The Book of Mormon Witnesses Part One — Oliver Cowdery
On March 26, 1830, The Book of Mormon first appeared for sale in E.B. Grandin's press in Palmyra, New York. Alongside that sacred record, found on the last two pages of the 1830 Edition, were two modern documents signed by a total of eleven people. These sacred testimonies would soon go forth to all the world that the work of God for the salvation of man had begun in the last days.
The testimonies of the three and eight witnesses, alongside the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, are found at the front of all modern editions of The Book of Mormon. These twelve testimonies form what Brad Wilcox called in my Book of Mormon class "a divine quorum of witnesses" that the Book of Mormon is indeed the word of God. So, for the next few posts, I wanted to look at the lives and testimonies of this quorum and the truths they boldly testified of in honor of them.
Those attacking the Church are always quick to point out that at one point in time, all of the three witnesses and most of the eight witnesses were excommunicated from the Church, mostly in the context of the Kirtland and Far West apostasies and excommunications. What they aren't so quick to point out, however, is that many of them returned to the Church in full faith and fellowship and not a single one of these twelve men ever, for any reason, denied their testimonies of The Book of Mormon. From Carthage to Missouri to Utah, they died proclaiming that The Book of Mormon was true.
This week, I wanted to begin with the first name mentioned in the three witnesses — Oliver Cowdery. This is not the most comprehensive work I have done on Oliver's life and based largely on an unpublished paper that I have written along with new information I have learned since then, which if you are interested I can send to you if you ask.
Oliver's early life and Joseph's closely mirrored each other in many regards. Both grew up in less than ideal economic circumstances, and both grew up on a farm. Both grew up in religious families, allowing Oliver Cowdery to learn to appreciate the Bible.
Eventually, after moving to New York in 1828, Oliver was offered a job as a schoolteacher after his brother Lyman (who had already accepted the job) was unable to fulfill the appointment. Lyman recommended Oliver to the school board and was offered the job. On that school board was none other than Hyrum Smith, whose younger brothers and sisters would be attending Oliver's class.
Soon Oliver heard of the stories of young Joseph and the Gold Bible. Around this time Oliver met a farmer visiting from Fayette, New York on business who was just as interested in learning about the gold plates as he was. Oliver and this farmer, David Whitmer, became good friends and each promised to let each other know all they could about the gold plates. Eventually, Oliver won the family's trust and was told about visitations of angels and buried records and new scriptures. Unsure how to take this new knowledge, Oliver did what any God-fearing man would do: he prayed.
We do not have many details about his experience praying to the Lord, but Joseph Smith included in his 1832 History an account that the “Lord appeared unto a young man by the name of Oliver Cowdry [sic] and shewed unto him the plates in a vision and also the truth of the work.” Oliver kept this vision secret for some time, only revealing that he had prayed to Joseph Smith after he receives a revelation from the Lord specifically mentioning that experience (found in D&C 6). (1)
Oliver loved the Smiths and even considered them his family. And so, as soon as the school year ended, he set out with Samuel Smith to meet Joseph in Harmony, Pennsylvania, where Joseph was translating the record and in need of a new scribe.
Years later, in 1835, Oliver bore this testimony about the translation in the Church’s publication, The Messenger and Advocate: “These were days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, ‘Interpreters,’ the history or record called ‘The Book of Mormon.’” (2) As they translated together, Oliver and Joseph learned about the fullness of the gospel and the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ to the inhabitants of the ancient Americas.
At one point in the translation process, Oliver requested to translate from the gold plates. He was told in a revelation that he could, but he soon was called to be a scribe for the prophet. Those revelations to Oliver appear in Sections 8 and 9 in the current edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. Interestingly enough, in the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon, twenty-eight words in Alma 45:22 appear in Joseph Smith’s handwriting, interrupting Oliver’s on either side. That verse, with the words in Joseph’s handwriting marked for emphasis, is as follows: “Therefore, Helaman and his brethren went forth to establish the church again in all the land, yea, in every city throughout all the land which was possessed by the people of Nephi. And it came to pass that they did appoint priests and teachers throughout all the land, over all the churches.” Though it is impossible to tell if Oliver had been at least partially successful at translating, it certainly would have been an inspiring moment for the young scribe if he had been, much like the Apostle Peter’s experience walking on water.
