the life and contributions of newel kimball whitney

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Theses and Dissertations

1966

The Life and Contributions of Newel Kimball Whitney The Life and Contributions of Newel Kimball Whitney

Larry Neil Poulsen Brigham Young University - Provo

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A

THE LIFE AND contributions OF NE WEL KIMBALL WHITNEY

A thesis

submitted to

graduate department of religious instructionLasthastbast

brigham

ruction

young university

provo utah

in partial fulfillment

of the requirement for the degree

niasteriviasterdiasterIviivl ofofartsobartsaster arts

by

larry N poulsen

april 1966

00ayay3

NEWEL

cayecare exam

gratsgrate

heiphelp

sincesimce

heiphelp

dibdiscoutacouracoure ontoutent

duhmfuhm it is

acknowledgment

completion of this work wabwaawas madem possible due to the help and

encouragement of several people because of their assistance the writer

was never defeated by discouragement

dr russell R rich my graduate committee chaitmanchairman made

careful examination of thisghisghib work and with his profound knowledge of

L D so church history suggested many changes which make the writ-

ing more accurate his friendliness andaed kindly nature gave me encourageencourage11

ment during months of research

I11 am grateful to ordr dean christiansenchristianson committee member for

his interest andabdend cooperation

special thanks goesgoosoesgoeboo tos the library steffstaffsterfs efof brigham young univer-

sity who werewerowezeweyo most helpful during long hshours of research the cheer-

fulness aadand cooperation shown by thebethesethentheb people were greatly appreciated

sincere appreciation also goes to the staff of the church historians

library in salt lake city for directing the research of the many docu-

ments andendemd materials in that library which contributed to the fulfillment

efof this project

members of the whitney family and particularlypasticpaxtic Jalyrly fred whit-

ney of saltsait lake city were very helpful in offering their assistance andend

iii111lii

discoura

comm e chaitchair

a

S

nks th

c ibutsd

is

S

11frie ailallali on

fulg ent

ncouragncojrag m nt asis wellwalweliwaiw asal making availabiavailablavailably for this work mat rials

in theirthar possession

this acknowledgmacknowledge nt would not b compljfj without xprssing

appreciation to sondra grisard for hrher cooperation in tha final typing

of this manuscript

I1 also wish to express appreciation to my mothermothomothe r inlawiin lawnla thelma

B waddoups for her valuablevaluablvaluably assistanceassi instancestanco typing rfvmcz materialmatjrial

and for her constant ncouragtmantzncouragjmznt during th months spent on this pro-

ject

and finally my appreciation to my lovely wife mignon who

gava birth to a child just at the time whnahn this work was bingbang completedcompletcomplect

ar many hours of assistance in typing has benbcnban a valuablevaluablvaluably service

mignons&gnonsmiglonsMig faithnons that I1 would complatcompltjcomplot this work howcvzr and her con-

stant geniegenlj urging for amzmz to continue on with this writing has beenbuen th2th0thetha

most helpful assistantassistanceassistancassis rnderrnderjdtanc torn meder

IV

d

matbat Z

gengan

comcobplatpletpiet

apprapar ciationclationciatronciation

apprapar ciationciatronciation

h r I1 rial

j ct

d

I1 r b un

l1 m

iv

valuablabi

valuablabi s rvicarvic

compi t

nong

cla

cla

ander

ghtaht

to my father edgar poulsonPe whouleen recently passed away

and who always taught me to follow the example of leaders such

asateaibalb newel K whitney

tibetiba church16441950IM1644

newel kimball whitneywhitmywhitly17951850179516501795 18501650

secoma presidingdiebopbitiop of tl

1950diebow

TABLEtible OF CONTENTS

PAGE

frontispieceacknowledgments

LIST OF illustrations viii

chapter

L introductionstatement of the problemjustification of the studyareas of interest considered in this

vritingrilingprevious vorkjork on the subjectdefinition of termsmethod of procedure and sources of

data

II11 NEWEL KIMBALL WHITNEY A YOUNG MANWITH A PURPOSE

I1

ianlan

iii

5

birthplacehonored nameboyhood and youthindian tradergilbert and whitneymarriage to elizabeth annreligious affiliationsthe campbellitesCampbel andlites sidney rigdonbeliefs and doctrinesesteemed pastorthe conversion of parley P pratt

and othersrigdonsRig firstdons contact with the eldersthe spread of mormonism among the

campbellitesCampbelsidney

litesrigdon joins with the new faith

the conversion of the whitneyswhitneytWhitpartial

neysfulfillment of promise

the condition of the church duringthis period

v

PA gelGEE

ju st ficationcatlon

writing

chapterchapt page

III111ililii THrhe BISHOP OF THE KIRTLAND SAINTS 26

the prophets arrival in kirtlanddiscontinuance of common lawthe appointment of bishop partridgezionimportance of the gilbert and whitney

storeappointment of newelnewe K hitneywhitney as

bishopduties of bishop hitneywhitneythe kingdom of god restoredwhitneyswhitneytWhit reactionneys to the callingqualifications of bishop whitneyarea of responsibilitysponsibilityAethe united orderjourney to missourithe gilbert and whitney storeeventful journey from missouri to

kirtlandfurther responsibilitiesA journey and warningschool of the prophetsA warning to church leadersrelief of the saintsdiscontinuance of the united ordernaming of the churchA specialSip blessingecialnewels parents

IV THE NAUVOONAUVCU PERIOD 74

temporary homewards organizedbranch at zarahemlaZarahcivic

emlaand municipal organizations

nauvoo charterthe smith storefemale relief societynauvoo templebishop whitneyswhitneytWhit responsibilitiesneyspresiding bishopplural marriagemarriage of joseph to sarah ann

hitneywhitney

vi

r

&

vv

1

bartersuarterstartersmigration ol0101 saints to cutaiautaiiutaiabrighabrigharnBrig youngharn

chaptechapterschacte arageirage

document on pluralflural marriagecarriagetrustee iinintrusttrustntrudissentiondissectionDis amongsention church leadershipleaderssidney

hiprigdon cut off

finishing the templetempielaying of capstonededication of attic storyordinance workcare of lucylccy amith3mithkyiitlh

V THE LAST DAYS IN AN EVENTITULEVENTFUL LIFE 95

leaving nauvooconditions oiof campexcoiniiiuiiicatexcoinmu onldcatonld ofcaton bishop filler

lauciiuciwuc y

I1 I1

I1 I1

135lob

B LINES ON THE DEATH OF BISHOP NEVELNEELK11. HITNEY

facFAG

inter

sustained s presidentarrival at salt lake citystate of deseretcurrency issuedcitygity of ogdenother activitiesactivitie of hitneywhitney

hitnebitne s life closes

summaryulmaryUl

APPENDIX

MARY

J

115

C LGERNONALGERNON SYDNEY GILBERT 116

0 reproductionreproductions OF BISHOP VHITNEYWHITNEY ANDTWO WIVLvvivlo 113

L facsinilesfacsimiles OF BILLS ISSULDISSUED BY KIRTLANDLSAFLTY SOCIETYSOCLEVY AND THE ORIGINAL WHIT-NEY STORLSTORE 119

SELECTEDLECTELID bibliographybibliogrinpi 12

vii

r s age

& aflerffler7

1

T as

wliftnea Is J

s THLTHE FAMILYfarFAIfri OF NEWCL K VHITNEYILY NE WEL VHITN L Y

i

NDT v10 6 1 1 i I1 1

1 1

1 1nilel

AYtS

Ipareilarelare

lly

almary

1.1

0.0

I1iliallla T tl

ballbali

hitnebitne and

dethbety

1 I1 ewelegel M iball hienehitne1hitne rontipievc

me areljveive 1 ir t ro 1 iverlver

5irfcil of bill I1 ud lb rt IA n 1 f0

theaheaho hitney tto

v113

irtlinj detyocitobit bo c

T 1

kzew4eikj

a ajvai4 L itea

li- r

liitney1iftneyloitney and the church heliefiefle served o0 faithfullyfaithfalth andfullylully veilwellveliweilweli

ven though hitney viv onei of the early convertconsert

ithuthiabcrcicrc hehz nad cnlileil intiznateintha acquaintancediateriate 7 itl

ionlon

denionstrateddernonstrated his confidenceconnconE indence him fie liasilasliiaslilas recorded the reat love and

respect he hadnad for this talvartgalvarttal ol0101vartmart the church as willall be seen in later

chapterchapters it seemed worthrhileworthvhileworthwhileworth torhile the writer to investigate and nakemakemalef record

of the life of a man held in such high regard by re identaident joseghjoseph i ith

thithl

refres iding bi

hiihil

chaichal tir I1

iitxcdlctiuis

tatementstatementbatement ofol01 the i robjemrubiemrubied

the purpose of th writing i to present a biography of newelnevel

mcballmmballkalliiiail whitneyriballribail with emphasis on his personal life and his contributions

to the church of jesus christ of latter day daintaintfdainasaintf

aeqe churnchur littleij ha been written

concerning liorcarc atlitll

u affidationt1101011affication QJof ne jy

the liirtoriiittor of any eople to beliebieite complete will include muehmuch on the

historyviiIiivil 01cstory tie live ond contributions of its leader 0 it i vatnvitn nevel

1

to the church

oi01 beisjeisJC christ of latteriatter day 5aintlhaintl and va the eond ordained bishop

and laterluter the I1 residing bishop of te

jo epilephepli itbath

the firstiirstbirst pre ident of the church beconingconingbeaconingbe a eioreclorecloseclorrioreflosefiose friende ndand aca ociateociatcopiate

to him josep kield bishop hitneyvhitneyitney in high esteeiesteel and on manymans oca

E T j U 10N

ie pre ent

I1 the t

nd

V vas Cdhur h

US aint

hop t

hi

urtheri 1

id it 0

i bi hop

great a id

ire c to tb

p-

h

da

T F R

tatement i

urthuriherihurl at

Vh I L

I

llad

lre

tai

bond

whitney

conroncoi iovc lecler

ordoverorjoveroruover evidence indateinjiateinJiain

tnttiiati

dateei veideidelA u ed ni pla cu 010 ba adnedne ti ularly luringduring clethecieule I1 artlandirtlandirtitnd

periodP fr urri od iv r 2 f L 3 lileillelide i L 11 1 C t rortcort

k- e itILA iycirvc ofir ticcic alijlijile 001 nitnj

ipleipieaiple

ntiljintii i is leathdeath in utan in 11.

I1 inelne

ilslis hitneybitney de-

voted idshisiss lifeweilfe to anetne jausejaudause oi01se the iiurcnchurch

thetee

tiltii uiaula

biliii

iealea melrmelc

hlfhis

andarddj lteriteritesiteate

iovelove

cstcut ol0101 liecielae writer to

oreoruoverjovercover

aitoritor d ii buniebluie I1 lieiklei t

l-

ot t c eoiij i

0

bitingriting

1 the connection of newelne iwelwei

artlandirtland

ajiocjioedioedlo and vicinity

3 hi intimate acquaintance itwith idneadney igdonugdonaugdon t e cropundropundrorlin

ent campbellitempbellitecpacla preacherbreacherpreacpreace iner chio andind later a leader in the church7i ofI1amrimri

jesus christ of latte rd aintsailtsi

arlagebarriage

alonlo rk the re in

ulokishisuio connection with the practice of plural ariagerrariagerarriagerr oiof ttheac

particularly

tc irc e II11 L

j t r L t li

brutrrurtzrut iriccilc tetiietile CIILCHLclilcill 11 i Cje tJ tir I1t ali01 incim

0

L dul

v

tter in

i c c d i a C

duim hi

riod ci 0 re idliadli iiopL nent jn aneefneranerafner azi v 2t j- t C1 li et uit jrgo

t e intercutinterntereetere

v

u fu 1 ine un in

i ole i thetl afairaffairsabairic aran 1 T 0 t of V e

v hurch in chioghiochloohio

5 hiehir connection mithvith the nauvoo feiiple and the orrinanordinncoriinanordin enc

vork therein

S

tiiirci and the preservationpreserbreser ofatlon title e 132nd132137 ectionrectionactionrnd of the doctrineqoctrineooctrine and

C

tn tri le

p a r 1

i r 0

3 i c

i t c ie ate pt thlthi rojeirojetrojebrojegoject t

veirearei oiof intereinterestinhere C on s ide red in tiitia i

i roject

t consideredcon insidered tlliiiiilif vritiariti

3 1

e apxpe r ien c e s as azi ur 1 ine i J n in I1 i rt1 an 1

CA iioliorio

i

r

T oi1 t

IC

te

pract ce

tie

or te

i tor

j n e t

inanialnanlal

ct

ori inan

nne

urf itoi

int

gita

lne

zith

tila

dau

toi

noje

mra

orl

atil

indane

arc

ater

biod giop

argoat

bract

ai

I11 12A

2

Z

tiit

hitneythitneywhitney

experiencesii

vita

a

the 31 of

letylecybety

hortihortchort eketchesketchersketches of his life have beenbeeh

I1

I1 er

iivoilvo

lomLOU n of the tweiyetwelvetweite fekerrexerfekecve to moetoe teletwelveweinewelvet apostlesapoctleapostle or council

of twelve 0 thecaecheuteete cljliliC

the leimicimlelm

teiebele

tlethe

whonho

brittenvritten by ndrewandrew jenson and

cr on y hitnehitne vhitneywhitney tese sketchesketchessketched

br ve been referred to in this writing

definition of terrtcrrterotarreeral ternstertistertec ubeauseduseauleans in tintill riting7riting aredre peuliapeulirpeculiarpeu rilclir to the churchhura oj

jesu ristliristhirist of latterlatteatter rdda aint these terriaterri3 are 01 follows

thetle ternteinte agurcijnurcnr 3halljnallahall refer to the churchchuich ol0101 jejetjes 3.3 christ ui

attematternatteratter dayrd int

ctiativtiesaties

covenant

is emotivities in tet Le irtlandartland afetysifety cietyci lniveruniveretyecy it of

uvo th s it of livo and the proposed territory of emeretseereteqeretleereteveretSe

reviousprevious

eret

storkyork on the subject

fr teneiveextensivegeneiveex vorwor hi been done on the life of newel 11

the grandsongrandongrapra ofndonadon newelnevel Fk

tcle balersialersic tocers an ecclcsiadticaiecclcsicticai diiioridifiori oioi tat1V e rjirch

the terntein ardvardrard refers to anam ecclesiastic iiilil ioxc of azt stsrsisr

the term r residing bishokbibhopbish2k shallshalishail referreterieterlefer to the residing einopiiiiop

over all the church

the term lderjlderliderlideiideraldert relerreferrelec b to one vho holdsholde tiietl 0 liceficecicehice of lidericierloterloler in111ii thel

elchizedeki4elchizedekmelchizedek priesthood of0 theL churchcnurchr

the term bishop arelersrelers to one vno is the preidinpreadiilfreidinpre idin aut oitolt012ait

C 0 venalA

Hs 1 c ietyL cac& I1

M L eqt ie irolo ed territolaterritoltercTerr iitol

1 ub ectact

T ese

cl iiiitioniiiition i

Leral 0

JCSU a

aurci V ie C

er

j L I1

l airizioc i- f1

2

le

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hit-

ney bee-ri vritten

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riting

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itiiiiii jr wiiiiiii

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bordareordareoreu OUACrddardac iniujejin nunijlbijleludedluded berouierou

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1.1 j

CHAPTER il

NEWEL KIMBALL WHITNEY A YOUNG MAN WITH A PURPOSE

birtheacbirthplaceBirthEin a study of the history of the church of jesus christ of latter

day saints it is of interest that the beautiful state of vermont has been

the birthplace of many of the church leaders who rose to prominence in

the early days of the restored gospel some of the little towns and vil-

lages where these men spent their formative years are practically non-

existent today but they are remembered because they are inseparably

connected with the lives of these great leaders

one such town is marlborough windham county it was here

where samuel and susannah kimball1kimballiKimballKimkib whitney1balli resided when their first

son and second child was born to them on february 5 1795 he was given

the name newel kimball whitney seven other brothers and sisters

followed but it was newel who was destined to make the whitney name

famous in the annals of the restored church

tracing the whitney line J fred whitney of salt lake citya descendant of newel K whitney has been unable to find any connectionbetween susannah kimball whitney mother of newel and heberhaber C

kimball heber C kimball married a daughter of newel becoming hissoninlawson

rson

in

F

law

whitney through memorybemous halls the life storystouston oforson F whitneywhitne independence missouri zions printing and publish-ing company 1930 p 11 hereafter cited as whitney memorymemordemor halls

5

e

fouowedz

lin

orson memous

q

ac

newlnewanewi K11 Whitwhitnwhitneyneyncy

ameriaberiaberlcan orlesoriesonles encyclopedia nwnawN yorkw spencer prsserssincorpitcorp

rataynatayrabay

I1

honored namnamz

newiNJWInewl K ivvvhitneyvvhitney camecainecalne from a sturdy line of nkwncnaw glandersenglandersCnw dat-

ing back vn generationgenegane torations john whitney who embarked at the port of

london in the spring of 1635 and in juna of that year settledsatla in watertown

massachusetts 2

iccihc wilitneyvliitneyWI namnarnnainLitney ic one of th oldest and most ditingai hed in

westernesternVv england dating back lo10to A D 1066 the time of th normannonnom

gonqaestconqjeat

nan

whitbrwhitirwhitneyay meanmeano whitewhitowhite waterwater1waterb and derives its origin from the

riverkiver wye famedfarned as th most beautiful river in england flowing near

the borderbordfborda of waleswalewaie the name aloo signifiessignifte ih island of th wi e

1 american peoples

thetha contributor saltlake city deret news co

irygry

nitehite stepldotestepsteple lurchescnurchescilurcheschurchescipldld rich in the history and

tradition of old vermont

newnewn A

aandan

ah1h

anaan1whitney11iitney

pidald

6

thtiitia arlyar yl cirsare jx N w 1 I1 V vn y lflifl wojwrjf spont in marlbor-

ough located on a prominent hill from which could be zzn many milmii of

gren countrywidecountrycounlry anaandale woodedwood- d molirilain

aheihrlahrn vermont landocaplandscaplandscapelandoland hascapscap a distinctive character hilly farmfarb

and patches of woodland agaiajtctgaiiui da background of raiayrniani grgir917ty m mountains

in almost every corner of the state ararz antique buildings quaint old fash

ionedboned general storbst andoret white

1963 XIX 264

rson F

J A V li Z 11wa 0 tz

wlklchkichgich 2an

n

w

th

i di6tinguiihed

d rives

r s al so s

P pr ss

orsonD seret N ws 1885 VIv1va 123 hereafterreafterbeafter cited as

whitney contributor

w- r

n- w l1

ayrearrerafterarnez

vrn

aio

new

ars ax

szn

I1

ien 1 the history of this area would reveal the prominence of many of

the whitneyhitneyVy family A which would seem to lend credence in the meaning

of the whitney name

in the whitney line we find lords members of parliament and

valiant fighters in the crusades and other great battles several of the

1xhitneyswhitney s were knighted by the queens of england including thomas

whitney father of john who was the first american progenitor of newel

K vhitneyhitneyVh 2itney

t17hethe whitneyswhitneytWhit intermarriedinterneys withmarried great families by that means

their blood became mixed with the blood of saxon normcknnormoyn and plantag-

enet kings of england and with that of the royal houses of scotland

it ranceranee and spain ltvlt3

of interest is the fact that jilwllwil

distinguished family among them were josiah dwight hitneywhitneylk

geologist and professor at arvardriarvardri williamilliamNk dwight W hitneyvhitneyitneywhitney philologist

sanscritsanskritSans scholarcrit and editor of the century dictionary and villiam CG

whitney secretary of the navy under resident grover cleveland

p 10

4lbid41bid

7

en 11

whitn y

whitn

V

france 3

i4

lvaIIAivahitneywhitney memorytviemorys halls p 11

ibid

3lbid31bid

INhitneywhitney the famous inventor of

the cotton gin and several other prominent americans were all a part

of thithikthl

Vh

2

len

whitney

abeagiabb ofoi nineteen new 3 lladhad mad his way to the historicstoricai vil-

lage of plattsburgplattsbur&Platts newburg york located on the wternwsternasternws sioredioretern of lake

hamplain4hamplaincamplainshamplainham andplain waswaa busilybadlybarlyburly engaged as sutleratlerbutierdutler or merchant

I1

bitneywitney

fermontvermont

ilfelifa

chotchor & tethetue year round

bishis

weiwea

av3v

early lif of the yoangyoung hewelnewel was typical of telaetae average Nnww

anglandnglandingland boy farm work all jummer schoolachool during the winter months and

the usual chords

at an apparently early agoageasoase newel left hitd family and familiar sur-

roundings and setbestsestbet out to find hi way in the world ie had but few personal

posaesiionpossiestiond and no monymoney to h ipap him along the way but endowed with a

natural businessbusin talent9 and an enterprising spirit as well as a keenkean sense

of honesty he waawas soon able to satisfyatiafyatisfyatis hihiehitfy quet for employment

at the ag

lage

vv hile o0

occupied according to xteverendxsverend 5 F hitneyhitneyv 5 thigthio energetic young

r V hitney was the youngest brother of newcjiwas a 4ethodi&twthodi6it minister living in irtlandaandartlandaana in trie t arlyariy day of the

church

8

boyhood and youth

nwelewel spent hlisniabiablahils boyhood and youth iiin the p acefulacefalaceval and quiet town

of larlboroaghi4arlborough rxnont i which liesiles a fwlw miles oathsouth of charon tebirthplace of the prophet joseph smitasmitn who was later to become on of

the cloacloia pruonalpraonalPpra frindar3onalonalonai offri vhitneymtneyatneyVhVnds

rh

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lW hitney contributor VI 123

hitneyatney demormemory1memor a tallstailsballs p 11

hitney contributor VI 123113

bid41bid

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whitney

revernd

rhonal ads

9

man participated in one of the most consequential battles of the warvar of

112 1 because of newels participation in this battle it seems worth-

while to give a brief synopsis of the battle of plattsburgPlatts foughtburg in sep-

tember of li141jl4

the battle to save plattsburgPlatts fromburg the british forces was a des-

perate one with the american forces outnumbered three to one the

british strategy was to destroy the US navy in the waters of lake

champlain and simultaneously defeat the land forces along its southern

shores which would lead to severing the new england states from the

rest of the country at a strategic point of high ground on the shores of

lake champlain lay the little village of plattsburgplattsbargPlatts whereburgbarg the americans

chose to make their defense against the british ground forces the situ-

ation for the americans was extremely dangerous they converted

plattsburgPlatts intoburg a citadel of redoubtsdoubtsre trenches and strong points to off-

set the inequality inia numbers the american army consisted of several

hundred volunteers who were to fight alongside the regulars these men

faced 14 000 british regulars in battle M it seems logical to assume

that newel was numbered among the courageous volunteers who fought

so valiantly with the american regulars

whitneyhitney memorysMe hallshailshalismorys fr 11

grancisfrancis F beirne the war of 10121812 new york L P outtonand co inc 1949 ppap 289303289 303

U S

21

lwhitneylW

10

fortunately for the land forces the british fleet was severely

beaten by the american navy this unexpected turn of events in the hard

fought naval battle so dispirited the british land troops in the heat of

battle that plattsburgPlatts wasburg saved two hundred british regulars were

killed while the american losses were about one fourth that number 1

indian trader

probably losing most or all of his possessions during this battle

newel next established himself at green bay lake michigan as an indian

trader his early mercantile experiences which made him acquainted

with the traders and trappers of this area apparently made this possible 2

it was during his experience as an indian trader that an incident

occurred never to be forgotten which nearly cost newel his life an

enraged savage whom whitney had refused liquor obtained it elsewhere

and in a drunken rage with a knife or tomahawk in hand climbed through

a window of whitneyswhitney1Whitneywhitneyt s1 establishment to put an end to him As the

outraged indian emerged through the open window an indian girl by the

name of maudalinalaudalinaMau seizeddalina him and held fast until the intended victim

had escaped

bid p 303

whitneyZW contributorhitney VI 123

whitney memorysyemorrismorrisdemorrisMeYe hallsmorys p 11

f

3

1ibidbibid

Whitneys

I1

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sugisubi ested

ataatz

atersuters mandalinaMau

in

dalina

memory of the indian maiden vhowho avedcavedsaved himhirnhib aroifroifroiro death

s an indian trader at green ba newel appearappears to have traveled

considerably on horsebackilorsebad and at timesth journeyednes as far west as kirtl-

and ohio it is suggested by orson F whitney that during these trips

smith2smitha

3andrewcandrew

11

nevel yhitneyyh neveritney forgot the girl who performed this neroicheroic

deed as later in his life he naxnedncuned one ofoi his own daughters

he becamebec acquaintedarneacne with elizabeth ann smith who resided in fintlandfirtlandFirt

and

land

later became his wife it was probably this acquaintance that induced

him to move from lake michigan to ohio it is well to remember that

ohio in the early ISOOs was located on the far western frontier of civili-

zation and any journey to this statetate was a journey through endless miles

of sparsely settled wilderness

gilbert and whitney

newel K whitneyswhitneytswhitneytWhit firstneysneyts residence in ohio was at painsvillegainsvillePains

located

ville

a few miles north of kirtland on the shores of lake erie here

he became acquainted with algernon sydney gilbert who subsequently be

4came his longstandinglong businessstanding associate

1 the utah genealogical and historical quarterly y salt lake citydeseret news press 1937 XXVIIIXXVUI 646864 isabel68 maudalinalaudalinaMau whitneydalinawasvas born to newel K and emeline belos woodward six weeksweek after themother reached salt lake valley on september 28 1848

9vvhitneyvrhitneyhitneyvVVr memorysmemoryleMeMem hallsmorysoryle p 12

0andrew jenson LDS biographicalbioblo encyclopediaencycloraphicalgraphical saltdiadla lake city

deseret news press 19011 I1 2222232222322222 hereafter223 cited as blog encycencyl4 whitney memorysMe hallsmorys p 12

i I1

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me nory

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ithe

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mas

whitney

aho

1I 223

additional information on elizabeth ann may be found in appen-dix A

I1

12

about 1817 gilbert recognizing the business talents of newelnawanewanewn

took him into his business as a clerk and taught him the fundamentals of

bookkeeping A A few years hence a prosperous mercantilemercantilmer firmcantilcantli of gil-

bert and whitney emerged with headquarters in kirtland

marriage to elizabeth ann

during this period of time the courtship between newel and eliz-

abeth ann smith reached fulfillment through their marriage on october

20 1822 newel was twenty seven years of age and elizabeth ann

twenty two

A little background of the companion of newel K whitneyhitneyIV is

appropriate at this point as she played not only a significant role in his

life but also in the church of jesus christ of latter day saints which

they later joined

elizabethizabethellzabetheilzabethLl ann J who became know as mother whitneywhitner 1 tells

her own story

I1 was born the day after christmas in the first year of the pres-ent centurycencon intury the quiet old fashioned country town of derby newhaven county conn my parents names were gibson and pollysmith the smiths were among the earliest settlers there and werewerwidely known I1 was the oldest child and grew up in an atmosphereof love and tenderness my parents were not professors of religionand according to puritanical ideas were grossly in fault to have rietaught dancing but my father had his own peculiar notions upon the

id

jenson 0109 ncycncy

1 Z

busin ss

2

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13

subject and wished me to possess and enjoy in connection with asound education and strict morals such accomplishments as wouldfit me to fill with credit to myself and my training an honorableposition in society ie had no sympathy whatever with any of thepriestsprie ofstri that day and was utterly at variance with their teachingsand ministry notwitnstandingnotwitlistanciingnotwithstanding he was strenuous on ailallali points ofhonor honesty morality and uprightness

luerelucre is nothing in my early lifeilfe I1 remember with more intensesatisfaction tilan merk agreeablee companionship of my father mymothers health was delicate and with her household affairs andtwo younger children she gave herself up to domestic life allowingit to absorb her entire interest and consequently I1 was more particu-larly under my fathers jurisdiction and influence our tastes weremost congenial and this geniality and happiness surrounded me withits beneficial influence until I1 reached my nineteenth year nothingin particular occurred to mar the smoothness of myanyaayoay lifes currentand prosperity and lovelovoiove beamed upon our home

about this time a new epoch in my life created a turning pointwhich unconsciously to us who were the actors in the drama causedall my future to be entirely separate and distinct from those withwhom I1 had been reared and nurtured my fathers sister a spinsterwho had money at hertiertaerlaer own disposal and who was one of those strongminded women of whom so much is said in this our day concluded toemigrate to the great west at that time ohio seemed a fabulous dis-tance from civilization and enlightenment and going to ohio then wasas great an undertaking as going to china or japan is at the presentday she entreated my parents to allow me to accompany her andpromised to be as faithful and devoted to me as possible until theyshould join us and that they expected very shortlylortlydortly to do their con-fidence in aunt sarahsbarahsbarahl ability and self reliance was unbounded andso after much persuasion they consented to part with me for a shortinterval of time but circumstances over which we mortals have nocontrol were so overruled that I1 never saw my beloved mother againour journey was a pleasant one the beautiful scenery through whichour route lay had charms indescribable for me who had never beenfarther from home than new haven in which city I1 had passed apart of my time and to me it was nearer a paradise than any otherplace on earth the magnificent lakes rivers mountains andromantic forests were allailali delineations of nature which delighted myimagination

we settled a few miles inland from the picturesque lake eriedrieerled andriein after years where uhethe saints of rodgodsodcodzodC gathered and the everlastinggospel proclaimed my beloved auitaunt sarah was a true friend and in-structor to me and had much influence in maturing my womanly

