Mormon History 1830-1844

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Stephen Burnett (1813–?)
Convert of 1830, missionary. Important dissident letter, April 1838: Martin Harris says none of the witnesses saw the plates, but regrets saying it. Conditions in Kirtland.
Born December 15, 1813 in Trumbull Co., Ohio (no siblings found)   Ancestry.com (subscribers) // Revelations, 153.
Died After 1870  
Father Serenus (b. Nov. 13, 1787 in New Jersey; d. May 8, 1858 in Orange, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio)   Spelled Cyrenus Burnet in 1830 U.S. Census for Orange township. Spelled Serenus Burnett in 1840, Serenis Burnett in 1850 census. Ancestry.com // Revelations, 153.
Mother Jane Burnside (b. Nov. 19, 1794 in Butler, Pennsylvania; d. Sept. 22, 1864 in Orange, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio)   U.S. Census for Ohio (1850) Ancestry.com // Revelations, 153.
Occupation Farmer  
Baptism John Murdock re: proselyting in Warrensville, Ohio, November 1830:   Murdock autobiography, 19–20.
November 1831

Baptized, confirmed, faints?
I preached in great plainness to the people and baptised three more, viz Israel Huffs wife, Steven Burnett, and Lamira Gardner. I confirmed them by the laying on of hands, and the two last received <the> aut porin [sic] of the Spirit so that their strength was taken from them, and they with my self and wife stayed all night at Bro. C. Baldwin's, and tok brakefast next morning,   Original: Burnet, Lomira, Balldins

Lamira Gardner is Stephen Burnett's wife's maiden name
Faints? and while attending prey bro. Stephen was carryed away in the Spirit, and said he just go to see his Uncle Warren Thorp and family, before he went home, for so the spirit directed him. I went with him, and he bore testimony to them of the work. But they would not believe.   Stephen's mother's younger sister, Hannah Burnside (b. May 4, 1809) is the wife of of Warren Thorp (b. 1802, 1808, or 1815). They are prominent civic and Methodist leaders in Chagrin, 6 mi. SE of Orange.

Ancestry.com refers to a sister, Sereness
[20] Wee then went to his Fathers and my wife also, bo. Baldwin and his wife, and some otherse. When wee came there they had just moved into their new house. I asked Mr. Burnett what he thaught of these things. he said he believed it to be like the free-masons: One got cached and he would not tell till they caught an other. But after a while supper was ready, and we sat round a long tabel, and bro. Stephen at one end of the tabel, and I at the other, and Mr. Burnett asked me to give thanks, and while I was doing so, bro. Stephen was overcome with the Spirit, so as to loose his strength. Some removed from the tabel with out eating. others ate while his Father and Mother sat in teers. At length he agreed to have meeting at his house, and I preached various times there and was much blessed in my minestry, in Orange, and Warrensville, and through my ministration there was added to the Church in that place, in about four months some Seventy or eighty members.   Original: Balldins, Burnet , Orrange

Mr. Burnett
: Serenus Burnett
Teacher June [3]–6, 1831 attends Kirtland conference as a teacher.   ¶ Minutes of June [3]–6, 1831
Elder October 11, 1831 ordained an elder by John Whitmer.   Minutes of October 11, 1831
High Priesthood October 25–26, 1831 attends conference at his father's house in Orange. Brethren declare their willingness to give all to God. Oliver ordains Stephen and fourteen others to the High Priesthood. Sidney reprimands brethren for not taking High Priesthood ordination seriously.   Minutes of October 25–26, 1831
Mission January 25, 1832 called on mission with Ruggles Eames at Amherst, Ohio.   ¶ D&C 75:35
Mission March 7, 1832 called on mission with Eden Smith at Hiram, Ohio.   D&C 80
Condemned with Kirtland dissenters (July 1838) … a little ignorant blockhead by the name of Stephen Burnett, whose heart was so set on money, that he would at any time sell his soul for fifty dollars and then think he had made an excellent bargain; and who had got wearied of the restraints of religion and could not bear to have his purse taxed, hearing of the delivery of Granny Parrish, ran to Kirtland, got into the temple and tried withal his powers to bring forth something, nobody knows what, nor did he know himself. But he thought as Granny Parrish had been fruitful, so must he, but after some terrible gruntings and finding nothing coming but an abortion, rose up in his anger, proclaimed all revelation lies, and ran home to his daddy with all his might, not leaving even an egg behind, and there sat down and rejoiced in the great victory he had obtained over the great God and all the holy angels, how he had discovered them liars and impostors.   Granny Parrish: Warren Parrish

¶ Argument to Argument ... Scorn to Scorn
Indiana 1870 Indiana census has Stephen Burnett, 55 [b. 1815?], married to Laura Burnett (both born in Ohio) living next to a 38-year-old Daniel Burnside and wife Mary and kids from Ohio. At this time Stephen is listed as a farmer and nurseryman with $20,000 worth of real estate and $800 personal property.  
 
