Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling [1 ed.] 1400042704

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^W 56) 62, 64); Whitmer, All Believers, 32; BofM, 212, 223 (Mosiah 27:5; Alma 1:26). BofC, 15:30, 42 (D&C, 18:28, 37). For an argument that twelve apostles were BofC, 3:1, 5:1, 10:1, 11:1,12:1 BofC, 9:14, 16, 14:3

appointed as early as 1830, see Prince, Power from On High, 56-58. According to Michael Quinn, the word "apostle" referred to charisma before 1835. Quinn, Origins of Power, 10-14. 12

(D&C,

BofC, 22:1, 4-5

21:1, 4-5).

Even

in the disillusionment of his later years,

David

Whitmer remembered that "we had all confidence in Brother Joseph, thinking that as God had given him so great a gift as to translate the Book of Mormon, that everything he would do must be right." All Believers, 34. 13

JS to N. C. Saxton, Jan.

14

BofC, 24:7, 6-1

4, 1833, in PlVjfS, 296.

(D&C, 20:6, 5-10). The "Articles and Covenants" is based on the of the Church of Christ" prepared by Oliver Cowdery and printed in

1829 "Articles

1

Faulring, "Section 20," 57-91.

On

the development of this revelation, see Faulring,

"Organizing the Church," 60-69. 15

BofC, 24:50, 21

16

ManH

(D&C,

20:71, 32). 1:304; History [1838 draft], in PJS,

A-i, in PfS,

101-102; HC, 1:117,

n.;

1:244; Porter, Origins,

Deseret News, Mar. 24, 1858; BofC, 34:2-3

(D&C,

31:2);

Chamberlin, "Short Sketch," 4-5; Porter, "Missing Pamphlet," 1 13-40; Porter, "Early Missionary," 316-17. On Marsh, see Anderson, "Thomas B. Marsh," 129, 135. 17

Vogel, Religious Seekers; Bushman, "Visionary World," 183-204. For a combination of radical Protestant

and Masonic influences on early converts, see Brooke,

144-45, 187, 238-39, 306-10. For Brigham Young as Roots," 20-53. 18

19

2

"New York

BioS, 151-53, 166-67.

HnTxley, Stand by gins,

20

Refiner's Fire,

a seeker, see Esplin,

My Servant,

98.

For

a

discussionof the early converts, see Porter, Ori-

32-35, 78-83, 100-105.

Lucy Mack Smith to Solomon Mack, Jan. 6, 1831, in Johnson, "Mormon Women's Letters," 85-89. Anderson, New England Heritage, 148-49; quoted in BioS, 1 56. John Smith later wrote, "We had always been accustomed to being treated with much harshness by our Porter, Origins, 33-34;

brother." 5/05, 155. 22

23

24 25

Knight, "Joseph Knight's Recollection," 37; History [1838 draft], in PJS, 1:248. For the timing of the move of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Smith, see Porter, Origins, 37-38.

ManH A-i, in PJS, 1:305. ManH A-i, in PJS, 1:306-307. For a modern evaluation of the miraculous healing, see Hartley, Standby My Servant, 62-70. FWR,

1-2 (June

9, 1830);

Journal History, June

9,

Joseph's 1838 history says the conference assembled

26

PJS, 1:249. FWR, 1-1 (June

27

History [1838

draft], in

8

History [1838

draft]

2

9, 1830);

ographical Sketch,

29

,

ManH A-i, in PJS,

1830; Cannon, "Licensing," 97.

on June

i.

History [1838

draft], in

1:307-309.

PJS, 1:250.

in PJS, 1:251; Porter, Study of the Origifis, 79-80; Knight,

Autobi-

2.

Kjiight, "Joseph Knight's Recollection," 38; History [1838 draft], in PJS, 1:252-53;

Walters, "Court Trials,"

1

24.

NOTES TO PAGES

588 30

History [1838 niscence (183

draft], in

I

1844, 549-52; A.

i,

W. Benton, Remi-

On conftision about the date of

4:97; Hill, Joseph Smith, 113.

Wahers, "Court Trials," 124-25; Knight, "Joseph Knight's Recollection,"

the

trial,

38;

ManH A- 1, in P75,

see

T&S, June

PJS, 1:252;

EMD,

in

1),

7-12

I I

1:312.

31

Walters, "Court Trials," 125; T&S,]\ine

32

ManHA-i,

33

ManH

1844, 549-50.

i,

in P/S, 1:314-15.

A-i, in PJS, 1:317; Knight, Autobiographical Sketch,

2;

T&S, June

i,

1844,

551-52-

34

History [1838

35

ManH

draft], in

PJS, 2:258; Knight, Autobiographical Sketch,

D&C

A-i, in PJS, 1:318.

(D&C,

[1835], 50:3

2.