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1I 223 A hitney contributor VI 125

I1

relireil iouslous

llelie

15

of both men and thjy in turn wer a grat influence in th ilfelifjlifelifa of this

rath r r markable womanwon

an

iantan

xcllntxca1mt butbat briefbril f sketch of new 1 K whitney writtenwritt byn

his wifbif elizabethelizablellzabetheilzabeth ann is a follows

lieheklekie was a young man who had come out west to sek his fortunefortuncizcie had thrift and nrgy ardand accumulated propertypro fasterporty than mostof his associates indeedindea hah3h became proverbialprovbrov asrbialabial boingbo luckying inall his undertakings he had been trading at green bay buyingfurs and skins from the indians and trappers for the astern markmarketbarketbarkand exchanging them for goods suitable to th wants of the peoplein that locality in his travelstraveis to and from new york he passedthrough the country wheraher wewo resided wo met and became attachedto

religious affiliations

at the time of th marriage of newel and elizab thah ann neither

of thtmth hadm committed themselves to a religiousr hectbeetsectheet riehe seemed to

bjbz conscious of the hypocrisy of the sectarian wouldworld and a rule of his

life was nver to do anything that would later have to b undone and

so avoided close association with any caurchbaurch ileaele did however always

maintain an unfaltering faith in a future state of xistenc2jxistencz and bellevbelieved

that an honest straightforward coursecours would help him attain it lowzverhowevalow

by

everzver

nature he was businesslikebusiness andlike his mind ran more to tajthj temporalmporalsporalta

than to the spiritual

th y nce

A

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unon the otheroth hand elizabeth ann had a deeplyde2plydeeplydemply spiritual nature

enson blogdiog ncycjincycjincyc

r

jenson bi 1 2whitney

grat influinflux

a-

ch other and my aunt granting her full approval we werwere 2

married ours was strictly a marriage of affection our tastesand feelings were congenial and we wer 3 a happy couplecoupie with brightprospects in stor

e-

ach

i

believllev d

neiti r

jhn

thay

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az

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wereeve associated togethertoge intIrier the

kirtland vicinitycinitycikity and erefere converted by thevieeieele LD missionariesnabsnass atfonariesionaries

about the same time it seems worthwhileworthnorthmorth to present a shorthort sketctisketch

of their backgroundbackgrounc in the carnpiellitecarnpoellite churclchurcnchuranchurch andi how1 it had prepared

tierntnern forLOTfotjor theti receptione oj the true gospel of jeusjeucbeuc cloristcliristghrist

ichnitichnite

icarteracarter

16

and possibly encouraged newelneelne towelwei join a religiousreligiouc movement with herber

after serious consideration they united rithsvith the didic cipleciple1cipley or caixp

bellitebelbeilites as they were commonlycon calledinionlyminionly in the vicinity of 01 idojoiso this

was an extremely popular sect in tidsfidsaids area with sidney rigdon a one

of its niortnio&trciost prominentproi leadersleaieaninel inderEdezeit x irtlandartland and the neighboring town 1

the campbellite and sidney rigdonridoninasmuchinasrnuch as sidney rigdon and newel K hitneyvhitneyitney as well as

other future leaders oi01 the g- urch ere

sidney rigdonsRig earlydons life was spent on a farm near pittsburg

pennsylvania later he moved into the town of pittsburgh where he

became a very popular preacher in the baptist church after a short

time he became dissatisfied with the doctrines of this church and resigned

his pastorate two years later he reenteredre theentered ministry preaching

the doctrines of the campbellite church in ohio this church waswawab

founded by alexander campbell one of rigdon1rigdonl s parishioners at pitts-

burgh who had come to ohio and found many people in sympathy with

his mesmebes s cagesage pastor Rigdonrigdon13rigdons successuc incess the newnev campbellite move-

ment was remarkable the fame of his eloquent speech and reason-

ing power spread everywhere in a few months time he converted

carter eldredge grant the kingdom of god re stored saltlake cibycityceby deseret book company 1955 p 120

reliuiou nove Y ent

ca lip

ere

Y Vh

vic

ti iemlem 0

becarne 1

restored

1

while

13

ic hnit 0

ric lonion

1 irtlaertland

I

je us Clirist

dis calap

eie

ciso

vil

message

morth

whitney

I1

arlyjarly christian church sidney championedchampioncchampions this

restoration of early iristiaachristiancl communism and encouraged its practice

withinwithilithi his congregationscongregation moreover lu placed grat phasisemphasisjm on the

secondsf corningcond of christ aaaa3 well as a rest3rationrestaratiorrestoration of ailallali of the ancient orders

of the christian churchcharch including tn bestowal of the iolybioly ghoseghosc

atoeator bainbridge3ainbridg3bainbridgz and kirtland as well as otharothjr towns in

northern ohio

recptionreception

ab2b ri roberts A comprehensivegom2rehnsiv historyli ofstory the church ofjesus christ of latter day saints salt lake city deschotdeseretdescrot news presspross1930 1I 228229228

daryl

229

chase sidnysidneysidn rigdony early mormonmormont unpublishedmasters thesis dept of historyAi universitystory of chicago 1931 p 30

journal of history lamoni iowa board of publication of thereorganizedorganizedAe church of jesusjasusjebustebus christ of latter day saints 1910 III111 12

17

andad baptizedbapti maltitudmaltittidszedzod and organized flourishing congregationsconar ingatioangatioas and

around mentorJ

beliefs and doctrines

the doctrines rigdon considerconsidered necessary to a christian life

werwere faith in god repentancepentancesentance baptismxptismL by immersion and holiness of

lifeilfe in these communities the members of igdons church had all things

in common living in a cooperative society they believedboli toeved bebo patterned

jr ththe ordaorderouderorde of th

joseph

smith later said of sidney igdonrigdon that he waswa&waa likolike john of olduldoid preaching

repentancer2pentanc and baptism and preparing peoplepooplpoepl for th rec option of the holy

ghost 4

or oonson F whitney historyluuIlUlun ofstory utah salt lake city george Qcannon and bons cogo 1892 1I 73

B

0

A oth r

d

r pen tance

lif 2

coop rativedative t ey

aft r r

t 11 gr at

ord rs

th G110& t 3

X

pr paring th

i

3daryl

4joarnal

s-

s

sidn- y

s

ligdo

d

a

iilslis

loly

holin

ariy

clis

lor

I1ibidfoldfoidmold

I1

ppap 121312

9

13

grant op cit

18

esteemed pastor

the rich the poor the humble and the great flocked to join his

followers until he became a welcomed visitor throughout the whole re-

gion so beloved were the rigdonsRig withdons their family of six children

that the people organized and purchased a beautiful site and began build-

ing a comfortable home and out buildings to meet the needs ofol01 their

pastor and hibhis familyfax therAly future was indeed bright with fortune and

fame at every turn under these pleasantpleapiea circumstancecircumstancesFant the elderelderseidereiders

from the newly founded latter day church entered the sceneocene and oonfoonsoonf

he sawcawawsanc his prospects shatteredf hatt andered his family reduced to near poverty

the conversion of parley P pratt and others

caught in the tide of the campbellite movement were many notable

men and women who in a short time would become the most influential

leadersleader in the latter day saints church in this group were edward

partridge frederick G williams parley P pratt and newel K

hitneywhitneyVV it is interesting to note that the popular pastor and preacher

sidney rigdon would baptize many of his own flock into the new

church 2

to account for the conversion of sidney rigdon and so many of

his followerfollowers it is necessary to bring into the story one of rigdon

p 123

hi

1

2

saw

183813381868 ppap 374837

orantgrant

48

op cit p 116

auaada

enthusiasmenthasiasm for the

campbellite church caused him much anxiety for the salvational ofvation many

of his former friends and associatassociatesassociate in theth asteast&astbaste so in company with

his wife in thethu summsummer of 1030330 h left ohio and began a journey dur-

ing which in hoped to spread hishizhidbiz messagemc to3sagusag all who would listen AI1

prattspratt1pratta s own writings suggest that h received a peculiar impression to

go on a preaching tour of the jast

amongaloag

hah2

setdsntd nimngimnib with a copy

hitney idiiidia story of utah 1I 73

parley P pratt autobiography of parley P pratt chicagolaw king and pub

2parleysparley

ar3r

iriuariun aiadiat

19

xiiost ablctable1ableeablit asitantagitantasi parleyparlparijparlyparitant Pj pratt prattprattt Ithasiathusia 3in

it istisnt n3cnac ssaryassary her to tell the entire story of the conversionconvcolv

of

rsionarsion

parley P pratt to the rj stored church while passing through the

state of new york it is sufficient to say that ha readily accepted thutheth

doctrines of the church and the opportunity which soon came to him to

go vest with a small group of missionaries to preach the gospel to the

lamaniteslamanittlamanitaLama thenites westward journey of this small group of inspired and

zealous missionaries brought them to the scene of the campbellitecampGamp movamovbellite

mentbent in ohio

ost

ty t L

form fri ndsads

th if

2

r

h r adily

th th 2

V est th

3

migdonxugdonsmigdonvs firstkirsthirst contact vithwith tiietheeti eldebeldrblldrsLlie

parley

drsP pratt with his fallowlalow missionaries amoag whom

was oiiversliver cowdery wnt imm alatelyblately to the homebomeionia of sidney igdontigdonbigdon

and told him of his recent xpcrijacsxpt andri prjsntdacs

sidn y

his pr sntd

lwhitney historyhistorx

3gracit 0

a-un

journ- y

s

Lamanitt s

vs

lW

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asl

ant

adaily

apt

ai

20

of the book of mormon at first rigdon was thoroughly perturbed at

pratt because of his conversion to the new church and his message

concerning the book of mormon however after having been persuaded

to make an earnest and careful investigation of the doctrines of the

church the truthfulness of it was manifested unto him fully aware

of the loss of prestige and the financial sacrifice he would have to under-

go he consented to baptism at the hands of oliver cowdery on november

14 18301330 just two week after the book of mormon was placed in his

hands 2 anxious that his wife would not overlook the economic conse-

quences of a change in religion he is reported to have said to her my

dear you have followed me once into poverty are you again willing to

do the same she answered 1 have counted the cost and I1 am per-

fectly willing to follow you it is my desire to do the will of god come

life or come death J

the spread of mormonism among the cambellitescampbellitesCambelCampbelcabbelin

lites

the meantime the message of the latter day saint church was

spread rapidly among the campbellitescampbeuitesCampbel bylites the missionaries evenilven be-

fore his baptism pastor rigdon consented to let the elders use his church

facilities in order that they might have a public meeting place A service

was held and was well attended by a curious and interested assembly

ibidbid p 121

chase op cit p 60

ibid p 59

1

I

3

31bid

1I 226 quoting parley P pratt Auautobio-graphy

topioofaralqralgralgrai parley P pratt p 49

ilslis

31yp

itsitz b i ig

citfit

hishie friendfridfric neigh-bors

ndsadsand brethren and then addressed them effectively for nearly

two ours during mostmoitbostmoboitbost ofit which timetibe both himself and nearlyallaualiail of the congregation werwere

ehyehi

lortbort

tant1n

stours3tours

langljng

iibidbibid

raobertszaobertsZA oprobertsoberts cit

21

t A

rliortd thethiteeteitet congrgatiolcongrcengr togationg taketakceatlonation hedhe in the followingfollo mannmanuving r

the information they had that eveningvoning obtained was of xta or-dinary character and certainly demanddemanded their serious attentionand as the apostle advised his brethren to prove all tangsthngs andhold fast to that which is good so he exhortedexhort idshis brethrenbr to dolikewise and gis the arnattmatterbatterbattec a carfulcarefulcar investigationfulfui and not toturn against it without acingbeingbcing fully convinced of it being an im-position

inini

lest1

fchy should possibly resist the truth A

sidney kigdonxisdonhisdon joins with the new faith

rigdon must have feltfeitC sensitivelt about leaving the campb alitellite

religion aftraftirafter havingbavingwaving benazbz treatedn so1 well by his followers aoas hehtzatz once

again called jhcthc

a large congr3gationcongrzgationcongregation of h ube

melted into tears he asked forgivenbs of zvrybody who mightinight have had occasion to b offendedoffen withddany part of his former life he forgave all that had persecuted orinjured him in any manner and thetho next morning himself andwife were baptized by oliver cowdery 1 was present ll11 saysparley P pratt it was a olesolemn scene most of th peoplewere greatly affected they came out of the water overwhelmedin asarstsars lz12

it is impossible at this writing to say whether newelewa iik vhitneyhitneyVhvavvat

vaswas

itney

a witness tofcotcotto these 3vent3 but it is probableprobabl that if he was not pres-

ent he soon received word of them as he along with hundredsjandland ofreds others

bid

pt conditionconctv ofaioniion th service sidy idon borebor hisbiswis testimonytl andstir1 ony

1 31.31 td d1ort

th fye4 att

0 ingsd thr n

rnatt r

tru

ampbf4lit2

r

th 1 m towtog alh s th

v 3nt areara most impressiveimpres&ive

he calledcallad togcth r

rybody bf

I1

p oplew re affacted

wr w tieti r 1 14

3zv ntant3 ae

1

sidn- y

v-ars

th r to annojaceanrnouacanno thejaceance change he was about lo10ILOitoplo makemak

the circumstancescircuitcircui ofdistancesristances thinthis vnt

P s rvicarvic

f y

co iti incedincel

rybody

stid

fhe

opie

tars

eing

ata

achy

ant

whitney

boningea

ahr

ant

rattraftratt reatl uheytheyuneyre influeiiceinflueiiced ereeteiti thelithelt babrj

paicIAJCpaie

elieilell ici va

a-

de it i DO ideijecjei

vha

le

ththaaha it the onveranver ion 0

llielilehiie

tizedtizesized 1

aidnidaad

I1

urul7 I1

I1 Awinblee mie41ile r e 1 iliriyirlyirf 0

I1 t lt

vitlatvitiditl ther

ll11

nornr 1 proe

00 tliroulhttttl ijneyi igdoniionr anou 1lineyidney tlletae ofot er in leliiteLeli

prexprea

ite

herc hellialhei1121ha tat1 ujbtli theirbt onvertconverton frankly t itat it

iiijllilge tntattnt audition in erleriernecierl

lonion

jhj littiittaitth uilull

tcokro

vvesve had baptizedbaptisedbapti e oneledsed1 hunreihunreenunhun andancrel t1 ventyswenttwent even oviouioul

ararl

eistelst

detjet tultui

uvallavail loieiolekole to uc thevieoieole aboeabo atericiaericlaeriale decri irdeaf crie treiredre

lonion

illeylie

crlsri

lctlot

lellleil

nerineel

arttrtt ic anveronver

i n CL laic i

eetingeating erevereconvened in dirdildifferentferent neibortwodneinel anaandC nultitudennltitudemultitudeoi

calepaiepale toetc

to ercuicul

eteratenatenonatenooiciliz ui

hitne1hitney n il

vifeeife re not availiole

eliscieliici

ithinathin

t o0 veek follovvincoliovimy ilon aatiapti lctact

reaeireaelihaih

atlftlmce under vi ilchlich theirthe hir ne 0

arvercrver icn

ilonaion

z

oilOJL oiio v e ii t ioni ltoaltoon je xter GJ uujtia

nio upon tre

c t A le it tet rcre nc j i ililiiill irti a cinjinaallanll in a11

toetie feiorefeiorirepriotreP roundriOT jbovt thetiietile oeoleueoaefeole thronethrone1thronerlthronesthro iu- jnerl daviv ndml nihtni ino-a i t t ij i0 t ec forfurfccfoc releL te andundu xnd etiietlietilelii ci tent

ic tiaotijnd lo10 keikedkel aboutu uau01 dailydasiydallydaliyoutoonieorneoune

uto obexobel the gospelospelaspel andind oreoione to7 di uterutefute or eit it in tot

c r ti rereu ec ri al in cc iieiiioornoudlielikei jiuornoodnd the nrnu

n ce- f e htjto u

atuunjtuutoutuune

ntheahenj ii ic erlj or ei lillcj fi

o0 and ladnekladne0 0 e jitet1r i i

the oner ion of thevietietle

il- ie

hite

iiie the detail of t e onverior e ellelrelrei 1I

te irvtcviice

their p tor vey i ionbonlen ell i th t r

t arlearlevariearleyariey

nt ictone ted ic of partlparti cularcllarculerallar intereinhere t

TP e jbellitc c o0 01 er e ciiiiji iii i

not a u ernaturalnaturaler ttllnnaturernatur but iihevery an

a loul fultrulfui thetthat

rattraft

3

opr citatt p 50

0 113llolio TE P Q Q i t0 t j Q iute r D

tt nort

C rl

ilt in 03

0bornoodfin

a1dtr o

ctc tt ret0

1 troLM atia tievietle nenelnekA

ve oiiveroiiv r dj or

ae1e u

07 3

1 ulevienie t i it lin

e e lon theetherethe ie olleoileotie inifii fl i fi

T Y t- bcnithit r e a t i e L

l ti in1 p loceroce

e e rv i vlaVIAvir L

er louaful

51

t-

in that alvaticn vavoc

t-e 7 c

a-l i

pe-t

1

ittenanittenan e

in 1 t

onveriononveriononterion wllwhi

ai i

r 1

i ey

olio vlayvimy pi

ert louA

lon ito ater

client

elt

nee

ini

iru

tey

ece

llon

tilin

meer

ley

ton

ces

verlon

cep

red

diio

ia

dacri

reaal

ula

ace

ian

1.1

lchasehabe

ppap 414341 43

discibisci lesies

23

the true gospel of christ with its gifts and authorities was on the earth

they taught their people to study the scriptures hold fast to the word

of god and pray constantly to obtain the holy ghost 1

in compliance with these teachings newel and elizabeth ann

spent much time in prayer desiring to know how they could obtain the

holy ghost mother whitney tells their story this way

it was husband and I1 were in our house at kirtlandpraying to the father to be shown the way when the spirit rested uponus and a cloud overshadowedover theshadowed house it was as though we wereout of doors the house passed away from our vision we were notconscious of anything but the presence of the spirit and the cloud thatwas over us we were wrapped in a cloud A solemn awe pervadedus we saw the cloud and felt the spirit of the lord then we hearda voice out of the cloud saying prepare to receive the word of thelord for it is coming 1 at this wevw marveled greatly but from thatmoment we knew that the word of the lord was coming to kirtland

partial fulfillment of promise

this promise to newel and his wife was apparently fulfilled upon

the arrival of the lamanite missionaries of the newly formed latter day

saints church in the latter part of 1830

shortly after pastor rigdonbugdonbusdon was baptized and ordained an elder

he was appointed president of the kirtland branch of the latter day

saints church fired with enthusiasm after having received the holy

ghost rigdon began converting and baptizing his campbelliteCampb followerseUite

it is of interest to note that upon hearing the word of god mother whitney

hase op cit p 31 quoting A F degroot the disciplesA history st louis 1949 ppap 9712397

tullidge

123

opok cit

midnight my

11

2

1I 24041240 41

perforherfor ed

these baptisms

were performed by sidney rigdon

the condition of the church during this period

the condition of the church at the time of newel K whitneyswhitneytWhit

conversion

neys

is noteworthy it had been in existence about seven months

and consisted of about seventy souls centered around palmyra new york

in december 1830 a commandment was given for the church to move

to ohio D & C 37 at a conference in fayette on january 2 1831 the

commandment was repeated and appears in the doctrine and covenants

section 38 as follows

28 and again I1 say unto you that the enemy in the secret cham-bers seekethseebeth your lives

32 wherefore for this cause I1 gave unto you the commandmentthat ye should go to the ohio and there I1 will give unto you my lawand there you shall be endowed with power from on high

33 and from thence whosoever I1 will shall go forth among allthe nations and it shall be told them what they shall do for I1 havea great work laid up in store for israel shallshaushailshalishan be saved and I1 willlead them whither soever I1 will and no power shall stay my hand

whitneylW contributorhitney VI 125

erobertsrobertszroberts op cit

24

joined through the waters of baptism and newel followed a few days later

after a period of thorough investigations the following account is given

of the baptism of newel and elizabeth ann to hear with sister whitney

was to believe and to believe to be baptized her husband with char-

acteristic caution took time to investigate but entered the fold himself

a few days afterwards this was in november 1830

durin

th

whithersoever

acteristic

ZRoberts

2523

34 and now 1I give unto the church in these parts a command-ment that certain men among them shall be appointed and they hallhanhalihailbe appointed by the voice of the church

35 and they shall look to the poor and the needy and administerministeradiadlto their relief that they shall not suffer and send them forth to theplace which I1 have commanded them

36 and this shall be their work to govern the affairs of theproperty of this church

significant about this revelation is the fact that as soonoon aas the

church was moved to ohio as commandedcommanded11 by the lord certain men

were chosen to look after the needy and administer relief to those who

had cause to suffer in any way

eleven months after the above revelation va given newel IK

whitney was the principal figure in this responsibility and with a constant

flo

I1

idoctrineindoctrine

of saints from the east it proved to be a major task

newel dedicated his life to the cause and few if any leaders of

the early church period proved more devoted and faithful than this man

as the succeeding chapters will show

doctrine and covenants salt lake city the church of jesusJCFUS

christ of latter day saints 1956 3828 323632 hereafter36 cited asD & C

r

was

11

I1

hadnothadnft

agrant2grant

CHAPTER IIIHI111ili

THE BISHOP OF THE KIRTLAND SAINTS

the prophets arrival in kirtland

about six miles in a straight line from the shore of lake erie

and some twenty miles from cleveland in the county or lake lies a vil-

lage known in church history as kirtland by the first months of 1831

this town had already become important to the new and thriving latter

day saints church sidney rigdon was the leader of a multitude of new

converts which included many prominent people of kirtland and vicinity

among these was newel K whitney who was soon to gain prominence in

the new movement

the saints in kirtland looked forward to the time when they could

have the prophet of the new dispensation in their midst they hadnhaan

long to wait as about the first of february 1831 joseph arrived in kirtl-

and in company with his wife sidney rigdon and edward partridge

the circumstances of this event are related by newels grandson or son

F whitney

I1 have heard my grandmother and my father relate that when theprophet came to kirtland he drove in a sleigh and halted in front of

andrew jensopjessop historical record salt lake city andrewjenson 1889 V 62

grant op cit p 123

2

orson

rcyoecodraj

gutoutgot c tinto taetievitV orcakrcaorcoreit valued u

tuetuttiit oiiel1 Jeer 11

liiiliill el ete

cleilecie i JY lillidiidild notnetn iea l1

oelveloei ntneyatneyantney uonnon nihi knee

leihlelhneigh ontainiriozontaiontal Ctairiiiijnirinirl 01 c pcjpcs

liatimlla

litilittbiti

ercerccerac tile

I1 ai joseph the

I1

auallyrfually een e el I1 I1 nehundred ol01 lileilie ava rayiasrayiag for ni

I1

aitgitlliti

ol01

I1 I1

gatnergainer vav7 z toadhelAdhel encrncc

hishus

avelavei

liclle

onsohs

lielle

tiietile rcj ered

litneyhitney fe x overuver 01oi tetiyetiteye ronyti ciurchCitony urch enecener Ailojil eren

tletyt

atrati L i

ulluli

liilil

elleelie rieile

li11 iliill i it a a2

taloeatoe

gitlit

confonf

anaa

tat1 t jeniojnniojvnio

tat1

liftnerliftney

bigi1igi ite 1 oripriorldri iin Lv

cicurciiur h C enera

7 7

t e c t 1 to eL of0 aloertiloertiideifidei nint iti jet eto the rt erierter idirllriidl x

16

1 I1 elic ie c- ou art the jr

never een joseph i ith till then joeh 1 L dthathi natural ee nd ie dncin ered T franrtranr you 1 e t e I1 crlcri

tre of e I1 ouldouid rot call you 1 n e ou arvehrve i c i t etrangertrantertranmer therlthen iid aaa2 IT 0 s ep ivilriivl t I1 i e rop iii ei t 0 L ironet ou I1.11 e rjye 1

ne herelierenere 0 at do orov ntmt of e

y vhatahat oo00 er jid thischisuhlsunis tejrejreites irkbie an loehlo mitigitl ecoleh anizeynizeorcOPCoileodeoineolle vnoanovhoaho e i- i iieverbiever delore eeli IAiiI1 tneane le n i y

itne e 0 nize hii it va bebeebec luerue joephjoeuhjos nitiitiej wh i ji1.1 eerholehoicehoceholce eer e hid

01 in to I irtlanl arel-a avutat

yeivelyelt e

1

it p fc i i i 2t t fc zijillziji tiiijillill c L to c el

ii uVi 5 A

exjnipleext1111e

i ti s i i 3 0 c t i v

x ently contributeacontributedcontributea un to the

i ox tn11 e ecieeclcecjeecleeaje o0 k eere vve creL in tiletiietlleteietele r io t totu jo fc 1 in t e

eurear of trialti ilaliallai 1

i I1ii olio e

I hekhe1 c ntriatri utorutor on tiitne ji a re yetjet ilc c ntftat1 c it11 c rival i P itlrln

r out tc ir t of orua y ib I11 aiove t courolvou 1 the treetrees ofol01 li nd

0 f iI1i tiarijtia cndildriJ re u ILt t 0

of cilgilcli ert J bitihitibitu &e tdidlirri entlent fiti 0 v ltc orthe ej ile ere c x ly iiiiiifc a to ex en i ouicouillvouillundand talvartgalvarttalstaistal eiexvart oi xe lilitclilith i an the tep i fc 1

into the tore aran to h re the juniolunio rrtfe velvei i

in hi andhand orior 11313.1ii P tutc ri oii a1ou h c the jvdv alge oi0 L e 1 replied the cnecue ire ed

he e hanirianihanl aloll011liigillilgli t o10 andio unten e 1 I1 coul not lililllii 01 by

