Revelation, 15 March 1832 [D&C 81]

Home >
The Papers >

Revelation, 15 March 1832 [D&C 81]
Source Note
Revelation,
Hiram Township
Area settled by immigrants from Pennsylvania and New England, ca. 1802. Located in northeastern Ohio about twenty-five miles southeast of Kirtland. Population in 1830 about 500. Population in 1840 about 1,100. JS lived in township at home of John and Alice...
More Info
, OH, 15 Mar. 1832. Featured version copied [between 15 Mar. and ca. 1 Apr. 1832] in Revelation Book 2, pp. 17–18; handwriting of
Frederick G. Williams
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio
; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 2.
Historical Introduction
The index to Revelation Book 2 identifies “
Jesse Gauze [Gause]
Ca. 1784–ca. Sept. 1836. Schoolteacher. Born at East Marlborough, Chester Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Gause (Goss) and Mary Beverly. Joined Society of Friends (Quakers), 1806. Moved to Fayette Co., Pennsylvania, 1808; to Chester Co., 1811; and to Wilmington...
View Full Bio
” as the subject of this 15 March 1832 revelation, although the revelation refers to him only as “Jesse.” Gause had recently been called as a counselor to JS in the
presidency of the high priesthood
Both the office of the president of the high priesthood and the body comprising the president and his counselors; the presiding body of the church. In November 1831, a revelation directed the appointment of a president of the high priesthood. The individual...
View Glossary
.
1
Revelation Book 2, Index, [1]; Note, 8 Mar. 1832.
A November 1831 revelation declared that presidents were to be appointed to preside over groups of men who held various offices, including the office of
high priest
An ecclesiastical and priesthood office. Christ and many ancient prophets, including Abraham, were described as being high priests. The Book of Mormon used the term high priest to denote one appointed to lead the church. However, the Book of Mormon also discussed...
View Glossary
.
2
Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:60–65].
JS was
ordained
The conferral of power and authority; to appoint, decree, or set apart. Church members, primarily adults, were ordained to ecclesiastical offices and other responsibilities by the laying on of hands by those with the proper authority. Ordinations to priesthood...
View Glossary
president of the
high priesthood
The authority and power held by certain officers in the church. The Book of Mormon referred to the high priesthood as God’s “holy order, which was after the order of his Son,” and indicated that Melchizedek, a biblical figure, was a high priest “after this...
View Glossary
at a 25 January 1832
conference
A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...
View Glossary
in
Amherst
Located in northeastern Ohio on southern shore of Lake Erie. Area settled, ca. 1810. County organized, 1824. Formed from Black River Township, Dec. 1829. Population in 1830 about 600. Population in 1840 about 1,200. Parley P. Pratt settled in township, Dec...
More Info
, Ohio.
3
Minute Book 2, 26–27 Apr. 1832.
On 8 March 1832, JS appointed Gause and
Sidney Rigdon
19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full Bio
as “councillers of the ministry of the presidency of th[e] high Pristhood.”
4
For more information on the appointment of Gause and Rigdon as counselors, see Historical Introduction to Note, 8 Mar. 1832.
While Rigdon had been associated with JS almost since Rigdon’s
baptism
An ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...
View Glossary
in November 1830, Gause was a relatively new member, baptized sometime in late 1831 or early 1832.
5
No record of Gause’s baptism has been found. In October 1831, he was living in North Union, Ohio, a Shaker community fifteen miles from Kirtland, which indicates that his baptism did not occur until sometime after that. (Jennings, “Consequential Counselor,” 198–199.)
Comprehensive Works Cited
Jennings, Erin B. “The Consequential Counselor: Restoring the Root(s) of Jesse Gause.” Journal of Mormon History 34 (Spring 2008): 182–227.
This 15 March 1832 revelation instructed Gause in his duties as counselor. In addition, it acknowledged JS as president of the high priesthood and stated that “the keys of the Kingdom” rested with him.

Because
Gause
View Full Bio
apparently acted as a scribe for JS’s revisions of the New Testament between 8 and 20 March 1832,
6
Jennings, “Consequential Counselor,” 183.
it is likely that the nonextant original manuscript of this revelation was in Gause’s own handwriting.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio
copied the revelation into Revelation Book 2, probably sometime before 1 April 1832. At a later point—sometime after the appointment of Williams as a counselor to JS in January 1833
7
Williams replaced Gause, who was excommunicated in December 1832. (JS, Journal, 3 Dec. 1832.)
—
Oliver Cowdery
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full Bio
replaced Gause’s name with Williams’s in the Revelation Book 2 copy (which is the version featured below).
8
Revelation Book 2, pp. 17–18; Minute Book 1, 18 Mar. 1833. In the copy of this revelation made by John Whitmer in Revelation Book 1, Gause’s name was also later crossed out and Williams’s name inserted. (Revelation Book 1, p. 139.)
Someone—likely Cowdery—crossed out Gause’s name as well. The published versions of this revelation in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, and the 15 August 1844 issue of the Times and Seasons all have Williams’s name instead of Gause’s.
9
Doctrine and Covenants 79, 1835 ed.; Doctrine and Covenants 80, 1844 ed.; “History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 15 Aug. 1844, 5:609.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
This indicates that JS and others regarded this revelation as containing general information about the duties of a counselor, rather than instructions specific to Gause.
Footnotes
[1]
Revelation Book 2, Index, [1]; Note, 8 Mar. 1832.
[2]
Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:60–65].
[3]
Minute Book 2, 26–27 Apr. 1832.
[4]
For more information on the appointment of Gause and Rigdon as counselors, see Historical Introduction to Note, 8 Mar. 1832.
[5]
No record of Gause’s baptism has been found. In October 1831, he was living in North Union, Ohio, a Shaker community fifteen miles from Kirtland, which indicates that his baptism did not occur until sometime after that. (Jennings, “Consequential Counselor,” 198–199.)
[6]
Jennings, “Consequential Counselor,” 183.
[7]
Williams replaced Gause, who was excommunicated in December 1832. (JS, Journal, 3 Dec. 1832.)
[8]
Revelation Book 2, pp. 17–18; Minute Book 1, 18 Mar. 1833. In the copy of this revelation made by John Whitmer in Revelation Book 1, Gause’s name was also later crossed out and Williams’s name inserted. (Revelation Book 1, p. 139.)
[9]
Doctrine and Covenants 79, 1835 ed.; Doctrine and Covenants 80, 1844 ed.; “History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 15 Aug. 1844, 5:609.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Revelation, 15 March 1832 [D&C 81]
Revelation Book 2 Revelation Book 1 Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] Doctrine and Covenants, 1844 “History of Joseph Smith”
Page 17
Hide editing marks

Hiram
Area settled by immigrants from Pennsylvania and New England, ca. 1802. Located in northeastern Ohio about twenty-five miles southeast of Kirtland. Population in 1830 about 500. Population in 1840 about 1,100. JS lived in township at home of John and Alice...
More Info
Portage Co Ohio March 15th 1832
1
It is unknown whether this heading appeared in the original manuscript; Frederick G. Williams may have added it when he copied the revelation into Revelation Book 2.

Verily Verily I say unto you my servant
Jesse [Gause]
View Full Bio
listen to the voice of him who speaketh to thee the word of the Lord your God, and hearken [p. 17]
View entire transcript
|
Cite this page
Source Note
Document Transcript
Page 17
Document Information
Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revelation, 15 March 1832 [D&C 81]
ID #
2953
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D2:207–208
Handwriting on This Page
Footnotes
[1]
It is unknown whether this heading appeared in the original manuscript; Frederick G. Williams may have added it when he copied the revelation into Revelation Book 2.