The most remarkable experience during the translation, however, involved an angelic manifestation. When they had translated the injunction of Jesus Christ in 3 Nephi to be baptized, they realized that they had not been baptized according to this authority. Praying for guidance on the banks of the Susquehanna, John the Baptist appeared. “On a sudden, as from the midst of eternity," Oliver wrote, "the voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us, while the veil was parted and the angel of God came down clothed with glory, and delivered the anxiously looked for message, and the keys of the Gospel of repentance.” (2) Having received the authority to baptize, Joseph baptized Oliver and then Oliver baptized Joseph for the remission of sins, Oliver being the first to receive this ordinance in the last days.
Soon after, Peter, James, and John appeared, bestowing on them the Melchizedek Priesthood and Apostolic keys. Oliver was the second ordained Apostle in this dispensation, and eventually was recognized as the Assistant President to the Church for it.
In Missouri, however, hard times hit the Saints. Oliver had not had much in his life, and all he had had was given to the Church. When lands were sold in Jackson County, Oliver kept some of the funds for himself, though I cannot believe that this was done selfishly or with ill intent based on Oliver's character. A mistake for certain, but one that Oliver felt was owed to him for all he had sacrificed.
A disciplinary council was held. Unable to excommunicate Oliver, they waited for Joseph's arrival. But Oliver felt that wicked men were in that council who sought to aggrandize themselves and take his place in the Church. Writing a letter renouncing his membership the same day as another council was held with the Prophet, Oliver had left the Church. However, it should be noted that his wife, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer Cowdery, never left the Church and was partially responsible for his decision to return to the Church ten years later.
After fleeing Missouri for fear of persecution from the Danites, Oliver took up law in Ohio. Phineas Young, younger brother to Brigham Young and Oliver's good friend and brother-in-law, would correspond with him in an effort to help him reunite with the Church. Upon hearing from Young that Oliver held no ill-resentment towards the Church, Joseph Smith and the Twelve Apostles composed a letter to Oliver, inviting him back to full fellowship among the Saints. Oliver received the letter in December 1843, and replied to his friend explaining some of the reasons he had left, including his belief that some aspiring and wicked leaders of the Church had tried to come between Joseph and himself in an effort to grab power: “I believed at the time, and still believe, that ambitious and wicked men, envying the harmony existing between myself and the first elders of the church, and hoping to get into some other men’s birthright, by falsehoods the most foul and wicked, caused all this difficulty from beginning to end. They succeeded in getting myself out of the church; but since they themselves have gone to perdition, ought not old friends— long tried in the furnace of affection, to be friends still?” (3)
Still, Oliver did not yet join the Church, and the keys of the Priesthood he held were bestowed upon Hyrum Smith in accordance with D&C 124. Oliver continued to write Joseph, and, upon learning that Joseph was incarcerated in Carthage, wrote to his friend offering aid. That letter arrived hours before pistol and ball would take the life of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. (4)
Oliver was thrown into a deep depression upon the news that Joseph was killed in cold blood. FOr four years he searched his soul as he continued to correspond with church leaders in Utah. Eventually moving to Wisconsin after it was granted statehood in 1848, he became a Democratic candidate for the state assembly. The Whig Party candidate who opposed him won the election by forty votes, and his prime political weapon was Oliver’s role and testimony in bringing forth the Book of Mormon. Reuben Miller and Horrace Tenney observed in a newspaper article following the election: “[Oliver Cowdery] is a man of sterling integrity, sound and vigorous intellect, and every way worthy, honest and capable. He was defeated in consequence of his religion!” (5)
After his loss in the election, Oliver began to desire more completely rebaptism into the Church. He made his way to a special conference presided by Elders Orson Hyde and Ezra T. Benson in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and on 21 October 1848, was invited to address the Saints gathered there. Oliver bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood, and in the continued leadership offered by the Twelve Apostles. He and Orson Hyde embraced, and immediately he began conversing with the two church leaders about rebaptism.