11 t e yi a11 e i e

r on

tilt 1 itony rl

etarter

i 1i atheuthe r to i L

jo edh i jo e jh ithhi e e uwiawlugi ere t r dn z y u J n

5e ie a ve1 rlrayer yL e

1

f i ieveleve 1 eie L&

ii onmi

A I1 t it

t A

0 v ir e IV

A I1

h J 111t f

t aticti it i tian

11 ou t V c 1 i r ej

ai0 e LO OL0n F

I1 oce cc lio le 1.1 a

e int L le

ce 1 iitne thoothon art t iele pai arids 1

ie t 11

L e z neL

ere i0 l111te tit ri ot

U 0

v e shitixeoi01 it o1y ivinlvin prilapril 10

c- f

n-

e UL01 tautietae

n jr ei

econizeeconizeebonize

i ove

fc

tcirintcirin

i t

arnued h uncitU tinilleelielle ilkicklckloiluiI1 ovaov3ov ircC i1 n i

til t

art

i

rp 1ae

u

c taiclaictatu

e i li O

n c

tid

ili leakue

llie ana

eek

eor

erualove

tiu out

orl

toi

lid

etor ortt

elrd

laif amu ed uni

lill

iii

tii

tai

boeh

anally

at

antly

naf

and

etc

ainrrth tyirin

arc

ciurcaatony

ai

ae

acol

arc

oay

oa argued

bojil

cilolloli t ui iia

tiletlletiie hitiihijiihitiitil

jucjurjoc

llaillliac crll11 itfitlit

coaidcoaii ij ce 0 0 un

tl

hiiouioul

aireixelx

eibaeibeelbe

eeleeelaei

I1

I1 1

I1 I1 v

everalseveraleek nd receivereceived evereverk kindneckindne and attention that could be ex-

pected unci3ndancl e deciallypeciallydecimallyDecidecl froncfroicfrorcally iteva- ter hitney I1 re ar eit0 d t iii itAi tnietni0t ani tijelije ulfil ent 0 the vl iolionlol ec iI1 eenZ

t

otieolie glagia

acence

ryieryle

maimal

ianlan

urryarr

ovvevv t

irtlaridtirtlcind ere igniiicant to tiietiletlle

binteginte

aejanj

kincilykinkily recel

aa7a ti-e

sephceph

I i1 j eph tneane opnetornet i t ie urlirncrl e tin 0 e

rr e Y e e e n v n t lo101 0100 sol it oj j e

i r hitney aonicliedatonihedato butauthutnihed noix iele r teliputetelilxteii 1.1 oon hitrprifc ould per it ccndlkted tneane arty ereierebere no otheruther tharthan

jbfjcfrcsjosepheph nith hivio

a nd t o0 er nt jut rive froiro14 ayetteaye ftc tneane larth olaceglace of tbth infant nur hah a roaro the teettreet tohi house onorkora t e corner nd introduint edrodu tlethether to hiiriiir nilevile jeie c h rejully d culri e in i ec ta v joeh ayclylly of thi episodeepiodelode e

ere kindlkindi reeivdree andcindivd eicoveiccveich i e into the nouselousehouseulouse ofoi b otnebotne N

hiciehicne f ry eifevife livedlive in the faifiifilfal ilyilllyliy ofy brotterbrother litney

u j nd tnlou i c- ol lor re tin u oilolioii uui loliuiieoll e to rin itIA to

et e lit L 11 n L ti t xe c t i 1 1 t t c

ude t aireir coofrooftoof C 2Y ccoc etietjelie elaiiielzhiahla tte

i ue t e re autioeutio ei ineriyeriven i enu it otje o0 otiiic 01401.4

the nentvent hichitihit lediateliiatdx olioollo e 1 t e i rpetr6pet 0 V Z t0

i

urxie

0 t iete ci tjr i ii t 0 t

tc d wai- le t e ia x 0 0 ni r ili c

rjticed j oievieole uraluraibraiurbi in irtlnj da ron tneirkneir jilittle adloratlor inc eei e 01 v lo10 te roppt e i ee0

theithethel

aithfaithalthfalthlaith ititla

to abmdoiabandoiabandon t ianlan JIJL thei iitiultie eievereveie reilrell oed 1

jo eph mitaitalt j echiecgiecciieccli i ahttnitthttbt vie liv utilj epte

jo

DC

ieph

i

I1

lj31

e

larac

1 1 n

11 a tiltii

it i ut

joseph el in ir itll entiaetialentialzentlaecial iiin lurhriitornur 7trjl7v4 e

cit c cret e T 0

0 P e IC1

1 i e t r rr P j oc

aur p r F c i 1 0uL-I e r j it c c ndu k te advaedvae

i ifelieafe ant usttvev e

rj ifitroduced d7h h ou E e c c rj ie r

J I1 otne

n i

1

c th e i i ion e c 111 1

0 t

r e a it 0uiiae eirle L ot

ie J

eibc11 a I1 i

ti acirrj c ti e x nj i ove

e roppacopr t

r e 0 V e 1

I

altait r et1

h-

e ire irecarectu

n- t

ZLI- LI jinteolliteollete

i

arry

t

t fhebhe

e

cl

c

v 0110

ei bc

lz

lin

ouid

elco

lre

lil

ele

nur bro

tec arel

oll

ived

velit

irti

lii

coi

aily

culli boeh

and iteaalfil

otitic

arxie

da

opet ta

ea

I1

givdiv n

aseezsee

29

the appointmenta1222intment of bishop partridgepartri

hundreds of saints from the east and particularly new york follow-

ed the prophet to ohio with this influx it became necessarynecos forsary the

church to be further organized on february 4 1831 edward partridge

was chosen as the first bishop of the church in this dispensation his

calling and responsibilities are essential to this account as just a fwuwf

months

w

hence this calling and the duties pertaining to it werewera also given

to newel K whitney

it was a magnificent tribute that the lord paid to edward partridge in this revelation of february 4 1831 he was called to be abishop of the church and to bebc ordained a bishop unto the churchand to leav his merchandisehismerchandise and to spend all his time in tajthj laborsof tajthj church he was to see to all things as it shall bzaz appointedunto him in my laws in the day that I1 shall give them at1t in sub-sequent revelations these duties were explained and the knowledgeimparted that men called to this office werwerjberj to be engaged in thethatemporaltm affairsirs128poral of the church particularly therethera is such an in-ference in tha fact that the lord directed edward partridge to dis-continue his merchandising and devote all of his time to the churchimmediately following his appointment he was assigned to actualduties according to the callingcaning of a bishop and was engaged in caringfor thetha members of the church in lationralationgalationra to their lands inheritancesand other temporal matters which were vital to the members concerned

zion

in a series of avelationsrevelations the lord speaks of a zion to be built

up by thetha saints and gives them much advice and council pertaining to it

joseph fielding smith church historyhistorbistor and modern revelationthe council of the twelve apostlesaposre of thehe churchchur of jesus christ of

latter day saints I1 180- 181 hereafter cited as joseph fielding smithC H & mod rev

ee D & C 28 38 42 45 48 52 54 55

b came

th

thth 11

th

T

th 2.22

ljosephs 0f t ch

avelations

cabe

taxytllytily

bordersborder by th j lamanitalamanitsLamanitsestept on th

seisev eral

ssndsnd

comcob endiumeddium

ibslbs

xactexact location wheraher

30

thath2lh3 lord did not reveal to thebthem the zion was to be

built but tlxyth w arzr told it was to be known as thethoahushl new jerusalem and thu

it

LIZ

would

L

be in t

importance of the gilbert and whitney store

while in missouriissourimissouri141 joseph received the first of several revelations

which had a direct bearing on newel K whitney he was commandcommanded by

th lord to retainrhain hishi tcr in kirtland yet for a little season lt but to

endsend allaliail the money he could spare to the land of zion fartherfurther he vasviasvlas to

be an agent to th brethrbreter n in kirtland and assisted by oliver cowdrycowdery

to visit various branches of the churclchurch and gather all the mony he could

lsidneysidneylusidney B sperry doctrine and covenants compendium 2d edsalt lake city bookcraft inc

rev al thl ilm wh r iva

y b

I1

nown

la nani1

companywith br rhrenahren

w rs tward2

4 r

h

mon y

and1960 p 231

A & C 5713571 3

23 1

b-

rethren

J 6russaliz m

3 D11

duningduring summerthe of 1831183 while newel K whitney remainedren inbained

kirtland the prophet visited missouri in company with several brethren

it was then that the lord revealed to the church th exact location of

zion this revelation is found in section 57 of the doctrine and covenants

1 hearken 0 ye elders of my church saith the lord your godwho have assembled yourselves together according to my command-ments in this land which is the land of missouri which is the landwhich I1 have appointed and consecrated for the gathering of the saints

2 wherefore this is the land of promise and the place for thithecity of zion

3 and thus saith the lord your god if you will receive wisdomhere is wisdom behold the place which is now called independenceind ispendencemendencethe center place and a spot for the temple is lying westward upon alot which is not far from the courthousecourt house

cd

se nd

i

thle

ali

bcr

ad

whitnlwhitaley

31

and send it also to zion this was all to be done in his own wisdom ll11

the lord further states that those who send up of their money and trea-

sure to thetha land of zion are to receive an inheritance in this world their

works shall follow them and a reward shall accrue to them in the world

to come 1 the significance of this responsibility and tha necessity of the

saints response to it is emphasized by the following

it is the lords will that his disciples and other people open theirhearts so as to purchase the whole region or country round about in-dependence as soon as time would permit there is wisdom in thelordslord words so ileheliefle explains they are to do this lest they receiveno inheritance except by the shedding of blood ie by the use offorce cf 632731.6327316327316327 in31 no other way could they get this promisedland in their possession

A short time later another revelation was given by the lord part

of which concernedconc newelarned

26 and it is not meet that my servantsservan neweltB K whitney andsidney gilbert should sell their store and their possessions herefor this is not wisdom until the residue of the church which remainethrenmainethremin

aineththis place shall go up unto the land of zion

27 behold it is said in my laws or forbidden to get in debtto thine enemies

23 but behold it is not said at any time that the lord shouldnot take when he please and pay as seemethseebeth him good

29 wherefore as ye are agents ye are onan the lords errandand whatever ye do according to the will of the lord is the lordsbusiness

30 and he hath set you to provide for his saints in these lastdays that they may obtain an inheritance in the land of zion

abidhbid 634248

sperry op cit p 242

11

r

i e

2

tothe

ibid

2sperry

6342 48

ppap 272273272

hosephjoseph

273

fielding smith C H & mod rev

3

31 and behold 1I the lord declaredeciare untoonto you and my words aresure and shall not fail that they shall obtain it

32 but all things must come to pass in their time

33 wherefore be not weary in well doing for ye are laying thefoundation of a great work and out of small things proceedethproce thatedethwhich is great A

the store operated by gilbert and whitney was seemingly very im-

portant to the welfare of the saints in ohio and apparently became increasing-

ly so in the subsequent months the following statement helps to clarify the

importance of this establishment to the saints

the almighty now directs his attention to his servants eldernewel K whitney and sidney gilbert it is not desirable for them tosell their store and their possessions in kirtland such an action isnot wisdom until the remainder of the members of the branch in kirt-land go to the land of zion the lord in his law forbids his servantsto get in debt to his enemies but it is not said at any time that thelord should not take when he pleases and pay as it seems good tohim for that reason inasmuch as these brethren are the lordsagents they are on his errand and whatever they do according tothe will of the lord is the lords business the lord has giventhese brethren a command to provide for his saints in order that theymight obtain an inheritance in the land of zion 2

it appears that at this time there was to have been a general exo-

dus of the church from kirtland to missouri and that the gilbert and

whitney store was to assist the saints in the preparation for this removal

the plan however was later abandoned when joseph smith returned to

kirtland

& C 6426336426

sperry

33

op cit

p 333

ireat

ki rtlaatlan 3

2sperry Z 1212273

I1 I1

33

appointment of newel K whitney as bishop

during these months the new converts in kirtland witnessed a

slow but certain development of the kingdom of god in their midst un-

usual would have been the experience of having ones name mentioned in

the revelations which came to joseph smith particularly if through them

responsibilities and duties were increased suggesting the trust the lord

had in the one so named such was the case with newel K whitney in

november of 1831 in a revelation the lord said there remain hereafter

in the due time of the lord other bishops to be set apart unto the church

to minister even according to the first 111illiliiii the fulfillment of this promise

of the lord seems to have come in part one month after it was given

in the appointment of the second bishop of the church and is recorded in

section 72 of the doctrine and covenants the full context of this revela-

tion is here given as it not only calls bishop whitney but outlines in some

detail his extensive responsibilities

1 hearken and listen to the voice of the lord 0 ye who haveassembled yourselves together who are the high priests of my churchto whom the kingdom and power have been given

2 for verily thus saith the lord it is expedient in me for abishop to be appointed unto you or of you unto the church in thispart of the lords vineyard

3 and verily in this thing ye have done wisely for it is requiredof the lord at the hand of every steward to render an account of hisstewardship both in time and in eternity

4 for he who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy toinherit the mansions prepared for him of my father

idal C 6814ID &

uilIJLliuAO

I1

I1

halihail

kinrin ldoiedoleldoinikerinniterin the gospel and the tiling of the kingdom unto tiletuetlletiiechurch

0and unto the world shall answer the debt unto the bishopbish

inop

zion15 thusthussthuesthuen it comethco outineta of the church for a ording to tneane law

very man that cometh up to zion must lay all things before theishop in zion

16 and row verly I1 say unto you that a every eldereider icir thithisthlpart of the vineyard x ust give an account of hitiviliill ltevardshipjteardhip cilitolilitothe bishop in this part of the vineyard

17 A certificate fromfroin the judge or bishop in this part of thevineyard unto the bhopbi inhop zion renderetrenderethrenderedrencen everyderetdereth nianmannienn acceptableianienlenand answerethanswer alleth things for an inheritance and to be received asa wiseolseoise steward and as a faithful laborer

biven&iven

34

5 verily I1 say unto you the elderseiders of the church in this partof my vineyardvi cFneard hall render anm account of their stewardshipwardshipAe unto thebishop who shall be appointed of mene in this part of my vineyard

661 these things hallshalishail be had on record to be handed over untothe bishop in zion

7 nd the duty of the bishop shallrhallshalishail be made known by the cornconnronnnandcrientsmanclnentsi vhichchich have been iven and te voi e of tiietuetrie conference

nd novvnoav erlisriierilverliverllarii I1 ay unto you vy servantfervant nenewelvel I1I1 hitneyis the man ho hallhailhali be appointed and ordained unto the power thisi tl e vill of the lord our godood your eieemerei reemer ven so en

9 the wordnord of the lordlI inord addition to the lavlaw which hashafhat beengiven makingmakinahakinamakino known the duty 0 the bishop vhio na been ordainedordaorJaunto

inedthe church in this part of the vineyard which i verily thiethlethib

10 totc keep the lordlords storehouse to receive the fundsfund of thechurch in thitrmthlarm part ofoi thedhetl vineyard1

11

E

to take an account of the elders aras deforebefore has been commandedandaw to administerachniniste to their wantsantswante wao hallfialllellleli pay for that which theythes re-ceive inasmuch a they have wherewithvherewith to pay

12 that this also inaymaynayi be consecrated to the good of the churchto the poor animi nee

13 and he who hath not wherewith to paypav in ac ount hallchallhailhalimhall betaken indand handed over to the bishop of zion who shall pay the debtout of that which the lord nailnallnali put into ni hands

A14 and the labors of the faithful who labor in spiritual thingsin adradnaanaar

ac count

andt e

y L

t vi11 0 the L0 r 11 ou r od i0u r q

0 e 1 e en e r 7 ve n S 0 en

dut nasif

i 0

theas

11

ni terin

oa s

i

ise

an I

vei

anth

yow

servantkho

nip

thin

lse

ahio

aunt

bhoj

oiscisons I1 residingreridingridingresre bishop in the lancland of

diebifdle ihop

22122422 that they alfoairoalsoaisoaleo

roicoicol i

hilhiihai

lit111lia

2122

caical

zio210

euldinid

alcair

noonov

dlodio

tilerTuer eloreexoreeioeeiore

the designation of another bi nopaop did not come

vhoaho re i jointeduointedqointed 3 tegardtecirjte&ardover the literary concerns of my church have claim for assistanceuoonboon the bishop or bishopbishops in all thing

withop3ithop

himelfhimell cundcindquid his accounts approved in all things

aj2j nd again let j

3

18 otherwise he shallehallshailshaliahall not be accepted of the bishop of zion

19 nd nownov verily I1 ay unto you let every elder who shall givean account unto uietiievieuteti bishopie of the church in this part of the vineyardbe recommended by the church or churcneschurcaeschurcheschur incaes which he labors thatheae may render himchima elfeif

icis render thencelve approved in all thingsand bebuubum accounted a iei tewardsteardswardsrewardstee

73I1

ards

nl1

i3 ncvnokncenonicv beholdbelioljbeholjbeibelbelobehooelo tnianiCLiolJlj hall ue c ii m a- ie uror all tiletiietlle extenivesivefive branche of mymv church in whatsoever lndindand1 theynd nallstiallnalinailsteall be e tau-

li

1

led nd no I1 n aweake an end of myiny r ayinli1 men

242 14 few cordsvordsxords in addition to the lavladiadla ofv the kingdolykingdoirking redolydoirdoitdoltdoiy pelt-ing

peti-ng the embersmemberebbers of the that are appointed by the holykiritopiritpirit to go up unto zion andcind ttl ey who are privileged to go up untozion

25 let thernthem carry up unto the bishop a certificate from threeelders of the church or a certificate aroiiroiirolI1 the bhop

26 cthervviecthervif he rho hllh-al oloofo010 up unto the land of zion shall notbe accounted as a viewise tevardbevard this is zalolo an ensampleens 1aiarniearnle nen1inenbinen 1

in july 2311231 instruction va given jhcthc itlt 1 va to

ion tuerexore

a urprieurphieur toprie the eideeeljercidereldee

in lniokuiounioduio aas it nacwacnas extreneiy difficult to keep in lose houcttouutouct i ith E i hop

partridge because of distance and the lownelonneionneI 11ownes of mail service

id p 72

p 32232z

ibid p 58

and everJ t

2 y ervantc 7ho

u on

thai rna

the rn belve7elverelvereiveai ce

i ae

z a ke ri en0

church they

bi hop

ete vardnardaard

11 tl artridge

bitaop i

fi3

id 7 2

2sperry op9pap cit

a- ume his dutie- u

r

at iding

tile

are

uwe

sperry

clin

lve tad

rno

931

kulo

ale

bhoj

aho

chop

cioe

212.1 that the revelationsrevelation may be published and go forth unto theendsendy of the earth that they also may obtain funds which shall benefitthe church in all thinClin

mismlsmih ouri

honnon

irtairt

36

oatieskaties of bishop V hitneybitncv

not only was the new bishop to assume the same duties as bishop

partridge but in addition the revelation statsstates the brethren in the kirt-

land areaaraarca are to renderrend anr account of their stewardshipssteward toships bishop whit-

ney these accounts will thenahttht ben a matter of record and arc eventuallyv to be

handed over to bishop partridge in missouri who was the presiding bishop

of the churchghurchgourch ll11

in the next part of the revelation vss 9199 the19 lord specifiesduties of tajthj new bishop in addition to those before given le is tokeep the lordswordskords storehousestor forehousechouse thethuth kirtlandj area and receiverzceiv the churchfunds iieae ibis also to administer to the needs of the iderselderslidersciders whoiswhosechois stew-ardship accounts he keps the brethren are to pay for what theythoy re-ceive if they havhave the money so that this too may be consecratedto the good of the poor and needynedy of the hurchchurch if a brother is unableto pay for what he gets the bishop is to make an account of the matterand transmit it to the bishop partridgepartridg in ionlionllonzion who will in turn paythe debt out of the surplus put in his charge by th lord

faithful brethrbrethrenbreter whobechobe stewardshipssteward consistships in laboring in purelyspiritual matters of the church are just as much entitled to remunera-tion as those who labor in temporal matters vs 14 the bishop in

ionaon will pay their debts rheirfheirkheir remuneration comes from the churchbut such accounts have to come up finally lo10to the presiding bishop asthe law of the church requires very man even if his labors arecompletely spiritual nabtiasriahllah totc give an account of his stewardshipssttzwardshipssteward toships thepresidingresidingJP bishop see 4230 in view of the fact that veryv inderholderiaderaderhilderbilderladeri

in the kirtland area has to give an account of his stewardship to thenew bishop lderfildereilderfelderfiderrideriderW newel K whitney it is essential that brothervvhitneyhitneyVv issue a certificate to each man witnessing to the bishop inzion that he is an acceptable and wise steward and faithful labor-er and thus worthy of an inheritance without this certificate antaderlader is not to be accepted by the bishop of ion ilderaderlder partridgecartridgeY aartlartevery

ridgeiderilderlider in the kirtland area who gives an account of his steward-

ship to bishop whitneyVh isitney to be recommendedrecommend by the respective branchor branches of the church in which h labors vs 19 in order thathe and his accounts may be duly approved in all respectsspectsaspects

se j JL 727 and alsoalo page 29 of this paper

sperry

J

op012olioii

I1

citcitezsperry p 323

bish02

L

matt r ar

I1

thth b fore givdiv n lielle

h

th

n

I1

b r

pe

keps th z br thren

pur- ly

td

spec ts

ti ilslis

lon

lon

lider

lder

very

aio

ider

ass

37

in addition to the duties of bishop whitney as outlined in the revela-

tion president joseph F smith gives a detailed description of the spiritual

duties of bishops which were encompassed in this new calling

it is also the duties of these presiding officers bishopric in thechurch to look after the spiritual welfare of the people to see thatthey are living more pure upright lives that they are faithful in thedischarge of their duties as L D S that they are honest in theirdealings with one another and with all the world it is their busi-ness to see that spiritual light exists in all their hearts and thatthe people under their presidency and direction are living the livesof saints as far as it is possible for men and women in the mortalbody beset by weakness and imperfections of mankind can besaintsaints I11

further light is shed on the responsibilities of a bishop in grantsgrant9granta s

the kingdom of god restored

l1 a bishop must be blameless as the steward of god notselfwilledself notwilled soon angry not given to wine no striker not givento filthy lucre but a lover of hospitality a lover of good men soberjust holy temperate holding fast the faithful word as he hath beentaught that he maynaybaybeyn beay able by sound doctrine both to exhort and con-vince 11 titutitus 179

to joseph god revealed that a bishop is t to be a judge inisrael to do the business of the church to sit in judgment upontransgressors by the assistance of his counselors whom he haschosen thus shall he be a judge even a common judge amongthe inhabitants of zion A bishop must be chosen from the highpriesthood unless he isin a literal descendant of aaron a literaldescendant of aaron has a legal right to act in the office of bis-hop independently without counselors rl in the church today thereis no bishop holding the office by literal descent of aaron lt11 boththe bishop and his counselors are high priests having authority topreside over the affairs of their wards and the priesthood as well

lroy W doxey the latter davday prophets and the doctrine andcovenants salt lake city deseret book company 1964 1I 557

rant op cit p 135 quoting titus 17917 and9 D & CG 10772741077269

7476

s

01

vinc e s 17 9

2

roy0MP&ny j 5 5 7C 19 4

agrantzgrant6 9 7 6

38

whitneyswhitneswhitneytWhit reactionneys to the calling

it is possible that bishop whitney did not realize the full scope of

his new responsibility due to the newness of the office and his limited

experience in the church nevertheless he was staggeredstaggered11 by the

weight of the task as indicated in the following account given by orson F

whitney

presiding bishop edward hunter he it was if I1 remember rightonce related to me an anedoteanedore about his predecessor my grandfathernewel K whitney the second man calledcauedcaged to the bishopric in this dis-pensation it was at kirtland ohio in december 1831 the law ofconsecration had been revealed and was about to be put into operationthe properties of the saints had to be consecrated for the building upof zion and bishops were needed to handle these properties and ad-minister the temporalitiestemporali of the church edward partridge was thefirst bishop called but he had been sent down into missouri wherethe foundations of zion were laid and another bishop was neededfor kirtland a stake of zion the lord said my servant newelK whitney is the man who shallshailshali be appointed and ordained unto thispower newel K whitney staggering under the weight of the respon-sibility that was about to be placed upon him said to the prophetbrother joseph I1 cant see a bishop in myself ll11

no but god could see it in him he was a natural bishop a firstclass man of affairs probably no other incumbent of that importantoffice the presiding bishopric to which he eventually attained hasbeen better qualified for it than newel K whitney but he could notsee it and he shrank from the responsibility the prophet answeredgo and ask the lord about it and newel did ask the lord and he

heard a voice from heaven say thy strength is in me ll11 that wasenough he accepted the office and served in it faithfully to the endof his daysdayea a period of eighteen years A

qualifications of bishop whitneywhitne

the choice of newel as a bishop of the church appears to have

been a most fortunate one he was a thorough businessmanbusiness bymanban instinct

doxey op cit 11II 434

gran ther

s 1

11

1

idoxey

11

pensation

ties

sibility

whitne s

n

I1

grotro t

runsheunshe

39

and training and because his duties dealt chiefly in temporal affairs sup-

erervisingvising the material interests of the church he apparently warwas aman ex-

cellent choice for the position x

the following comment regarding the appointment of bishop whitney

brings to light the trust that joseph smith had in him as a bishop and as

a riendfriend

the appointment of newel K whitney as bishop of kirtland and theeastern branches of the church was the next important event in hishistory joseph who had seen him in vision praying for his comingto kirtland recognized with inspirational eye the part he was des-tined to play in the great drama of the latter days he was one whomhe trusted implicitly not only in monetary matters in which he oftenwent to him for counsel but with many of his most secret thoughtsthose keen edged swords which blinding by their far flashing bril-liance he could sheathunsheathdunsheathun but to few but though joseph loved himas a bosom friend he did not fail to correct him whenever occasionrequired and the candor of his rebuke and the outspoken nature oftheir friendship served only to knit their souls more closely to-gethergether

area of responsibilityreponsibility

As one considers the calling given to bishop whitney it is real-

ized that he was more than a ward bishop and yet he certainly was not the

presiding bishop of the church his responsibilities as indicated above

encompassed not only the ohio saints but also the eastern branches of the

church consider the followingfolI

in

owing

december 1834 the lord saw proper again to give another bishophis name was newel K whitney was he merely a bishop of a wardwhose jurisdiction was limited to a little spot of ground that might betermed a place for the residence of a ward bishop no he was anothergeneral bishop bishop partridge had general jurisdiction in jackson

roberts op citcite 1I 270271270

2whitneyzwhitneyZW

271

contributorhitney VI 126

f

tr 2

t

bup

orsonoraon

40

county and in regions round about while the duties of newel K whit-ney extended to the state of ohio and the states of pennsylvania andnew york and throughout all of the eastern counties wherever thechurch of god was organized

he was first appointed bishop of kirtland and the eastern branchesof the church like bishop partridge bishop whitney also was calledof god as was aaronaaron11 in a revelation given december 4 1831 whilehe was not formally designated as a presiding bishop until after theprophetsprophet death he served in that capacity following the death ofbishop partridge and in 1844 was sustained by the vote of the churchhe served without regularly appointed counselors president brighamyoung and his counselor heber CG kimball serving in that capacity 2

thy strength is in me ll11 the answer to Whitneywhitney1whitneyswhitneytWhit s1neys plea to god was

probably a constant source of strength in the ensuing years as he carried

out the numerous responsibilities connected with his calling

A further explanation of some of the duties of bishop whitney is

found in section 72226722722426 as26 discussed by sidney B sperry as follows

the directions given the brethren for their activities are now tobe an example for all the extensive branches of the church vs 2

in whatsoever land they may be located that is to say bishops orsuitablesuisul presidingtabletablatabie officers are to be provided in all parts of the churchin order that brethren may conveniently give accounts of their stewardshipshardshipsard asships the revelation sets forth at this point the lord saysthat he makesmekesbekes an end of his sayings and adds amen ll11 perhaps thereason for this is that the most important and weighty part of hisdirections has been given

nevertheless the almighty adds a few words to the laws of thekingdomkingdom1kingdoms in ending the revelation by advising members of the churchwho are inspired of the spirit to go to zion and those who are priv-ileged for some other good reasons to go to that land vas 242624to

