a methodist priest converted by a miracle—wants power to smite—the prophet at hiram engaged in translating—order for publication of "the evening and morning star"—man-made commandments.
joseph had learned and taught to his brethren that the mission of the gospel was to bring peace and salvation to all mankind. he himself ministered in the utmost humility among the saints as well as among strangers, for he was well aware that faith, meekness, patience and tribulation went before blessing, and that god required lowliness of heart before he exalted men; but the lesson which was so plain to him was never learned by some who became associated with the church in that early day. one of the first of those who sought for signs was ezra booth, a man who had been a methodist priest and had become suddenly converted to the gospel by seeing a miracle performed. soon afterwards he asked that he might be granted power of god that he might smite men and make them believe the gospel of christ. his conversion had been by a sign, and he sought to minister by means of signs. he wanted to go forth with the power to bless in one hand and the power to curse in the other, and save souls after a fashion he thought would be successful, and entirely different from the way ordained by the lord. early in the month of september, 1831, ezra booth became disappointed and yielded to the spirit of apostasy. later he wrote a series of false and malignant letters which aroused hatred against joseph and the cause and which culminated in a murderous attack.
it was on the 12th day of september, 1831, that the prophet took up his abode with his family at hiram, portage county, ohio, at the residence of john johnson, a member of the church, and father of luke s. and lyman e. johnson, who afterwards were chosen to be two of the twelve apostles. his daughter marinda was the wife of orson hyde, another of the twelve. hiram was about thirty miles in a south-easterly direction from kirtland. his first work was the preparation to continue the translation of the bible. in the meantime, conferences were held and the word of the lord received. at the first conference, held at the house where joseph resided, october 11, 1831, it was decided that william w. phelps should go to missouri, and on his way, at cincinnati, should purchase a press and type for the publication of a paper at independence, to be called the evening and morning star. this conference was adjourned until the 25th day of that month, to meet at the house of serems burnett, in orange, cuyahoga county, ohio. during the interval, certain elders were designated and directed to go forth among the other branches of the church and collect means to aid the prophet and sidney rigdon while engaged in translation of the scriptures.
at orange, there were in attendance at the adjourned conference twelve high priests, seventeen elders, four priests, three teachers, and four deacons, in addition to a large congregation of other members.
while at orange, william e. mclellin, one of the prominent elders, desired the prophet to obtain the will of the lord concerning him. joseph complied, and through the word of the lord which came as an answer to his prayer, william e. mclellin received much encouragement for what he had done; but he was commanded to repent of some things and was warned against adultery, a sin to which, it appears, he was inclined. he was promised great blessings if he should overcome. this instruction, direct from the almighty, seemed to affect him for a time, but the words did not sink deep into his heart, because he soon rebelled and attempted to bring reproach upon the church of christ. he joined with others in whom the spirit of discontent was brooding, to find fault with the revelations of the lord which joseph received.
when the prophet returned to hiram, the lord condemned the folly and pride of mclellin and his sympathizers, and said to them that they might seek out of the book of commandments even the least of the revelations, and appoint the wisest among them to make one like unto it from his own knowledge. filled with vanity and self-conceit, mclellin sacrilegiously essayed to write a commandment in rivalry of those bestowed direct from god upon the church. but he failed miserably in his audacious effort, to the chagrin and humiliation of himself and his fellows. the attempt was not without its benefits, however, for the saints were enabled to recognize the difference between the works of god and the presumptuous efforts of men. upon this subject the lord had said that the elders should be under condemnation if they failed to bear record to the truth of his commandments, should the one who attempted to imitate them not succeed in his effort; "for," he said, "ye know there is no unrighteousness in them, and that which is righteous cometh down from above, from the father of lights." the elders obeyed this behest of the lord and declared in strength and power their absolute knowledge that the revelations which had been bestowed upon the church were from god.
the prophet held many special conferences during october and november, 1831, with different branches of the church. he also pursued his work of translating the bible, sidney rigdon writing at his dictation. important revelations continued to be received for the comfort of the saints. on the 3rd day of november the commandment now known and published in the book of doctrine and covenants as the "appendix" was given to the prophet at hiram. some of its sublime passages are as follows:
hearken and hear, o ye inhabitant of the earth. listen ye elders of my church together, and hear the voice of the lord, for he calleth upon all men, and he commandeth all men everywhere to repent;
for behold, the lord god hath sent forth the angel crying through the midst of heaven, saying, prepare ye the way of the lord, and make his paths straight, for the hour of his coming is nigh,
when the lamb shall stand upon mount zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his father's name written on their foreheads;
wherefore, prepare ye for the coming of the bridegroom; go ye, go ye out to meet him,
for behold, he shall stand upon the mount of olivet, and upon the mighty ocean, even the great deep, and upon the islands of the sea, and upon the land of zion;
and he shall utter his voice out of zion, and he shall speak from jerusalem and his voice shall be heard among all people,
and it shall be the voice as of the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder, which shall break down the mountains, and the valleys shall not be found;
he shall command the great deep, and it shall be driven back into the north countries, and the islands shall become one land,
and the land of jerusalem and the land of zion shall be turned back into their own place, and the earth shall be like as it was in the days before it was divided.
and the lord, even the savior, shall stand in the midst of his people, and shall reign over all flesh.
and they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the lord, and their prophets shall hear his voice and shall no longer stay themselves, and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence.
