Footnotes
Sylvester Smith to Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, 28 Oct. 1834, in LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:10–11; Minutes, 24 Sept. 1834. In February 1835, Smith was called as one of the initial members of the Seventy, an ecclesiastical body established by JS. (Minutes and Blessings, 28 Feb.–1 Mar. 1835.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
JS, Journal, 25 Jan. 1836.
Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:2].
Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:9–11].
Minutes, 11 Aug. 1834. Whitney was also supposed to preside over the 23 August 1834 council, but he did not attend because of illness. Reynolds Cahoon, one of his counselors, presided in his stead. (Minutes, 23 Aug. 1834.)
Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:82].
The first incident here was likely related to JS’s reprimand of Smith for not providing Parley P. Pratt with bread. The second incident occurred after Sylvester Smith and JS argued about JS’s dog. The third incident may have been related to JS’s reprimand of Smith and Lyman Wight for opposing his order to camp on the prairie. Florida, Missouri, is in Monroe County along the Salt River, near the Allred settlement where the Camp of Israel stayed from 7 to 12 June 1834. However, George A. Smith has the incident on the prairie occurring on 17 June after the camp had left the settlement. (Hancock, Autobiography, 138; “Elder Kimball’s Journal,” Times and Seasons, 15 Jan. 1845, 6:772; “Extracts from H. C. Kimball’s Journal,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1845, 6:788–789; History of Monroe and Shelby Counties, Missouri, 152; George A. Smith, Autobiography, 29–31, 34–35.)
Hancock, Levi Ward. Autobiography, 1803–1836. New Mormon Studies CD-ROM: A Comprehensive Resource Library, 2009. CHL.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
History of Monroe and Shelby Counties, Missouri, Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources. . . . St. Louis: National Historical Co., 1884.
Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.
When JS first organized the Kirtland high council in February 1834, he said he was doing it according to the “order of Councils in ancient days” that had been “shown to him by vision.” The constitution of the Kirtland high council also states that it was “appointed by revelation.” (Minutes, 17 Feb. 1834; Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:2].)