26

take with them a certificate of recommendation signed by threeelders of the branch of the church to which they belong in lieu of

N B lundwall masterful discourses of or sonaon pratt salt lakecity bookcraft inc 1962 p 234

improvement era april 1935 XXXVIUXXXVUI 217

1

a

reg zlyziy

A ghtygaty

IN

1

7224

I1

reverove ionlon

ppap 324325324 325

igiveniriven

prazprmz isedased

41

that they may obtain a certificate from the bishop in the generalregion in which they live bishop whitney for example in any eventwhatever certificate is obtained is to be presented to the bishop inzion without a proper certificate is not to be accounted as a wise ste-ward this instruction is given as another example of what the lordwants his people to heed

the united order

in march of 1832 another revelation was given to the churchchurchy which

was directed to the members of the priesthood who were assembled giving

instructions regarding the united order or order of enoch on which

zion must be built

during the early part of the year 1832 the prophet and sidneyrigdon continued the work of the revision of the scripturesscripturescripturec c at thetime the prophet was still residing in the house of father john john-son at hiram it was during this time march that this importantrevelation section 78 was given to the members of the priesthoodwho were assembled imparting instructions in relation to the plan ofthe united ordeyorder91order or order of enoch ll11 on which the promised zionshould be built the lord had revealed that it was only through obe-dience to his divine will the celestial law that zion could be builtsec 6347496347 643449 105351053 the5 members of the church rejoiced

when the lord revealed to them the site on which the new jerusalemor city of zion should be built sec 571315713571 313 their enthusiasmhowever was not sufficient to carry them through to a conclusion instrict obedience to the divine will CHMR 27374273 1948.194874

1 the lord spake unto enoch joseph smith jun saying hear-ken unto me saith the lord your god who are ordained unto the highpriesthood of my church who have assembled yourselves together

2 and listen to the counsel of him who has ordained you from onhigh who shall speak in your ears the words of wisdom that salva-tion may be unto you in that thing which you have presented beforeme saith the lord god

3 for verily I1 say unto you the time has come and is now athand and behold and lo10 it must needs be that there be an organiza

sperryisperry op012oleoie cit

s

jerus m

III111 19

sperry op cit

I1 261265261 265

I1

42

tion of my people in regulating and establishing the affairs of thestorehouse for the poor of my people both in this place and in theland of zion sec 78131781

the

31

following paragraph clarifies the meaning in these verses

and the material which follows the quote is in fulfillment of verse nine

the lord tellsteustelis the brethren who are joined together in this neworder vss 8168 the16 details of which are not given that it is ex-pedient that all things be done by them unto his glory in otherwords newel K whitney joseph smith and sidney rigdon are tosit in council with the saints who are in zion otherwise satan willseek to turn their hearts from the truth that they become blindedand understand not the things which are prepared for them thelord commands the brethren to prepare and organize themselvesby a bond or everlasting covenant that cannot be broken this waslater to be calledcaned the united order 9212921 2 whosoever breaksit is to lose his office and standing in the church and be deliveredover to the buffetings of satan until the day of redemption cf 8221 1049101049 1322610 in this way the lord will prepare the brethrenlay the foundation and give the example whereby they may accomplishthe commandments which are given them obviously the lord is veryserious in the questsrequestsro which he makes of the brethren respecting theestablishment of the new order

journey to missouri

A few days after this revelation was given to the church the

tragic incident of the tarring and feathering of the prophet and sidney

rigdon occurred on the 24th of march 1832 A few days later one of the

adopted twins of the prophet died following exposure to the cold the night

joseph was dragged from his home by the mob 3

doxey op cit

p 373

roberts op02 cit

2

journe

ns

1

Z0

L

ass

ressrese

2ibidbibid

43

with this tragedy on his mind the prophet in company with newel

K whitney and several other brethren in kirtlandkirtFirt beganland a journey to

missouri on april 1 in fulfillment of verse 9 section 78 of the doctrine

and covenants aaas stated above

wishing to avoid tiietiletlle mobs these brethren proceeded on a course

which took them to wheeling virginia where they purchased paper and

other supplies for the press in zion shortly after leaving hiram ohio

the prophetI wrote a letter to his wife and suggested that she leave hiram

and go to the home of bishop hitneywhitneyvV in kirtland and remain until the mobs

quieted dovndowndoando

fromrom

anxn

YhI eelingheeling they took passage on the steamer trenton hile

still in dock the following incident occurred n during the night the

boat was twice on fire burning the whole width of the boat through into

the cabin but with so little damage that the boat went on in the morning

somecorne of the mob which had followed us left us and we arrived in louis-

ville the same night captain brittle offered us protection on board of

his boat and gave us supper and breakfast gratuitously n

further instructions

while in missouri on april 26 18321332 another revelation was given

to the church part of which directly concerned bishop whitney sec 82

11.24112411

ljosephjosephhoseph

24

smith history of the church of jesus christ of latter daysaints 2dad ed revised salt lake city deseret news press 1948 1I265266265

ibid

266

J

41

ilic

aamlabiabnamnab

stakesakesawesaceb niustnustfiust be strengthened yea verilyI1 ay unto you zion mut arise andind put on her beautiful garmentsgarrgarl benttnentt

ouidfhouldshould

everyevervevera irianrianlylanirlani seekin the interest of his neighbor and doincdoingdoinaallaualiail things with an eye single to the glory of god

x joseph 0 nithsnith e lamed that it waswarwao not always desirable that theindividuals whom the lord addressedaddres insied revelations ould at the timebe known by the world and hence in thithisthl and in some subsubsequentquent revela-tions the brethren were addressed by other than their own namenamesnaae thetemporarytentea necessityiporary having passed for keepingpeeping the names of the indivi-duals addressed unknown their real namesnw werenes subsequently givenpiven inbrackets josephjoseph smith 1I 255

I1 I1

I1I1

I1

sayoay

saays7ay

44

therefore verily I1 r ay unto you that it is expedient formy servants lamuam and hashdah newel vhitney tviahalaleeljahalaleelmahalaleellahalaJahala andjndleelleei

elagoramela sidneygoram rigdon and rny servant gazelamgazelak joseph smithand horah and olihahelihah oliver cowdery and shalamanassehhalarcianassehShalashaia andmanasseh mahvah1a

emsonah

martin harris to be bound together by a bond and covenantthat cannot be broken by transgression except judgementjud shallgement immed-iately follow in your several

12 to manage tneane affairaffairs of the poor and all things pertaining tothe bishopric both in the land of zion and in the land of shinehahShine kirtl-and

hah

13 for I1 have consecrated the land of shinehahShine kirtlandkirtlandFirthah inland mineninebinenown

inedue timetinietiretinke for the benefit of the saints of the mostinot high and for a

staketake to zion

14 for zion aust increase in beauty and in holiness her bor-der must be enlarged her akeb

15 therefore I1 give unto you this commandment that ye bindyourselvesyoursel byvegveF thithisthl covenantcoven andmitwit it hallhailhalishallshali be done according to thelawslawlawf of the lord

16 behold here is wisdomwis alsodonndorndonz in rneme for your good

17 and you are to be equal or in other words you are to havehcivesciveequal claims on the properties for the benefit of managing the con-cerns of your stewardshipssteward everyships i

1 nd all this for the benefit of the church of the living godthat every man may improve upon his talent that every nan again other talents ea even an hundred fold to be cat into thelordslord storehousestore tolouiehouie become the common property of the wholechurch

19

D H CG

ish nd

my

1

rn

cl

t

in accordingacco toiding hishi adjivdjiamt andcindhihishiahla beedeneede inasmuch as his wants are just

vmt

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1

2

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a-

y

vhitney

nu

livin f

S

autdust

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whitney

aa

11.

I1

dokeydoxey op2222.eebe citcite III111iliill9 51ms

45

20 this order I1 have appointed to be an everlasting order untoyou and unto your successors inasmuch as you sin not

21 and the soul that sins against this covenant and hardenethhardhis

enethheart against it shall be dealt with according to the laws of my

church and shall be delivered over to the buffetings of satan untilthe day of redemption

22 and now verily I1 say unto youyuu and this is wisdom make untoyourselves friends with the mammon of unrighteousnessunrighteous and they willnot destroy you

23 leave judgment alone with me for it is mine and I1 will repaypeace be with you my blessings continue with you

24 for even yet the kingdom is yours and shall be forever ifyou fall not from your steadfastness even so amen

A commentary to explain the procedingproceedingpro versesceding is as follow

the brethren one more are bound by a covenant this is infact a renewal of the covenant given in earlier revelations thelord frequently repeats instructionsinstruct andionsionelons commandments that we maybe more deeply impressed these covenants were of the nature thatthey could not be broken without losing the reward

the nature of this covenant in large measure was to bind them tomanage the affairs of the lords storehouse for the poor and to lookafter their needs in all things the bishops in kirtland as well as inzion had the responsibility on their shoulders to see to the carryingout of the provisions of this divine law the land of shinehahShine kirtl-and

hahwas to be consecrated for this work as well as the land of

zion in a former revelation the lord indicated that he intended tomaintain a hold on bartlandbirtlandBirt forland five years sec 6421.6421 now heasks that a stake of zion be organized in kirtland earlier sec6826 the lord intimated that stakes would be organized CHMRCHMIR

28788287 19481948288 2

the gilbert and whitneyWhit storesnyxnEXnyz

A few days after this revelation was received the church leaders

in missouri held a council the prophet recorded that n

& C 8211248211211

ne s s

V 8 24

zdoxey

24

194821948.2

III111

at this point it beemsseems appropriate to give a more complete ex-

planation of the position of bishop whitney and his store in kirtland with

regard to taking care of the poor and the covenant he entered into with

the brethren mentioned in verse 11 of section 82

it seems thatthet these brethren were bound by a covenant referred to

in two revelations to2 manage the affairs of the lords storehousestovehouse for

the poor and to look after their needs in all things 3

shopsinbishopsinBi kirtland and zion had this responsibility and were

bound by covenant to carry it out this covenant was of the nature that

could not be broken without losing tibe reward

46

arrangements were also made for supplying the saints with stores in

missouri and ohio which action with a few exceptions waewaswee hailed

with joy by the brethren

it will be remembered thatthet in earlier revelations5revelations newel5 isin told

by the lord to retain his store in kirtland for use by the membership of

the church so that they could avoid going in debt to their enemies and

also to raise money for the building of zion in missouri

I11 joseph smith op citpit II11 270

ee D &c 78 82

domeydoxey op cit inme 515

d

1

5see5seqasee

arid4rid

D & C 63 64

vv s

ng

in ntionednotioned

t brethrenwere

revelations2 ma ge

4

t

0

see

3doxey q 0

ac

1I 270 footnote by B H roberts

holhoi gs

47

on maymlay 1 1832 the action was taken to have stores both in kirtl-

and and missouri to assist the saints with needed supplies B H roberts

gives the following account concerning the business of gilbert and vhitvtitt

ney

the arrangements here referred to for the establishment of storesin missouri and ohio as disclosed by the minutes of these councilmeetings of the 26th 27th 30th of april and the ist of may werethat the brethren in mercantile pursuits in kirtland and zion shouldbe united in one firmfirn and the establishments in kirtland and zionrespectively were regarded merely as branches of the one firmstill it was resolved that each of these branches should have a sep-arate company name the name of the branch in zion was to begilbertigilbertegilbert whitneyhitneykV & company 11 and the one in kirtland ewelnewel K

whitney & company 11 W W phelps and A S gilbert were appointedto draft the bond for the united firm A S gilbert and newel Kwhitney were appointed to be the agents of the new firm it was alsoresolved that whenever any special business should arise it would bethe duty of the united firm by its branches at jackson county missouriand geaughgeauga county ohio to regulate the same by special agency itwas also resolved that the united firm negotiatenegotiat a loan of fifteen thou-sand dollars at six per centum the firm of newel K whitney & cowas appointed to transact the business

the following is also an appropriate commentary on this point

when the church left kirtlandbirthirt forland missouri in june of 1831 thereis no indication that they had any intention ever to return again exceptto complete liquidation of their holdings and to bring their familiesto zion although plans for building zion were continued theprophet returned to kirtland in the fall of 1831 and issued orders thatstopped the liquidation of kirtland holdings the morley farm andsome of newel K Whitneywhitney1whitneyswhitneyt s1 property were already gone fortunatelywhitneyswhitneywhitneyt store had not been sold when the new decision was madethis property was appropriated to the church through the law of con-secration

it was around the nucleus of alvitrealiitrelaaiAliilaal storetre and the law of con-secration that the economic strength of kirtlandFirt wasland husbandedhusbanderhus thebanded

ljosephjoseph smith op cit

1 st

A

iidtrevls

secration

secration

WhitneysWhitneys

flyn

khit

bagibegi ng

48

law of consecration was given by the church by joseph smith in aseries of revelations beginning early in 1831 according to the lawa person upon becoming a member of the mormon church was to deedall of his property to the organization in fee simple he would thenreceive from the church a conditional grant called an inheritancealthough this was the law it was not formally followed in kirtlandevidently members merely pledged their property to the church withan oath and covenantcovenant91 and retained title in their own name theyreceived the advice and counsel of the mormon bishop or his agentconcerning the use of their property and were expected to make anaccounting to him at the endand of the year as to the results of theiroperation it was expected that all amounts over and above what wasnecessary to provide for their wants and needsneeder would be donatedto the church

it has been said that the operation of the law of consecration wasinformal in kirtland the single exception to that statement is perhaps the most noteworthy economic development during the early yearsof the church the properties of newel K whitney were formallyappropriated to church use in march 1832 through an organizationcalled the united firm or the united order the organization wasknown in county records as newel K whitney and company it wascreated according to the church account to care for the poor tomanage the storehouse and to regulate affairs of the church both inzion and in kirtlandKi effectivelyrUand it wa the governing body of thechurch and its members included the highest church leaders itwas also the only visible means of support for these leaders therewas an air of secrecy and mystery about it as its members were knownby unique book of mormon italics sounding code names originallyit consitedconsistedcon usiasiuwisited of newel K whitney sidney rigdon and josephsmithC inith april 1832 the united order was expanded to includeoliver cowdery and martin harris the only economic asset at firstwas whitneywhitneyswhitneyt store but as consecrations and donations flowed innew business enterprises were commenced and additional purchasesof property were made fromfrozafroz time to timtimetimatibetib as need arose the groupexpanded to include some new figure vital to an emerging plan suchan addition was made in 1833 when smith saw that his missouri zionwas not likely to be realized soon and expressed the need to build andgrow by transferring projects originally intended for zion to the ohiocity the church needed property upon which to lay the foundationsfor a city and a house of worship accordingly frederick 31.31 williamswas admitted to the united firm and with him came his farm of 142acres situated on the heights overlooking the valley of the east chagrinriver and the old village of kirtland I11

lkentgkentkent fielding the mormonscormons in kirtland n utah historical quarriyariy XXVU 333336333 336

whitn y

wao gover g

tery

91

Whitneys

kirti 0

31

1I 418

I1

ae1eadeado r s

firtlkirtl

49

with this information it seems apparent that bishop whitney with

his business was closely associated with the economy of the saints in

kirtland as well as with the care of the poor whom the leaders of the

church were bound by covenant to look after as previously noted

it appears possible that the storehouse used by the church in

kirtland might have been bishop whitneyswhitneytWhit ownneys private store consider

the following paragraph fromfrob a letter written by F CL williams to the

saints in zion on october 10 1833

bishop whitney also started for new york at the same time toreplenish his store in kirtland with money enough to pay all the debtsof both establishments and expects to bring a larger supply of goodsthan at any former time thus you see the goodnessgoof andlesstess mercy ofgod in providing for his saints not one week before bishop whit-ney started the way seemed hedged up and ten or twelve hundreddollars was the most that behe had and knewknow not where to obtain theamount he wanted but by a remarkable interposition of divine provi-dence he was furnished with all he wanted for which letlotiet us raiseour hearts in gratitude to god aedaadandendead praise his holy name that heis a present help in every time of need

eventful journey from missouri to kirtland

the next events which concern newel were significant in building

the bond of love and friendship between him and the prophet joseph smith

joseph records that on may 6 1832 in company with bishop whitney and

sidney rigdonrisdon he began a journey from missouri back to kirtland their

journey was mostly abnbn stage through st louis to vincennes indiana and

newnow albany an account of the incidentscidents of this journey are given here

joseph smith op cit

wh

fr G

sa s

provi g S a

do rs

w ed

c pany

bj

in

ljoseph

kirti

ijensonensonendonikenson blogbloe encycencylenc L 225 josephjoseph smith op citot

arrezafterannez anner&nner

I1 tarried with brother whitney and administeredto him till he was able to be moved

I1 1I 271

50

near the falls ofoi ohio the horses of the coach on which theywere traveling took fright and ran away while going at full speedbishop whitney and the prophet leaped from the vehicle the lattercleared the wheels and landed in safety but his companion havinghis coat fast caught his foot in the wheel and was thrown to the groundwith violence breaking his leg and foot in several places this acci-dent delayed them for four weeks at a public house in greenville drporter the landlords brother who set the broken limb remarkedlittle thinking who the travelers were that it was a pity they did nothave somesobe mormonscormonsMormorr thereons as they could set broken bones and doanything else joseph administered to his friend and he recoveredrapidly they had fallen it seems into suspicious if not dangeroushands in walkingwaikingwallwail throughningting the woods adjacent to the taverntaverns the propbetabetsheta attention had been attracted by several newly made graves hislushieiussuspicion though not thoroughly aroused was brooding over this cir-cumstance when an incident occurred to emphasize it afterttnnerone day he was seized with a violent attack of vomiting accompaniedby profuse hemorrhage his jaw became dislocated through the vio-lence of his contortions but he replaced it with his own hands andmaking way to the bedside of bishop whitney was administered to byhim and instantly healed the effect of the poison which had beenmixed with his food was so powerful as to loosen much of the hairon his head it was evident that they could remain there no longer insafety the bishop had not set foot upon the floor for nearly a monthand though much improved was far from being in a fit condition totravel but joseph promised him that if he would agree to leave thehouse next morning they would start for kirtland and would have aprosperous journey home the sick man consented and they accor-dingly took leave next day of the place where they believed their mur-der had been planned they experienced the fulfilmentfulfillment of the prophetswords most remarkably and after a pleasant and prosperbusprosperousprosp journeysjourneyerbusreached kirtland some time in june A

the prophet further describes the incident

we put up at mr porters public house in greenville forfour weeks while elder rigdon went directly forward to kirtlandduring all this time brother whitney lost not a meal of victuals ora nights sleep

and one day when I1 rose fromthe dinner table I1 walked directly to the door and commenced voinotvoiniting most profusely I1 raised large quantities of blood and poisonousmatter thanks be to my heavenly father for his interferencein my behalf at this critical moment in the name of jesus christamen 2

enaon

s e

q

mons

cumstance

I1

51

immediatelymediatelyrn after replacing his own jaw joseph records thathe hurried to the bedside of bishop whitney who laid his handson him and administered to himhim11 and joseph was healed in an in-stant I11

following is a letter written by joseph smith to his wife emma

at the time he and bishop whitney were detained in greenville because of

the latlattoretersteretores broken leg the writer has not attempted to make any correc-

tions in the contents of this letter but presents it as it was originally written

june 6thath greenville floid indiana co 1832

dear wife

I1 would inform you that brother martin has arrived here andbrought the pleasing news that our familysfamilys were well when he left therewhich greatly cheered our hearts and renewed our spirits we thankour heavenly father for this goodness unto us and all of you martinarrived on satterday the same week he left chagrin having a prosper-ous time we are all in good health brother whitneyWhit sneys leg is gainingand he thinks he shallshailshali be able to perform his journey so as to getgot homhornhonnabout the 20th my situation is a very unpleasentpleasentunpleasantun one although I1 willwinendeavor to be contented the lord assisting me I1 have visited a grovewhich is just back of the towtown almost every day where I1 can be secludedfrom the eyes of any mortal and there give vent to allailali the feeling of myheart in mediation and pray 1I have called to mind all the past mo-ments of my life and am left to mourn and shed tears of sorrow for myfolly in suferingsaferingferingsuperingsusa the adversary of my soul to have so much power overme asan he has had in times past but god is merciful and has forgivenmy sinssinesina and I1 rejoice that he sendethsenneth forth the Comfertcomfertercomforter unto as manyas believe and humblethhum themselvesbleth before him I1 was grieved to hearthat hiram had lost his little child I1 think we can in some degreesympathisesympathism with him but we all must be reconciled to our lots and saythe will of the lord be done sister whitney wrote a letter to herhusband which was very earingchearingcbearingch and being unwell at that time andfilled with much anxiety it would have been very consoling to me tohave received a few lines from you but as you did not take the troubleI1 will try to be contented with my lot knowing that god is my friendin him I1 shall find comfort I1 have given my life into his hands I1 amprepared to go at his call I1 desire to be with christ I1 count not mylife dear to me only to do his will I1 am not pleased to hear thatwilliam mclelinmclalin has come back and disobeyed the voice of him who

id

stant

a

ma ost

9

co erter

a ety

fmco ort

er

ibid

noisnols

nfulnaul

saphrosophro

aseezsee

52

is altogether lovely for a woman I1 am astonished at sister emailemalineemallemalineyet I1 cannot believe she is not a worthy sister I1 hope she will findhim true and kind to her but have no reason to suspect his conductmeet the disapprobation of every true follower of christ but thisis a painful subject I1 hope you will excuse my warmth of feeling inmentioning this subject and also my inability in conveying my ideasin everything I1 am happy to find that you are still in the faith ofchrist and at father smiths I1 hope you will comfort father andmother in their trials and hiram and samuel and jerusha and the restof the familyfanFar tellnily sophronia I1 remember her and kalvin in my pray-ers my respects to the rest I1 should like see little julia and oncemore take her on my knee and converse with you on all the subjectsubjectswhich concerns us things I1 cannot itsis not prudent for me to writeI1 omitornit all the important things which could I1 see you I1 could makemekeyou acquainted with tell brother william that I1 and brother whitneywill arrange the business of that farm when we come give my respecie to all the brothern br whitney family fc tell them he isirchearfullcheerfullchear andfull patient and a true brother to me I1 subscribe myselfyour husband the lord bless you peace be with so farewell untillI1 return

joseph smith jr 1

the seezseer ship shown by the prophet joseph as related in the pre-

ceding story would have been a further manifestationnifestation of this gift which

was first made knownknovvknovs to newel on the occasion when these two men first

met

further responsibilitiesspnisibilitieon september 22 1832 the revelation contained in section 84 of

the doctrine and covenants was given to the prophet in kirtland ohio

the original letter is preserved by the illinois historical soc-iety chicago illinois the copy used is in possession of the writer

ee pages 27 & 28 of this paper

vin

eW am

seership

fu rthearthe r re a

co ned

ithen is

is

nife station

takestaken occasionto relate how this and other revelations were given through the propheteach sentence 11 says he was uttered slowly and very distinctly and

with a pause between each sufficiently long for it to be recorded by anordinary writer in long hand this was the mannermenner in which ailallali his writ-ten revelations were dictated and written there was never any hesitationreviewing or reading back in order to keep the run of the subject neitherdid any of thesetheme communications undergo revisions interliningsinter orlinings correc-tions Asan he dictated them so they stood so far as I1 have witnessed andI1 was present to witness the dictation of several communications of seveoreloraleralerelecalecel pages each 11 footnote by B H roberts joseph smith op cit

53

in the presence of six elderseidersidersel of the church unnamed by joseph smith the

prophet I11

only a few verses of this section directly concern bishop whitneyvh

but

itney

they add to his responsibilities as bishop they are as follows

112 and the bishop newel K whitney also should travel roundabout and among all the churches searching after the poor to admin-ister to their wants by humbling the rich and the proud

113 he should also employ an agent to take charge and to do hissecular business as he shall direct

114 nevertheless let the bishop go unto the city of new yorkalso to the city of albany and also to the city of boston and warn thepeople of those cities with the sound of the gospel with a loud voiceof the desolation and utter abolishment which await them if they doreject these things

115 for if they do reject these things the hour of their judg-ment isto nigh and their house shailshallshali be left unto them desolate

116 let him trust in me and he shall not be confounded and ahair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed

117 and verily I1 say unto you the rest of my servants go yeforth as your circumstances shall permit in your several callingsunto the great and notable cities and villages reproving the worldin righteousness of all their unrighteous and ungodly deeds settingforth clearly and understandinglystanstaa thedingly desolation of abomination inthe lastlaet daysdaydeysdey

1

a

eldereiderlelderleider parley P pratt in his autobiography referring to thisrevelation for indeed he was present when it was given

L 173

9

understandinglyla at

reve ionlon

ma er

01

I1 295

whitney

I1

contributor

s

VI 127

kizkhz

aarniwarni

54

118 for with you saith the lord almighty I1 will rend theirkingdoms I1 will not only shake the earth but the starry heavensshall tremble

119 for I1 the lord have put forth my hand to exert the powersof heaven ye cannot see it now yet a little while and ye shall see itand know that I1 am and that I1 will come and reign with my people

A journey and warning

the prophet records that he continued the translation of the bible

and ministering to the church through the fall excepting a hurried jour

ney to albany new york and boston in company with bishop whitney

fromtfrom which I1 returned on the 6thath of november 1

it is here noted what eliszabethelis&abethmizabethMi annzabeth said of these verses and her

husbandhusbandshubband trip to the east

my husband traveled with joseph the prophet through many of theeastern cities bearing their testimony and collecting means to builda temple in kirtland and also to purchase lands in missouri duringthis journey they prophesied of the destructiondast thatruction would come uponthe cities of the eastern states and especially new york that in thatcity there would not be left a vestige of its grandeur that wars wouldsoon commence in our own land which last has since transpired hesaid to my husband if they reject us they shall have our testimonyfor we will write it and leave it upon their doorsteps and windowsills 16 he prophesied of desolation by fire storms pestilence andearthquakes 3

at the time this warning was given by the lord to the inhabitants

of these notable cities the following article appeared in the millennialmillenialmiuenialMilmii starlenial

ID & CG 8411211984112

2

119

joseph smith op cit

t

a

stor a

0

doorsteps

efrom

weewaewaswes lodged in city hall yardyerd and bawdunmanned in the moment of dangerthe heatbeathwatheethaet was intense the mercury rangingranwingranding at 91 in the shade the cityas dry as tinder in consequenceconcom ofweecesonce the drought and a salegaleseleseiw of wind blowing from the south everetheverythingeveryth conspired against us and the destroying element immediatelyimm getting6 thely upper kandhandkaad raged awfully and un-checked for hour8

I1

aliail

iroiio

beyoboyo

alcnic

ulesulea

fuiful fightfighte one of

seategrate needed godcodood sent rain poured fromthe surcharged clouds andaad checked and progress of the conflagrationthe fury andaad spread of flames exceeded anything ever seensoonseeaaeon the fireran leaped newhewflowglowglew from building to building with the spread of the hurri-cane that bore it on its course of destruction and asan it advanceadvanced andgeowgrewgrowseow more andaad more threatening the bells resoundedsoundedresounderre the alarm andthe people looked on with terror andend almost with despair there were

brouzrouahtsht

bournshourns sweeping away full 600 buildings many of them newnowand of great value destroying about 2 000ooo 000 dollars worth of propertyand rendering hundredshumhud ofredsrodszods families houseless and homeless at oneonotime it seemed as if the destruction of our fair city was inevitable thewind blewblowbiow fiercely the flames spread on all idessidesldesaidesaldes the devouring ele-ment advanced from block to block and from street to streetsstreet buildingswere taking fire in several parts of the city all was terror confusionand dismay and the efforts of man seemed utterly powerlesspower atlessloss thisfearful moment the wind lulled heavy clouds arose in the northwestnorthand

westa d eluse of yainrain grateful

apzp

burcharsurchar d

55

A PROPHECY

OR AN EXTRACT FROM THE WORD OF THE LORD concerningCONCE NEWRNINOYORKORKs ALBANY AND BOSTONdoston GIVENCUVEN ON THE 23rd DAY OF SEPTEM-BER 1832

let the bishopbishop9bishope9 newel K whitney goigo into the city of newnow yorkand also to the city of albany and also to the city of boston and warnthe people of those cities with the sound of the gospel with a loud voiceof the desolation and utter abolishment which awaltawaitsewalt them if they do re-ject these things for if they do reject these things the hour of their judg-ment is nighnightnish aadand their house shallshailahall be lettleftloftiett untovantokanto them desolate t