   
  Kirtland 1838    
  Orange Township, Geauga Co
Ohio 15th April 1838
  Stephen Burnett letter
  Br [Lyman E.] Johnson — Dear Sir    
Joseph and Sidney "notorious liars"

Joseph filched money from innocent people

Squandered their earnings

I have with pleasure just received your favor post marked 26th Ult And now you see I take a large sheet that I may have ample room to write—my heart is sickened within me when I reflect upon the manner in which we with many of this Church have been led & the losses which we have sustained all by means of two men in whom we place implicit confidence, that Joseph Smith & Sidney Rigdon are notorious liars I do not hesitate to affirm, & can prove by a cloud of witnesses & this is not all, Joseph has prophecied in a public congregation lies in the name of the Lord & by undue religious influence he has filched the monies of the Church from their pockets and brought them nigh unto destruction, leaving helpless innocence destitute of a comfortable support while he has squandered the hard earnings of those to whom it justly belonged.

   
Loath to give up church

But Martin publicly said he and others only saw plates in vision

Final straw

I have reflected long and deliberately upon the history of this church & weighed the evidence for & against it—loth to give it up—but when I came to hear Martin Harris state in a public congregation that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver nor David & also that the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave way, in my view our foundations was sapped & the entire superstructure fell [in] a heap of ruins,

   
March 25 Stephen renounced Book of Mormon

All a wicked deception

I therefore three weeks since in the Stone Chapel gave a full history of the church since I became acquainted with it, the false preaching & prophecying etc of Joseph together with the reasons why I took the course which I was resolved to do, and renounced the Book of Mormon with the whole scene of lying and deception practiced by J. S & S. R in this church, believing as I verily do, that it is all a wicked deception palmed upon us unawares[.]

  Stone Chapel: aka House of the Lord

three weeks since: March 25, 1838
Warren Parrish, Luke Johnson, John Boynton I was followed by W. Parrish Luke Johnson & John Boynton (h) all of who Concurred with me,    
Martin Harris regrets statement

Was picked out of him
  after we were done speaking M. Harris arose & said he was sorry for any man who rejected the Book of Mormon for he knew it was true, he said he had hefted the plates repeatedly in a box with only a tablecloth or handkerchief over them, but he never saw them, only as he saw a city through a mountain. And said that he never should have told that the testimony of the eight was false, if it had not been picked out of h[i]m but should have let it passed as it was.—    
What do you think of book? Now br Johnson if you have any thing to say in favour of the Book of Mormon I should be glad to hear it.— —    
Kirtland Camp of 600 preparing to leave

About six hundred souls are making preparations to leave Kirtland for Far West the first of May to be called the Camp.

   
Property worthless Property is worth nothing in Kirtland, I was told Luke [Johnson] offered his house [65] And Lot for $100 cash, and could not get that. Marks & others have turned out their farms to pay J S & S. R debts & take orders upon them & the bishop at Far West for land there, but I fear for them.    
Lyman E. Johnson lost $6000 in bank notes You state in your letter that you have lost six thousand dollars [in] Kirtland paper—now I will tell you what Joseph Smith Jr told me when he was here on his [journey] west last Sept,    
Joseph said Lyman did well, could pay debts

I asked him about you, he said you had [a] bagg of money & could pay all of your debts if you would, I asked him if you did not loose by the bank & he said no—not a cent, He said you never took it for goods any longer than it would pay your debts.

   
Joseph said Lyman traded $2000 for specie

Stephen thinks it a lie
And after that you refused to take it, besides you loaned two thousand out of the bank which you never paid but exchanged a large amount with a broker in St Louis at 5 per cent for specie when you and Luke went west last fall and you bought land, hired a house built &c, this however I believe to be a lie amongst the rest.    

Stephen paid $6,000 or $7,000

Being sued for $1,600 or $1,700 more

Hopes to have $4,000 left

Opportunity in West?

