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Recommendation for Edward Partridge and Isaac Morley, 1 June 1835

Source Note

Recommendation for and , , Geauga Co., OH, 1 June 1835; handwriting of ; signatures of JS, , , , and ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes redaction.
Leaf measuring 10 × 8⅛ inches (25 × 21 cm). The left side of the leaf is irregularly hand cut. This document was folded in half horizontally and then folded in half in the same direction. It was later folded vertically, possibly for travel. The horizontal folds are weak and were mended at some point on the edges with clear cellophane tape. The verso is blank except for a redaction in graphite in an unknown hand: “June 1835”.
The document was in the Partridge family’s possession until at least the mid-1880s, after which it came into the possession of the Church Historian’s Office.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Whitney, “Aaronic Priesthood,” 5–6.

    Whitney, Orson F. “The Aaronic Priesthood.” Contributor, Jan. 1885, 121–123.

Historical Introduction

On 1 June 1835, prepared a recommend, signed by JS and others, for and , who had been assigned by a council to “visit the churches in the east and obtain donations for the poor saints, and also to counsel the br[ethren].” Partridge had been appointed as the first in the church in February 1831, and Morley had been designated as an assistant to Partridge in June 1831. The two men had recently arrived in , Ohio, from , where they had been living since 1831. A June 1834 council had decided that they would be among those sent to Kirtland to receive an “ with power from on high.”
In August 1834, JS had instructed those coming to “to bear testamony to lift up a warning voice and to proclaim the everlasting gospel and to use every convincing proof and facculty with this generation while on their Journey. to Kirtland.” They were also to try to arouse sympathy for the plight of the Saints driven from . Accordingly, on their way to Kirtland, both and preached in various areas in Missouri, , , and .
After they arrived in , and were asked to travel to the East to collect funds to aid the Saints in . They received the featured recommend, signed by JS, , , , and , before leaving on this fund-raising mission. The recommend vouched for their status as church members in good standing and signified their trustworthiness so that church members would feel comfortable donating money to them. The “poor saints” for whom the donations were to be collected were those who had been ejected from their lands in , Missouri. The June 1835 issue of the church’s periodical Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate included an editorial explaining the plight of the Saints in Missouri and admonishing church members to “donate liberally for the benefit of those who have been so inhumanly dispossessed of their homes.” Around the same time that Partridge and Morley were sent out, a council was held in Kirtland and JS presented “the order of receiving in when it is redeemed,” indicating that this focus on obtaining funds for Missouri church members was part of a larger ongoing effort to restore the Saints to Jackson County by 11 September 1836.
and —who were among those who had lost their homes—left on their mission on 2 June 1835, presumably taking this recommend with them. Partridge kept a journal throughout their travels. They preached to different congregations in , , , and other parts of New England; three individuals; and resolved conflicts in some church . While in Bradford, Massachusetts, the two received donations for the poor, but Partridge does not mention receiving any other money. In a summary of the mission that he composed upon its conclusion, he stated that the two “collected some donations for the poor.” Partridge calculated that he and Morley traveled “about two thousand miles, visited about twenty five churches whose aggregate number is about seven hundred and held about fifty meetings.” The two returned to around the first of November 1835. A revelation recorded in JS’s journal on 7 November 1835 states that God would bless the two “because of the integrity of their harts in laboring in my vinyard for the salvation of the souls of men.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Partridge, Diary, 29 May 1835. Minutes of this council are not extant.

    Partridge, Edward. Diaries, 1818 and 1835–1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fds. 1–2.

  2. [2]

    Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:9]; Minutes, ca. 3–4 June 1831.

  3. [3]

    Edward Partridge, Independence, MO, to Lydia Clisbee Partridge, 5–7 Aug. 1831, Edward Partridge, Letters, 1831–1835, CHL; Minutes, 23 June 1834. A June 1834 revelation stated that it was necessary for the elders in the church to receive this endowment before Zion could be redeemed. Both Partridge and Morley reached Kirtland on 29 April 1835. (Revelation, 22 June 1834 [D&C 105:9–11]; Partridge, Diary, 29 Apr. 1835; Isaac Morley and Calvin Beebe, Report, ca. Apr. 1835, Missionary Reports, 1831–1900, CHL.)

    Partridge, Edward. Letters, 1831–1835. CHL. MS 23154.

    Partridge, Edward. Diaries, 1818 and 1835–1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fds. 1–2.

    Missionary Reports, 1831–1900. CHL. MS 6104.

  4. [4]

    Letter to Lyman Wight et al., 16 Aug. 1834.

  5. [5]

    Partridge made the journey with Thomas B. Marsh, while Morley traveled with Calvin Beebe. (Partridge, Journal, 27 Jan.–29 Apr. 1835.)

    Partridge, Edward. Journal, Jan. 1835–July 1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fd. 2.