27:12); Journal of Discourses,

(May 6, 1882); Addison Everett to Oliver B. Huntington, Feb. 17, 1881, in Boardman Huntington, Journal, Jan. 31, 1881. The exact time of the visit of Peter, James, and John has always been a puzzle in Mor-

23:183 Oliver

mon history. Neither Joseph nor any of the other early chroniclers mentioned the event in their histories. It

is

usually assumed that the visitation

appearance of John the Baptist on

Church on Apr. late

6,

May

15, 1829,

must have occurred

after the

and before the organization of the

1830. Larry C. Porter has placed the visit ofPeter,James, and John in

May 1829. Porter, "Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods," 30-47. Porter relies on

asecondletterof Addison Everett, written to Joseph

F.

Smith, Jan. 16, 1882, a year after

The second letter says that Joseph and Oliver went to Colesville while translating the Book of Mormon and received the Melchizedek Priesthood while returning to Harmony, fixing the event in 1829. The letter is problematic, the

first letter

cited in the text.

however, not only because

it

contradicts the

first,

in

which no mention

is

made of trans-

seems to mix up events in 1829 and 1830. It says that Joseph moved from Harmony to Fayette in August 1829 when he actually moved in June. It was in lating,

but because

it

1830 that he moved in August. There are, moreover, no mentions in other records of a May 1829, or of persecution there, or ofa trial involving Mr. Reed,

visit to Colesville in

conditions Everett associates with the the

trial,

visit.

and the assistance of Mr. Reed are

of 1830. Joseph inserted the

first

On

all

the other hand, the visit to Colesville,

well-attested occurrences in the

reference to Peter, James, and

John

summer

in a revelation

is why in the text above the visit of Peter, James, and John is summer of 1830. But the difficulties with both of the proposed dates summer 1829 or summer 1830— means that we will not know for certain until more information is uncovered. See also B. H. Roberts's note in HC, 1:40-41 n.; Anderson,

dated Aug. 1830. That

assigned to the

"Reuben

Miller," 277-78, 282-85. Fo"" th^ various accounts of priesthood restoration,

see Anderson,

"Second Witness," 15-20; Cannon and

BYU Studies

staff,

"Priesthood

Restoration Documents," 162-207, reprinted in Welch, Openingthe Heavens, 215-63.

36

The

twins,

who

Mormon

died at birth, were possibly premature. Newell and Avery,

Enigma, 39.

{D&C,

25:4, 7-8, 11).

37

BofC, 26:3, 6-7, II

38

Indenture, Joseph Smith and payment to Isaac Hale, see EMD, 4:427-35. Porter, Origins, 62, presents evidence from the federal census that a boy between ten and fifteen was living with Joseph and Emma that summer and attending

BofC, 26:10, 25:14, 7-8,

5,

28

Isaac Hale, Aug. 25, 1830,

{D&C,

JSC.

On

25:10, 24:9,

5, 3, 18);

the loan and

school.

39

Porter, Study of the Origins, 63; History [1838 draft], in PJS, 1:261-62.

Lewis statements about Joseph Smith are found

40

History [1838

41

History [1838

42

draft], in

in

MoU,

The Hale and

162-6'j.

PJS, 1:259-60.

PJS, 1:260; ManH A- 1, in PJS, 1:320. Knight, "Journal," 64-65; History [1838 draft], in PJS, 1:263; Whitmer, All draft], in

Believers,

31-36,42,49,53,55-56,58. 43

ManH A-I, in PJS;

1:323; History [1838 draft], in PJS, 1:263;

MC,

30:12-13;

(Sept. 26, 1830); Knight, "Journal," 64-65; Journal History, Sept. 26, 1830.

FWR,

3

NOTES TO PAGES I2I-I28 (D&C,

44

BofC, ii:\; 30:2-3, 5-6

45 46

Knight, "Journal," 64-65; BofC, 30:1

589

21:1, 28:2-3, 5-7). 1

(D&C,

28:1

1);

ManH A-i, in PJfS,

1:323.

At the same time, David Whitmer remembered, Joseph handed the seerstone to Oliver Cowdery, saying "that he was through with it, and he did not use the stone any more." All Believers, 32.

Brodhead, "John Brown," 535.

47 48

BofC, 2:6

49

Ravenna (Ohio)

{D&C,

y.iS).

8, 1831; BofC, 30: 8-9 (D&C, 28:9); Revelation 21:2; BofM, Nephi 21:23). BofC, 29:8-9, 17-24 (D&C, 29:7-8, 14-21). For the New Jerusalem in the broader context of Mormon millenarianism, see Underwood, Millenarian World, 30-41.

Dec.

Star,

566, 501 (Ether 13:4; 3

50 51

Porter, Study of the Origins, 37-38, 118; BioS, 159, 171; YiiW, Joseph Smith,

5

BioS,

53

1

70;

ManH A-

1

,

in PJS,

i :

1

18-19.

348.

Rigdon, "Life and Testimony," 18-25; Chase, "Sidney Rigdon." 0-2 2 1 in PJS, 1:33 9-44; Hill, Joseph Smith, 1 2

54

ManH A-

55

Whitxn&r, All

56

Porter, Study of the Origins,

57

BofC, 39:1, 4 (D&C, 37:1, 3); Porter, Study of the Origins, 1 17-18. The Painesville Telegraph reported the arrival of Whitmer in the week prior to the paper's issue of

,

Believers, 35;

BofC, 37:5-6, 18-22, 24-25 1

(D&C,

35:4, 17-20, 23).

