The Restoration's Original Apostles
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
The Mormon Trail
Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All USU Press Publications USU Press 2006 The Mormon Trail William E. Hill Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Hill, W. E. (1996). The Mormon Trail: Yesterday and today. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the USU Press at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All USU Press Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE MORMON TRAIL Yesterday and Today Number: 223 Orig: 26.5 x 38.5 Crop: 26.5 x 36 Scale: 100% Final: 26.5 x 36 BRIGHAM YOUNG—From Piercy’s Route from Liverpool to Great Salt Lake Valley Brigham Young was one of the early converts to helped to organize the exodus from Nauvoo in Mormonism who joined in 1832. He moved to 1846, led the first Mormon pioneers from Win- Kirtland, was a member of Zion’s Camp in ter Quarters to Salt Lake in 1847, and again led 1834, and became a member of the first Quo- the 1848 migration. He was sustained as the sec- rum of Twelve Apostles in 1835. He served as a ond president of the Mormon Church in 1847, missionary to England. After the death of became the territorial governor of Utah in 1850, Joseph Smith in 1844, he was the senior apostle and continued to lead the Mormon Church and became leader of the Mormon Church. -
The Return of Oliver Cowdery
The Return of Oliver Cowdery Scott H. Faulring On Sunday, 12 November 1848, apostle Orson Hyde, president of the Quorum of the Twelve and the church’s presiding ofcial at Kanesville-Council Bluffs, stepped into the cool waters of Mosquito Creek1 near Council Bluffs, Iowa, and took Mormonism’s estranged Second Elder by the hand to rebaptize him. Sometime shortly after that, Elder Hyde laid hands on Oliver’s head, conrming him back into church membership and reordaining him an elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood.2 Cowdery’s rebaptism culminated six years of desire on his part and protracted efforts encouraged by the Mormon leadership to bring about his sought-after, eagerly anticipated reconciliation. Cowdery, renowned as one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, corecipient of restored priesthood power, and a founding member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had spent ten and a half years outside the church after his April 1838 excommunication. Oliver Cowdery wanted reafliation with the church he helped organize. His penitent yearnings to reassociate with the Saints were evident from his personal letters and actions as early as 1842. Oliver understood the necessity of rebaptism. By subjecting himself to rebaptism by Elder Hyde, Cowdery acknowledged the priesthood keys and authority held by the First Presidency under Brigham Young and the Twelve. Oliver Cowdery’s tenure as Second Elder and Associate President ended abruptly when he decided not to appear and defend himself against misconduct charges at the 12 April -
Martin Harris: the Kirtland Years, 18314870
Martin Harris: The Kirtland Years, 18314870 H. Michael Marquardt MARTIN HARRIS IS KNOWN for being a Book of Mormon scribe, witness, and financier. However, little is known about his activities while living in Kirtland, Ohio, for over thirty-five years. This article will present what is known about Harris during the Kirtland years. Included will be his re- lationship to other Restoration churches under the leadership of James J. Strang (including Harris's mission to England), William E. McLellin, and so forth. A brief background of Harris's life in New York will also be given to help understand his place in the early life of the church. NEW YORK SEEKER Martin Harris was born on 18 May 1783 at Eastown, New York. He was a well-established farmer of Palmyra, Ontario (later Wayne) County, New York. At the age of twenty-six, Harris married his cousin Lucy; he was nine years her senior. They had a family of four known children. He became a close associate of Joseph Smith, Jr., whom he assisted finan- cially, and he acted as a scribe to Smith.1 He also financed the publication of the Book of Mormon by mortgaging his farm. As an early convert of Mormonism, he was received into fellowship by baptism on the day the church was organized. Due to the time and resources spent on his new re- ligion, Harris became partially separated from his wife, Lucy. Orsamus Turner, a printer in New York, described Harris thusly: Martin Harris, was a farmer of Palmyra, the owner of a good farm, and an honest worthy citizen; but especially given to religious enthusiasm, new creeds, the more extravagant the better; a monomaniac, in fact.2 1. -
146 REFERENCES Primary Historical Sources Histories and Autobiographies Andrus, M. (1814-1875). Autobiographical Sketch Of
