Footnotes
New Portage village was located in Norton Township. It is possible that both conferences were held in the village of New Portage.
Minutes and Discourse, 21 Apr. 1834; Oliver Cowdery, Norton, OH, to William W. Phelps, 7 Sept. 1834, in LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:14.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
The 21 April 1834 conference was held at the “dwelling house of bro. Carpenters.” The Carpenter mentioned here is probably that same individual. (Minutes and Discourse, 21 Apr. 1834.)
Though the minutes of this 8 September 1834 meeting give only a last name, “brother Gordon” is probably Thomas Gordon, a high priest who is identified by his full name in the minutes of conferences held at New Portage on 18 November 1835 and 10 June 1836. (Minute Book 1, 18 Nov. 1835 and 10 June 1836.)
The letter, from conference clerk Oliver Cowdery to Joseph Bosworth, is reproduced at the end of the minutes. While notices were sometimes printed in The Evening and the Morning Star to inform individuals of action taken against them, this letter was not included in the final September 1834 issue of the Star, even though that issue was printed late enough for a notice to have been published in it. The original letter has not been located. (See, for example, “To Whom It May Concern,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 116; and “To Whom It May Concern,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Feb. 1834, 134.)
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
Milton Stow, who, according to the 1830 census, lived in Westfield, Ohio, was instrumental in building up the branch of the church in New Portage. In a January 1835 letter, Ambrose Palmer wrote that Stow “baptized a number of persons” in the area in 1833, “some of whom belonged to the Methodist church.” (1830 U.S. Census, Westfield, Medina Co., OH, 195; Ambrose Palmer to Oliver Cowdery, 28 Jan. 1835, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Jan. 1835, 1:62.)
Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
An earlier JS revelation states that the bishop was responsible to “sit in Judgement upon transgressors” with the “assistance of his councillors.” A February 1834 letter from JS and others, however, states that members of any branch had authority to try high priests and excommunicate them, after which individuals could appeal the case to the bishop’s council. Stow’s case here suggests that the bishop’s council in Kirtland had to be satisfied of the individual’s repentance before his “priveleges” in the church could be restored. Stow apparently met this requirement at some point because an 1836 list of elders whose licenses were recorded in Kirtland includes Stow’s name. (Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:72]; Letter to J. G. Fosdick, 3 Feb. 1834; List of Priesthood Licenses, LDS Messenger and Advocate, June 1836, 2:336.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.