16-17; Knight, "Joseph Knight's Recollection," 38.

Jan. 18, 1831.

58

ManH

(D&C, 38:28, 31-33, 22); Porter, Lucy wrote her brother Solomon Mack on Jan. 6, 1831, new and everlasting covenant and all that will hear his

A-i, in PJS, 1:346; BofC, 40:22, 27-29, 18

Study of the Origins, 106, 119. that God "has now mad[e] a

voice and enter he says they shall be gathered together into a land of promise and he

himself will

Women's 59

come and

reign on earth with

them

a

thousand years." Johnson,

"Mormon

Letters," 87.

BofC, 40:30, 33, 15 (D&C, 38:37, 18, 35, 39). John Whitmer said some of the Saints doubted the revelation to move to Ohio, thinking that Joseph "invented it himself to deceive the people that in the end he might get gain." Porter, Study of the Origins, 124.

60

(D&C, 38:40); Knight, Autobiographical Sketch, 2; Porter, Study of the 16-17; Knight, "Joseph Knight's Recollection," 38. Lucy Smith says Ezra

BofC, 40:35 Origins,

1

Thayer and Newel Knight

Mormons

also

accompanied the

Ohio

first

group, but

Newel Knight

led

Joseph speaks loosely of traveling to Ohio with Sidney Rigdon and Edward Partridge, but the two groups the Colesville

to

arrived a few days apart, Sidney

ManH

A-i, in PJS,

later in the spring. BioS, 171.

on February

i,

1831, and Joseph a few days

1:346; Porter, Study of the Origins,

117; BofC,

37:23

later.

(D&C,

35:22).

61

BioS, 172-83; Porter, Study of the Origins, 123, 125-27; Porter

New York," 62

Porter, Study of the Origins, 127-28.

CHAPTER 6 1

Woman's Exponent, Sept.

2 3

Bennett, "Report," 355. MoU, 248-49, 261-62.

4

ManH A-i, in PJS,

5

6 7

and Shipps, "Colesville,

201-11.

i,

JOSEPH, MOSES,

AND ENOCH

1878, 51.

1:273-74; Isaac Hale, Affidavit (1834), History [1832], in PJS, 1:3. T&S, Feb. 15, 1843, 108.

mMoU,

263-65.

The closest parallel I have found are the second-generation Shaker visionaries after Ann Lee who recorded revelations and read them like scripture. Philemon Stewart's A Holy, Sacred

and Divine

Roll

and Book, published by the United Society of Believers

in

NOTES TO PAGES

59°

came

1843,

distribute

it

in

two

parts with

more than 400

to the rulers of the world

and

20-1

I

pages.

lay

it

3

The book

directed the Shakers to

beside the Bible in their pulpits. Yet,

A

and Divine Roll and Book was discredited after a couple of years. The ShakMillennial Laws, though in part informed by the visionaries' revelations, were

Holy, Saa-ed ers'

more 8

Ann

a

handbook of instructions than

scripture. Stein, Shaker Experience, 177-98.

from writing them down. She and her successor Lucy Wright did not want the believers fixed on certain rules or doctrines when new revelations were always coming to displace the old. Stein, Shaker Lee's belief in continuing revelations prevented her

Experience, 95.

9 10 1

BofC,

1:1

BofC, 2:2

(D&C, {D&C,

The voice

is

1:1).

3:3-4).

own

made in his essay on the no other evidence than his

reminiscent of the distinction Soren Kierkegaard

difference between an apostle and a genius.

"An

apostle has

statement, and at most his willingness to suffer everything joyfully for the sake of

that statement." Kierkegaard, "Difference," 105. 12

Whitmer, Book ofJohn Whitmer,

13

5o/C, 50:1 (DeirC, 47:1).

14

William Phelps to Sally Phelps,

15

JS to

16

Pratt, Autobiography, 6^-66.

Hyrum

Smith, Mar.

3,

183

55.

ca. Jan. 1,

in

1836, in

PWJS,

Van Orden, "Kirtland

Letters," 578.

257.

17

Hancock, Diary, 45.

18

19

Phelps, July 31, 1832, in PWJS, 273. JS to William When he was about to return to Kirdand from New York, Sidney Rigdon sent copies of Joseph's revelations ahead of him. Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon, 76.

20

BofC, 22:1

2

Finney, Memoirs, 9-20; E. Smith, Elias Smith, 134-75.

22

Irwin, American Hieroglyphics, 4-6, 8; Wilson, American Egyptology, 17-19; "Zodiac of

W

(D&C,

21:1);

Bushman, "Visionary World," 183-204.

Denderah," 242; "Egyptian Antiquities," 361-89; Everett, "Hieroglyphics," 95-127, "Egyptian History," 27-53, ^'^'^ "Hieroglyphic System," 339-51. 23

24

—

Knight, "Joseph Knight's Recollection," 33. How Joseph found his stones brown and is explained in Ashurst-McGee, "Pathway to Prophethood," 198-283.

white

—

There

is

Urim and 'The Gift of

evidence that the translation stone was given him after he lost the

Thummim when the Seeing,' " 54.