146 REFERENCES Primary Historical Sources Histories and Autobiographies Andrus, M. (1814-1875). Autobiographical sketch of Milo Andrus. Typescript manuscript, BYU Special Collections, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. Call, A. (1838-1839). Autobiography of Anson Call. Typescript Manuscript, BYU Special Collections, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. Corrill J. (1839). A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints (Commonly Called Mormons, Including an Account of their Doctrine and Discipline, with the Reasons of the Author for Leaving the Church). St. Louis: (No Publ;isher). Crosby, J. (1807-52). Autobiography of Jonathan Crosby. Typescript manuscript, Utah State Historical Society. Crosby, C. (1982). Caroline Barnes Crosby, 1807-1883 Autobiography (1807-1882). In K. W. Godfrey, A. M. Godfrey, & J. M. Derr (Eds.), Women’s Voices. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Company. Draper, W. (1807-1881). William Draper (1807-1886), Autobiography. Typescript manuscript, BYU-Special Collections, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. Franklin, B. (1952). Benjamin Franklin: The autobiography and selections from his other writings. H. W. Schneider (Ed.) . New York: The Liberal Arts Press. History of William Smith. (1865, Jan. 7). Millennial Star, 26, pp. 7-8. Hyde, O. (1864, November 19, 26, Dec. 3, 10). History of Orson Hyde. Millennial Star, 26, pp. 742-744, 760-761, 774-776, 790-792. Hancock L. (1803-1836). Autobiography of Levi Ward Hancock. Typescript manuscript, BYU Special Collections, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. Johnson, B. F. (1947). Benjamin F. Johnson, My life’s review. Independence, MO: Zion’s Printing and Publishing Co. Johnson, L. (1865). History of Luke Johnson (by himself). Millennial Star, 27, pp. -
PD10052298 000 C01 L15-Remain Strong.Indd
FOUNDATIONS OF THE RESTORATION—LESSON 15 Remaining Strong in Times of Opposition Apostasy in Kirtland: The Need to Faithfully Follow Conflict in Northern Missouri: Learning to Endure Church Leaders Opposition Well In 1837, the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio, experienced some finan- In 1837 and 1838, some disaffected and excommunicated cial problems. To help the Saints be more self-sufficient in their members of the Church living among the Saints in Far West finances, Joseph Smith and other Church leaders established began to bring lawsuits against the Church and its leaders and a company similar to a bank and called it the Kirtland Safety to harass the Church. In June 1838, Sidney Rigdon spoke heat- Society. Because of a widespread economic depression during edly in what has become known as the “Salt Sermon.” He ref- this time, many banks failed throughout the United States. erenced Matthew 5:13 and said that if the salt loses its savor, it The Kirtland Safety Society also failed in the fall of 1837. Two is good for nothing and should be cast out, implying that those hundred investors in the bank lost almost everything, with who had left the Church should be cast out from among the Joseph Smith sustaining the greatest losses. Even though the Saints. Two weeks later, on July 4, Sidney Rigdon gave a speech Kirtland Safety Society was not funded by the Church, some of in which he promised that the Saints would defend themselves the Saints considered it a Church bank or the Prophet’s bank even if it came to a “war of extermination.” Though both of and blamed Joseph Smith for their financial problems. -
27 Followhim Transcript Brad Wilcox Part 2.Docx
John Bytheway: 00:00:02 Welcome to part two of this week's podcast. Dr. Bradley R. ...: 00:00:07 Well, let's go to Section 73. And here we see something that again, speaks to our day. Look at verse three, I send to you my servants, Joseph Smith Jr, and Sidney Rigdon saith the Lord, it is expedient to translate again. So he had called them on this little mission to try to calm the storm that had arisen because of these letters, written by Ezra Booth. And now he's saying, others can do that. There are others who can do that, and let's get you back to doing what you alone can do. Dr. Bradley R. ...: 00:00:46 And he said, "You need to translate again, these are the words I love." Verse four, it is expedient to continue the work of translation until it be finished. Five, and let this be a pattern unto the elders until further knowledge, even as it is written. So he's saying, this is a pattern and I think it's a pattern for all return missionaries, we have so many young men and women who come back from their missions. And then they go through this big transition home, and I remember that, I remember coming home after serving as a mission president, and waking up every day and thinking, nothing I am doing means anything. Hank Smith: 00:01:37 I can't tell you how many returning missionaries have been in my class and said, "I feel like I have no purpose. -
Meaning Still up for Grabs
