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Revelation, 4 September 1837

Source Note

Revelation, , Geauga Co., OH, 4 Sept. 1837. Featured version copied [between 13 and 29 Mar. 1838] in JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, p. 23; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838.

Historical Introduction

JS dictated a revelation on 4 September 1837 making it known that and had transgressed in some unspecified manner. One plausible reason for this divine rebuke was the two leaders’ handling of property in .
In August 1836, and selected a 640-acre site for the new gathering place for the Saints in . The site, known as , was located in what would become . Using funds obtained from Saints in Kentucky and Tennessee, Phelps and Whitmer purchased an additional 1,240 acres between early November 1836 and the end of January 1837 and pushed forward an ambitious plan for building Far West, including laying out the city plat and making plans to build a . They did so without consulting the church —or even the other local religious authorities, such as the and —which caused concern among the Missouri high counselors. In a letter written the next year, recalled what he saw as misdeeds by Phelps and Whitmer. He wrote:
But these men, instead of laying out the money for the benefit of poor bleeding , purchased land for their own emolument. They generally did their business, independently of the aid, or counsel of either the Bishop, or High Council. This gave some uneasiness to the two authorities of Zion: not only because they purchased land with church funds, in their own name, for their own aggrandizement, but because they selected the place for the city , and appointed the spot for the to be built on, drew the plan of said house, and appointed and ordained a committee to build the same, without seeking counsel, at the hand of either Bishop, High Council, or First Presidency; when it was well understood that these authorities were appointed for the purpose of counseling on all important matters pertaining to the Saints of God. These two presidents also managed to get the town plot into their own hands, that they might reap the avails arising from the sales of the lots.
In response to such concerns, the high council met on 3 April 1837 and determined that they should speak with and . This meeting occurred on 7 April, and the church leaders in who attended unanimously agreed that the city plat of Far West would remain as it was originally drafted by Phelps and Whitmer. The Missouri leaders also voted that the price and sale of town lots “be left with the Judgment of the wise men,” including Phelps, Whitmer, , and Partridge’s counselors in the Missouri bishopric. According to , “During this labor the two presidents acknowledged they were wrong, and they, to all appearance, willingly suffered themselves to be corrected by the Council.” Despite the earlier disagreement and this reproof, Phelps and Whitmer were appointed as those who would “superintend the building of the in this City Far West and receive Revelations Visions &c concerning said house.”
Though the high council and bishopric came to an agreement with and on the land issues and the , problems involving Phelps and Whitmer resurfaced. By early November 1837, two months after this revelation, JS arrived in and held a conference to set the church in order. At a 6 November meeting, Phelps and Whitmer made remarks in an extensive discussion of “the previous disposition of the Town plot and the purchase of land &c.” Again the matter seemed settled, but controversy emerged once more in the November 1837 meetings because Phelps and Whitmer had retained the money received from the sale of land rather than giving that money to for the use of the church. Discontent over this matter lingered into February 1838 when Phelps and Whitmer were charged with improperly using “monies which were loaned for the Church.”
A copy of this revelation was likely carried to by , who was also charged with carrying JS’s 4 September 1837 letter to the church in Missouri. copied this revelation into JS’s journal sometime in mid-March 1838. It was one of a series of document copies and summaries Robinson penned at this time, all of which pertained to JS’s ongoing efforts to set church leadership in order and replace several church leaders.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For more on the creation of Caldwell County and the founding of Far West, Missouri, see Application for Land Patent, 22 June 1836; and Letter from William W. Phelps, 7 July 1837; see also “Description of Far West Plat,” 1837, copy, Brigham Young University and Church History and Doctrine Department, Church History Project Collection, CHL.

    “Description of Far West Plat,” 1837. Brigham Young University and Church History and Doctrine Department, Church History Project Collection, 1977–1981. Photocopy. CHL. Original at State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia.

  2. [2]

    Murdock, Journal, 27–30 July 1836.

    Murdock, John. Journal, ca. 1830–1859. John Murdock, Journal and Autobiography, ca. 1830–1867. CHL. MS 1194, fd. 2.

  3. [3]

    Thomas B. Marsh to Wilford Woodruff, in Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 36–38, italics in original.

    Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.

  4. [4]

    Minute Book 2, 3 and 7 Apr. 1837.

  5. [5]

    Thomas B. Marsh to Wilford Woodruff, in Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 36–38.

    Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.

  6. [6]

    Minute Book 2, 7 Apr. 1837.

  7. [7]

    The agreement involved Phelps and Whitmer deeding the Far West plat to Edward Partridge. The Missouri bishop then mortgaged the plat to Phelps and Whitmer, bonding himself to pay them $3,450 within the next two years. (Edward Partridge to John Whitmer and William W. Phelps, Bond, 17 May 1837, John Whitmer Family Papers, CHL; Edward Partridge and Lydia Clisbee Partridge to John Whitmer and William W. Phelps, Mortgage, 17 May 1837, John Whitmer Family Papers, CHL; Minutes, 6 Nov. 1837.)

    John Whitmer Family Papers, 1837–1912. CHL.

  8. [8]

    Minutes, 6 Nov. 1837; Minutes, 10 Nov. 1837; Minute Book 2, 5–9 Feb. 1838, pp. 97–98.

  9. [9]

    See Letter to John Corrill and the Church in Missouri, 4 Sept. 1837; and Thomas B. Marsh to Wilford Woodruff, in Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 36–37.

    Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.

  10. [10]

    Letter to John Corrill and the Church in Missouri, 4 Sept. 1837.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Revelation, 4 September 1837
Journal, March–September 1838 History, 1838–1856, volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 23

Revelation to Joseph Smith Jr Given in Geauga Co. Ohio Sept 4th 1837
Making known the transgression of
Verily thus saith the Lord unto you my Servent Joseph. My Servents & have done those things which are not pleasing in my sight Therefore if they repent not they shall be removed out of their places Amen—
J Smith Jr [p. 23]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revelation, 4 September 1837
ID #
359
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D5:431–433
Handwriting on This Page
  • George W. Robinson

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