Kirtland Elder's Quorum Record

The Kirtland Elders' Quorum Record is an official Church minute book kept during a formative period in the history of Mormonism. It contains fifty-five handwritten pages of minutes for the years 1836 through 1841. Nearly all meetings of the elders' quorum were held in the Kirtland Temple. The clerks who recorded most of these minutes were Evan M. Greene, Warren Smith, and Otis Robert. Three other clerks Alexander Cheney, John Gaylord, and John Norton served for brief periods of time. The Elders' Quorum Record has not been previously published. These minutes were not used in the preon of the Prophet Joseph Smith's History of the Church nor have they been used in any other official history of the Church. They have been overlooked as an important informative source by scholars of Mormon history. A major reason for this neglect was that the document remained in Ohio for many years and was not accessible to the Prophet when he dictated the Church's history at Nauvoo. Later, this manuscript became the property of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Kirtland Elders' Quorum Record was initiated in January 1836 when the elders living in and near Kirtland formally organized with a president, a clerk and counsellors. Minutes of their meetings were taken for nearly three years, until late 1838. Increased persecution caused the elders to discontinue meeting regularly. After the expulsion of the Saints from Missouri, the Mormon population in Kirtland experienced a rebirth as new converts, repentant apostates and displaced members sought physical protection and religious unity. After a hiatus of more than a year, the elders in Kirtland resumed their regular quorum activities, including keeping minutes of their meetings.