196 DIALOGUE : A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHT God-fearing virtue, bristling with guns and trying to live by the light of the gospel, one burdened with guilt; and those who were day at a time" (p. 275). Meaning Still Up for Grabs Zion's Camp: Expedition to Missouri, storm which the Mormons ascribed to 1834 by Roger D. Launius (Independence: divine intervention. Three days later, near Missouri: Herald Publishing House, 1984), Liberty, Joseph Smith issued the "Fishing 206 pp., $11. River Revelation," chastising the Saints for Reviewed by Richard E. Bennett, head, disobedience and disbanding the camp, Department of Archives and Special Col- thereby postponing indefinitely the eventual lections, University of Manitoba, Winni- Mormon reclamation of Jackson County. peg, Manitoba, Canada. Zion's Camp never officially fired a shot upon its enemies. The few deaths reported FIRMLY ESTABLISHED in Mormon history is among the Missourians came mainly by Joseph Smith's 1834 crusade from Kirt- drowning, and those among the Mormons land, Ohio, to the borders of Jackson from cholera. County, Missouri, to "redeem Zion." Its Some money and supplies did eventu- purpose was to assist Latter-day Saints ally reach a few scattered destitute Mor- lately driven from their homes, protect mon families in the area but little else was them from further bloodshed, and, if pos- accomplished. And though some enlistees sible, restore them to their lands and prop- remained in the region to assist in resettling erties. Proclaiming divine revelation in efforts, most returned in small groups to support of his plan, Joseph Smith and Ohio. Clearly the mission fell far short of many of his most trusted advisors set out to its announced goals. -
Licensing Ministers of the Gospel in Kirtland, Ohio
McClellan and Ward: Ministers of the Gospel in Kirtland, Ohio 101 Licensing Ministers of the Gospel in Kirtland, Ohio Richard D. McClellan and Maurine Carr Ward The Latter-day Saint movement grew quickly in Kirtland, brought about in no small part because of the fevered pace of its missionary efforts, first regionally and then abroad. This growth required the institution of many administrative functions and mechanisms most importantly to develop, dis- seminate, and control doctrine but also to create order and synergies in the frontier community, where government played only a fraction of the role apportioned to it today. It was during the Kirtland years that the fledgling Church first took aim at developing the range of policies and procedures necessary to govern a large group of people—both secular and spiritual. Although the more secu- lar interests gained prominence in Nauvoo and peaked in nineteenth-cen- tury Utah before phasing out during the twentieth century, the spiritual practices—or remnants thereof—developed in Kirtland proved foundational for the LDS faith and are still embedded in Church governance today. One administrative practice that became formalized during the Kirtland years concerned the regulation of Church doctrine through its emissaries— the establishment of a standard ordination and licensing system for autho- RICHARD D. MCCLELLAN was raised in Kirtland, Ohio, by parents whose pasttime is still consumed by church and local history. As an undergraduate student at BYU, he worked with the Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History, FARMS, the Religious Education Student Symposium, and his Honors thesis—a biography of the Frenchman Louis Bertrand. -
Latter-Day Saints and the Book of Commandments and Revelations
30 Mormon Historical Studies Robin Scott Jensen, Robert J. Woodford, and Steven C. Harper, eds., Revelations and Translations: Manuscript Revelation Books, facsimile edition (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2009), part of the series of The Joseph Smith Papers, Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman, eds. Harper: The Making of Modern Scripture 31 The Making of Modern Scripture: Latter-day Saints and the Book of Commandments and Revelations Steven C. Harper In September 2009, the newly established Church Historian’s Press of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published the second of sev- eral projected volumes of The Joseph Smith Papers. Heralded by reviewers as a stunning landmark in documentary editing generally, and Mormon studies specifically, the over-sized facsimile volume, reproduced for the first time the manuscript Book of Commandments and Revelations, an archive of Joseph Smith’s earliest written revelations. Its rediscovery and publication provide a rare opportunity to examine the making of modern scripture. This essay is not concerned with the content of the important revelation texts, a topic dealt with ably by Grant Underwood,1 but with the reception of the texts by Joseph Smith’s followers. The receipt by Latter-day Saints then and now of Smith’s texts as revelations is what makes them scripture. Latter-day Saints never seem to tire of telling each other the story of the Rollins sisters, fifteen-year-old Mary Elizabeth and thirteen-year-old Caro- line. They could not stand idly by as a mob destroyed the printing office and press on which William W. -
Figure 1. Second Title Page of the Record of the Twelve, 14 February–28 August 1835