ALBANY VISITED BY A destructive FIRE

we scarcelync&roely know how to describe the fearful calamity that has be-fallen our doomed city it is beyond adequate description beyond atthe time we writewrites intelligibleinteuigible detail soon after a fire was chockedcheckedthat broke out in quackenbush street just before noon the alarm wasagain soundedsouasounequa anddedadodadedo fire broke nut in a sxnallsaiallsaball icsic stable adjoining thealbion househousakousakouse between broadway and the pier inand occupied by john 0 white of its origin we know nothing but itburst forth at a most unlucky moment the fire departmentdepertdepart wasmelemOldmege wearyscatteredscat and desorgdisorgtored disorganizednedsodewd some of the machines were disableddisa andendemdendlbiedobledsin consequence of a shamefulshamo 9 we believe

Y A PC Y

se

thingsthea I1

t e

herkimer street

them no

t a 0

C10

co gration

de

tweed

immimbibmense

builbullbuli go

ftpt will be a long time before albany willrecover fronfromfran this awful calamity seventeen whole blocks the pier the

feifel everythingeverythi

56

many narrow escapesescapee from death and some serious personal injuriessustained albany lias never before in her 200 years history sufferedso dreadful a local calamity as thisthib the lobslossloo100lobiob ofa household goods of allkinds is immense great quantities that were strewedstrewer in the streetswere ruined by rain carts waggonswiggons dsiqj onwheels were in constant requisition but could not accomplish a tenthpart of the work required five tenton and twenty dollars were offeredfor carrying a single loadloade numbers of persons were rendered power-less by heat fatigue and cold water A number of buildings were blownup under the direction of the authorities ftit is impossible at the time wewrite to getgotgatsatsotset at any correct estimate of the loss sustained or the condi-tion of the insurance companies

market two bridges and near 100 boats are destroyedmost of the boats were heavily laden some 8000 or 10000 barrels offlour were burnt on the pier the loss of property is roughly estimatedat 2 000 000 dollardollars s several lives were lost hundreds of our businessmen are utterly ruined we fear our local insurance companies are over-whelmed the property on the pier was insured abroad the swiftshureSwiftand

shureeckford tow boat linesiines loose sigttremendously at midnight the

fire was burning in forty places but is now completely under controlthere is no wind but the rain has ceased extracted from the albanyexpress of august 17

it is possible that these incidents are not an entire fulfilmentfulfillment of the

lords words regarding these cities however they did take place shortly

after the warnings were given and the people of the church were aware of

them

this responsibility given to bishop whitney is noteworthy as it is

the only time that he was called by god to fill a mission of calling people

to repentance outside of the church so far as available records reveal

school of the prophets

during the winter of 183218331832 whitney1833 was busy administering

the tasks assigned him as a bishop of the church besides theisethesethebe responsiresponse

lh latternatternattor day saints millennial star X 286

asa

8

adwe ra ruin g drays

columbia street10 000ooo

H redscomp es

es 19

1

pr etseta

the da

whelmedig7tromendou slysiy

I1 think I1 am as well acquainted with the cir-cumstances which led to the giving of the word of wisdom as any mannunmenngnin the church although I1 was not present at the time to witness themthe first school of the prophets waswab heldholdheid in a smailsmall roomro situatedover the prophet josephs kitchentchenid in a house which belonged to bishopwhitney and which waswes attached to his store which store probablymight be about fifteen feet square in the rear of this building wasa kitchen probably tentan by fourteen feet containing rooms and pan-tries over this kitchen was situated the room in which the prophetreceived revelations and in which he instructed his brethren thebrethren came to thatthet place for hundreds of milesmilemlle to attend school ina little room probably no larger than eleven by fourteen when theyassembled together in this room after breakfast the first thing theydid was to light their pipes and while smoking telktalkteik about the greatthings of the kingdom and spit all over the room and as soon asan thepipe was out of their mouths a large chewchow of tobacco would then betaken often when the prophet entered the room to give the schoolinstructions he would find himself in a cloud of tobacco smoke thisand the complaints of his wife at having to clean so filthy a floor madethe prophet thiniethinfe upon the matter and he inquired of the lord relat-ing to the conduceconduct of the elders in using tobacco and the revelationknown as the word of wisdom was the result of his inquiry youknow what it is and can read it at your leisure

so we see that almost the very first teachings the first eldersof this church received were asan to what to eat what to drink andhow to order theitheirthel natural lives that they might be united temporally

byebre at

oatost

ai&iI1

when

IV

the school of the prophets was inaugurated one of the firstrevelations given by the lord to his servant joseph smith waswabweb theword of wisdom

57

bilitieswilitiesbili heties found time to participate in the school of the prophets the

prophet in his history names several leaders of the church including

newel as participants in thisthib organization

bishop whitney was not only interested in the school of the pro-

phets because of his active participation in it but also because they met

in a house which belonged to him as is brought out in the following quota-

tion

a

w ank

aw a

ich w a

a

t ce a

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aeas wuwell as epirltually thisthie is the great purpose which godCWood haahaehas lainvievidVIW la tending to the world by hishiehiahla servantsorvarasssevvasorvaseeva therAss gopel of life andalvatioasalvation

I1 Mitrobertlrobertarobert& 0 cit

wabwah

aledaked

caucam a r thisthie condemnation

journalIJ of discourses jliverpituverpooliUver albertpooli Carringtcarriagtoflcarringtonelveruvey

spiritopirit ly

forsat3orsat opOS citcigcitacit& ppe 16716719

au1u

rheee participating iaiu thibwb school werewar required to keep fully the

commandmatcommand givenmatmentio to them each member weswaawas receivedrcotvod into fellowshipfello

onlyglywhip

anterafteranneranneaane participation ia prayerprayor the aacrameatsacramoausacramo aad iain thelnekneA ordinanceordinwwordin ofww

ghethe

f

washingw&b of feegfeetfoot josephjoeeph smith washed the gootfeetfootgaet of all41silsii the eldorseldereoldors at an

important coiifereaceconfroscecorfconf hoidheldboldheidrescerosce on january 23 1833 and pronounced thenthem all

clean from the blood of thlethiethisthiaghisghia generationconjxonjgensgeny 11aulon he themthenogsomm waymawarnedwayla all that ifit they

eioaed willfuuywiluwly after receiving this ordinance and after being healedeealed up

muountomato eternal life they simmidhouldaimmid bebo given overovey to the befutingsboffetlngebufubefU ofattIngs satansatassagansagen

UJAUwagih the daydey of redemption iathethorherke schootschool of thetha prophetspropheteProp hoadholdeboadboaghoeshotshees the distinctiondledie oftinction being one of thetho

fitfirstfid orgfliaiaedorganim4 admitadult schools in america 53

A warrittwaruittWa toruitt church leadersAAs ieto uhethetho easecase with many catobdedicated to the building ofai kioazioaz1011 it iein

often poeeiblepospoepee tosibiesibleeible be neglectful of reepoaftibilltyreepcasibility to the family it beemeeeeme

that not only bishop whitney but alsoaleoaisoaleq the prophet and sidney rigdon and

othersothere had to be remladedremromyomyem ofa& their0 dtotiee to their families in the doc-

trine awdaadand covenaatecovcowcawCoven 9041509041aangaaateanka we5090 read14150141

41 MWbutnutdut verily I1 sayeayseygey unto you my sersameervaatservam frederickodrickFr 0 willlamswilllamewilliamstWillWilliayou

lamalameiamamsomsthave continued under

305

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42 you have not taught your children light and truth accordingto the commandments and that wicked one hath power as yet overyou and this is the cause of your affliction

43 and now a commandment I1 give unto you if you will be de-livered you shallshaushanbhan set in order your own house for there are manythings that are not right in your house

44 verily I1 say unto my servant sidney rigdon that in somethings he hath not kept the commandments concerning his childrentherefore first set in order thy house

45 verily I1 say unto my servant joseph smith jun or inother words I1 will call you friends for you are my friends and yeshall have an inheritance with me

46 1I called you servants for the worldsworld9worldy s sake and ye are theirservants for my sake

47 and now verilyverny I1 say unto joseph smith jun you have notkept the commandments and must needs stand rebuked before the lord

48 your family must needs repent and forsake some things andgive more earnest heed unto your sayings or be removed out of theirplace

49 what I1 say unto one I1 say unto all pray always lest that wickedone have power in you and remove you out of your place

50 my servant newel K whitney also a bishop of my churchhath need to be chastenedchasteneychast andened set in order his family and see thatthey are more diligent and concerned at home and pray always orthey shall be removed out of their place x

the following comment is made regarding the preceding verses

every human being not only those in the ranks but the leadersof ancient israel and the leaders of modern day israel even the pro-phet joseph smith himself and his associates were admonished by ourheavenly father and attention was called to the fact that it was neces-sary for them to set their houses in order they were warned that un-less they did that unless their families gave heed to the teachings ofthe gospel they would lose their opportunity that brings it rightclose to home does it not right into our own day

D & C 904150 doxey op cit HI 309

2

id zdoxey 09041 50

mesmeg t

60

in march of 1833 the saints in kirtland undertook a project of

purchasing lands in kirtland upon which they could build a stake of zion

several purchases were made including a plot on which the temple would

be built in section 96 of the doctrine and covenantcovenants the lord has this

to say about the land

behold I1 say unto youyoutyoug here is wisdom whereby ye may knowhow to act concerning this matter for it is expedient kn me that thisstake that I1 have betsetsotbot for the strength of zion should be made strong

2 therefore letlotiet my servant ahashdah newel K whitney takecharge of the place which is named among you upon which I1 design tobuild mine holy house

3 and again letlotiet it be divided into lots according to wisdomfor the benefit of those who seek inheritances as it shall be deter-mined in council among you

4 therefore take heedhoodhoed that ye see to this mattermatterematters and that por-tion that is necessary to benefit mine order for the purpose of bringilgiqg forth my word to the children of men

5 for behold verily I1 say unto you this is the most expedientin me that my word should go forth unto the children of men for thepurpose of subduing the hearts of the children of men for your goodeven so amen 2

very shortly after tathebhe commandment walWBLwae given the brethren metmotbotbetin council to carry out theprovisionsprovisionsthe of this commandment A strong

stake was desired in which the poor would be cared for in every regard

bishop whitney was to take charge of the matter of assigning lotaiota and

preparing them for the building of a city and a templetempie to thothe nametiame of the

lord 113

josephjoeephajoseph1joseph smith op012oiloll cit I1 335

C 9615961

joaephjoseph

5

fielding smith CHC famondfamod&modH rev U 167168

1

13

Is

2d&

ut 167 168

1I 349

bid ppap 409 448

ibid

leyaey

templeltempfel

bibidzibid

cl

beginning at this point th rophzt17roph2t cordsrecordsr that even though the

church was very poor financially they began making extensive prepara-

tions for a templetempie 1 which task would add greatly to the burdens of all and

certainly to those of the bishop in kirtland

it seems that little is known of the activities of bishop whitneyhitney

duringdaringdaningduning the last months of 1833 and the first part of 1834 except to say

that from september through december newel was in part responsible for

the acquiring and establishing of a press at kirtland with which they repub-

lished all fourteen copies of the evening and morning star which had been

thethle official church publication in missouri 2

relief of the saints

it was during this time that the saints were driven from jackson

county with much suffering and hardship in kirtland a few months later

the leaders of the church preparedeparedspared for and completed the zions camp

march in relief of the saints in missouri

bishop whitney did not participate in zions camp but remained in

kirtland struggling with the financial problems of the church it is record-

ed on april 7 1834 that several of the leaders of the church including newel

bowed their heads in fervantservantyervant prayersprayer1prayer for1 the relief of the united firm in

financial matters 3 again on april 23 bishop whitney and others joined in

joseph smith op cit

n 47

the v 3n

tl iey

V

pr

0

31bid

an

libidbibid

62

prayer to obtain money for the relief of thath3 hurchchurchachurch10

during these months the united firm or united order under the

namenume of newel K whitney and company admitted F G williams and

also john johnson both of whom brought relief to this struggling organiza

tion

discontinuance of the united order

due to the many problems involved in the operation of the united

order it was discontinued in the early months of 1834 the following is

an explanation of the matter

the united firm acquired some additional property mostly forpurposes connected with the needs of temple building during 1833 butearly in 1834 it was decided to terminate the organization accord-ing to the law of consecration all of these properties belonged tothe church and the only thing that could properly be done was to assigndefinite stewardshipssteward toships each member of the firm since this was notdone the fiction of a law of consecration becomes evident for anindicated value received titles to each of the properties evidentlyowned by the firm were made over to the private ownership of the individual partners sidney rigdon received his place of residence anda tannery martin harris was given the right to operate the frenchfarm providing he allowed joseph smith to direct the use of the pro-ceeds lohnjohn johnson received his place of residenceresslressi anddence the right tosubdivide the farm which had been purchased with his money thoughfor the present the title was retained by newell K whitney and com-pany title to the williams farm passed to joseph smith jr and itsoperation was left to the smith family williams received the proper-ty on which he was living and shared the printing establishment witholiver cowderycowGow newelldery K whitney got his store back and an ashery aswell by 1834 then the church owned no property in kirtland leg-ally even the temple whose walls were now rearing upward was locat-ed on property purchased by johnson and was owned by the newell K

hitneyvhitneyVh companyitney 4

bid p 54 & C 92

ibid p 96 fielding utah historical quarterlyQuarteXXXXVU

eieEllnieVU 338

th

und r

viilliams2

3

ohnsubdilde

D 9 Z

3ibidbibid

whitney

III111lii 449 hosephjoseph smith op citaxeyidoxeyomey 0 11II 626362 63

bozsoz e

kingdkinga

63

A further explanation isin given by joseph fielding smith and quoted

by roy W doxey

he commanded that there should be a separation of the united orderin zion from the order in kirtland each was to act henceforth indepen-dently of the other distance was too great between these places forunity of purpose in all things each order was to be organized in thenames of the brethren residing in each place and to do business intheir own names this separation and dissolving of the former ordercame about also because of transgression and covetousness on the partof some they were to understand that all the properties were thelordslordloyds otherwise their faith was vain and therefore they were ste-wards before the lord all of this was to be done for the purpose ofbuilding up the church and kingdom of god on the earth and to pre-pare the people for the time when the lord should come to dwell up-on the earth secsoc 10459 CHMR 325 1949 1

namingnamias of the church

it is noted that until may of 1834 the church did not have an official

name until that time the church waswaitwaltwalb called by various names by its mem-

bers in a council on may 4 1834 in of the leaders of

the church in rigdon made the motion that the church be

called the church of the latter day saintssaint k bishop whitney seconded

this motion and for a period of four years this remained the official name

of the church 2 then in april of 1838 the church was officially named as

indicated in the 115th section of the doctrine and covenants

1 verily thus saith the lord unto you my servant joseph smithjun and also my servant sidney rigdon and also my servant hyrumsmith and your counselors who are and shall be appointed hereafter

2 and also unto you my servant edward partridge and his coun-selors

oxey op cit

ow

in otheotho asw 9

ea rth

kirtland composed

kirtland sidney

11

01 7

ajozjoaaph

64

3 and also unto my faithful servants who are of the high councilof my church in zion for thus it shall be called and unto allailali theelders and people of my church of jesus christ of latter day saintsscattered abroad in allailali the world

4 for thus shall my church be called in the last days even thechurch of jesus christ of latter day saints 1

A special blessing

another notable event in the life of bishop whitney was recorded

by joseph smith when newel and hyrumhyriam smith went to buffalo new york

to replenish the goods in the committees storehouse may god grant in

the name of jesus that their lives may be spared and they have a safe

journey and no accident or sickness of the least kind befallbefell them that

they may return in health and in safety to the bosom of their families tl

apparently just before these two menman left joseph smith jun

gave bishop whitney a blessing received by the urimarim and thummim and

recorded by F G williams

the following blessing was given by president joseph smith junthrough the urimarim and thummimThum accordingmim to the spirit of prophecyand revelation on wednesday the 7thath of october 1835 and writtenby president F G williams who acted as clerk

blessed of the lord is brother whitney even the bishop of thechurch of the latter day saints for the bishopric shall never betaken away from him while he liveth and the time cometh that heshall overcome all the narrow mindedness of his heart and all hiscovetous desires that so easily besetbeastbesst him and he shall deal with aliberal hand to the poor and the needy the sick and the afflictedthe widow and the orphan and marvelously and miraculously shallthe lord his god provide for himbim even that he shall be blessedwith allaliail the falnessfulness of the good things of this earth and his seed

ld & C 115141151

hosephjoseph

4

smith op cit U 288

wo rid

s

sp cialcielclel blebie is

be them

IZ

tw

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foll ngthu m

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fr a in

t

0 28 8

II11IL 294

oreorz

barticpartic alyrly

aseezsee appe x

65

after him from generation to generation and it shall come to passthatthet according to the measure that he metethznetethfeteth out with a liberal hand

unto the poor so shall it be measured to him again by the hand ofhis god even an hundred fold

angels shallshailshali guard his house and shall guard the lives of hisposterity and they shall become very great and very numerous on theearth whomsoever he blessethblessettbles theyseth shall be blessed and whomso-ever he cursethbursethcur theyseth shallghalighail be cursed and when his enemies seek himunto his hurt and destruction letlotiet him rise up and curse and the handof god shall be upon his enemies in judgment they shall be utterly con-founded and brought to desolation

therefore he shallshaushan be preserved unto the uttermost and his lifeshallshailshali be precious in the sight of the lord he shallbhailshaushan rise up and shakehimself as a lion viseth out of his nest and roareth until he shakethshakethathe hills and as a lion goeth forth of him be whom the lord hath a-nointed to exalt the poor and to humble the rich therefore his nameshall be on high and his rest among the sanctified Ix1

A thorough reading of this blessing reveals many promises to newel

and his posterity if he willwin performperfo hisxin duty well particularly in reference

to taking care of the poor

newels parents

in fulfillment of part of the patriarchal blessing2blessingzblessingsblessing given2 to bishop

whitney his parents arrived from the eastfast and were soon fellowshippedfellow

by

shipped

the church soon after they arrived they went to joseph to make in-

quiry concerning the book of mormon he told them about the visits of

moroni and taught them the fundamentals of the gospel 3 A few days

whitneylW contributorhitney VI 129

7see appendix B for the full context of this blessing 403joseph smith op cit

t

a I1

a9

s

utter oata a e

selfbelf a etha

ng

f umentament

0

whong soever

navnawnev I1

I1

isamuelisamael

samuellsamueli

whitnewhitna Is

66

later much to ohsths joy of n3vl and hie family ththothe prophet baptized samuel

and susanna kimball whitney A daughter was also baptized at this time 3

feast at the whitnswhitasamid the many problems the saints faced in kirtland during the

time they found occasion to join together in joyous festivity such was the

case on january 9 1836 when a sumptuous feastfeast11feest for all the poor saints

in kirtland and vicinity was sponsored by bishop whitney and his family

both joseph and mother whitney describe this unusual occasion

we now quote from the prophetsProphet history thursday january 7

1836 attended a sumptuous feast at bishop N K whitneyswhitneytWhit thisneysfeast was after the order of the son of god the lame the halt andblind were invited according to the instruction of the savior ourmeeting was opened by singing and prayer by father smith afterwhich bishop whitneywhitneyswhitneyt father and mother and a number of otherswere blessed with a patriarchal blessing we then received a bounti-ful refreshment furnishefurnishedfurnished by the liberality of the bishop the com-pany was largeurge and before we partook we had some of the songs ofzion sung and our hearts were made glad while partaking of an ante-past of those joys that will be poured upon the heads of the saintswhen they are gathered together on mount zion to enjoy each otherssociety forevermore when there will be none to molest or makenka usafraidfraid lt this feast for the poor says mother whitney lastedthre days during which all in the vicinity of kirtland who would comewere invited and entertained the prophet joseph and his counselorswere present ach day talking blessing and comforting the poor by wordsof encouragement and their most welcome presence he often referredto it afterwards and testified of the great blessing he felt in associatingwith the meek and humble whom the lord delights to own and bless

samuel whitney was born in marlborough vermont and after joiningthe church he received a patriarchal blessing he died march 17 1846 atkirtland

susannasusanne kimball whitney was born in mindon massachusetts anddied april 3 1859 and was buried in the kirtland temple cmetzrymetary

the daughter baptized at this time was probably caroline theyoungest sister of newel born march 10 1816

th

2

d

t

zsusannac meterytary

3theathe

1

Whitneys

furni she

detary

11II 363

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ppap 411 429 430

succlucc

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completion4completions

6

he said it was preferable and far superior to the elegant and selectparties h afterwards attended and affordedafford him much mor satis-faction iti

on the third day of tajthj faastfjast th prophet rjcivdr ac specialiv in-

vitation

1

from

d

newel which h apparently couldnt resistrjsist as he dismissed

school in order to attend 2 th invitation rad as follows

thus saith the voice of thetha spirit to m- if thy brother josephsmith jun will attend th feast at thy house this day at twelveoclock ththe poor and the lame will rejoice in his presence andalso think themselvesmselvcs honored

yours in friendship and lovlosiosloiiovNEWEL K iurney3vhiiney3

temrletempletempietearle dedication

fhe activities of newel K whitney during th succeeding months

are not known in any detaildelduldet hedailtaileail did however participate in th ordin-

ances in the kirtland tampletjmplemplc upon its completion and4 also witnessed with

others the manifestations and xperlncesjxperinces associated with its dedication 5

instructions concerning thehe poor

one thing is certain of the responsibilities of bishop whitney dur-

ing his last yarsaars in kirtland that they steadily increasedcreasAcreasmin with a constant

whitneylV contributorhitney VI 129130129

josephajosephzjoseph

130

smith op cit

p A30

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ebsess while they themselves have been lab-oring in the vineyard of the lordlordslordo to preach the gospel and alsohaving suffered great loss in endeavoring to benefit zion it thething complained of has become a serious matter which ought tobe considered by us

therefore after deliberate discussion upon the subject it wasmoved seconded and unanimously carriedcarriedo that we have borne ourpart of this burden and that it becomes the duty henceforth of allthe churches abroad to provide for those who are objects of charitythat are not able to provide for themselves and not send them fromtheir midst to burden the church n this place unless they comeand prepare a place for them and provide means for their support

second that there be a stop put to churches or families gather-ing or moving to this place without their first coming or sendingtheir wise men to prepare a place for them as our houses are allfull and our lands mostly occupied except those houses thatthet do notbelong to the church which cannot be obtained without great sacri-fice especially when brethren with their families are crowding inupon us and are compelled to purchase at any rate and consequentlyare thrown into the hands of speculatorsspecula extortionersortionerseextortionertorst withortionwhich

ersersewysezsoarsocourse the lord is not well pleased

the final phase of the kirtland period

little need be said here about the rise and fallfaufalifail of the kirtland

safety society and its impact on the church it is howeverho worthwhilewevers

ibid ppap 468469468 469iibidbibid

68

influx of saints from the east most of whom were poor and needed the

immediate help of the church so burdensome did they become that in

a conference session of the hurchchurch authorities on december ZZ 1836

the following motions were made

first that it has been the case that a very improper and unchristianlikechristianlikcchrintianlike course of onductconduct has beenboonboen pursued by the elders ofthis churchchurchfchurchy and the churches abroad in sending their poor fromthem to this place without the necessary means of subsistencewhereas the church in this place being poor from the beginninghaving had to pay an extraordinateextra priceordinate for their lands provisionsetc and having a serious burthen imposed upon them by comers andgoers from most parts of the world and in assisting travelingelder and theirs the familifamilies

t

L

i

g er

ds t

ust

I1

I1

3ibidbibid p

ajoseph4joseph smithssmithy opOR cit

69

to note that bishop whitney must have been deeply involved as his signa-

ture appears on the 3 00 bill issued by the bank furthermore when

the rounds filed suit against the kirtland safety society for illegal banking

separate suits were filed against sidney rigdon warren parrish and newel

K whitney on the same charge

following the failure of this institution apostasy began to break

the ranks of the church by the lastlaselaso months of 1837 over half of the kirt-land membership either left the church or wereworeweze excommunicated from

it 2

many leaders of the church were caught in the apostasy while

others including newel K whitney remained true to the faith and loyal to

the prophet

in september 1837 the leadersloaders of the church met in kirtland to

consider the situation of the church it was decided that newnow stakes

wereworeweye needed for a place for the saints to gather this responsibility

was given to joseph smith and sidney rigdon

in the same session 109 elders were divided into eight companies

and organized to travel in various directions on an errand of rescue of

fielding utah historical quarterly XXVIIXXVU 354

william E berrettberrottenezrett the restored church salt lake citydeseret book companyComp 1949anyoanysenyo p t79

id p 182

joaephjoseph U 514

mo a

3

4

fielding

ac&c 117

70

the finances of the church these brethren were all under the personal

direction of bishop whitney

also in this conference a letter was written by bishop whitney

to all the saints abroad which essentially was a plea for allaualiail to pay a full

tithe and any other financial obligations to the church so as to relieve

the church in kirtland of its financial burden

whatever the results of this effort they were apparently not suffi-

cient to bring any real relief in the following months joseph smith

sidney rigdon and brigham young fled kirtland to save their lives and

upon arrival in missouri organized the newnow stakes for the gathering of

saints

it appears that william marks representing joseph smith and

bishop whitney remained in ohio long enough to finish up any business of3

the church most or allail of the faithful saints had left to gather at farwest as they were instructed by the lord

onou july 8 at far west the prophet received the following from the

lord pertaining to bishop whitney

1 verily thus saith the lord unto my servant william marks andalso unto my servant newel K whitneyWhitne letlotietyp them settle up this businessspeedily and journey from the land of kirtland before I1 the lord sendagain the snows upon the earth

fielding utah historical quarterly p 356

joaephjoseph smith op citcite II11 514518514

ad3d

518

& C

2

a

t

Is

courrourtoun hand saltsalthsaithsait the lord

6 1 or llave I1 not th3 fowls of heavenhz2avc andzindaind alsoaisoal the fish of thithjtaj seaand the beasts of the mountains have I1 not made the arth do I1not hold the destinies of all vwthetae armirmiamia of thtv nationsaati ofons the earth

7 thereforeth3rjor will I1 not makemakobake solitary places to badbd and to blossomand to bring forth in abundance saith the lord

6 Is there not room enough on the mountains of ondiondl ahmanahbanand on th plains of olahaqlabaalaba shinhahshinhamshin orhah th land wheraher adam dweltdweltidewelti thatyou should covet that which is but the drop and neglect thlth

siersyerjimr

ivarivaaavar

lo10 rd

I1zo

I1

lo10 rd

lordkord andald wawhiwlk xi h

tiitil m

iesles

azgz fi

aherrher fore letlotiet him contend earnestlyzarjar fornestly the redemption of thex arsiirsiirslesl prcoidncprc oiaddzdd myacaracyr burcahurcnhurcahu saitlsaifchsaitchpaitlicarca tiltiiuil ldordx l1la11ar

