number of church members in the Kirtland area was “about five or six hundred who commune at our chapel and perhaps a thousand in this vicinity.” Milton Backman estimated the number of Saints in Kirtland in 1836 at 1,300, with an annual growth of 200 to 500 members from 1833 to 1838 and the period of 1835–1837 experiencing the greatest amount of growth. (JS, Journal, 30 Oct. 1835; Backman, Heavens Resound, 139–140.)

    Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.

  2. [2]

    “The Closing Year,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1836, 3:426.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  3. [3]

    See Minutes, 16 June 1836.

  4. [4]

    See Revelation, 16–17 Dec. 1833 [D&C 101:63–74].

  5. [5]

    See Articles of Agreement for the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company, 2 Jan. 1837.

  6. [6]

    See Backman, Heavens Resound, 139–140.

    Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Minutes, 22 December 1836 History, 1838–1856, volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 444

you. And let honorable men be appointed, even wise men, and send them to purchase these lands; and every church in the eastern countries when they are built up, if they will hearken unto this counsel, they may buy lands and gather together upon them, and in this way they may establish .”
Pres’t JOSFPH SMITH,
Chairman.
, Clerk. [p. 444]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 22 December 1836
ID #
1600
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D5:321–323
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