  6. [6]

    An editorial in the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate further confirmed that Partridge was “truly an ensample of prudence and economy in all his temporal avocations” and noted that no one was “more responsible” than Partridge and Morley. (“Bishop Partridge,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, June 1835, 1:138–139.)

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

  7. [7]

    Partridge, Diary, 29 May 1835.

    Partridge, Edward. Diaries, 1818 and 1835–1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fds. 1–2.

  8. [8]

    “Bishop Partridge,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, June 1835, 1:139.

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

  9. [9]

    JS, Journal, 24 Sept. 1835; William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, to Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, 26 May 1835, William W. Phelps, Papers, BYU.

    Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.

  10. [10]

    In a 16 August 1834 letter to Lyman Wight and other Missouri church leaders, JS had designated 11 September 1836 as the date of Zion’s redemption, extrapolating the date from an 11 September 1831 revelation that stated that Kirtland would be a stronghold for the church “for the space of five years.” (Letter to Lyman Wight et al., 16 Aug. 1834; Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:21]; see also Revelation, 22 June 1834 [D&C 105:9, 13].)

  11. [11]

    Edward Partridge, Report, 31 Oct. 1835, Missionary Reports, 1831–1900, CHL.

    Missionary Reports, 1831–1900. CHL. MS 6104.

  12. [12]

    Partridge, Diary, 2 June–29 Oct. 1835.

    Partridge, Edward. Diaries, 1818 and 1835–1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fds. 1–2.

  13. [13]

    Partridge, Diary, 31 Aug. 1835.

    Partridge, Edward. Diaries, 1818 and 1835–1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fds. 1–2.

  14. [14]

    Partridge, Genealogical Record, 25; Edward Partridge, Report, 31 Oct. 1835, Missionary Reports, 1831–1900, CHL; see also Edward Partridge and Isaac Morley, Kirtland, OH, 10 Nov. 1835, Letter to the Editor, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Nov. 1835, 2:220–221; and Partridge, History, ca. 1839.

    Partridge, Edward, Jr. Genealogical Record. 1878. CHL. MS 1271.

    Missionary Reports, 1831–1900. CHL. MS 6104.

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

    Partridge, Edward. History, ca. 1839. In History of Joseph Smith (Coray copy), ca. 1841. CHL. MS 22506.

  15. [15]

    JS, Journal, 7 Nov. 1835.

Page [1]

, Ohio, June 1, 1835.
To Whom it may concern:
We hereby certify, that the bearers, , of the , and , an of the same, are personally known to us, having been faithful members of this church from its first organization in this , and as men of piety, veracity and strict moral principles and virtue, we recommend them to all to <​among​> whom they may be called, as such: we know they have been long tried with affliction and adversity, persecution and peril for the sake of that religion which they have espoused, and for those principles which they now seek to disseminate, and should any man, who may be of the like faith, be disposed to entrust moneys or other properties in their hands for the good of the poor and afflicted, or for any other purpose, they will find them to be perfectly honest and strictly responsible.
Joseph Smith Jr
.
[p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Recommendation for Edward Partridge and Isaac Morley, 1 June 1835
ID #
252
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D4:322–325
Handwriting on This Page
  • Oliver Cowdery
  • Joseph Smith Jr.
  • William W. Phelps
  • John Whitmer
  • Sidney Rigdon

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    The first missionaries to Ohio were Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, Ziba Peterson, and Peter Whitmer Jr., who stopped in the Kirtland area in fall 1830 on their way to Indian Territory beyond Missouri’s western border. Morley, who was living in Kirtland, was baptized by Pratt in November 1830. Partridge, who was living in Painesville, Ohio, and had been a follower of Alexander Campbell’s reformed Baptist movement, was baptized in December 1830 after he and Sidney Rigdon visited JS in New York. (Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 12 Nov. 1830; see also Historical Introduction to Revelation, 9 Dec. 1830 [D&C 36].)

  2. [2]

    In addition to being driven from their homes in Jackson County, Missouri, in November 1833, Partridge was tarred and feathered by a Jackson County mob in July 1833, and Morley, along with other Missouri church leaders, was arrested in Jackson County in November and held overnight under the threat of death. (“A History, of the Persecution,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:18; Jan. 1840, 1:34.)

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

  3. [3]

    One of Partridge’s responsibilities as bishop was to oversee “all temporal things” in Missouri. He also supervised the consecration of property and money by church members in Missouri. (Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:68]; Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:30–36]; Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:35–36].)

  4. [4]

    Phelps and Whitmer were assistant presidents of the Missouri high council. Like Partridge and Morley, they had been directed by the June 1834 council to travel to Kirtland to receive an endowment and to “help carry on the printing establishment in Kirtland.” They departed for Kirtland on 28 April 1835, arriving there on 17 May 1835. (Minutes and Discourse, ca. 7 July 1834; Minutes, 23 June 1834; Whitmer, History, 70–71.)

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