I

2 let tlim awake and arisearis and comecozicobebozi forta and not tarry forI1 the lord command it

3 thereforerha ifrefore they tarry it shall not bj well with thermthornthemm

4 let thm repent of all their sinssina and of all tneirtileirkneir covetous de-sires before me saith the lord for what is property unto me saiththe lord

5 let the propertipropertiespropersi of kirtland be turn d out for debts saiththe lord let th jm go saith the lord and whatsoevwhats roev remainthremain3thremairemal letietnthit remain in youryoun

1

more weightymattersmattebattersbatte

9 therefortherefore come apup hither unto thath3 land of rny people venvmzion

10 let my servant william marks be faithful over a fewcew things andhe shall be a ruler over many let him preside in the midst of my peo-ple in the city of far west and let him be blessed with the blessings ofmy people

11 LAletlct my servantervanti wl K vhitny b ashamed of th 1 nicolaitaneNicolaiband

taneand of all their secret abominations and of all his littlenesslitt oflenes

soul before me saith thtchfth lord and corncom up to the land of adam ondiahman and be a bishop unto my people saith the lord not in namebut in ddd aithsaithsalthd thlthe lord

12 andjand again I1 taysayeay ailoa oato I1youioapou rem 1varrvanrb llvrr gran-ger

niybehold verily I1 say unto him that his name shall be had in sacredsacra

rncrribrancc fomfeoin 6iiratu a cr id jivr saithth lord

13 rherforafalls hepiehieA

11

b th m

th mth 2.2

th e s d btsabts

1li

n s ath

& stini s C

i o0

th adamwh r 3

n glctgl ctr s

th

th

yhitn y t ii

di A

thI1 i

p- ople

n ratloaatlo i lo10 garatlongar corforatLon

ashamJ

alth

therdor

opie

land

popie

gai

alim

ahm

tha

alvr

fedin

glat

whitn

I1

72

ishallshallbhail rise again for his sacrifice shallbhails be1 more sacred unto me thanhishitshigg increase saith the lord

14 therefore letlotiet him come up hither speedily unto the land ofzion and in the due time he shall be mademad a merchant unto my namesaith the lord for the benefit of my people

15 therefore let no man despise my servant oliver granger butlet the blessings of my people be on him forever and ever

16 and again verily I1 say unto you letlotiet all my servants in theland of kirtland remember the lord their godgodsgoda and mine house alsoto keep and preserve it holy and to overthrow the changersin mine own due timetimettimes saith the lord even so amen x

this then is a command to these brethren to leave before winter

and in the meantime dispose of all property for the debts of the church

reference is also made to the nicolaitansNicola banditans and newels con-

nection with it the following is helpful in this matter

the nicolaitnicolaitansNicola initans newnow testament times seem to have taughtfollowing the doctrine of balaam that christians were free to eat thingsoffered to idols andana to commit the excesses of heathenism includingfornication rev 26 14 and other freedomsfree ofdomis the flesh evidentlythe bandhand of which the lord commanded brother whitney to be ashamedwere a group of worldly people who were guilty of excesses thatshould be foreign to latterater day saints just what persons were mem-bers of this group we are not told 2

in keeping with the revelation bishop whitney left kirtland in thefall of 1838 his destination was ondiondl ahman

before he could reach this place troubles in missouri arose whichfinally resulted in 12 000 to 15 000 saints being driven from missouri

id

sperry op cit p 628

isperry op cit p 628

0

money agersngers

b rd

adam 3

ibid

2

3sperry

n

tter

I1

noenee a

73

bishop whitney continued with his family to st louislauislouls where earlier

reports of the mob activity were confirmed he then went on a northward

route to carrollton greene county illinois and settled his family tem-

porarily in this place

he returned then to kirtland to take care of some unfinished busi-

ness of the church from here his story is told asan follows

bishop whitney returned to carrollton in the spring of 18391839i andwas just in tiem to join his family in their flight across the mississippiand anti mormonmormon11 mob headed by a man named bellows who hadknown them in kirtland having formed against them for hostile pur-poses aided by kind friendsfri theyondes made their escape in the nighttime and having the broad rolling bosom of the father of watersbetween them and their persecutors they felt measurably safe frompursuit 1 shalishallshaila never forget 11 says mother whitney my husbandtaking off his hathatehethato wiping the perspiration from his brow and thankinggod for our deliverance 1 we next hear of them at quincy in thesame state at which place and in its vicinityvicin theitys malnmain portion ofthe scattered saints had congregated here the prophet joseph bishoppartridge andend others rejoined their families after being released fromprison 3

whitney contributorcontributors VI 130

2ibid2imdmimd

id3ibidbibid

inishodz

Iing

11

partrid10

porarily

11

chaCKA PT

eroberts1roberts op cit U 3

whitney contributor VI 130

74

CHAPTER IV

THE NAUVOO PERIOD

temporary nobehome

quincy illinois is located on the east bank of the mississippi

river rising 125 feet above low water mark quincy bay is an arm of

the river and forms a natural harbor for river craft quincy was laid

out into a town in the year 1834 and became incorporated as a city in the

year 1839 in this same year thousands of mormon refugees from

missouri found their way to illinois many settling temporarily in quincy

bishop newel KX whitney and family also settled here

meetings were immediately heldholdheid by church leaders to determine

a place for the exilesedles to settle in compliance with an appointment made

at a conference heldholdheid in quincy on may 69 1839 bishop whitney prepared

to make a short journey north to a place called commerceconCom lateramerce nauvoo

to help settle the saints there this being his responsibility it seems

likely the whitneyswhitneytWhit wereneys among the first to settle in the newnow home of

the saints concerning the situation of the saints in the spring of 1839

joseph smith recorded

the place was literally a wilderness the land was mostly cov-ered with troeatrees and bushes and much of it was so wet that it was

roberts

1

0

2 respone ibilityabilityibiibllity

t

M

edies

ilyllyliy

zeptreptzepi S

ealwalwaithys

75

with the utmost difficulty that a footman could get throughroughtth andtotally impossible for teams commerce was unhealthy very fewcould live there but believing that it mightbight become a healthy placeby the blessing of heaven to the saints and no more eligible placepresenting itself I1 considered it wisdom to make an attempt tobuild up a city I1

thebethesethosethobe were difficult times for the mormon people having just lost

most or all their possessions to the missouri mobs As soon as possiblepossibles

howeverhow commerceeveraevert became the gathering place for the persecuted people

to add to their difficulties and trials many of the saints became prey to

the dreadly malaria feverfavorfavey the whitney family were among those struck

down with this disease

in nauvoo the beautiful home of the weary saints who had fled fromtheithe mobs of missouriMismls theresouris was much suffering from chills and feverit was what is termed an ague country and the people were not pre-pared to battle with it the family of bishop whitney were afflictedwith this terrible disease allaualiail succumbed one after the other untilthere was not one left to wait upon the others but kind and lovingfriends ministered to them and on more than one occasion the pro-phet joseph himself prepared teatoa andend took to them offering it him-self for their nourishment sister whitney was very delicate andhad been accustomed to furvantsaurvantseurfuraurekr tovantavantsyanta wait upon her now she was illand a family of children sick looking to her and no servant to helpher but few luxuries and poor accomodationsaccommodations stillstiuhtiu no complaintever escaptodeacapted her no repining for the home she had left she cheer-ed and encouraged her husband through all the trials they experi-enced and was a helpmeet to him in very deed

the kindness of the prophet joseph to bishop whitney and his

family appears to have been a fulfillment of prophecy uttered by him to

the whitneyswhitneytWhit inneys kirtland some years before

roberts op cit II11 9


to ly ealthysmi

1

t taislais

a IL

whitney

huab

1I l30131130131

roberts op cit II11 182018

30n

20

may 27 1840 bishop edward partridge died leaving the churchwithout a presiding bishop ibidmd

I1

HU 40

jenson historical record V 750

neighneishborhotaet&e spring ofad 1840 they at first resided in a very

unhealthy neighborhoneighborhood and allaliail fell sick with ague chillchilla 3 and fevera deweasedirieaaediweasedirie ataaeeoeeab that time very prevalentpr thereavalent joaephjoseph on visiting themand witnessing their conditioncondicondl wastiou touched with compassioncem hepassion re-membered how kindly they once received him and his family whenthey were without a home and at once urged them to come and occupya comfortable cottage on his own premises in a much healthier loca-lity IUshislus kind and generous offer was gladly accepted and the changesoon restored them to wonted health joseph hedhadbadbed said to sister whit-ney on his arrival at kirtland in february 1831 that even as she hadopened her house to him when he was homeless and in need he woulddo a similaroimilaroirailaroicaoiraolca actilar in her behalf and that of her family in a day when theircircumstances would require it

not only the whitneyWhit sneys but many others were recipients of the help-

ing hand and the healing power seemingly possessed by the prophet during

these troublesome times w

wards organized

As soon as was possible the saints were settled and wards were

organized to edministeradminister to the spiritual and temporal needs of the saints

on octoboctoberoctoba 5 1839 in a conference of the church a stake was organized

consisting of three wards william marks waswes appointed president of the

new stake with edward partridge bishop of the upper ward 3 bishop whit-

ney over the middle ward and vinson knight bishop of the lower ward 4

jensonjeason blogbiosblos encycencyl

76

A prophecy of josephs in relation to the whitney family utteredin kiruandrUandkirlandKi nine years before waswaa fulfilled soon after they moved upfrom quincy in th

ly

co ortableoptable ow

w 9 h eless w uldbe f fa y

2

or anihednized

a nister

r s a

s

B rd

1jenson enc 1

2robarts

77

branch at zarahemlaZarah

during

emla

this period of time bishop whitney and othersaccompaniedotheusothenothers

joseph

ccompaniedACcompanied

to the iowa side of the river to inspect a large tract of land pur-

chased by the church on which the town of zarahemlazarahomlaZarah wasemlaemia to be builtbulitbunt

in the october conference mentioned above a branch of the church was also

organized at zarahemlaZarah

civic

emla

and municipal organizations

not only was bishop whitney to play a prominent role in the church

activities in nauvoo and vicinity but also in civic and municipal organiza-

tions asan well on the first february 1841 the first election for mem-

bers of the nauvoo city council was heldholdheid john C bennett was elected

mayor william marksmerks samuel smith dnaiel H wonswellswouswens and newel K whit

ney were elected aldermen joseph smith hyrum smith sidney rigdon

charles C rich john T barnett wilson LAW don C smith john P

greene and vinson knight were elected counselors all of the members

of the city council were sworn in with the following oath

we joseph smith hyrum smithsmiths don C smith and charles Crich do solemnly swear in the presence of almighty god that we willsupport the constitution of the united states and of the state of illinoisand what we will well and truly perform the duties of counciloriscouncilorscouncillorscounci oflorsloris the

ibid

id V 755

rks

2

sole y

ibid

laglaviaulaoiao

noisnols

nauvoo charter

As an expression of gratitude for the charter granted the city by

the state of illinois the first act of this council was the following resolu-

tion

resolved by the city council of the city of nauvoo that the un-feigned thanks of the community be respectfully tendered to the gover-nor council of revision and legislature of the state of illinois as afeeble testimony of their respect and esteem for noble high mindedand patriotic statesmen and as an evidence of gratitude for thetho signalpowers recently conferred and that the citizens of quincy be held ineverlasting remembrance of their unparallelledunparallel liberality and markedkindness to our people when in thairtheir greatest state of suffering andwant

the next act of this council was to pass ordinances relative to the

university of nauvoo and the nauvoo legion the ordinance respecting

the university originated with joseph smith and read as follows

secsee 1 be it ordained by the city council of the city of nauvoothat the ll11 university of the city of nauvoo be and the same is here-by organized by the appointment of thetho followingfoll boardng of trusteesto wit john C bennett chancellor william law regisrarregistrar and

joseph smith op cit IV 295

d p 297

jenson3jengon historical record V 755

7 c

city of nauvoo according to las and the best of our abilities

JOSEPH smitmSMITHHYRUM SMITHs141tDONDONT C SMITHCHARLESARLES C RICH 1

the nauvoo city councilClo madeuncil opening prayer a standing rule for

each of their regular council meetings

I1

6cMITCJ

a

foll ng

3

11

joseph 0

119d

led

rumeumcurncunn smith william mark4ark3 samuelH smith anieldanielji H1 wells1 newel1 K whitneywhitnoyWhit cherliecharliecharleecherleenoy C rich johnT barnettb&rnettbarneubarnea vilsoni1zunV law do carlos smith john P cirelgirelgrecairelgreedoadozboz

I1

neine insonvinsonknight isaac galland ellaseliaseilas higbee robert D foster james ademsadamsadeasobcrtivobcrtC B hompsonhompaonzhomp6onhom samuelsabuelpaon bennettdennett tbebnzv r robinsonrobinsorRob johninsor snidergeorge miller14illeriller and lenos M knight regents of the university of thecitygity of navoo1tat3voo1lavooNa asvoo contemplated in the 24th section of an act to incorporate the city of nauvoo

bazlaz

zerzir

3kateskate

79

joseph zinith idneysidney51 bigdonfigdon

while

the buildings of the school were nevar built classes were conducted in

which were taught such subjects as french german latin greek lebrewhebrew

mathematicsmathenmathonmethen chemistrytauchtaucs geology literature and history with john C

bennett asav the first chancellor and james kelley as president the univer-

sity went into operation in 1841 with three instructors tuition was 5 00

per quarter for each student registering

in a proclamation of the first presidency of thetig church to all

saints joseph smith had this to say regarding the university and the powers

of those associated with it

joseph smith op cit IV 293

enson historicalMat recordorical V 755

kate B carter comp heart throbs of the west salt nakelake cityD U P 1950 II11 959695 96

7 9

A

Z

11

3

a

2jenson

e City

approvodapproved december 16 1840

sec 2 the board namednamad in the first section of this ordinanceshaushallshalishail holdhoid its first meeting at the office of joseph smith on tuesdaythe 9thath day of februaryfebruaryfebruar 18411341i at 2 olockoclock pm

passed february 3 1841 JOHN C BENNETT mayorJAMES SLOAN recorder I11

As a member of the board of trustees bishop whitney helped choose

a site for the university and prepare the plans for its structure

A

14

greeneilson

fostrobart

1.1 es

I1

regrag rai1i eh

80

the university of the city of nauvoo willll enable us to teach ourchildren wisdom to instruct themtherathenathenn in all the knowledge and learningin the arts sciences and learned professions we hope to make thisinstitution one of the great lights of the world and by and through itto diffuse that kind of knowledge which will be of practicable utilityand for the public good and also for private and individual happinessthe regents of the university will take the general supervision of allmatters appertaining to education from common schools up to thehighest branches of a most liberal collegiate course they will estab-lish a regular system of education and hand over the pupil from teac-her to professor until the regular gradation is consummated and theeducation finishedftnished

among the responsibilities of the board of trustees of the univer-

sity waswesweb the conferring of an M A degree on orson pratt while install-

ing him as professor of mathematics 2 and conferring upon james arling-

ton bennett an honorary L L D degree onan april 22 1842

the smith store

it is well known by historians of the L D S church that during

the nauvoo period of church history the prophet joseph operated a small

store A few brief statements from his journal suggest that bishop whit-

ney was closely associated with the store and the operation of it for

example consider the following

I1 received a letter from N KX whitneyWhi statingmoeytoeytmey thatthet he had pur-chased 5 000 worth of goods for me and that he should visit kirt-land before his return home

joseph smith op cit IV 269agg

ibid p 414

31md3dadadad p 600

4ibid4wd p 447

theywill

reg r

w a

3

w s

foll ng

ho e 4

0

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I11

I1 commenced placing goodsboods onan the shlvs of mym newy store assistedby bishop newelnevel K whitneyhitneyUr and otheralotherajothero and in th evening attendedattadat citydtadcouncil

foldfoidfolda 17

remmlefemaurenmle ruefruegkollerkeller

I1 lagtag thithl evening withbvfive teams loadwloadedloada with4 provisions and grain as a prasentpruaeruprusent to m whichafforded me vacyvryvaryvarv sea&onabue& rlisfvalivalln&b13 I1f pray taethethataa lord to akasabidssbkasa thoethosethow whogavyav it abundantlyabunda andaadunyudy mayway it bekm returned upon their heads an hundredfold2

societysftilet

another connection of the whitney family andaraaddsndsemnem tha storastorsstore is that on

marghmarch 17 1842 in a room above the stoyestore the female relief society waawas

organizedorganisedorganisodorgani bysodsed the prophet with emma a president and elizabeth ann whit-

ney aeas a counselor in which capacity aheehesheekeake served for manymunnymummy years 3

when the relief society waswaa organizedorganixedorga inalsednixed nauvoo she was chosenand ordained first counselorgamCam toselor the president emmaemmsenmaenla smith and being possessed ofad the greatest genuine sympathys andpathy benevolence shewaswes wellwen adapted to the position and auedfilled it with honor and creditcreditsgaining the love and gratitude of allelieil to whom she was calledcelled throughcircumstances to minister even bestowing favors and blessings inthe mowtmootmost unosteftatioesunostentatloos manneemanneror sister whitney has always beenpossessed of great yea ismymightyISUV faith in administering to the sickendand afflicted

nablanabia

fanygany

cedcod uaabethmabeth in close association with one of her husbandhusbandss

principle dutiesdudes asws a bishop in the church

inu P w-d 296396

31bidhbiaabia

wemwes W aIVexponent saltit lakeke city march Is15 1882 XXXIVXXXI 1540

mccune4emmoune

achrch

ai&i yo

bishop newelnevalnevai KX whitney returned from flaxnus

V 29

IV 552

mmcune B vonsvouswellswonsweilsweilo ed elisabeth ann whitneyWhit clewyzwy womas

coramanc id sta1v 9

bishcmincu7

zue

ir hc ads

as

w sod0 mam4

aas n 44 c ed

ter

c04 4

thithisthl responsibility of seeking relief for the poor and needy of

the church placed Uaabeth

a re s ei ty

4

zebidzlbid

sabeth

9

sait

whi y

tez

astad

ea

principrincl

2josephajoseph

82

nauvoo templetempie

A significant occasion to the fast growing church centered at nau-

voo was the commencement of the construction of the nauvoo temple in

april of 1841 with the wallswails erected to a height of about five feet above

the ground the ceremony of laying the cornerstones took place it was a

solemn occasion with an estimated 10 000 people in attendance the nau-

voo legion paraded and special processionsprofessionsprocess wereions organizedorgani toeedsed participate

in the festivities hymns were sung and sidney rigdon preached for more

than an hour I11 the principal or southeast cornerstone was laid first by

direction of the first presidency followed by the southwest stone under

direction of the high priesthood the high council then directed the lay-

ing of the northwest stone followed by the northeast cornerstone super

intended by the bishops bishop whitney as representative pronounced the

following words on this cornerstone

the fourth and last corner stone expressive of the lesser priest-hood is now duly laid and may the blessings before pronounced withall others desirable rest upon the sanaesamesarmebame forever amen

this was the beginning of a long and difficult struggle of building

the temple for the endowments of the saints of which bishop whitney played

a significant role more will be said concerning the temple and bishop

whitneywhitneyswhitneyt connection with it as we further study the nauvoo period

on TF colvin A historical study of the mormon temple at nau-voo illinois lt11 unpublished masters thesis department of history andphilosophy of religion brigham young university 1962 ppap 232423

joseph

24

smith w cit IV 330

tem e

gr ng

w Us

n

fell ng

2

idondepar ent

0

Whitneys

eceace M te

additioaddition

83

bichobishopbieho whitneyswhitneytWhit responsibilitiesneysneyl

in light of the fact that bishop edward partridge presiding bishop

of the church died as mentioned earlier bishop whitneyswhitneytWhit responsibili-

ties

neys

were increased accordingly

it has been mentioned that as early as october 1839 three wards

were established in the city of nauvoo with bishop whitney presiding over

the middle ward

in january of 1841 a fourth ward was organizedorgani insed nauvoo and in

august 1842 an additional six wards were organized makinsmaking a total of

ten wards to accommodate the expanding population at the october con-

ference shortly after joseph smiths death in 1844 heberhaberhebenhaben C kimball

made the motion that bishop newel K whitney stand asan the first bishop

ofai the church which motionmotlon carried unanimously

presiding bishop

bishop whitney served in this capacity until 1847 when he waswag or-

dained as the second mrebre sidingresiding bishop of the church which indicates that

the church waswesweb without this office from the death of bishop partridge in

1840 until this time however studies seem to indicate that bishop whit-

ney acted in the capacity of presiding bishop for some time before his

ordination to this office

plural marriage

in the early 1840 the practice of the doctrine of plural marriage

whitney contributor VI 404405404 405

s

responsibui

ng

pop tion

t

on

w a

w e

6 e

e

1840s

1

rrie

hibhis

iai1

ficulaficult

sessionsressions

84

began to be practiced unfold among the leadership of the churchychurch which

brought a considerableconsiderablconsiderably amount of persecution particularly to joseph

smith who found it necessary to go into hiding to escape hi persecutors

during this time bishop whitney was constantly looking after the prophets

welfare and helping in various ways to escape josephs old enemies

one account isto given as follows

A letter was received from brother hollister to the effect that themissouriansMissour wereians again on the move and that two requisitions wereissuediissued one on the governor of this statesstate and the other on the governorof iowa their movements were represented as being very secret andresolute soon after 12 olockoclock pitman the deputy sheriffsheriffe andaedeed twoother men came into the house it appears that they had come up theriverside wwandabd hitched their horses below the nauvoo house and thenproceeded on foot undiscovered until they got into the house whenthey arrived president joseph smith was in another apartment of thehouse eating dinner with his family john boynton happened to be thefirst person discovered by the sheriffs and they began to ask himwhere mr smith was he answered that he saw him early in the morn-ing but did not say that he had seen him since

while this conversation waawaewas going on president joseph smith pass-ed out of the back door and through the corn in his gerdengarden to brothernewel KX whitneywhitneyewhitneytWhit heneyaneye went upstairs undiscovered meantime sis-ter emma went and conversed with the sheriffs pitman said he wantedto search the house for mr smith in answer to a question by sisteremma he said he had no warrant authorizing him to search butinsisted upon searching the house she did not refuse and accordinglythey searched throughthrou butgho to no effect z

it was during this difficult time thatthet the prophet joseph recorded

several expressions of gratitude to those who had been faithful and loyal

to him among these expressions we find the following written regarding

bishop whitney

joseph smith op cit V 899789

id

97

p 145

we re

t

t

tt

th ardena up stairs iscovereliscoiacolacoverel

fd

t

joseph

ibid s

considerabl

resalonssions

mariakmarirkmarickmarici

awuawn

ictedisted

85

said I1 to myself hereflareilare is brother newel KX whitney also howmany scenesscones of sorrows have strewerstrewed our paths together and yet wemeet once more to share againagaixu thou art a faithful friend in whomthe afflicted sons of men can confide with the most perfect safetyletlotnetnot the blessings of the eternal also be crowned upon his head howwarm thatthac hearthoart how anxious that soul for the welfare of one whohas been cast out and hated of almost all men brother whitneythou knowest not how strong those ties are thatthet bind my soul and heartto thee 1

marriage of joseph to sarah ann whitneywhitne

As mentioned previously the friendship aadand intimacy between the

prophet and bishop whitney continued to grow and appeared to become

strengthened andaed intensified in the marriage of sarah ann whitney daughter

of newel to joseph as a plural wife sarah ann was only seventeen years

old at the time of her marriage to the prophet she probably was the firstwoman in this dispensation to be given in plural marriage with the consent

2of both parents in fact bishop whitney officiated in the ceremony

it is recorded that joseph received a revelation directed to bishop

whitney commanding and consecrating this marriage the revelation

bears the date of july 27 1842 and is still in existence the writer

has seenseusewnbeem and read it several times in the church historians office in

salt lake city the whitneyswhitneytWhit probablyneys gave their fullfuli consent to this

marriage becausebecausbecaas several years before in kirtland joseph had taught

bishop whitney of this principle and told him the church would yet have

iibidllbi4bibid P 108a108


who

t t

t

ue

co tinuod

com ng

a

maryiamarriamaryla e

I1

josejoeee ph

iibidbibid

2wells2weubtdwells OP22 citct XXXIV 154

josephjoaeph C kingsbury historyHist ofciry joseph C kingsburyunpublished p 5

ajoseph3joseph

86

to receive it and practice it in addition he also taught the principle

to elizabeth ann and it is recorded that she received personal revela-

tion from god in answer to prayer of the divinity of the doctrine 2

an additional sidelight of this marriage is the fact that about a

year after it was performed apparently to conceal it from the enemiesenem

of

letbisis

joseph the following took place

and on 29 april 1843 I111 according to president joseph smith andcouncil and others I1 agreed to stand by sarah ann whitney as thoughI1 was supposed to be her husband and a pretended marriage for thepurpose of shielding them from the enemy she was the wife of theprophet mock ceremony of marriage before the enemy and for thlthipurpose of bringing about the purposes of god in the last days

documents on plural marriage

there are some incidents in the life of bishop whitney connected

with the first writing of section 132 of the doctrine and covenants they

are as follows

the revelation was read to several of the authorities during theday towards evening bishop newel K whitney asked joseph if hehad any objections to his taking a copy of the revelation josephjossph re-plied that he had not and handed it to him it was carefully copied

id

t

purpoth

ieoreo

2ibidbibid p 226

1

1 i

tine following day by joseph C kingsburyKing ivoiwoobury or three days aftrafaraftthe

irevelationrev wasnation written josephjoseprosep related to me william clayton

and several others that emmaemba had so asedteased and urgently entreatedhim for the privilege of destroying it that he becambecame so weary ofher teasing and to get rid of her annoyance he told her she migntraigatmigetdestroy it and she had done so but he had consented to her wish inthis matter to pacify her realizing that he knewkn the revelation per-fectly and could rewrite it at any time if necessarynec

the

essaryassary

copy made by joseph C kingsbury is a true and correct copyof the original in every respect the copy was carefully preservedby bishop whitney and but few knew of its existence until the tempor-ary location of the camps of israel at winterinterIX quarters on the missouririver in 184613461346. 1

from a testimony of joseph CG kingsbury the following is taken re-

garding the early writing and preservation of the plural marriage revelation

in reference to the affidavit of eldereider william clayton on the sub-ject of the celestialcod orderestial of patriarchal marriage published in thethudeseret evening news of may 20th 1886 and particularly to the state-ment made therein concerning myself as having copied the originalrevelation written by brotherbrotibaroti claytonOlierler atayton the dictation of the prophetjoseph I1 will say that bishop newel K whitney handed me the revela-tion above referred to on either th day it was written or the day follow-ing and stating that it was asked me to take a copy of it I1 did so andthen read my copy of it to bishop whitney who compared it with theoriginal which he held in his hand while I1 read to him when I1 hadfinishedninisfinis readinglied bishop V hitneyvhitneywhitney pronounced the copy correct andhyrum smith coming into the room at the timtime to fetch the originalbishop whitney handed it to him I1 will also state that this copy asalso the original arelre identically the same as that published in the pre-sent edition of the book of doctrine and covenants

I1 will add that I1 also knew that the prophet joseph smith hadladimdbad mar-ried other women besides his first wife emma I1 was well aware ofthe fact of his having marrimarried sarah ann whitney the eldest daughterof bishop newel K whitney and elizabeth ann whitney his wifeand the prophet joseph told me personally that hohe had married otherwomen in accordance with the revealed will of god and spoke con-cerning thetae principle as being a command of god for holy purposes

signedsignedSi josepnJOSEPHJOSgnad CGEPIlenilenli KINGSBJRYKINGSBURY 2

1 2jenson historical record V 225226225 ibid226

ht

li sh

tak n

Eide r

1

th

d

urg-ently 3ntreatintreat d

kre

I1

tat11

an incite into the activities of this office is found in a letter

written by joseph smith to the hancock county ecordedrecorded as follows

DEAR sir- at a meeting of the churchcharch of jesusjosasjosub christ of latterday saints at this place on saturday the 30th day of january A D1841 1I was elected sole trustee for said church to hold my officeduring life my successors to be the first presidencypresid3preside ofncy said churchand vested with plenary powers as sole trustebruste in trusttruittrutztrusz for thechurch of jesus christ of latter day saints to receive acquiremanage or convey property real personal or mixed for thetho soleuse and benefit of said church agreeably to the provisions of anact entitled an act concerning religious societiessociletis approved feb-ruary 6 1335