Figure 1. Second title page of the Record of the Twelve, 14 February–28 August 1835. Courtesy Church History Library. DOCUMENT The Record of the Twelve, 1835 The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles’ Call and 1835 Mission Ronald K. Esplin and Sharon E. Nielsen he Joseph Smith Papers Project has recently published on its web- Tsite a document created in 1835 and now known as the Record of the Twelve, 14 February–28 August 1835. This important record was made by Orson Hyde and William E. McLellin to chronicle the activities of the newly formed Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Later, the same book Hyde and McLellin wrote in was used to record patriarchal blessings, which are private, and thus the book was not publicly available. Now images of the twenty-four pages pertaining to the activities of the Twelve have been posted, along with a transcription and links to related documents and to helpful information about people and places mentioned, at josephsmith- papers.org. The book is housed in the Church History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its second title page names it “A record of the transactions of the twelve Apostles of the church of christ of latter day saints from the time of their call to the apostleship which was on the 14th. Day of February AD 1835”1 (see fig. 1). The full document tran- scription appears below. This is the only known record created by the Quorum of the Twelve during its first several years. The lack of additional records is likely due in large part to the fact that most activities of quorum members over the next several years were undertaken either as individual assignments or performed in connection with other leadership quorums. -
The Doctrine and Covenants' Role in Reaffirming Joseph
The Fall of Kirtland: The Doctrine and Covenants’ Role in Reaffirming Joseph Scott C. Esplin Scott C. Esplin ([email protected]) is an assistant professor of Church history and doctrine at BYU. The Doctrine and Covenants portrays an abrupt end to the glorious days of Kirtland. Numerous sections record the seven-year period when Ohio served as the Church’s headquarters, a duration bested only by Salt Lake City. More canonized revelations preserved in the Doctrine and Covenants originate from the Kirtland area than any other place in Latter-day Saint history. As late as section 110, members were enjoying a Pentecostal season, complete with visions, prophecies, angelic minis- trations, and bestowal of greater priesthood keys (see D&C 109–10). Yet after these miraculous events are detailed, only one brief revelation was published from Joseph Smith’s final and most difficult year living in Kirtland (D&C 112). Early in 1838, Joseph was forced to flee for his life, never to see the temple or the town of Kirtland again. For the Prophet, all that remained of the place where he had experienced the most recorded visions, had received the most published revelations, and had spent the majority of his adult life were debts, discourage- ment, and broken dreams. After fleeing, Joseph could only prophesy, wait, and wonder regarding Kirtland. Safely settled in Nauvoo three years later, he was told, “I, the Lord, will build up Kirtland, but I, the Lord, have a scourge prepared for the inhabitants thereof” (D&C 124:83). For the rest of Joseph’s life, Kirtland remained on his mind. -
Sarah M Pratt: the Shaping of an Apostate
Sarah M Pratt: The Shaping of an Apostate Richard S. Van Wagoner I am the wife of Orson Pratt ... I was formerly a member of the Mormon church. ... I have not been a believer in the Mormon doctrines for thirty years, and am now considered an apostate, I believe (Journal History, 22 Jan. 1875). SARAH MARINDA BATES PRATT, first wife of Apostle Orson Pratt, is almost always portrayed in Mormon history as a sharp-tongued shrew with a shady past — Hester Prynne's rival for the scarlet letter. Who is the woman behind the rumor? Sarah, the first daughter and third child of Cyrus Bates and Lydia Harring- ton Bates's twelve children, was born in the sleepy hamlet of Henderson, New York, on 5 February 1817. During the summer of 1835, when Sarah was eighteen, Mormon missionaries taught the Bates family (Bates and Harring- ton). Sarah believed the Mormon message and also fell in love with the in- tense, blue-eyed missionary who delivered it — twenty-four-year-old Apostle Orson Pratt. Orson baptized Sarah on 18 June 1835, four days after he bap- tized her brother Marcellus and sister Lydia Augusta. Other siblings would be baptized later: Ormus Ephraim on 4 July 1836 and Orissa Angelia, on 14 April 1838 (Bates Family Group Sheet). Though Pratt moved on to proselyte in other areas, he did not forget Sarah. "Went to Brother Bates," he wrote in his 7 June 1836 journal, "found them all well. I was very much enjoyed to see them as I had been absent about 1 yr., and more especially as I had previ- ously formed an acquaintance with their daughter with whom I had held a correspondence by letter and with whom I shortly expected to enter into the sacred bonds of matrimony" (Watson 1975, 82).