Much

116 pages disappeared. Van later

William Hine

hieroglyphs while treasure-scrying.

Wagoner and Walker,

said that

The 1826

"

Joseph Smith translated American

court record has

a

witness

who

said

Joseph pretended to read from a book using his white stone. Bainbridge (N.Y.) Court Record, March 20, 1886, in EMD, 4:253. For a longer analysis of Joseph Smith's identity as translator, see Bushman, "Joseph Smith as Translator," 69-85. 25

26 27 28

For the skeptical view see Anderson, Inside the Mind, and Morain, Sword ofLahan. BofM, 172-73 (Mosiah 8:13, 16). Bushman, "Joseph Smith as Translator," 69-85. JS, New Translation, 591 (Moses 1:1); BofM, 5 (i Nephi 1:1); T&S, March i, 1842, 704 (Abraham i:i). For the story of the revision, see Matthews, Jo.rep^ Smith's Translation. For the manuscripts, see JS, New Translation. A second temple was meant for "the work of the printing of the translation of my scriptures."

29 30

Thomas Campbell, quoted

in Barlow,

D&C [1835], 83:3

Mormons and the

Packer, "Transcendentalists," 2:366; Brown, Biblical

of the complex impact on literature, see Buell, 3

Campbell, Saa-ed Writings^ Webster, Holy

{D&C,

Bible,

94:10).

7-8.

Criticis?n,

10-26. For a discussion

New England Literary

Culture, 166-68.

Bible.

32

Church, "Thomas Jefferson's Bible," 145-61.

33

JS, Journal, Oct. 15, 1843,

mAPR, 420; Barlow, Mormons and the Bible, 54. A 1936 book about American translations of the Bible said Joseph Smith's work contained "the most

NOTES TO PAGES I33-I39

591

made in connection with the Bible, and the most peculiar alterEnghsh ever published." Simms, Bible m America, 235.

astonishing claims ever ations of any Bible in

34

History [1838

draft], in

35

T&S, ]2in.

1843,71.

36

JS,

New

16,

PJS, 1:250-59.

Translation, 591

(Moses

1:1-2).

The

parenthetical references are to the 1981

edition of The Pearl of Great Price.

37 38

New

JS,

Translation, 591,

593-94 (Moses

1:4, 6, 33, 24).

Genesis 3:15; Edwards, Wor-k of Redemption, in Works, 2:7, 17-18, 28-29. ^^ typology, see Miner, Uses of Typology; Bercovitch, Purita?! Origins, 35-40, 46-48, 59-73; Brumm,

Lowance, Language of Canaan. [73] (Moses 6:51); Charles, "Mormon Christianizing," 35-39. JS, New Translation, 591-92 (Moses 1:6, 8, 10). JS, New Translation, 592-93 (Moses 1:12-15, 18-22). Paragraphing added. JS, New Translation, 593-94 (Moses 1:25, 27-28). Paragraphing added. JS, New Translation, 594 (Moses 1:30-3 1). Paragraphing added. JS, New Translation, 594 (Moses 1:33, 36-38). Paragraphing added. BofM, 66-6 J (2 Nephi 3:1-11, 15-17). Religious Typology;

39

40 41

42

43

44 45 46

47

E&MS,]2in. 1833,

Bloom, American

Religion, 99, loi.

A translation and commentary are in Metzger, "Fourth Book of Ezra,"

1:517-59.

1

am

Anthony Grafton of Princeton University for this reference. 4 Ezra (or 2 Esdras) was included in the Apocrypha of the Church of England and other Protestant

grateful to

churches. Stone, "Esdras," 2:612.

48

Hugh

Nibley

is

the great

Mormon

expositor of the apocryphal connections. See his

Enoch the Prophet.

49 50

New Translation, 3-25; Matthews, Joseph Smith's Translation, 26-27, 64-65. The page count was derived by comparing the LDS edition of the Bible, published

JS,

1979, with The Pearl of Great Price, published in to

Moses were

circulating

among

the

1

Mormons

981.

By mid-January,

in

the revelations

in Kirtland. Painesville Telegraph, Jan.

18,1831. 51

Genesis 5:21-24; Luke 3:37; Hebrews 11:5; Jude 1:14; VanderKam, Enoch, preface, 175, 183, 185. Jed Woodworth put me in touch with the literature on Enoch and provided an assessment of Richard Laurence's translation in his "Enoch in Early American History."

52

is a link to Laurence's 182 1 translation of Enoch and cites Enoch in a book advertised in a Palmyra newspaper. He does not find Book of Enoch in Palmyra or vicinity, only this reference in a scholarly com-

Michael Quinn claims there a reference to

the actual

mentary. Quinn, Early Mofynonism, 190-92. 53

Laurence, Book of Enoch, chaps. 7, 9-10, 12, 25-26. Laurence thought there was even evidence of three distinct persons in Enoch's Godhead. Laurence, Book of Enoch,

54

As

xlviii-lvi.

Hugh Nibley

century, has

more

has shown, the Slavonic version of Enoch's story, found later in the in

common with Joseph's Enoch.

