History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day...

On the 12th of September, I removed with my family to the township of Hiram, and commenced living with John Johnson. Hiram was in Portage county, and about thirty miles south-easterly from Kirtland. From this time until the forepart of October, I did little more than prepare to re-commence the translation of the Bible.[1]

About this time Ezra Booth came out as an apostate. He came into the Church upon seeing a person healed of an infirmity of many years standing.[2] He had been a Methodist priest for some time previous to his embracing the fulness of the Gospel, {216} as developed in the Book of Mormon; and upon his admission into the Church he was ordained an Elder. As will be seen by the foregoing revelations,[3] he went up to Missouri as a companion of Elder Morley; but when he actually learned that faith, humility, patience, and tribulation go before blessing, and that God brings low before He exalts; that instead of the "Savior's granting him power to smite men and make them believe," (as he said he wanted God to do in his own case)when he found he must become all things to all men, that he might peradventure, save some; and that, too, by all diligence, by perils by sea and land; as was the case in the days of Jesusthen he was disappointed. In the 6th chapter of St. John's Gospel, 26th verse, it is written: "Verily, verily I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled." So it was with Booth; and when he was disappointed by his own evil heart, he turned away, and as said before, became an apostate, and wrote a series of letters,[4] which, by their {217} coloring, falsity, and vain calculations to overthrow the work of the Lord, exposed his weakness, wickedness and folly, and left him a monument of his own shame, for the world to wonder at.[5]

A conference was held in which Brother W. W. Phelps was instructed to stop at Cincinnati on his way to Missouri and purchase a press and type, for the purpose of establishing and publishing a monthly paper at Independence, Jackson county, Missouri, to be called the Evening and Morning Star.

The first Sunday in October, Orson Hyde,[6] a clerk in Brother Sidney Gilbert and Newel K. Whitney's store, in Kirtland, was baptized, and became a member of the Church. He was soon after designated as one of the chosen men of the Lord, to bear His word to the nations.

On the 11th of October, a conference was held at Brother Johnson's, where I was living, at which the Elders were instructed in the ancient manner of conducting meetings, of which knowledge most of them were ignorant. A committee of six was appointed to instruct the several branches of the Church. Elders David Whitmer and Reynolds Cahoon were appointed as two of the said committee; with the further duty on their mission, of setting forth the condition of Brothers Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon, that they might obtain means to continue the translation. This conference was adjourned till the 25th of October, to meet at the house of Irenus Burnett, in Orange, Cuyahoga county.

On the 21st, I attended a special conference, to settle a difficulty which had occurred in Kirtland, on account of William Cahoon and Peter Devolue, having abused one of Brother Whitney's children. Elder Rigdon and myself were appointed to go to Kirtland and settle the difficulty, which we did.

At the conference on the 25th, at Orange, twelve High Priests, seventeen Elders, four Priests, three Teachers, and four Deacons, together with a large congregation attended. Much business was done, and the four remaining members of the committee, authorized by the conference at Hiram on the 11th, were appointed, and consisted of Simeon Carter, Orson Hyde, Hyrum Smith, and Emer Harris.[8]