and an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.
their enemies shall become a prey unto them.
and in the barren desert shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land.
and they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of ephraim my servants.
and the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence.
and there shall they fall down and be crowned with glory, even in zion, by the hands of the servants of the lord, even the children of ephraim;
and they shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy.
behold, this is the blessing of the everlasting god upon the tribes of israel, and the richer blessing upon the head of ephraim and his fellows.
and they also of the tribe of judah, after their pain, shall be sanctified in holiness before the lord to dwell in his presence, day and night, forever and ever.
and now, verily saith the lord, that these things might be known among you, o ye inhabitants of the earth, i have sent forth mine angel, flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel, who hath appeared unto some, and hath committed it unto man, who shall appear unto many who dwell on the earth;
and this gospel shall be preached unto every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
and the servants of god shall go forth, saying, with a loud voice, fear god and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come;
* * * * *
and unto him that repenteth and sanctifieth himself before the lord, shall be given eternal life;
and upon them that hearken not to the voice of the lord, shall be fulfilled that which was written by the prophet moses, that they should be cut off from among the people.
and also that which was written by the prophet malachi: for, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
wherefore, this shall be the answer of the lord unto them:
in that day when i came unto mine own, no man among you received me, and you were driven out.
when i called again, there was none of you to answer, yet my arm was not shortened at all, that i could not redeem, neither my power to deliver.
behold, at my rebuke i dry up the sea. i make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stinketh, and dieth for thirst.
i clothe the heavens with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering.
and this shall ye have of my hand—ye shall lay down in sorrow.
behold and lo, there are none to deliver you, for ye obeyed not my voice when i called to you out of the heavens; ye believed not my servants, and when they were sent unto you ye received them not;
wherefore they sealed up the testimony and bound up the law, and ye were delivered over unto darkness.
these shall go away into outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.
in november joseph arranged the commandments of the lord to the church which he had received, in their proper order, and sent them up into missouri by the hands of oliver cowdery and john whitmer, the purpose being to issue a printed edition of them for their dissemination among the saints.
though the translating of the scriptures occupied his attention at this time, yet the prophet was not permitted to confine himself entirely to this labor; he was often required to go out and preach the gospel. sidney rigdon accompanied him, and wherever they went they overcame all opposition, confounding their enemies by a simple declaration of the truth and putting to shame such of the sectarian preachers as opposed them.
on the 4th day of december, 1831, while the prophet was at kirtland, newel k. whitney was called by revelation from the lord to be a bishop in that part of the vineyard, and his duties in that important office were specified.
ezra booth had succeeded in securing space in the columns of the ohio star, in which to publish his slanderous denunciations and falsehoods concerning joseph and the church. in replying to these, and in vindicating the people against them, the prophet and sidney rigdon were closely occupied for some weeks. satan was busy arousing enmity, and he used the apostate booth and others as his instruments to provoke persecution. they were successful in filling the minds of many with darkness and prejudice; but joseph and sidney wherever they appeared were enabled to allay much of the excited feeling of bigotry.
at hiram, on the 16th day of february, 1832, the "vision" which is recorded in the doctrine and covenants, section 76—one of the grandest revelations given by god to man, in which the different degrees of glory held in reserve by the almighty for his children and the dreadful fate which awaits the sons of perdition, were described with felicitous clearness—was given to joseph and sidney rigdon. in writing this vision they leave this momentous testimony:
and now, after the many testimonies that have been given of him [jesus christ], this is the testimony last of all, which we give of him, that he lives;
for we saw him, even on the right hand of god, and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the only begotten of the father—
that by him and through him and of him the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto god.
as the numerical strength of the church increased, the lord renewed his instructions concerning the welfare of the poor of his people. in a revelation given in the month of march, 1832, it was declared that a storehouse must be established for the needy among the saints. this revelation also declared the lord's will and purpose to yet establish a city in the land of zion to secure equality of earthly blessings among the saints.
the wondrous enlightenment wrought by the revelations and the instructions of the past year had been shared by joseph with his brethren. nor did the knowledge of the great work stop with the prophet and the believers. it extended to the opponents of the almighty's purposes, and they were stirred up to intensity of hate. the wider the influence of the prophet and his mission, the greater the scope of salvation thus ordained, the fiercer flamed out the fire of persecution. the murderous spirit of evil which had followed close upon joseph's footsteps for several years threw its shadow on his humble home at hiram. he had received a letter from missouri announcing the arrival of the brethren at independence and containing a prospectus for the evening and morning star, and he was making preparation to visit the land of zion when the fury of mobocratic violence broke loose upon him.
during his residence at father johnson's he had held many meetings in the evenings and on the sabbath and had baptized a number of persons. olmsted johnson, a son of father johnson, who had come upon a visit, heard the gospel from joseph's lips; but the young man would not accept it. joseph was led to warn him that if he rejected the truth, and should depart without obeying the requirements of the gospel, he should never return nor see his father's face more in this life. olmsted was obdurate and left hiram for the southern states and mexico. on his way homeward he was stricken with illness in virginia and died there—a literal fulfillment of the warning he had received.
ezra booth exerted a baleful influence upon three others of the johnson boys who had already accepted the gospel, and they grew weak in the faith, and finally, together with simonds rider, apostatized and opposed the prophet.