JOSEPHJOSEPTjoserh SMITH L S 2

bishop Aswhitney acted in thisthig office for the church until his death

in 1850 3

dissectiondissentionDis amongsention church leadership

during the months just preceding the prophetprophets death in june of

1344 and the months following a considerable amount of difficulty arose

among the leadership of the church to the extent that the church found

it necessary to cut off several prominent leaders in one council of

which bishop whitney was a part william law a member of the first

joseph smichsmith op9 citoltcitp VII 24

ibid

i

bibid4ibid IV Z


T rusteeaustee intiin rutrust

in august of 1344 bishop whitney and george miller were given

the responsibility of trustee in trust to ettlesettlesettieettie tiietiletonatone affairs of th martyrdraartyrdmartyryraar

prophet

tyrd

joseph smith and to assume the duties of this office for the

church

t

A1 ecorded

da r

E1

leader

th

&

trustee n

s

261

scord

425426475426

89

presidency of the church and his wife jane were excommunicated in

this same council robert D foster and wilson law who was an officer

of the nauvoo legion were cut off

sidneysidny rigdonrisdonri cutn off

sidney rigdon a member of the first presidency of the church and

once close friend and associate of bishop whitney became estranged and

left the church upon the death of joseph rigdon appeared in nauvoo with

claim that the lord had appointed him as tfguardian of the church A few

days later however the church rejected sidney rigdon and accepted the

leadership of brigham young and the quorum of twelve greatly disap-

pointed by the action rigdon began a series of secret activities holding

secret meetings and ordaining men to various offices in the church con-

trary to accepted church procedure the church leaders hearing of

rigdonsrigdon9Rig sdons activities called a council over which bishop whitney presided

and demanded his license rigdon refused to give it up the church

leadership then placed him on trial for his membership and he refused to

attend the trial to defend his actions

at the trial of sidney rigdon eight of the twelve apostles were

present also in attendance was a special high council with bishop whitney

at the head several members of the twelve spoke their feelings re

joseph smith op cit VI 341

nobertaroberts op22 cit 11II 42542647542647.5426425475 426

ido

2

itjoseph c 9

robertsroberta 425

I1

blebie

90

gardingcarding rigdon I11 bishop whitney related some of rigdonsRig historydons in the

following

0

manner

I1 have had some conversation with iderader rigdon since he returnedfrom pittsburgPitts I1burgbarg havehav also bienbeenblen present when others have conversedwith him but I1 am to decide on the testimony as it has been presentedI1 was well acquainted with elderaidermidersider rigdon a number of years before hah3h2came into this church I1 never had any confidence in brother rigdonas a revelator and why because I1 have repeatedly heard brotherjos ph rebuke him for speaking in the name of the lord what was notso

it was then proposed that rigdon be cut off the church and all

were in agreement 3

hbidabid

times and seasons nauvoo illinois V 686

3ibidhbidhaid

Z return d

on

2

ibid

2timesstimes

1iele was always in the bottom of the cellar or up in the garret window at the time his license was taken in kirtland he was more san-guine than hohe is now the people were excited very much at that timebrother joseph was away and when he returned and found out whatsidney had been doing he took him into council told him to give uphis license to the bishop and divorced himself of all of the authorityhe could for said he the less authority you haeharehafe the better it will bfor you it hasims been repeatedly the case when he has been speaking tothe church that joseph has rebuked him for it I1 feel that brother rig-don came here with a bad spirit and has delivered a revelation ifsuch things as are contained in his revelation have been revealed tohim it is from a source with which we want nothing to do vhenahen hefirst came her I1 thought he was deceived but since last tuesbues eveningI1 have been convinced that he is dishonestdisho henestnast made many evasiveinvasive re-plies to the interrogatories of the twelvtwelvetwele and I1 think his calculationis to scatter this people because his theory comes in opposition topres joseph smiths revelations it has been proved that he prophe-sied that we would not build this temple I1 believe he is an evil anddesigning man ie is dishonest and he has lied to carry out his the-ory he preached onaone thing one day and the contrary another ieledid not reconcile his preaching to me I1 asked him to reconcile itbut he did not do it I1 feel to sustain the twelve in withdrawing theirfellowship and I1 think the lighelighI council and the church ought to sus-tain the decision of the twelve

twelv

lder

VIIvnvil 321

layinglayinkayin of capstone

on may 24 1845 with a large congregation assembled bishop whit-

ney participated in the laying of the capstone of the temple A brief reportr2

josephljoseph

port

smith op cit

cappcapst

cac2

91

finishing of the 1 empleampleempiea

during the last months of the church in nauvoo illinois finish-

ing thetivatlle temple becameb aacamoacame major project much of the money needed for

this construction was taken from the tithes of the church which were

collectcollected and handled by the bishops of the church in a letter to all the

church membershipmembermamber aship plea was made by the trustees in trust for the

saints to be loyal in the payment of tithes instructions were outlined

for the collection and donation of money to avoid fraud and deceit A para-

graph of this lengthy letter gives some incite into the situation of the

saints and their work in nauvoo at this timtime

peace smiles v pon our beloved city and the great god looks downupoupon this people with sympathy and compassion from day to day dis-pensing his heavenly blessings upon all the families of his saints accord-ing to his infinite wisdom and their willingness to receive them thehearts of the saints are united firmer than ever notwithstanding thevigorous efforts made b satan and dissenters to sow amongst us dis-cord strife and confusion and every evil work scattering not ex-cepted many houses are in progress of erection which on accountof the lateness of the season will have to stand unfinished until nextspring very effort is being made to establishsta andblishbilsh put in operationvarious branches of manufacture for the employment of the saints andthe prospects are good but not unattended with difficulty toil andanxiety but diligence economyeconomys and steady perseverance in a goodcause never fails to bring its reward and very often the sweetestroses are surrounded by the sharpest thorns and the greatest trea-sures deposited in places the most difficult of access whre we haveto dig and dig long and deep in order to obtain them

d

by

every

one

dissent-ers

a

ra

I1 requested wmvm clayton to keep minutes I1 then offered up prayerand dedicated thethrahr

11II 473

2joseph smith op02 citsitcit

I1

VIIVIL 534

9zaz

of the so ceremonies is as follows

on the morning of saturday may 24th 1845 we repaired to thethotemple with great crecysecrecy for the purpose of laying the cap stonethere were but few that knew about it but the band playing on thewalls and the people hearing it hurried up about six oclock a mthe brethren being assembled we proceeded to lay the stone at aquarter past six the stone was laid after which brother young pray-ed his voice being heard distinctly by the congregation below andthe congregation shouted hosanna hosanna hosanna to god andthe lamb amen and amen brother kay sung a song composedfor the occasion by A W phelps called the capstone 1 althoughthere were several officers watching for us to take us yet we escapedwithout their knowledge when the singing commenced we left unnoticedand they had not an opportunity of seeing us

dedication of attic story

also in november of 1345 bishop whitney attended the dedication

ceremony of the attic story of the temple A brief report of this cere-

mony follows

at ten am I1 brigham young went to the attic story of the tem-ple with elders heber C kimball willard richards parley P prattjohn taylor orson hyde george A smith and amasa lyman of thequorum of the twelve also newel K whitney and george miller pre-siding bishops

attic story of the temple and ourselves to god andprayed that god would sustain and deliver us his servants from thehands of our enemiesenem untiliesiosles we have accomplished his will in this houseelder taylor then sang A poor wayfaring man of grief after which

lderider heberneberfieber C kimball prayed that the lord would hear and answerthe prayers of his servant brigham and break off the yoke of our ene-mies and inasmuch as they lay traps for the feet of his servants that

s

they may fall into them themselves and be destroyed

roberts op02 cit

these

nse

proce ded

V

a m

E

1 rob rts 47 3

2josephajoseph

ider

arts

2ibidbibid I1 VUvilevlie 555

id3ibidbibid VII 557558557 558

93

ordinance work

during this period bishop whitney and his wife spent much time

in the nauvoo temple assisting in the ordinance work which proceeded as

different sections of the temple were completed As early as may of 1842

bishop whitney had received his endowments at the hands of joseph smith

As the temple neared completion thousands throngedthrongerthron toged receive their en-

dowments knowing they would have to leave nauvoo in a short time thisof course placed great pressures on those officiating to the extent that

they worked late into the night and then slept in the temple an account

of some of the experiences of the whitneyswhitneytWhit inneys the temple is here given

the labors of the day having been brought to a close at so early anhour viz eight thirty it was thought proper to have a little seasonof recreation accordingly brother hanson was invited to produce hisviolin which he did and played several lively airs accompanied byelisha averett on his flute among others some very good lively danc-ing tunes this was toomuch for the gravity of brother joseph youngwho indulged in dancing a hornpipe and was soon joined by severalothers and before the dance was over several french foursfour were in-dulged in the first was opened by myself with sister whitney andelder heber C kimball and partner the spirit of dancing increaseduntil the whole floor was covered with dancers and while we dancedbefore the lord we shook the dust from off our feet asan a testimonyagainst this nation

after the dancing had continued about an hour several excellentsongs were sung in which several of the brethren and sisters joinedthe upper californiacalifornia11 was sung by erastus snow after which I1 calledupon sister whitney who stood up and invoking the gift of tonguestonsang

buessguessa beautiful song of zion in tongues the interpretation was given

by her husbandhushuo bishophandobandewando whitney and me it related to our efforts tobuild this house to the privilege we now have of meeting in it our de-parture shortly to the country of the LamanitelamaniteslamanitespLamalemanema theirnites rejoicing whenthey hear the gospel and of the ingathering of israel 3

AJ

i-

d

a

cing

cing

dowments

11

sp

I1

94

care of lucy smith

following the prophets death the leaders of the church adminis-

tered to the needs of lucy smithsmithy the widowed mother of joseph fre-quent visits to her home by the leaders were made on july 9 1845

bishops whitney and miller hosted a public dinner at the nauvoo mansion

in behalf of the church for the smith family seven widows and about fifty

of the family were present the two bishops and other church leaders

waited on the tables the band and a few friends were in attendance lucy

addressed the group in a feeling and pathetic manner lf11

in the afternoon bishop whitney and others rode out in a church

carriage to some property owned by emma smith which she had agreed to

sell to the church later upon invitation from the church lucy chose a

block from this property and then desired that the church build her a home

on it she also requested the use of a horse and carriage which was granted

for the rest of her life it was in this manner that the church took care of

lucy smith mother of joseph

preparing for exodus

it is a matter of history that the last months of 1845 were spent

by the saints busily preparing for their exodus from illinois the writer

has found nothing of the activities of bishop whitney during this time but

it seems probable that as the presiding bishop he played a major role

along with the other church leaders in assisting the saints in this under

taking

libidiibidlibed VIIVIL 433434433 434

luc

t

t

aa1a P A 1 I1

cac111urch

requdequ ssaryassary

in addition to the responsibilitysponsibility of removing his family from nauvoo

bishop whitney was alsoalisoaiso responsible for much of the church property nejdnojd

ed in the camp 3

the fact that whitneyswhitneytWhit familyneys sufferedsuf alongferd with thetha other thou-

sands of exiles is evidentidenttv in the following

in february 1346 whenwhan the saints were exiled from their homesshilzwhilzwellweli th mississippiMissi waswasippi afrozfrozenfroz ovrivr sister

VIII 5r3

id

bid 565

95

T nt jjfulfui T ifev13

leavinueavinbeavin c

th b gan

th

t 1 this made it nczssary

to appoint other I1trusteerusteesrestees s intiin rusttrust for the members still in illinois this

was done after the departure of miller and whitneyhitneyWl 2

n

r

n d

a Sist r lkhit ri y h r

0mithzmith op012oieole citit 5 3

ibid

31bid

xiApALLxiapall V

the last days in an eventful life

leaving nauvoo

in thetha early months of 1846 the church membership bagan to leave

the beautiful city of nauvoo under pressure of mobs president brigham

young and other bembersmembersrnemb3rsbombers of the quorum of twelve were among the first

to leave president young requestedrequest thatd bishop whitney go with the twelve

ph sam request was made of bishop miller A

fortable home and crossing thetha river on the ice with her little child

joseph

n

hitney left her com-fortable

sippl

ebleebie adiadl

sevesevo ralrai

jtahatah itiftoricallistoricalhistoricallist quarterlyquartorical salt lakelak city jtahatah state listoricalilistoricalhistoricallistIlistsociety

orical1946 XIV 74 feb 1846

lirair

atajta

6

ren who wre feebiefeeble and sickly she badbade adiuabdiu to all without everrepining and endured all the hardshipshardsnipshardaihardsihard incidentlipstips to traveling througha new nd unbrokenunbroke country in consequence of xposurjxposur2 and sleep-ing upon the cold ground she contracted rheumatism from which

he nveriver ntirelyirelyentirelynt recovered she suffered ry greatly and at onetime almost entirelyentire lostly the use of neriir right arm through faith andanointing it was restored though nevernjvernaver entirely fre from pain A

conditions of camp

A description of the camp which left nauvoo february ZZ22 1846

of which the whitney family was a part is given as follows

in our camp were hundreds of women and children with no othershelter than a wagon cover or cloth tent and the weather was ex-tremely cold on the second day of mar we broke camp I1 startedwith my little company of 10 wagons with th camp numbering some400 wagons about the same time the weather moderated and itrained until the mad made travelingtrav almostringAing impossible sometimesit required five or six yoke of oxen to move one wagon with muchdifficulty it perhaps would be taken a milemilablie then th team of severalpair of oxen would return and bring up another and another performa severe days labor and possibly travel 4 or 5 miles from the encamp-ment of the previous night with the women and children sitting cramp-ed up in the wagons for it was so very wet and muddy they could notwalk

the following summerfurrusurru bishopnerber whitneyvhitneywhitneyV in company with jonathan C

V right went to st louis missouri from iowa to purchase badly needed

articles for the saints ac indicated that ae orefjrrd to spend his time

in the hay fields but inasmucninasmucainasmuchinas asmuca the saints had asked him to make the

journey he desired their prarrsprarspearspr inarrs his behalf J the following entry was

made on augastaugust 17 in triethe record books

ells op02 cit XXXIV 154

journal history august 16 1346 part II11 p 3

06

w re f u 12v r

and

vry r on

n ver t 2

amo

previous c ramp

2

p irchasechaseir

he oref2r r d

h

h

3journal

r- iver

snipsi

tremaly

xiv

emely

iibidbibid

bibid2ibid

ajoseph3joseph

97

voted that newel K whitney go to st louis and purchase articleswanted with the battalion funds and that johnathan C wright accom-pany him and stand by him in every situation also that john van cottas he is going to st louis be counselledcounsellercoun toselled go with the bishop and

that they render each other mutual assistance as far as possible

during this period bishop whitney not only had the care of his own

family but was also trustee inir trust for the church and officiated as the

presiding bishop because of the latter responsibility the saints relied

on bishop whitney to help take care of their needs as suggested in the

preceding notation

elder newel K whitney reported by letter hiehis arrival nearmontrose where he met with many of the brethren and sisters whohad been driven from nauvoo who were in very destitute circum-stances he had procured some flour at bonaparte for their presentrelief and administered to them such counsel as was beneficial andnecessary2necessary

excommunication

2

of bishop miller

during this troublesome period bishop george miller who wabwaswailwaiiwael also

trustee in trust of the church in connection with bishop whitneyWhi losttuey

faith in the cause of the saints and was excommunicated from the church 3

As he was not replaced in his responsibilities it would seemseeb the burden of

bishop whitney was doubled in this respect

winter quarters

during the difficult winter of 1847 and 1848 at winter quarters the

following is recorded

ibid august 17 1846 p 1

ibid october 6 1846 p 1

joseph smith op012 cit VIIvilevilvlievlis 618

ayd

iller

I1leadersaders of th church appointed newel K whitney and isaac

morley to superintjndsuperintcndsuperintend the migration of the saints to utah

the leaders of the churciachurcnchurco appointed newel K whitney to b thethathsuperintendent

a

in association with isaac morley of th migration toutah 2

in this capacity the following statement signed by dieber C kim-

ball and newel K whitney was read by vi hitney to the saints at W intervvinterkvinter

quarters which gives some incite into the problems faced by bishop whit-

ney

it is well known to many of you the circumstances under whichtneane great body of the church located purehureher th many inconveniencesand privations we have suffersuffered thru being huddled together in suchlarge numbers having the great majority of the poor and the desti-tute thrown in our hands the many families of our brethren to takitakztak3takecare of who for tajthj temporal salvation of this people enlisted in tajthjbattalion and went to calif

cidecldecideclde

lebaeb

9

police meeting this evening to decide how muchmachbuch we ought to havhavzhaazfor fixing the guns which was arranged as follows for those whoworked by the day in taking to pieces and putting together gansgunsgang 1 00dollar per day for cleaning one doz bayonets 1001.00

CG C pendleton the gun smith who superintendedsuperintendersuper theintended whole I11

dollar 50 cents and allowed me for my trouble 15 dollars bishopwhitney was to give us credit for it on our tithing 1

migration of saints to utah

As plans were made for migration west during the winter months

of 184164ls the

the publicburdenspublic consequentburdens upon ourpeculierpeculiar situation also the largelargoiange amount of able bodies and expertmen drawn from this camp to be pioneers in search of a home forall of the saints and who raised no crops at this point likewisethe large spring company of emigrants who were fitted out fromhere and which embraced about all who had any means in their

osea stout journaljournal1journals unpublished march 13461340 III111 222

whitney historyli ofstory utah IV17 303

n

d

c-

ida

1 00

th

bo

ieb r

1v

inconveni ncesad

tutth th

1hosea

ZVitneythitneywhitneyTh j

1

inconveni aces

allaliail

I1

ianlandepredations and destruction of our cattle all these things havecontributed largely to the impoverishment of this campcampp and torender us in a measureablymeasure dependentably and helpless condition insomuchthat at the present time one of our bishops has 301 individualsdependent on him for their daily breadbroad

99

possessionpossespossea andision the many losses we have sustained through indian

taking all of thesethosetheae thingsinto consideration and having a public burden on our shoulders ofabout 800 which we are unable to discharge we deomdeemdoom it necessaryto deputize a committee to visit your branches and receivesuch donations as the brethren may be disposed to give either inteams wagoneswagons horses cows clothing of allailali kinds for men womenand childrenUdrench and produce of all kinds

with the pioneer company leaving winter quarters in the spring of

18the whitneyswhitneytWhit remainedneys behind with the main body of the saints for

another year

arrival at salt lake city

the following monthmouth the whitneytwhitneysWhit inneys connection with hundreds of

saints prepared to make the journey to salt lake bishop whitney was

put in charge of a company of the saints whom he led arriving at their

1hosea stout journal t january 1848 III111ililii 204

18 he

ciV v

11

loo103

destinationdastinatio in ctolctobcatob r 1I i1

wintvint r quartersQuar iterstars summarized in the following account

pioneplone ers

152i52

3 rlyfrc v i TTT a7a77

3riodbriod

alzl

hianinvhitn

this difficultdifficdiffin periodDaitaltgit as well as thirmonths at wintervinter

in winter quarters sister whitney passed through some of themost trying ordealsord whichalsais woman could suffer and live yet hr faithremainremainedrebain unshaken and she seemed to draw still nearer to the thronethronof heaven laying all upon thetha altar for the gospels akesakegake shesho hadthe joy and satisfaction of having her two eldestadest sons horace andorson among the pioneers who came to this valley in lb47 in may1848 she with her husband and family started enrouteenroate for thtb valleyvallyvaileysallysailyin the company of heberii Cber kimball the toils of that wearisomejourney to that frail delicate mother with her larglarge family andhelpless babe no tongue can tell nor pen portray only the angelswho possess infinitinfiniteinfinita power can make a fitting record of such devotionand heroism arriving in the valley in october worn and weary withfatigue and hardship sister whitney still preserved theth same sweetand equanimity of soul she had always a word of consolation forthose who had not the same unbounded faith and her charity for thiweak and triedtritrl onesad2d was most sublimsublimesublid

state of deseret

rhethe activities of newelnewa K whitney during the last two yarsaars of

his life were many and varied in the spring of 1849 a constitution for

the newly formed state of deseret was drawn up on march 12 the saints

voted to accept the constitution and on the same occasion elected officers

for the new state president brigham young waswa electedelect governorgov3rnorgovernord with

willardvillard richards as secretarysecriaary and heber C kimball as chief justicejusticrusticerustic

newel K whitney was elected as an associate justice and also as trea

sarergarer of the newly formed statstate

just prior to this eventiv inant2nt ebruarylebraaryfebruarylebr ofuaryaary 149 bishop V hitneyvhitneyitney

hitn y contributor 1 132

V allsellszils op ulucitull hl

I1 th ir

quart

r-

s sist- r thsuff r

s mdth

10 47

poss ss

sw et

th th 3

Z

The

th

th elect d

s

3

U 49

R msmhs rt Q er

h- r

sist- r

x

i

cd

Vh

liber

contributor VI

aa

whitney0.0

stattsfatstat for th parpoe of changcxchangcx dueduiedule to theth

lack

2

of coins thtiltia first issueissa consistdconsietsdconsists of one dollar billsbiusblus

tiitiltai

waswac placplazpiazplazpiazp dlaziaz 01 a committcomraittcommettcomraitt

callcali d tiitil 1 t1i vard

currgurr ncy

augastaugust zo20 1050 part VI p 2

bid

astreantre asur

bibidzibid

jaj1

4ibidbibid

to laylajlalay offj tila citycily of alt lake into wards

ihischis completed nwlnwaanwa was called to oer e aas bishop of thath3 lthalth V ard 1

currency issued

ajtroasur of th state vhitny name was attached to th

first currencycurcar bissuissuedissurency by th

city of gdenogden

during the last months of bishop whitneysvhitneywhitneytvh liflifssitney he assisted presi-

dent young and the adersleaders in th locating and planning of thethath citya of ogden

Furthfurthermorearmore in september of 1850 his name was submittsubmittjdsubmittedsublitt to presidentpreside

fillmore by john M bernhisel as associate justice of thothe state of des-

eret y

otheruther activities of vhitneyVh

during

itney

this time he also served as an officer in the perpetual emi-

gration fund which assistedassist so many in theirthzir migration to the ocky moun-

tains

in december of 13491491.49 in the bowery during a celebration of the

saints the following incident occurred in th life of nwelnewelewelewelN il V hitneyhitnoy

1journal history t ebruaryfebruaryfebruary iai3 049 part XV p 1

bid

0 i in 11

6 o0

0

th 2 h-z

1

e ret 3

whit

th ir 1

4

1

F i 3 11 X V

january 1 I1 19 p 3

ibid

H

31bid VL

bow- ry

ic

Whitneys

submittbitt d nt

cd

vhitncy

I1 journal

ith

the

7

149

whitney

whitney

aden

whitneyswhitneswhitneyt life closes

on saturday september 21 1850 newel KX whitney returned home

from t empleempie block where the labors of the bishopric occupied much of his

time complaining of a severe pain in his left side which proved to be

bilious pleurisy monday morning found his condition becoming worse

groups of people gathered in and around his home on city creek struggling to

control their feelings among them were president brigham young and

heber C Kimbakimball as weliwellweilwen as other leaders of the church bishop whitney

passed quietly away at 11 a m

thus in full strength and in mature years haahashatshaishaib one of the oldestand mostmootmoat exemplary and useful members of the church fallen suddenlyleaving a large family to mourn the losslose of an affectionate husband anda kind and generous father

in him the church suffers the losslose of a wise and able counsellor ofa thorough straightforward business man it was ever more grati-fying to him to pay a debt than to contract one and when all his debtswere paid he was a happy man though he had nothing left but hibhishitshlishlib ownmoral and muscular energy

he has long heldholdheid the office of presiding bishop of the church ofjesus christ of latteylatter day saints to receive from the rich and todistribute to the poorpoort of the goods of this world he has gone down

illenialmilleniallenialmillennialil star december 1 1849 XI 358

whitney contributorcog&ribpa vlVI 132

whitnewhitnea s

paspaa bodsodbed

Milmii

102

at a particular time many of the brethren proposed toasts of various kinds

bishop whitney joined in and proposed the following toast

the translator of the book of mormon may his posterity beinumerable his name and true character perpetuatedperpetuate when timeshall cease to be measured unto man

characierferlet

irom s e

2

straight forwardcont act

whitney

Whitneysneya

ds

11

ter

ioa171loa

faithfufaithfulfaithful ly

buriburl ad

citgit

103

to th grav avingleaving a spotlessspot namnamjnabcamjLass behind him and thousands tomourn their loss of such a valuable man 1

in a quit pac fuljuljuiduifui spot just north of tempi square thjtaj body of

nwl kimball whitney was int3rrintrrzd in what is known as the hebr C

kimballklumIlUmklub burialballbailbali plot also at this spot elizabeth ann whitney was burledburied

many years latr on his tombstonetombston thath3 following words appear

in memory of newel K whitneywhitnjy pijprj siding bishop over th churchof jesusjasusjagus christ of latter day saints born feb 5 1795 in marlboroughwindham co vermont died sept 23 1050 at G S L cityeityelty Deserdeserethaving

Y

been a member of the church 20 yearbyearsy andars faithfuy officiatingin his office eightoneightjn

deseret news septembersaptmb 23 1850

wbtnv cnnfrihritevrrftnfrnty VT 17

L

ac th

d

y ars th

whitn yjy pr

10 50

eight 1 jnn 2

ideseret N ws

qui- t pl

heb- r

ct

r

zwhitnt v

awl

abing

patpitpalexion and love for others contributed substantiallysubsuntially to the salvation

of the early church and the welfare of its people

very few men had a longer and more intimate association with the

prophet joseph smith than did bifhopbfirhopbishop whitney in the revelations con-

tributed to the church by joseph smith probably no name appearsappear moreloren fre-

quently than doedoes the name of newel K whitney he lived a noble life

and today his name and his deede are revered by thousandsthou ofbandinsandin latter day

saints and by a numerous posterity

trltributed

104

SUMMARY

fromprom the day of hishiahla conversion newel Y whitney was a loyal and

dedicated servant in thetjietiletive church of jesus christ of latter day saintssaintf

which was organizedorganisedorganixedorganiorga onlyeedsednixed even months prior to that time about thirteen

monthrnonthe later he was called to be a bishop of the ohio saints as vrellwellweliweil as

all sainte in the eastern united statesstater which position he held until he

was given the responsibilities of presiding bishop of the church he

served in this capacity until his death in 18 50

As an early leader of the church his role was different in mamymazy

respectsrespect from that of other leaders he never participated in the zion

camp march hibhiehis responsibilities in kirtland kept him from participating

in the activities of the church in missourimissmigs evenouriourt though missionary work

waswitswabwels one of the most important programs of the church his only experience

as a missionary was a brief trip to some of the eastern cities with

joseph srrithsarith

bishop whitneysvhitney1whitneytWhit efficiencyneyrneys in financial matters and hi com-

passion

1850

zions

his

is wh ey

fi

105ioslos

APPENDIX A

THE FAMILY OF NEWEL K WHITNEY

wives children boabomborneoa1 elizabeth ann smith

180018821800married

188220 october 1822

horace Ksarah annfranklin Kmary elizabethorson Kjohn Kjoshua Kanna mariadon carlosmary jane

