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Minutes, 6 April 1838

Source Note

Zion high council, Minutes, , Caldwell Co., MO, 6 Apr. 1838. Featured version published in Elders’ Journal, July 1838, pp. 46–47. For more complete source information, see the source note for Elders’ Journal, Oct. 1837.

Historical Introduction

On 6 April 1838, JS presided over and took the minutes for a meeting in , Missouri, to commemorate the anniversary of the church’s founding, to appoint new officers, and to perform . By 3 March 1838, when the scheduled this meeting, members of the council knew that JS had departed , Ohio, for Far West, and they probably expected that he would arrive before the meeting. The Zion had been removed in early February 1838. , who had been an assistant president, had also been removed from his positions as church historian and clerk. The church in , therefore, required not only a new presidency but also a new historian and a new clerk. A written agenda for the meeting indicates that a plan for filling vacancies had been made. In the 6 April meeting, the Saints approved the recently appointed pro tempore presidency, two new historians, and two new clerks. These appointments completed the basic organizational structure of the church in Missouri, likely preparing the way for the business to be conducted in the church conference held the following two days. According to ’s abbreviated minutes in the “Scriptory Book,” this meeting was “a Conf. of the authorities of the Assembled at their first quarterly Conference in the City of Far West.” However, according to the official minutes of both the 6 April meeting and the 7–8 April meeting, published in the July issue of the Elders’ Journal, the 6 April meeting was not part of the quarterly conference. Nevertheless, the 6 April meeting included church business that was related to the conference that followed.
The 6 April meeting was planned to begin at 9:00 a.m. The meeting agenda states that the “doors [would] be opened” at that time and that a sexton would be appointed as a “door keeper,” indicating that the meeting was held indoors. The meeting proceeded as outlined in the agenda. An hour-long intermission is noted in the middle of the meeting, suggesting the meeting adjourned for a midday meal and then extended into the afternoon. The first session concerned the new appointments, and the second session was devoted to ordinances: the of the Lord’s Supper and the blessing of children. Minutes of the meeting were taken by , who had taken minutes at recent high council meetings and was appointed the clerk of the church during this 6 April meeting. The minutes conclude with JS’s name and his designation as “president,” which may refer to his office in the church or his role in presiding over the meeting. JS’s name as it appears in the extant minutes may represent his signature in the original minutes or in a fair copy, or Robinson may have added JS’s name to the minutes because JS was the meeting’s presiding authority. A fair copy of Robinson’s original minutes was probably used by a typesetter to prepare the version of the minutes published in the July issue of the church’s newspaper at the time, the Elders’ Journal.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Minute Book 2, 24 Feb. and 3 Mar. 1838.

  2. [2]

    See Letter from Thomas B. Marsh, 15 Feb. 1838. Whitmer was appointed historian in 1831. In an 1832 letter, JS referred to Whitmer as “the lord[’s] clerk.” (Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–B [D&C 47:1, 3]; Minute Book 2, 9 Apr. 1831; Letter to William W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832 [D&C 85:1].)

  3. [3]

    Minutes, 6 Apr. 1838, in JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, p. 29.

  4. [4]

    See Minutes, 7–8 Apr. 1838.

  5. [5]

    See Minute Book 2, 10 and 17 Mar. 1838; Minutes, 15 Mar. 1838; and Minutes, 24 Mar. 1838.

  6. [6]

    Apparently, neither the original minutes nor a fair copy is extant.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Minutes, 6 April 1838 Elders’ Journal, July 1838 Journal, March–September 1838 Minute Book 2 History, 1838–1856, volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 47

the meeting will commence by singing and prayer.
A sexton will then be appointed for a door keeper and other services in the house of the Lord.
Two historians will then be appointed to write and keep the church history.
Also a general recorder to keep the records of the whole Church, and be the clerk of the .
And a clerk will be appointed for the , and to keep the Church records of this .
And three presidents will be appointed to preside over this Church of Zion.
After which an address will be delivered by the presidency:
Then an intermission of one hour will take place;
When the meeting will again convene and open by singing and prayer;
The will then be administered and the blessing of infants attended to;
The meeting then proceeded to business was appointed sexton and assistant;
and were appointed historians;
was appointed general Church Recorder and Clerk for the first Presidency;
was appointed Church Clerk and Recorder for this stake of and Clerk for the high Council;
was appointed President pro tempore of the Church in , and and his assistant Presidents:
The meeting adjourned for one hour—and again opened by —After which the bread and wine was administered, and 95 infants were brought forward and blessed—When on motion the meeting closed.
JOSEPH SMITH Jr.
President.
Clerk. [p. 47]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 47

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 6 April 1838
ID #
7501
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D6:67–70
Handwriting on This Page
  • Printed text

Footnotes

  1. [4]

    The meeting may have been held in a schoolhouse, as previous council meetings had been.