Latter-day Saint attention to the various

Enoch

Nihley, Enoch the Prophet, 138-281.

stories has

prompted one

specialist to

note that "among twentieth-century Christians, only the Ethiopian Church and the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day

Saints consider the Enochic writings to be

authoritative." Nickelsburg, I Enoch, 82.

56

New Translation, 610 (Moses 6:27-28). Woodford, "Historical Development," 2:993-94; Whittaker, "Substituted Names,"

57

JS,

55

JS,

103-12.

58

59

New Translation, 610 (Moses ManHA-i,inP75, 1:274. JS, New Translation, 611 (Moses

6:3

1).

6:35-36, 38-39).

NOTES TO PAGES I4O-I47

592

60 61 62 63

64 65 66

E&MS, E&MS, E&MS, E&MS,

Aug. 1832, Aug. 1832,

[18] [18]

(Moses 7:2-4, 24-26). (Moses 7:28-30).

Aug. 1832, Aug. 1832,

[18]

(Moses

7:33, 34, 36, 37).

[18]

(Moses

7:41).

BofM, 530, 583-85 (Mormon 6:17, 19; Moroni 9). E&MS, Aug. 1832, [18] (Moses 7:58). For the case that "restorationist" denominations did yearn see Hughes and Allen, Protestant Primitivism.

for a return to a favored era,

67 68

QuotedinManHA-i,inP75,

69

Joseph seems also to have identified personally with Enoch. When outside pressures led to the adoption of borrowed names for Church leaders, Joseph took the name of

70

E&MS,

On Joseph

"Sin, Suffering,

Enoch 71

1:276, n. 2; 5o/C, 16:18; 48:14 (DiirC, 19:18; 45:12).

Smith's theodicy, see Paulsen, "Problem of Evil," and Paulsen and Ostler,

and Soul-Making."

in the revelations. Whittaker, "Substituted

Names," 103-12.

Aug. 1832, [18-19] (Moses 7:18, 62-64). Bloom, American Religion, 100; Shipps, Mormonism, 51-56. For the blending of the present with the Book of Mormon past, see Bushman, "Early Mormon History," 3-18.

The

New

seventeenth-century

with similar

New

facility.

Bozeman,

Translation, 851;

England Puritans blended present and

historical past

Primitivist Dimension.

Matthews, Joi-ep^ Smith's

Translation, 37, 40-49, 207.

11

JS,

73

BofC, 48:54-55

74

Matthews, Joj-fp/; Smith's

75

Jackson and Jasinski, "Inspired Translation," 35-64. As Robert Matthews notes in his study of the Joseph Smith translation, "a passage that had been revised and recorded

once was

(D&C, 45:60-61); Matthews, Joseph

Smith's Translation, 73.

Translation, 40.

later further revised

and recorded. Some passages were revised even

a third

time." Joseph Smith's Translation, 61.

76

JS, Journal, Jan. 29, 1836, in PJS, 2:162; Pratt quoted in Matthews, "Joseph Smith Translator," 84.

77

^yS, 355

(Apr.

7,

1844).

CHAPTER

7

THE KIRTLAND VISIONARIES summary of

demography and economy

1

Milton Backman gives

2

Heavens Resound, 33-37, 139. Foote, Autobiography, 8-9. For a survey of the Kirtland topography and economy, see

a useful

Kirtland's

in

On the economy of the region at the time, see Hurt, Ohio "Economic Landscape," 116-75; ^^^ Stewart, No?theastem Ohio,

Layton, "Kirtland," 423-38. Frontier, 20; Lewis,

1:179-284. 3

Knepper, Ohio and Its People, 144-49.

4

Rose, Cleveland, 113, 169.

5

For

6

MofU; Howe, Autobiography.

7

Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigma, 37-38;

8

9

10 11

Painesville, see Stewart, Northeastern Ohio, 1:295-98.

5o/C, 43:9 (DeirC, 41:7). Cox, " Tather Isaac Morley,'

Rollins, Reminiscences,

3.

" [i]. For a map showing the Morley farm's Backman, Heavens Resound, 78. The best edition of Whitmer's history is Whitmer, Book ofJohn Whitmer. ManH A-i, in PJS, 1:352; Matthews, Jo^^P^ Smith's Translation, 31-32;

location, see

FWR,

v, vii,

xi, xii.

12

Marini, Radical

Sects,

63, 66, 73-74, 76, 80; Hatch, American Christianity, 40. The among the Shakers after Ann Lee's death. Stein,

visionary impulse remained strong

Shaker Experience, 166-6"].

NOTES TO PAGES I47-I52 13

593

Wigger, Taking Heaven, 53, 54, 107, 1 10. John Brooke finds traces of hermetic doctrine in the visionary culture but only by exaggerating the evidence and making many speculative leaps. Brooke, Refiner's Fire, 30-58.

mingling with Christian

There

is

more evidence of magical

practice

See Obelkevich, South Lindsey, 259-312, and Quinn,

belief.

Early Mormonism.

14

MoU,

1

Tullidge,

261-62; Woman's Exponent, Sept.