ZS2522ZS2526201313

I111417

newel melchizedekMelchimeichi 6sedek

july 1823march 1825february 1827september 1828january 1830september 1832february 1835october 1836february 1841february 1844february 1847

2 emmeline belos woodward182819211828

married1921

24 february 1845

3 olive maria bishop1803

married 7 january 1846

4 ammanna houston182118481821

married1848

7 january 1846

5 elizabeth mahala more1826


6 elisabethelizabeth almiraaimiraA pondra1827


7 abigail augusta pond182818461828

married1846

7 january 1846

8 henrietta keys182119011821

married1901

26 january 1846

isabel modalenamotklenamosalenaMoMotmgt

melvinadalenaklenakienawiena

caroline blanch

jethro houston 6 may 1848

A

IS48

janua ry

1828

dllymily

lickilickl

1g6

TL L VIITNLYIITNLYV paaiiy

richardkichardvicki Lard carjbarj

from a little english hamletfrom hitneywhitney on the wye

where the hawthornshawthornyhaw budbadthorns and blossomunderneath an englishnglishanglish sky

came a stalwart sturdy whitneythree long centuries ago

like the hawthorn spread and blossomedin khzthz sunshinesunshinmunshin and the snow

all about him grew the foreststrees of maple and of oak

and the pine tresstrez bent to listento the words the river spoke

while the warwhoopwar ofwhoop th red mmmrent the silence far and near

in the wilds of massachusettsbut the settler knew no fear

grew a family up around himAs the swift years drifted by

while about his old log cabinfell gods blessings from the sky

and the familyfarnuybarnuy name took root therespread its branches far and wide

till they reached from york to friscosunrise gate to evening tide

some there were that for the unionworevore the tattered army blue

some the grey and then forgot itwhen the old became the new

one the cotton gin inventedtwas his own peculiar plan

and whereer you find a whitneyyou will find an honest man

10

T H-E vav7

vv

E

th 3

th

s

the

thth

where r

CP- AILY

m- n

litney

loev1017ionlon

EMALELINE VOODAOVVOODAVADBJLOSBZLOSbelos

emmelineismmelinelmmelineisbiSmLm

efamelam i

wasmelinebeline

1

born

LINE

in massachusetts on february 29 13281326 and as

a child was given ailallrillillalikilkiir of th finest educational advantages available while

still in herhr early teens she taught school during which time hertieriieriler mothermoth

was

r

converted to mormonism emmelineEmme alsohineline accepted the gospel and

was baptized march 1 13421042

vhenahen just fifteen years of age sh2shsshesha was married to james harrisarrisnarrisli

son of the president of the local branch of the church shortly thereafter

they moved to nauvoo where she had the unforgettable experience of meet-

ing and shaking hands with joseph smith the prophet froinfrom this experience

she gained a testimony of him and his work to the point that she dedicated

her life to the gospel

soon after the death of joseph smith her husbandshusband parents left

the church following which ilmmelinesmmelinesamelinesmm husbandelines left her never to return

just prior to this time she gave birth to a son the baby did not live and

the young mother was herself close to death through administration at

the hands of president brigham young emmeline regained hjr health and

lived to make her place in th annals of history

she was exiled with the saints in 1846 and joined the exodus west

at winter quarters she taught school for many months in 13401348 she arrived

at salt lake as a plural wife of bishop newel K whitneyhitneylV shortly after-

wards she gave birth to isabel maudalinalaudalinaMau nameddalina for the young indian

maiden who at one time saved newels life another daughter melvina

lc 42

L

h r

iline

ajr

folfoilowina

womenscomons

10

caroline also blessed the marriage

after bishop Whitwhitneyneynay death in 1850 nmelineemmelineameline taught school as

a means of support for herself and two small children she later married

daniel i1.1 vellsvelisveilsbellsV andellseliseils in the followingfollowina years gave birth to three more daugh-

ters

during the succeeding years emmeline wrote extensively and took

great interest in public affairs she became editor of th2thztha vomasbomas11 exponentomans

and gave valuable assistance in the organizationoraanization and operation of the relief

society in utah

she was extremely active in the womanswomons suffrage movement of

america she traveledtra extensively for this cause and was nationally recog-

nized through this movement she became intimately acquainted with susan

B anthony emmeline also represented the women of utah on a number of

occasions in washington D CG over the plural marriage question

in 1912 the administrators of brigham young university bestowed

upon her an honorary doctor of literaturliteratureliterator degree another great honor

came to her when she was selectedselsei toectad unveil the famous sea gull monument

on temple squarsquare

in 1910 she was chosen as the president of the general board of

the relief society of the church in which capacity she served for many

years

the end of her eventful life came in 1921 in 19281923 the women

of utah placed a marble bust of limmelinelinmelineeimLimLinefm inmelinebeline th rotunda of the state

capitalOa buildingpital in recognition of her service to women

&nmeline

r

ya r s

tha

neys

din

I1 C 1

1

kuzaliza13EUZAemza AN 1 smatSMIT I1 YE

elizabethelizabetiellzabetheilzabethelizabeta annI smith was borabornboenboea december 26 1800 in derby new

laven county connecticut she was the eldest child of gibson and polly

bradley smith her earlyarly life was free of care and sorrow and she grew

to young womanhood in an atmosphere of love and tenderness in her youth

sie receivedrec aneavedcAved jacjxc ellent2llent education according to the times in addition she

studied dancing under the best masters she was also trained well in the

art of homemaking and became adept in spinningspin flaxningaing and doing finefinsfina orna-

mental needle work

at the early age of eighteen years lizabethelizabethellzabetheilzabethE ann went with a maiden

aunt sarah smith whom she dearly loved to ohio upon leaving home

sheslieslae did not know that she would never again return nor that she had seen

her beloved mother for the last time

V hilehiie staying in kirtland she made the acquaintance of a prosper-

ous young merchant newel kimball whitney they were married october

20 13221822 and settled in kirtland

subsequently she with her husband joined the campbellitecampGamp churchbellite

lowerrlowevrLowe aftervr hearing parley P pratt and others preach the everlasting

gospel they accepted this newnw faith and elizabeth ann was baptized in

november 1830

because of her unusual musical talent she was called thethu sweet

songstress of zion

ariyacly abrewarew

vhilechile

ANN smijii whineyWHFNJY

by joseph smith who would sit and listen intently to

the rich melody of her voice and seemed to draw comfort for it she was

among the first in the church to receive the gift of tongues in this dispendespen

J ler

si ie xcalant

N welwei

r

int ntly

th

se-an

Br

log

euzabeeuzabr

ier

antly

I1husband often sang with herh inzr his finsfin tnoranor voice and it has

been said that the music was almost sublime

sister whitney was a delicate person and had been accustomed to

having servants to wait upon lierherlleryler during the trials and persecutions

which followed the saints in th seese early days shesh hadj none 0 the luxuries

and comforts of her former life yet nevrnev2rnevar a complaint passed her lips

with her sweet smile and gentlegentie sympathetic nature she cheered and

strengthened her husband and the many others who made their way to her

door for help and encouragement

elizabeth ann was one of the first women of th cnurchgtiurchchurch to receive

her endowments in the house of th lord and thereafter to officiate as a

priesteespriesteaspriesteenPriPries inesteesteesteas the temple shesho served in this capacity until her death dur-

ing whicwhiciwhickchic timei she blessed thousands of the daughters of zion in this holy

place

sister whitney was a charter member of the relief society serv-

ing as a counselor to hmmahnuna smith the first president of this organization

for th3tha female members of the church

aftelafterannerannor bbaig miikil

hecnec

fanfun

latbat

110

sationbation and used it frequently while singing in the pure adamic language

joseph promised

her

irig jxild fromiromflom hrliz hom inia februaryabruaryF 18461346abr withuary heriierlierller

ii r th

V iat she would nevernvernnerne losever it and it remained withwita herbarhar throughout lierherlleriler life

on her eighty first birthday she used this unusual gift at the hom of

emmeline B wellowellsweilo

lerierher voice has been described as being birdlike and fullfauaufulif of sym-

phony

n sh th

of

a nd che red

encourage mentbent

2

th

d r I1I1 aiomiom

sist- r

jr that if she would usauseusc wisdom in h use of thsthis gift

fjiat

ir

ier

these

balg

amma

ohs

ar

silstisll

sicelclic di kitneywhitney endured untold

hardships As a resultresuit of exposureaxposur and sleepingacpi uponaponag the cold ground she

contracted rheumatismrheuncheun atlatismdatism one time she almost lost the use of her right

arm but through her undaunted faith it was restored however she was

to suffer from this infirmity throughout the remainder of her life

whilethilephile encamped at vinterwintersinterN quarters sister whitneykh gaveitney birth to

her eleveneleventh child asmallasdall and feeblefeebie son when toico all others he appear-

ed to be dead elizabethelizabethellzabethlizabethF ann refused to give up and with great faith and

courage clung to her infant son crying unto the lord to spare him and

his life was restored to him

aieraler& twoI eldestr sons horace and rson were among the original

pioneers reaching salt lake in 1847 she and bishop whitney arrived in

the fall of 18431343 with their large family this frail mother was worn and

weary from the hardshipsI and perils of this wearisome journey across un-

broken countryco butantry her faith never wavered and her testimony in the ever-

lasting gospel remained strong and true

in september 10501650 bishop whitney who had been a devoted hus-

band died suddenly leaving sister whitneynvhitneyhitney to care for their nine living

children she endured the shockwithshock characteristicwith faith and although

she continued to face many hardships she continued to live a fullfuufulifun and active

life in the gospel

elizabeth ann was known in the church for many years as mother

whitney

iteritur witneywilney

charactcharach ristic

il

little children who wzrew2razre imbiizbilesilesl and oiceoicdsiadioi itcd jr

she had an amiable gift of meeknessmee humilityknagsknass and patience0

sicdir sultsuit

0 i

V

h fe ble

irson

sist r NV

j- i I1

bie

lir

war

acci

ilc114lic

clerrierbierdieriderader ministrations among the sick and afflicted endeareendearedendears nertierrier to those witwithwita

whom she associated and made ilertieriier truly a mother inia israel she died in

salt lake city in 1332 due to causes incident to old age

11

1

ci a

iiilii citCIF 17

itney

laryidary

nuralhural

cercar abonyamony

tiitil ann hitneyvhitneyVVh initney the romans exponentluokUoinoXXXIXXXIV

nent

we learn in january 1044164416.44 sister whitney became tneane honored

mother of the first child born in tiielnelilellie new and everlasting covenant of marri-

age a daughterdaught whom the prophet blessed wnenanen a bab

alblaljl v iv

whitney

daugadaugfiterlter

givdiv 3n

1x3

iai1 r T1 L L

it 4 or P v TTT V T Tr 0 ll11 xa 1 v X

firsts

according to a family history in the possession of winnie whitneyhitneyNV

leatham redburgkexbargrexburgKexRexrem idahoburgbarg a direct descendant of newel K whitney john

kimball whitneyVh wasitney born to lizabetnuizabetfllelizabetn ann in kirtland ohio in a little

adobe househousa back of tii kirtland temple he was the first balomalemalobaiebaijbaio child born

of mormon parentage in thathe hurchchurch of jesus christ of latter day saintssaints

hejlelle was blessed andaad given a name to be known among men by the prophet

joseph smith september 22 1832 clecievie was baptized by thath3 prophet in the

year 18401340 and also confirmed

from an article on elizabetiisjizabettiElizabe

and named iaryi4ary 1

As has been previously stated in tneane context of this work sarah

ann whitney daughter of newlnewianewinewinnewta and ilizabethilizabetnllizabetnelizabetn ann was the first womarwoniarboniar in

uhlsthisubis dispensation to be givangivzn in pluralaural marriage with th consent of both

parents she was given as a plural wife zo10 joseph smitismitnseiti after hishilshiishlis death

sarah ann was marriedmrriedmariedn to heber C kimbail

namesname s

in the ceremony uniting the prophet joseph smith and saralisarahlsarail ann

in celestial marriage the ceremony having bea givnaiv3ngian to the prophetProp bylaet

revelation jethro the father in law of moses is mentioned as one of

1 3

ON01tmitmil SO 1 ae1e

Ae

VV onanon Gan

r whomtho

pre iously

is

cr1 mony

be n co

1

ann

1644

tha

whitney

bously

an

cra

1.1

viaNNIvlahitneywhitney in fhrougriTIHAUUGH MEMORYS IIALLSHALLS suggests that these

two documents still in existence

I1melchizedek

orson

dledie

114

bishop wnitneyswaitneyswaltWait ancestorsneys furthermore in dishopbishop whitneywhitneyswhitneytWhit patriarchalneys

blessing he is told that he is a descendant of

was feeble from birth and died at

an arlycarlyeallyeaily age jetnrojethro son of newels plural wife anna houstonoustonri matured

to manhood

As mentioned earlier isabel maudalinalaudalinaMau sometimesdalina written modalenamosalenaMo

daughter

dalena

of emmelinejemmelinehemmelinelebJEmiem andmeline newel was named for an indian maiden by that

name

i 14

ie

jethro

e-

xplain why one of newelss sons was named

jethro and another newel melchizedakmelchizedekMelchi thezedak latter was the infant son born

to elizabeth ann at wintervinter quarters i

ariy ahro

liaIII111llaiiaila NE Yonitonrtoart 10 deatsDEATHDOATIDO OFatsATI BISHOPT NEWELNENVEL1 K

vimey

A mighty man a man of worthA father and a friend

haslas left the narrow sphersphereapher of arthhisnis upward course to wend

irm as the hills hs was a stayA bulwark and a shieldabsb

likeleid

a strong pillar movdmov1dlovd awayto zions broader field

from understandings deepest wellsjnmeasudtnmeasurld draughts hsha drew

the light that with jehovah dwellsinspirdinspirldinspireIns hispird judgment too

V ith dignity he filpdfill1dfillad the sphereallotted him below

lilsillsliis presence seemdseema an impulse hereto wisdoms genial flow

but now his noble form must lieand slumber in the dust

while he with honor joins the highassemblies of the just

V ith fondly cherishdcherishldcherishcherishedcherischerle memoryhdhisaisnisals name will be belovdbelov1dbelord

V hile virtue and integrityare by the saints approve

the strokstrokes is with a heavy rodbut while our hearts deplore

hislisils loss welwellweiweliweil own the hand of godthat god whom we adore

fasgag

ilslis

iabfab

withvith

ilslis

vithwith

cac1

115

LINES ON taist4is

eliza x snow

G S L city 150

B

V

w nd

t

deep estastr

That

a

ld

aimey

doinoboinosomahoino said ci lord took nimaimalm at his word as he passed away

soon after making thistinis stitcmentst ihischislt declarationmerber was not made due to

a lack of fait or confidzic in LIIJ fjordsijords work but rather due to iuslusins own

lack of confidenceconfidenc to prackipracii tn opeiuoypelcopei io10 an indifferent people

A call from the leader of the cnurciicnurcix sentse gilbertit togilb missourirt

where hefielleile was appointlappointedappoints keeper of tiiethetlle lordslords storenousestorehoasestorehousestorestorstora thereenousehoaseanousehoagehouge at this

time li was also given the responsibility of purchasing land for tae saints

in jackmonjackson county Asis persecution arose he along with others offered

doiboihoino

fhyflychy

arsaejaars7arsarj and 3jb3q citly witliwitnwatnritli ewalrewelrewalewelI1TI

I1

I1 is

haichhalch were moreinoicmoieinosic dedicated and devoted to

its interestinterests tharl yjaey jilbertjilberiullJiluli ileburiberiduri was a man of rare good sense and

sound judgmentjudymen J alsoaiso iad a reenkeen intlljcl wliicn can be sensemenseten in the

many communicationcommunications jjavin dpupjj byavin himhiihilhll inxi missouriissouri in behalf of th

halelhaicl

aignig

alvernoalaerno a

nioaio eltiycatly

116

alo L r

business associate of newel K V hitneywhitney

algernon jhy jilbcilJilb waglucil a succsbfilluccsucc merchantssfalsusfal in pains vill

jhioqioohio for 5301 K 11 hitney hj founded

tn successful filmfirmflim of gilb3ilb rert and nitliiy in artlandurtlandUrt

few7

land

mpew inm LLn arlariariy

church

to the governmentalgovernmencal officialsufficicjsufficials of eliattliatdliat statestace

ther wasxmas sonysonisoiasolasoin illi fclinaclin btweebtwebowebt h aadandwee treth-e early cambersmsmbersmambers of

tet church bacajbcaj s of ilis1115 ref isal to serveservo on a mission for the church

ds wordwords were t would ratlijrcalilralil die than goco fortfortnforan tob pleachpreach hjI1 gospelgosph to

thetiletiietlle gentiles

1 C

1

painsvillLD

J so ral 11

il L arly

een wi ilclicK kyl151

b half

th a1

fh r

als I1 r I1

i ne

t

ccafid itc J jord s

pr oac LL U

1 ader

d keepkeap r

d- y

V- E CIiurcburc I1

rsydrtj

e

11

ai I1

is soucisouri

fyovernme il

c

b ca 3

confidenc

tl ie

rai

bac opel

tlle

avit

bowee

aa

ditc

I1 il

I1

rifinrii

aaraonairaon ydnyadnyyda

eae7

ifaliful ni mber

117

i lif BL rrrjoin fcr ii i i rifijrif tlistiistilsalisij period he lost

all his possessions Lit6 did londressiaidrcd5iaadrods 010 uhi ici

jiibt rt died faithful anibermniber of theoriecheurieuple church

giving all to its caascaasccauscaasi

a L ci L A r6 I1

1 ki 1

ulbert F faitfalt

qbcr ra

aber

around the nucleus of hisstorcstorestoro and thothe law of consecration the economic strength ofkirtland was husbandedhusbanderhus

left

banded

elizabeth ann smith whitney first counselorto emma smith in the first relief society organized in 114211142

right emmilemmelina B wodrdwovverdWodwodro whitneywhitnwywhitroywhitroeWhitnWhIrd weilswauswellsweliswytromtRoypresidentPres ofidem owtle relief society 19101921itlorio1910oloisioilk

1921

41

akAL

B

118

APPENDIX D

newel kimballkimb&llkimb bitnyvlbitnyVl11

vcrsemsev wfyy ywtasiasrwv sansah rrsoalttul9 1

7

I1 19a

senterfacsimiles of BIUbillblubin issued by the 1irtlandurtlandkurtland aftyaf societyty bank note

the ignaturesigmaturesignatureigsig819 ofnaturemature newelnewlnealnelinewalnewbi K whitney on th cruzrccctjrcrtzr dill

the original whitney storc in IJ11 land today it standostandblandstands 100 ftback of its former location and is usedusc ford storage

H 9jiaji

ac4cPA

ag3g wtiltel DOLURS

AVA

APPENDIX E

RTOB KIBTLAND flatbty ocnrrr bankBAXKnank spa r t V Jp qy fff vffili8 AITC jttsfl

tllkecdollmts

3 7 phoilpsoily

jy y

iti f ayiy yrt

aff

land

iga

ay effi

aw

artacty

lueyue

ureaures

carterrcarteri kate BS coxnpco

prebegpresegamericanmerican deoviespeoplenpeovies encyclopediaencyclolpe vol XIXXDC newnow york spencer preitcorpincorpIn 163corp

beirne francis TF the war of 1812 newnow york E P dutton endandaud colacinc 1949

berrettderrettnezrett williamW edwinilllii the restoredrostoredstored church salt lake city deseretbook company

bookcbookeraft 196z1962

prattprattepratts parley P autobiography of parley P pratt chicago lawking andendabd lub legg

autoriautobi ir

120

SELECTED bibliographyscriptures

doctrine and covenants salt lakeleke city the church of jesusjesuajebus christ oflatter day saints 1956

booksbooke

A

lwheart throbthrobs of the westeweetewestweets vol U salt lake

city D u P owrrwrdoxeydomey roy W the latteylatterlettey day proahetaprepwtspromProa andketaheta the doctrine and Covenacovenants

volavolevolsvoia eL 447 1196419640 igrant

enaandead f

carter

m

dredgecidredgeCi

saltgefttelt

the

lmkelakeneke

kimdoin

city

of

deveretdeeeret

godcadgadowd

book

rosfordreetoredrostordreaReeRo

company

salttoredstord lekelake citydeseret book company taftwf 11 11 1

jenson andrewA historicalmletHietmistow recordorical vol V salt lakeleke city andrewjemsonjenson ISST

aloarbloar calcai enc clocio aLPS biographical encyclopedia vol L salt lekelake city des-oreteretnew preespress 1901

journal of discourses vol XIL liverpool albert carrintoncarrington 1869

journal of historyhiatoryHi volatory in lagnonilaxnoniAnayLaxney iowanoninomi board of publication of thereorganizedreorganibedaimtpmd church of jesuejesusjasus christ of latter day salatsaintsaints 1910

lundwallaLund Nwallswallewallawails B masterful discoursesdiecoureeviscoursesDiecodiaVisdla ofureaureecourses orsonoreonovson pratt salt lake citybookcraftf inclac

scri7

e

0

co 194

City

Z edge xi don e

jou

jour ofhistor 7

0 aphir

nf

Ro

da

I1

napoAAPM

revkev ionlonfenetene

orsonorbon

ressreas

extexi anentonentwomanscomans exponentXXXIV march 15 1882 153154153 154

dwiernager

bistorhistormiffemifff Itwelverwe apostlesAPODYMEuvelve of0 IEtheiene church

of jesus christ of latter day saints

121

roberts brigham H comprehensive history of the church of jesus christof day saints volsVOIDvoisvold 1it Hneodeo tilandillandhlonio IVIIVivelveand salt lake citycleydebretdeeretvwier news press 1930

smith joseph history of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints2dad ed revised volsvois I1 11 HI TVfv V VI VH saltd2v&msait nakelake cleycitydeseret news 1948

smith joseph fielding church history and modern revelation vol I1salt lake city thetiethatiatea councilC of the

essentials in church history 7thath ed salt lake city des-eret newsnewa presapress 1940

sperry sidney B doctrine and covenants compendium 2dad ed salt lakecity bookcraft inc 1960

tullidgeTullid edwardseogesbeo W the women of mormondom new york tullidge andcrandall 1877

whitney orson F history of utah vol L salt lake city george Qcannon and sonasons co 1892

through memory s halishallshalia the life story of orsonbon F whitneyindependence missouri zions printing and publishing company1930

newspapers and periodicals

deseret news salt lake city september 23 1850

fielding kent the mormonscormons in kirtland utah historical quarterlyXXVILXXVH 3383

improvement

38

eraim XXXVUIXXXVMvement aprilaprils 1935

the day saints millenialmillennialMil starlenial XI december 1 1849

the utah genealogical and historical quarterly XXVMXXVUI salt lake citydesereedeseret newsnewe presspreas 1937

times and seasons V nauvoo illinoisniiuliull

wells

noisnoianola

emmeline B ed elizabeth ann whitney

co ehensiveehen histosivelatter y

eF esso

4 ity

U

weWis

orsongono 11

0 throu memorjjialls whitneindepenuenc0 imd smutiwuhllubi i ompanyt

deseret11 quar

latter dadgen ical

11

1882h

P-

s

a

iby

ewe

II11journalTo historyarnalurnal

122

whitney orson F the power of testimony church general confer-ences april 1912

newel K whitney the contributor vol VI salt lakecityaty deseret news co 188518850

unpublishedun materialublishedpublished

chase daryl sidney rigdon early mormon unpublished mastersthesis university of chicago 1931

colvin don F A historical study of the mormon temple at nauvooillinois unpublished masters thesis brigham young univer-sity 19621964

hosealloseallosera stout journal vol 111IUililii 1848

MS church historians library salt lake city utah184618491846

kingsbury

1849

joseph C history of joseph C kingsbury brigham younguniversity library provoprovotprovoo utah

11

11

P

11

11

11

CONcom IDUTIOM

fulstfulft ontoutent

THE LIFE AND contributionsof

NEWEL KIMBAJLL WHITNEY

an abstract of the thesis of

larry N poulftnpouleft

in partial fulflllnrnt of the requirememsrequlremntRequire

for

mememeMs

the degree of

masteymastermeegermesgermestey of artsarfargazg

in

the department of graduate studiestudiostudiosstudlestudies

in religious eructioninstructiontructiontruc

brigham

tion

young universityUniumiual

brigham

verity

young universityapril 1966

ALL

greduamatesmate

yo

homrhamihoti e

testeb united with this newnow church the whitneyWhit sneys joined in

november 1830

in december of 1831 newel K whitney was appointed bishop of the

ohio saints as wellweliweilwen as the saints in several branches of the eastern united

states because of the growth of the church in ohio one of the major

responsibilities of bishop whitney was the temporal welfare of the saints

his competency in matters of finance proved to be very beneficial in

this regard and the prosperous mercantile firm of gilbert and whitney

ABSTRACT

newel kimballkimbau whitney who became the second presiding bishop

of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints was born february 5

1795 at marlborough vermont in this peaceful quiet town newel spent

his early lifeilfe attending school in the winter and doing farm work in the

summer leaving home at an early age he made his way to plattsburgPlatts

newnow

burg

york where he becarobecamebecamo engaged as a merchant after losing all his

possessions in the battle of plattsburgPlatts duringburg the war of 1812 whitney

moved to kirtland ohio where he became a partner to algernon sidney

gilbert in a prosperous mercantile firmon october ZO20 1822 newel married elizabeth ann smith A short

time after their marriage they joined a religious group known as the dis-

ciples or campbellitesCampbel pastorlites sidney rigdonrigden was the local head of the

church in 1830 missionaries from the newly formed church of jesus

christ of latter day saints arrived in kirtland fromfrmarm new york and many

of the CampbelllcampbellltescampbellitesCampbellites

ver ontant

fir

forn ed

S s

firfiz

drwprw ent

2

played an important role in the economics of the church

in his position bishop whitney became deeply involved in the

kirtland safety society and his name appears on the notes issued by that

institution when the financial crises of 1837 struck the united states

the kirtland bank closed its doors which contributed to much dissentiondissectiondis

and

sention

apostasy in the new church in the months that followed the saints

receiving instruction from joseph smith left for northern missouri

which became a gathering place for the church membership because of

his responsibilities whitney was unable to leave kirtland for illinois

until the fall of 1838

not only did whitney continue his duties as bishop of the church

in illinois but he also played a prominent role in the city government

of nauvoo and was on the board of regents of the university of nauvoo

he also became closely associated with a business firm which helped

supply the saints with many of their needs

upon the death of joseph smith bishop whitney became one of two

iin ntrutrust for the church which responsibility he heldholdheid until the

time of his death

leaving nauvoo with the saints in the spring of 18461840 bishop

vvhitneyytaitneyhitneyvVYTa settleditney at winter quarters nebraska while here he was sus-

tained as the second presiding bishop of the church in april of 1847

bishop whitney also assisted in the migration of the saints to the west

until the spring of 1846 at which time he was given the responsibility

of leading a company of saints across the plains to the great salt lake

is

trustees intrust

r

toreoreeore requentlyxrequentlysequently thanV anyan other nanaxnaa ne he a

oneorle of the few early leaders who never wavered during the many trials

and tribulations of the early church

hitnebitne probablyro appearsbablybabiy

they arrived there in the fall of that year hiin salt lake bishop vhitchitVT

ney

lit

became an officer in the perpetual emigration company and took an

active part in the early government of utah

at the early age of 56 newel kimball whitney died in salt lake

city on september 23 18501350 and was buried in the family plot of heber C

ki abaunbau

few if any leaders of the church have shown more loyalty and

dedication to the church and its cause than did this man in the rev

elationsrelationselat containedontaions inined the doctrine nd covenant the name of newel FY

vav1 e

approved CC c

department chairman

A yrchairman advisory committee

x umemberember advisory committee

3

and I1 ove nant 1

nane 9

hal an

M A dohsvhs 6 y

oce

orie

the life and contributions of newel kimball whitney

Documents