  2. [5]

    In addition to serving as the church historian, John Whitmer had been called by revelation to assist JS “in Transcribing all things” and to “keep the Church Record.” JS had also referred to Whitmer as “the lord[’s] clerk whom he has appointed to keep a hystory and a general church reccord of all things that transpire in Zion.” (Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–B [D&C 47:1, 3]; Letter to William W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832 [D&C 85:1]; see also Minute Book 2, 9 Apr. 1831.)

  3. [6]

    Oliver Cowdery had been appointed standing clerk of the high council but had fallen from favor. He had not served as the clerk for a high council meeting since December 1837. Ebenezer Robinson and others took minutes of meetings in early 1838. (See Minute Book 2, 6 Dec. 1837–10 Feb. 1838.)

  4. [7]

    After the Zion presidency was removed in February 1838, apostles Thomas B. Marsh and David W. Patten were appointed as pro tempore presidents until the First Presidency arrived and became the presidency of the church in Missouri. JS, however, planned for the Saints in Zion to have their own presidency operating under the general church presidency. (Letter from Thomas B. Marsh, 15 Feb. 1838.)

  5. [8]

    This reference is to the First Presidency: JS, Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith. However, Hyrum Smith was still traveling from Kirtland and did not arrive until late May. (Hyrum Smith, Commerce, IL, to “the Saints Scattered Abroad,” Dec. 1839, in Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:21.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  6. [9]

    The Latter-day Saints used the term the sacrament to refer only to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, or communion.a The church’s foundational “Articles and Covenants” stipulated that “every member of this church of Christ having children, are to bring them unto the elders before the church who are to lay hands on them in the name of the Lord, and bless them in the name of Christ.”b

    (aSee Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 575–576 [Moroni chaps. 4–5]; and Revelation, 7 Aug. 1831 [D&C 59:3, 9]. bArticles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:70].)
  7. [10]

    According to George W. Robinson’s abbreviated minutes in the Scriptory Book, the first item of business was recognizing JS and Rigdon as the presiding authorities over the meeting. (Minutes, 6 Apr. 1838, in JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, p. 29.)

  8. [11]

    Morey had served as a doorkeeper in the House of the Lord in Kirtland. Huntington served as a constable in Far West. According to George W. Robinson’s abbreviated minutes in the Scriptory Book, Morey and Huntington were appointed “door keepers” for the meeting. (JS, Journal, 29 Feb. 1836; Dimick Huntington, Reminiscences and Journal, [14]–[15]; Minutes, 6 Apr. 1838, in JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, p. 29.)

    Huntington, Dimick B. Reminiscences and Journal, 1845–1847. Dimick B. Huntington, Journal, 1845–1859. CHL. MS 1419, fd. 1.

  9. [12]

    Both Corrill and Higbee had some clerical or related experience. Corrill served as a financial agent for the church and as an occasional clerk. Higbee served as the presiding judge of Caldwell County. (Minute Book 2, 22 May 1837; George W. Pitkin, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, p. 1, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; see also Minute Book 2, 24 Feb. 1838; and Affidavit, 5 Sept. 1838.)

    Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

  10. [13]

    Robinson was appointed general church recorder and clerk in September 1837 in Kirtland. Robinson’s abbreviated minutes of the 6 April meeting in the Scriptory Book describe his appointment slightly differently, stating he was “elected as general Church Clerk & Recorder to keep a record of the whole Church also as Scribe for the first Presidency.” (Minutes, 17 Sept. 1837–A; Minutes, 6 Apr. 1838, in JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, p. 29.)

  11. [14]

    Robinson had served as a clerk for previous meetings of the Zion high council in Far West. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, July 1889, 104.)

    The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.

  12. [15]

    Marsh, Patten, and Young were the three most senior members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Marsh and Patten had been living in Caldwell County for over a year. Young had helped JS travel to Missouri and had arrived in Caldwell County with him three weeks earlier. The appointment of Marsh, Patten, and Young as presidents was probably only temporary because as members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the church’s traveling high council), they would eventually travel, proselytize, and supervise units of the church outside of Zion and its stakes. (Letter to the Presidency in Kirtland, 29 Mar. 1838; Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107:23–37].)

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