| In Kirtland, Joseph
Smith is sustained as president of the whole church, with Sidney Rigdon
and Frederick G. Williams as counselors, and Oliver Cowdery, Joseph Smith
Sr., and Hyrum Smith as assistant counselors. The Kirtland bishopric is
sustained. Apostles Luke Johnson, Lyman Johnson, and John F. Boynton are
rejected (and, according to the letter, "cut off"). |
| Boynton's justification:
the bank failed. Joseph: no one was authorized to say that the bank was
guaranteed. Boynton's confession is rejected. |
| In the afternoon, four
are dropped from the high council and nine new counselors named. High priests
not to attend meetings of the seventies. |
| Two primary sources
are compared—the official minutes and the section of a letter from
Joseph to the church in Zion. |
| Date |
|
September 3, 1837, 9
a.m. |
|
|
| Location |
|
Kirtland, Ohio. |
| Description |
|
… a conference
… |
|
|
| [Presiding] |
|
Not stated. |
|
|
| Clerk |
|
George W. Robinson |
|
|
|
|
Joseph to John
Corrill and the church in Zion
Scriptory in Papers 2:216–219 |
|
Kirtland Council
Minute Book
Kirtland council, 234–238 |
|
|
| Church
sustains Joseph |
|
… S
Rigdon then
presented Joseph Smith Jr to the Church to know if if they still looked
upon & would still receive & uphold him, as the Prest. of
the whole Church And the vote was unanymous in the affirmative: |
|
… The meeting
was opened by prayer by S. Rigdon who then introduced Joseph Smith Jr
to the congregat[i]on to know if he should Still act as their Pres.. as
the presiding officer of the church, was chosen by a unanimous vois of
the same. |
With
one exception,
the minute book version has Pres.. [two dots]. |
| Three
first presidents |
|
Prest
Smith then presented S. Rigdon & F. G.
Williams for his counselors, the three constituting three first Prest
of the Church. Vote unanymous in the affirmative. |
|
Pres.. Smith
then introduced Sidney Rigdon & Frederick G. Williams for councillors
to Pres.. Smith and together with him to constitute the three first presidents
of the church, carried by a unanimous vote, |
|
|
| Heads
of the church |
|
Prest. Smith then introdused
O. Cowdery, J. Smith Sen.—Hyrum Smith & John Smith for assistant
Councilors. These last four together with the three fi<r>st are to
be concidred the heads of the Church, Carried unanymously. |
|
Pres.. Smith then
introduced O Cowdery J. Smith Sen.. Hyrum Smith, [235] & John
Smith for assistant councillors
& carried by a unanimous voice of the church these last four are allso,
together with the first three to be concidered the heads of the Church |
|
|
| Kirtland
bishopric |
|
Voted that N.