As respect my temporal concerns, I am at present much embarrassed in consequence of that store concern, Mr. Amy has never paid a cent but kept out of my way so that I have not seen him since last fall, we have paid six or seven thousand hundred dollars & are now sued for the remainder which is near sixteen hundred dollars and I do not know but we shall have to sell out altogether, if we should at a tolerable fair rate we should have about four thousand dollars left, I rather think I shall go west if there is an opportunity to do well, I wish you would write respecting the country and to what advantage I could lay out my money if I should come there,

   
A. Barney owes Stephen $100 I believe I wrote you that I had a note of one hundred dollars made by A Barney & signed over by Ebenezer Robinson—Barney has run away like other lickskillets & if there is any chance to get any thing if I should send the note to you I wish you would write write in your next—   Original: Ebzr
Pratts in the East Parley Pratt was in Boston and Orson [Pratt] going to New York about six weeks since, nothing of late from Orson Hyde    
Early spring the spring has been remarkably forward so much so that the lake navigation opened in March,    
Some dissenters accept Book of Mormon there are in Kirtland Esqrs Smalling, Coe, Harris and others who still believe the Book of Mormon &c but discard Joseph & Mr Coe proposed an investigation of the subject, and Par[r]ish took up on the negative, but I have not heard how they got along with it,   Original: Parish
If witnesses didn't see plates

Nothing can prove Book of Mormon

We relied on Isaiah and Ezekiel to prove

I am well satisfied for myself that if the witnesses whose names are attached to the Book of Mormon never saw the plates as Martin admits that there can be nothing brought to prove that any such thing ever existed for it is said on the 171 page of the book of covenants that the three should testify that they had seen the plates even as J S Jr & if they saw them spiritually or in in vision with their eyes shut—J S Jr never saw them in any other light way & if so the plates were only visionary and I am well satisfied that the 29 & 37 Chaps of Isai[a]h & Ezek[i]el together with others in which we depended to prove the truth of the book of Mormon have no bearing when correctly understood but are [66] entirely irrelevent—

  171 page: 1835 D&C 42
"Behold I say unto you, that you must rely upon my word, which if you do, with full purpose of heart, you shall have a view of the plates, and also of the breastplate, the sword of Laban, the Urim and Thummim, which were given to the brother of Jared upon the mount, when he talked with the Lord face to face, and the miraculous directors which were given to Lehi while in the wilderness, on the borders of the red sea; and it is by your faith that you shall obtain a view of them, even by that faith which was had by the prophets of old.

"And after that you have obtained faith, and have seen them with your eyes, you shall testify of them, by the power of God; …

"Wherefore, you have received the same power, and the same faith, and the same gift like unto him; " 1835 D&C 42:1–2, 3 // D&C 17:1–3, 5, 7
Each man to his opinions

but if any man differs from me I can adopt the language of Josephus, he is at liberty to enjoy his opinions without any blame from me—

 
  we are all well in usual health, my respects to your family & all our old friends, I am with respect yours &c  
  S. Burnett  
  I shall expect a letter in due time  
  P.S. please direct your letters, P. M Burnetts cornrs Cay [Cuyahoga] Co O[hio]    
Zion's Watchman I send you Zion's watchman printed at NY— 29 March & I would invite your attention to W Parrish's letter contained in the same—   La Roy Sunderland, editor of the Methodist Zion's Watchman, published an eight-part article, January–March 1838. Link to excerpts at Spalding Studies website.

In April, just before leaving New York for Far West, Parley P. Pratt responds with Mormonism Unveiled: Zion's Watchman Unmasked, and Its Editor, Mr. L. R. Sunderland, Exposed: Truth Vindicated: the Devil Mad, and Priestcraft in Danger! Link to excerpts at Spalding Studies website. Crawley bibiography, 78.
  We the undersigned certify this to be a true copy of a letter written to Lyman E Johnson by S Burnette—  
 
Albert Petty
Dimick B. Huntington
 
  May 24th 1838  
 
 
  Family    
Wife Lamira Gardner (b. 1813 in Ohio; md. January 5, 1832 in Cuyahoga Co., Ohio)   U.S. Census for Ohio (1850) Ancestry.com (subscribers); Revelations, 153.
Children Stephen (b. [1834] in Ohio)
Jane (b. [1839] in Ohio)
R. [female] (b. [1841] in Ohio)
Charles (b. [1843] in Ohio)
Emily (b. [1845] in Ohio)
Mary (b. [1847] in Ohio)
U.S. Census for Ohio (1850) Ancestry.com (subscribers)

Biographies




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