1878, 51; Crosby, "Biographical Sketch,"

.

that early converts

came from

New England orthodoxy." of

i,

Women ofMormondom, 44-45 John Brooke presents

Mormon

tentative figures to

[3].

show

"had long stood outside the mainstream of

families that

Brooke, Refiner's

306-309. For a statistical analysis and Backman, "Kirtland Mormons,"

Fire, 65,

cultural origins, see Grandstaff

47-66. 1

Wigger, Taking Heaven,

1

24,

1

81-89. Later this supernaturalist impulse was channeled

into spiritualism. Cross, Btimed-Over District, 341-52. Cross's concept of "ultraism"

17

comes close to Wigger's "supernaturalism." Backman, Heavens Resound, ^S-'^g.

18

Woman's Exponent, Sept.

19

Van Wagoner,

20

MoU,

i,

1878, 51.

Sidney Rigdon, 44-45; Backman, Heavens Resound, 13-14.

When Joseph met Walter Scott in Cincinnati in June 183 1, their was over New Testament gifts. ManH A-i, in PJS, 1:356. Quoted in Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon, 44, 62; Backman, Heavens Resound, 15-16. Campbell ascribed Rigdon 's conversion to "a peculiar mental and corporeal malady to which he has been subject for some years. Fits of melancholy succeeded by fits of 13-14, 118.

1

basic disagreement

21

enthusiasm accompanied by some kind of nervous spasms and swoonings." Millennial Harbinger, Feb.

22

7,

1831, 100.

Acts 2:43-45; 4-3^-

Thomas Campbell,

communal MoU, 121. For a comparison of movements, see Hughes, "Mormons and Churches of Alexander's father, attacked the

organization in a letter to Sidney Rigdon, Feb. 4, i^t,i. the early

Mormon and

Disciples

Christ," 348-63.

23

Morley, "Isaac Morley"; Whitmer, Book of John Whitmet; 27. Levi Hancock, visiting the "Family," felt sorry for the load taken on by Morley, "one of the most honest patient

24 25

men

ever saw."

I

"The company he maintained looked

on a famine." Hancock, Diary, 42. Quoted in Anderson, "Preaching in Ohio," 488. Shaker visionaries also received visits from "native and messages. Stein, Shaker Experience, 176.

spirits"

Corrill, Brief History, 8-10, 17.

27

MoU, 104-105; Hancock, Diary, 41. Some of the most recounted in Backman, "Non -Mormon View," 309-10. CorriW, Brief Histojy, 16.

29

MoU,

116;

tory, 14;

ManH A-i, in PJS,

Mark

1:347;

Whitmer, Book ofJohn Whitmer, iP&C, 43:2-3).

31

The

Shakers,

rifts

The

extravagant visions are

Hancock, Diary, 39-40, 46-47;

Corrill, Brief His-

16:15, ^^•

30

quences.

to bring

and translated native songs

26

28

enough

large

who

37;

MoU,

2 16;

ManH A-i, in PJS,

1:349; BofC, 45:2-3

did not curtail their visionaries as decisively, suffered the conse-

visionaries' contradictory

in the organization

and sometimes extreme revelations opened up

and eventually resulted

in a

burnout of the visionary impulse.

Stein, Shaker Experience, 183-87.

32

Corrill, Brief History, 17; Pratt, Autobiography, 65; JS to

PWJS, 33

Hyrum

Smith, Mar.

3,

183

1,

in

257.

17-21 (D&C, 50:1-4, 17-22); John 16:13;

Corrill, Brief History, 17-18; BofC, 53:1-4,

D&C [1835],

7:36; 82:5

and the Church, Mar.

(D&C,

88:118; 93:29-30); JS and others to

20, 1839, in

PWJS,

121:33, 42; 130:18-19); BofC, 44:46

Edward Partridge 2, 1843 (D&C,

440; Clayton, Journal, Apr.

{D&C,

42:61).

Lucy Smith, who

arrived in Kirt-

NOTES TO PAGES

594

I

5

2-1 56

land in time to observe the contortions of the possessed, said Joseph emphasized that

"when a man speaks by the Spirit of God, he speaks from the abundance of his heart mind is filled with intelhgence." BioS, 171-72. BofC, 53:25, 27 (D&C, 50:29, 31). Joseph later said tongues were provided to teach the gospel to people in foreign lands. Kirtland High Council, Minutes, Sept. 8, 1834. George A. Smith was still preaching against the visionaries in Nauvoo in 1842. T&S, his

34

Apr.

35

36

I,

1842, j^^-i^j.

BofC, 29:9; 41:12; 40:18, 28; 43:4 (D&C, 29:8; 39:13; 38:22, 32; 41:3). BofC, 44:5 (D&C, 42:4); Corrill, Brief History, 17. Levi Hancock was ordained an elder the

morning after his baptism in 1830. Almost immediately, he

started preaching

"from

place to place where the folks were well acquainted with me." Hancock, Diary, 34.

(D&C,

42:12); Mo{7, 115.

37

BofC, 44:13

38

Wigger, "Early American Methodism," 180.

