Footnotes
In June 1829, Oliver Cowdery copied passages from the Book of Mormon manuscript to produce a text titled “Articles of the Church of Christ,” which gave instructions on priesthood offices, baptism, the administration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, and other matters. The next year in June 1830, the newly organized Church of Christ voted to accept as authoritative a document originating with JS that contained similar but more extensive instructions, titled “Articles and Covenants.” (“Articles of the Church of Christ,” June 1829; Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20]; Minutes, 9 June 1830.)
JS History, vol. A-1, 27; Minutes, 9 June 1830.
Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:37]; JS History, vol. A-1, 51. The requirement that Cowdery objected to was not found in the Book of Mormon, nor was it among the requirements listed in Cowdery’s earlier “Articles of the Church of Christ.” (See “Articles of the Church of Christ,” June 1829.)
JS History, vol. A-1, 51.
JS History, vol. A-1, 53–54. Newel Knight recalled that Page “had quite a roll of papers full of these revelations, and many in the church were led astray by them.” Ezra Booth, who wrote a series of antagonistic letters denouncing JS after leaving the church in the fall of 1831, explained his understanding of Page’s seer stone: “[He] found a smooth stone, upon which there appeared to be writing, which when transcribed upon paper, disappeared from the stone, and another impression appeared in its place. This when copied, vanished as the former had done, and so it continued alternately appearing and disappearing; in the meanwhile, he continued to write, until he had written over considerable paper. It bore most striking marks of a Mormonite revelation, and was received as an authentic document by most of the Mormonites, till Smith, by his superior sagacity, discovered it to be a Satanic fraud.” George A. Smith later stated that the stone was black and explained that on it Page saw “certain characters” that he copied down as revelations. Emer Harris also recalled that Page’s stone was black; he added that it was destroyed. (Knight, History, 146; “Letters from David and John C. Whitmer,” Saints’ Herald, 5 Feb. 1887, 90; Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—Nos. VIII–IX,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 8 Dec. 1831, [1]; George A. Smith, in Journal of Discourses, 15 Nov. 1864, 11:2; Provo, UT, Central Stake, General Minutes, 6 Apr. 1856, vol. 10, p. 273.)
Knight, Newel. History. Private possession. Copy in CHL. MS 19156.
Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.
Provo, UT, Central Stake. General Minutes, 1852–1977. CHL. LR 9629 11.
JS History, vol. A-1, 54.
Revelation, July 1830–A [D&C 24:12]; see also Revelation, June 1829–B [D&C 18:9], which compared Cowdery to the apostle Paul.
See Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:4–9]; Isaiah 52:8; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 500–501 [3 Nephi 21:20–24].
Pratt, Autobiography, 49; see also Covenant of Oliver Cowdery and Others, 17 Oct. 1830.
Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.
Earlier in September, a revelation decreed that God’s elect “shall be gethered in unto one place upon the the face of this land.” The place, here referred to as “the City,” was to be the New Jerusalem that the Book of Mormon predicted would be built upon the American continent. This statement that “no man knoweth” the location may also be in response to one of Hiram Page’s revelations “concerning the upbuilding of Zion.” Later accounts indicate that Zion was identified in July 1831, and Thomas B. Marsh explained in an April 1831 letter that at that time the location was still unknown. He wrote, “Perhaps it will be to take our march to the Grand preraras [prairies] in the Missouri teretori [territory] or to the shining mountains which is 1500 to 2000 miles west from us,” speculating about its whereabouts. (Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:8]; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 566 [Ether 13:2–8]; JS History, vol. A-1, 54; Thomas B. Marsh and Elizabeth Godkin Marsh to Lewis Abbott and Ann Marsh Abbott, [ca. 11 Apr. 1831], Abbott Family Collection, CHL; see also Covenant of Oliver Cowdery and Others, 17 Oct. 1830.)
Abbott Family Collection, 1831–2000. CHL. MS 23457.
The expectation that the New Jerusalem would be built “among the Lamanites,” or the Indians, reflected the Book of Mormon teaching that the city was to be built “unto the house of Israel,” who were a “remnant of the seed of Joseph.” (Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 566 [Ether 13:5–6].)
A reference to the prescribed quarterly conference of church elders that, according to previous appointment, convened on Sunday, 26 September 1830. (Minutes, 9 June 1830; Minutes, 26 Sept. 1830; Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:61].)
Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20].
The earliest publication of this revelation, in the Ohio Star in December 1831, has “by commandment” instead of “by Common consent in the Church.” (Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—Nos. VIII–IX,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 8 Dec. 1831, [1] [D&C 28:14].)
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.
The phrase “according to the Covenants of the Church” is not found in the Ohio Star version. (Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—Nos. VIII–IX,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 8 Dec. 1831, [1] [D&C 28:14].)
Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.