K. Whitney hold his office as
[218] Bishop & continue to act as such in Kirtland & that R
Cahoon & V Knight continue to
act as councilors to the Bishop |
|
Voted that N K Whitney
continue to act as Bishop of this Church in Kirtland. Voted that R. Cahoon
& Vincon Knight be councillors to the Bishop, |
|
Vinson
Knight |
| Nine
of the Twelve |
|
The
Twelve Apostles were then presented one by one When T. B. Marsh (h),
D. W. Patten (h), B. Young, H.
C. Kimball, O.
Hyde,
P. P. Pratt, O. Pratt,
Wm Smith Wm E McLellin, were received
unanumously in their Apostleship; |
|
The question was then
asked the church if the Twelve apostles Should hold their office of Apostleship
They were named by the President individually Voted that Thomas. B. Marsh,
David W. Patten Brigham Young Heber. C. Kimble Orson Hyde P. P. Pratt
Orson Pratt William Smith Wm. E. McLellin Should retain their office of
apostleship, |
|
|
|
The Johnsons and John Boynton rejected and cut off |
|
Luke
&
Lyman Johnson & J. F. Boynton (h) were rejected &
cut off though privileged with conffesing and making sattisfaction, |
|
Luke Johnson, Lyman
Johnson John F Boyngton, were rejected from Serving in that office Privilege
was given to those that were rejected of making their confession if they
had any to make, |
|
In
Far West they are retained as apostles. ¶ Minutes
of Nov. 7, 1837
In Joseph's letter, apostles are "cut off," while in the minutes
they are only "rejected from serving in that office." Is Joseph
expanding the ramifications of official actions after the fact? |
| Boynton
response |
|
Elder Boynton (which
was the only one present at the time) arose and endeavoured to confess,
Justifying himself in his former conduct by reason of the failure of the
Bank &c. |
|
Elder Boyngton which
was the onley one present at the time arose and parsally confessed his
sins and partly justifying his conduct by reason of the failure of the
bank. |
| Brigham
rejects Boynton |
|
his conduct was strongly
protested by Elder Brigham Young in a plain and energetic manner, Stating
various reasons why he would or could not receive him into fellowship until
a hearty conffession and repentance was manifested, |
|
his acknowledgments
appeared not to be satisfactory, his conduct was Strongly protested against,
by Elder Brigham Young in a plain and energetick manner Stating various
reasons why he could not receive him into fellowship untill a hearty repentance
was manifested, the |
|
|
He was followed by Elder
Marsh (h) who acquiesed in testimony &
resolution |
|
the Elder <Young>
was followed by Elder Marsh who acquiesed in testimony, and allso disfellowshiped
the conduct of Elder Boyngton |
|
|
| Boynton:
Understood it could not fail |
|
|
|
[236] President Rigdon
then arose, & made an address of conciderable length, Showing the Starting
point or cause of all the difficulty of Elders Boyngton & Johnson,
he allso cautioned all the Elders, concerning leaving their calling to
persue any occupation derogatory to that calling, assuring them that if
persued, God would let them run themselves into difficulties, that he may
stop them in their career, that Salvation may come unto them, |
|
|
| |
|
Elder Boynton again arose & still
attributed his difficulties to the failure of the Bank Stating that he
had understood the Bank was instituted by the will of God, and he had been
told that it never should fail let men do what they would. |
|
Elder Boyngton
then arose and still attributed his difficulties & conduct to the
failure of the bank, Stating that the bank he understood was instituted
by the will & revilation of God, & he had been told that it
never would fail let men do what they pleased, |
|
|
| Joseph's
promise was always conditional |
|
Prest Smith then arose
and stated that if this had been declared, no one had authority from him
for so doing, For he had allways said unless the institution was conducted
on richeous principals it would not stand. |
|
Pres.. Smith then
arose, and Stated that if this had been published, it was without authority,
at least from him, he stated that he allways said that unless the institution
was conducted uppon <upon> righteous principles it could not stand, |
|
|
| Boynton's
confession rejected |
|
A Vote was then taken
to know if the congregation was sattisfied with Boyntons confession Voted
in the negative |
|
The church was then
called uppon <upon> to know whether they were Sattisfied
with the confession of Elder Boyngton, Voted in the negative |
|
It
is "the congregation"or "the church" that disposes
of these matters, not the Twelve or the presidents of the church. |
|
|
Conf—Adjourned
for one hour— |
|
Adjourned for one hour. |
|
|
| Afternoon
session |
|