42

Hatch analyzes the Mormon democratic impulses in his American Christianity, 1 1 3-2 2 {D&C, 42:11). BofC, 41 :4 {D&C, 39:6). Cf. BofC, 44:8 {D&C, 42 :7). Whitmer, Book of John Whitmer, 42, 47. For a description of missionary work out of

43

Van Wagoner,

39

40 41

BofC, 44:12

Kirtiand, see Bitton, "Missionary Activity," 497-516.

Sidney Rigdon, 93-94. Parley Pratt's abbreviated version

biography, 65. Oliver

Cowdery had been

Anderson, Book ofMoiynon

44

is

in Pratt, Atito-

well received by Kitchel in the

fall

of 1830.

Witnesses, 55.

Whitmer, Book ofJohn Whitmer, 56-57.

Six

hundred

is

Milton Backman's population

estimate in Heavens Resound, 51. Parley Pratt exuberantly claimed over a thousand

members 45 46

in

Ohio and

several

Marquardt, Joyep/? Smith

hundred

in

Revelations, 108,

New York. Autobiography, 1 1 1;

BofC, ^-.iS-k)

64.

{D&C, 42:30-35).

{D&C, 49:20). For a recent study of communal societies as a group, see Communal Utopias, which contains a thorough bibliography and listing of communities. The classic work is Bestor, Backwoods Utopias. For the mmibers of

BofC, 52:19-20

Pitzer, Americans

Utopian communities, see Clark, Communitarian Moment,

47

1

2

Richard Van Wagoner, following Fawn Brodie, credits Sidney Rigdon's interest in

Robert Owen's ideas with inspiring the consecration of properties. Besides the lack of evidence for Rigdon's interest, Owenite plans bore

48

littie

resemblance to the

Mormon

program. Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon, 49-50, 54, 85-86; Brodie, No Man Knows, 105. The revelation makes no reference to the New Testament practice of common property,

the inspiration for Isaac Morley's Kirtland "Family."

phrases like

"all

things in

common"

No

telltale

New Testament

appear in the revelation. Instead the revelation

invoked Enoch's City of Zion where "they were of one heart and of one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor

(Moses

49

7:18).

D&C [1835],

among them." E&MS, Aug.

1832, [18]

Later the system was referred to as "the Order of Enoch." 13:8, II

{D&C,

42:30, 38); BofC, 40:30

{D&C,

38:35). See also Mattiiew

25:40.

50

{D&C, 56:16-17); 5o/M, 81-82, 165,231,237,416, 535(2 Nephi 9:30, Mosiah 4:26; Alma 4:12; 5:55; Helaman 4:12; Mormon 8:37-39). Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigtna, 38-39; Woman's Exponent, Sept. i, 1878, 51; Rollins, Reminiscences, 3; Murdock, Diary, 2; Morton, "Julia Murdock Smith," 37-39. BofC, 58:19,21 42;

51

52

The

living

arrangements of the Smiths in the spring of 183 1 are not clearly explained For two attempts, see Morley, "Isaac Morley," 17-19, and

in the existing sources.

53

Newell and Avery, Mormon Etiigma, 39. William McLellin admired the "peace, order, harmony" of Mormon meetings in Missouri in August 1831 compared to the "shouting, screaming, jumping" in other c\mvc\\ts.'bAcLe\\in, Journals, 34 (Aug. 21, 183

54

BofC, 40:28; 45:16; 46:2

{D&C,

1).

38:32; 43:16; 44:2).

NOTES TO PAGES I56-I58 55

595

Hancock, Diary, 48; MoU, 188-89. Participants differ on the date, but June 3 seems to be the best guess. Levi Hancock gave June 4 as the date. Diary, 47. Parley Pratt said June 6. Autobiography, 72. John Whitmer, the Church historian, recorded June 3. Book ofJohn Whitmer, 69; FJVR, 6-7 (June 3, 183 1). John Smith agreed with Whitmer. J. Smith, Diary, 3-4.

56

Hancock, Diary, 48-49. Ezra Booth, an elder who shortiy apostatized, reported a failed attempt at healing at the conference. MoU, 190-91. Hancock, a solid reporter, said

57

Whitmer, Book ofJohn Whitmer,

nothing about

it.

85.

John

Corrill,

who was

meeting, said "some

at the

doubting took place among the elders, and considerable conversation was held on the subject.

58

59

The

endowments,

it

took

,

for example),

60

elders not fairly understanding the nature of the

some time to reconcile all their feelings." Brief History, 18. ManH A- 1 in P75, i:353;Hancock, Diary, 49; Whitmer, 5oo^o/7o^w Whitmer, 71. John Corrill was not thrown by what he saw at the meeting. "The same visionary and marvellous spirits, spoken of before, got hold of some of the elders; it threw one from his seat to the floor; it bound another, so that for some time he could not use his limbs nor speak; and some other curious effects were experienced, but, by a mighty exertion, in the name of the Lord, it was exposed and shown to be from an evil source." Corrill, BriefHistory, 18. "High priest" appears in Old and New Testaments (Leviticus 21:10 and Hebrews 3:1, and was the chief administrative

officer in lodges of

Royal Arch Masons.

Mackey, Lexicon of Freemasonry, 195-96. The account of John the Baptist and the Aaronic Priesthood {D&C, 13) did not appear in the Doctrine and Covenants until 1876, though John's bestowal of priesthood was

mentioned in the 1835 edition. D&C [1835], 50:2 {D&C, 27:7-8). John's prayer, differendy worded, was included in Oliver Cowdery's 1834 account of John's appearance. M&A I (Oct. 1834): 16. It was published in the current form in T&S in 1842. Cook,

The history of section 27 is detailed in Woodford, "Historical Development," 1:393-98. The truncated version of section 27 appears as section 28 in the 1833 Book of Commandments. For the background, see Quinn, Origins of Power, 1-38; Prince,

Revelations, 23.

Power from On High, i-io. 61

A Universalist magazine made Satan the founder of priesthood: hood commenced cate,

his

"The father of priestwhen coiled around the tree of knowledge." Gospel AdvoMiriam Murdock has explored this theme in "Patterns of the

work,

Mar. 21, 1829, 105.

Priesthood."

62

David Whitmer blamed the introduction of the priesthood on Sidney Rigdon. 0?naha Whitmer, Interviews, 202-203.

Herald, Oct. 17, 1886, in

63

Holland, "Priest, Pastor, and Power," 9-10; Cannon, "Licensing," 96-105.

One

early

form of discipline in the Church was to be "silenced from holding the office of Elders" without excommunication, implying that offices could be given and taken away. FWR, 64

11-12 (Sept. I, 6, 183 1). Genesis 14:18-20; Hebrews

FWR,

5:6; 7:1-3;

7

(June

3,

1831);

Whitmer, Book ofJohn

Whitmer, 69.

65

ManH A-i, in PJS

1:353.

The

passage appeared in the T&S, Feb.

i,

1844, publication

ofJoseph's history, but then was crossed out by Willard Richards in the manuscript and

new wording supplied: of the Elders."

66 67 68

"I conferred the

high priesthood for the

first

time,

upon

several

When the change was made cannot be determined, nor whether Joseph

Smith authorized it. Whitmer, Book ofJohn Whitmer, 70-7 1 Ohver Cowdery likewise was ordained high priesthood after returning from Missouri. FWR, 10 (Aug. 28, 183 1). .

HC,

to the

1:176, n.

For the bestowal of the Melchizedek Priesthood Corrill, Brief History, 18.

in 1831, see Hill, Quest for Refuge, 25;

NOTES TO PAGES I58-164

596 69

Brigham Young

mean

to

Priesthood until 183 courses,

70

Quinn, Origins of Power, 26, interprets a later statement by Peter, James, and John did not restore the Melchizedek and in Kirtland. Young's statement is zmhiguous. Jou?-nal of Dis-

Pratt, Autobiography, 72.

1

9:89-90 (May

7,

1861).

Joseph's 1838 history had already given an account of praying for the Melchizedek

Priesthood in June 1829,

another elders.

when he and

ManH A-i,

Oliver

Cowdery were

in PJS, 1:299-300.

This entry

instructed to ordain one

in Joseph's history vests the

of elder with the Melchizedek Priesthood in 1 829, making the first bestowal of that same priesthood on the elders in 1 8 3 1 redundant. A Campbellite in Kirtland in the fall of 1830 heard the Mormon missionaries say that "no legal administrator" was on the earth to administer baptism "until God had called them to the office." Quoted in Backman, "Non-Mormon View," 308. For an effort to work out the gradually unfolding of priesthood, see Prince, Power from On High. Prince accepts the reality of the revelations but believes Joseph Smith did not have the vocabulary to understand the experiences at first. For a discussion of ordination to the ministry in seventeenth-century New England, office

71

see Davies, American Puritans, 2

72 73

74

1

5-25.

D(r^C [1835], 4:3 (D^yC, 84:20-21). Brodie, No Man Knows, iii; Kimball, "Melchizedek," 17-28. Melchizedek also had overtones of the king-priest who combined religion and state power, a theme Joseph would return to toward the end of his life. Kenny, Elias Smith, 184. BofM, 259-60 (Alma 13:6, 18); JS, New Translation, 641 (JST Genesis 14:27-29). Alma said "an exceedingly great many" were ordained high priests and entered the rest of the

Lord. Alma 13:12. 75

JS,

New

Translation,

641 (JST Genesis 14:26-33).

CHAPTER 1

8

ZION

Whitmer, Book ofJohn Whitmer, 69, 81; BofC, 54 {D&C, 52); Oliver Cowdery to JS, 8, 1 83 1, JSC. For Cowdery's mission, see Walker, "Native American,"5-9; Romig, "Lamanite Mission," 24-33. BofC, 30:8-9 (D&C, 28:9). The phrase "on the borders by the Lamanites" may be an anachronism. The version published in the Ohio Star in Dec. 1831 had the words

April

2

"among

the Lamanites." Marqu-irdt, Joseph S?nith Revelations, 85.

3

ManH A-i,inP7S',

4

BofC, 44:29; 54:44 {D&C, 42:35; 52:43). ManH A-i, in PJS, 1:356-57.

1:354, strikeout omitted. 5o/C, 44:9, 47, 51 (£)