Conference assembled
at 2 O Clock P M. Opened by reading singing & prayer, |
|
Congregation assembled
at 2 O clock P.M. & called to order by the Pres.. & meeting opened
by prayer by Elder Sherwood, |
|
|
| High
counselors rejected |
|
The Prest then arose
& said he would call upon the Church to know if they were sattisfied
with their High Council and should proceed to name them individualy |
|
the Pres.. then arose
and Said he Should next call upon the church to know if they were Satisfied
with the high Councill & next proceeded to name them individually |
|
|
|
|
John
Johnson Joseph Coe Joseph Kingsbury &
Martin Harris were objected to, also John P Greene but this case put over
put over [219] untill he should be present, |
|
[237] John Johnson,
Joseph Coe, Martin Harris, & Joseph Kingsbury. were objected to, allso
John P. Green, but his case was put over till he Should be present. |
|
|
| High
counselors retained |
|
Noah Packard Jared Carter Samuel H. Smith, these were voted retain
their office |
|
Noah Packard Jared
Carter & Samuel H Smith were voted to Stand in their office previously
confered upon them. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Samuel James was dropped
from the councill in cons[e]quence of his being absent and his situation
Such that he could not attend to the duties of the office. |
|
|
| New high counselors |
|
Oliver Granger Henry
G Atwood Wm Marks Mahew Hillman Harlow Redfield Asahel Smith Phineas Richards
David Dort were chosen to fill the place of those objected to, |
|
Oliver
[-], Henry G Sherwood, William Marks, Mahew Hillman, Harlow Redfield,
Asahel Smith, Phineas Richards, & David Dort, were chosen to fill
the place of those objected to and the Seats in the Council which were
vacated by reason of Thomas Grover having moved to the west John
Smith having been chosen one of the Presidents
of the church, & Orson Johnson being excluded from the Church, all
having belonged to the high council, |
|
Asahel
Smith Jr. is Joseph's uncle (his father's brother) and father of Elias Smith.
He was born May 21, 1773 in Windham, Rockingham county, New Hampshire. Baptized
June 26, 1835 by Lyman E. Johnson. Served on high councils in Kirtland and
Iowa. Ordained a patriarch in 1844. Died in Iowa in July 1848. |
| Presidents
of seventies |
|
The Prest. then called
upon the congregation to know if the recent appointed presidents of the
Seventies Should Stand in their calling Voted that John Gaylord James
Foster Salmon Gee Daniel S Mile, Joseph Young Josiah Butterfield & Levi
Hancock Should retain thir office as Prests of the Seventies. |
|
The Pres.. then called
upon the church to know if the new Presidents of the Seventies Should
stand in their calling. Voted that John Gaylord, James Foster, Salmon
Gee, Daniel S. Miles, Joseph Young, Josiah Butterfield Should retain their
office, |
|
|
| |
|
John
Gould was objected. |
|
John
Gould, was objected to and on learning that Levi Handcok one of the former
presidents of the Seventies was not an high priest, he was chosen in the
place of John Gould, |
|
Levi
Hancock had been released on April 6, 1837due to the mistaken idea that
he had been ordained a high priest. |
| Joseph:
callings of the presidents of seventies |
|
The Pres then arose
and made some remarks concerning the former Prests of the Seventies, the
callings and authorities of their Priesthood &c. &c. |
|
The Pres then arose
& made Some remarks concerning the former presidents of the Seventies,
their calling the authority of the priesthood &c. |
|
| Presidents
of seventies return to high priests quorum |
|
Voted
that the old Presidents of the Seventies be refered to the quorum of High
Priests, And also that if any of the members of the quorum of the Seventies
Should be disattisfied & would not submit to the Present order, and
receive these last Presidents that they Should have power to demand their
Lisence & they should no longer be concidered members of the church. |
¶ |
Voted that the old
or former presidents [238] of Seventies. be refered to the quorum of
high priests, those which were previously ordained to the high priesthood, |
|
¶ D&C
107:93 (March 28, 1835): the seventy "should have seven presidents
to preside over them, chosen out of the number of the seventy." The
"old Presidents" had been ordained high priests prior to their
callings as presidents of seventies. They had been released as presidents
of seventies on April 6, 1837, but continued to affiliate with the seventies
rather than the high priests. |
| Close |
|
Conference Closed by
Prayer by the President |
¶ |
Closed by Singing
an hymn & a Short prayer by Pres.. Smith |
|
|
Minutes
of October 1, 1837
Minutes of August 5, 1837
Ohio Minutes
|