Soon thereafter, Elder Orson Hyde, who had once been baptized by Oliver Cowdery, rebaptized Oliver as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Oliver desired to go west to the Salt Lake Valley with the main body of the Church, but first wanted to visit his friend and brother-in-law David Whitmer in Richmond, Missouri. He and his wife did not have very many funds and likely needed support from their family, but they likely also desired to reunite the rest of the Whitmer family with the Church. While in Richmond, Oliver’s health declined rapidly. Oliver would die two years after his rebaptism in the home of Peter Whitmer Sr., unable to go west to serve the Church as he desired, but completely assured nonetheless that he would be welcomed again into the presence of his Father in Heaven.
I personally find great comfort in the tale of Oliver Cowdery. His is a beautiful tale of faith in the Lord and seeking His will throughout his life, of overcoming hurt feelings (and probably completely justifiable hurt feelings) to rejoin sacred communion with the Lord, and of the testimony we too can gain of the work of Almighty God.
NOTES
1. "History, circa Summer 1832," p. [6], The Joseph Smith Papers, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-summer-1832/6 (retrieved October 2019).
2. Oliver Cowdery, Messenger and Advocate, vol. 1 (October 1834): 14-15.
3. Oliver Cowdery to Brigham Young, 25 December 1843, Church Archives.
4. See Scott H. Faulring, “The Return of Oliver Cowdery,” FARMS Preliminary Report (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1997): 4.
5. Reuben Miller to James M. Adams, 30 May 1848, Community of Christ Archives. Emphasis in original.
The testimonies of the three and eight witnesses, alongside the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, are found at the front of all modern editions of The Book of Mormon. These twelve testimonies form what Brad Wilcox called in my Book of Mormon class "a divine quorum of witnesses" that the Book of Mormon is indeed the word of God. So, for the next few posts, I wanted to look at the lives and testimonies of this quorum and the truths they boldly testified of in honor of them.
Those attacking the Church are always quick to point out that at one point in time, all of the three witnesses and most of the eight witnesses were excommunicated from the Church, mostly in the context of the Kirtland and Far West apostasies and excommunications. What they aren't so quick to point out, however, is that many of them returned to the Church in full faith and fellowship and not a single one of these twelve men ever, for any reason, denied their testimonies of The Book of Mormon. From Carthage to Missouri to Utah, they died proclaiming that The Book of Mormon was true.
This week, I wanted to begin with the first name mentioned in the three witnesses — Oliver Cowdery. This is not the most comprehensive work I have done on Oliver's life and based largely on an unpublished paper that I have written along with new information I have learned since then, which if you are interested I can send to you if you ask.
 |
| Daguerreotype of Oliver Cowdery, circa 1846 |
OLIVER COWDERY'S WITNESS OF THE RESTORATION:
DAYS NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN
Oliver's early life and Joseph's closely mirrored each other in many regards. Both grew up in less than ideal economic circumstances, and both grew up on a farm. Both grew up in religious families, allowing Oliver Cowdery to learn to appreciate the Bible.
Eventually, after moving to New York in 1828, Oliver was offered a job as a schoolteacher after his brother Lyman (who had already accepted the job) was unable to fulfill the appointment. Lyman recommended Oliver to the school board and was offered the job. On that school board was none other than Hyrum Smith, whose younger brothers and sisters would be attending Oliver's class.
Soon Oliver heard of the stories of young Joseph and the Gold Bible. Around this time Oliver met a farmer visiting from Fayette, New York on business who was just as interested in learning about the gold plates as he was. Oliver and this farmer, David Whitmer, became good friends and each promised to let each other know all they could about the gold plates. Eventually, Oliver won the family's trust and was told about visitations of angels and buried records and new scriptures. Unsure how to take this new knowledge, Oliver did what any God-fearing man would do: he prayed.
We do not have many details about his experience praying to the Lord, but Joseph Smith included in his 1832 History an account that the “Lord appeared unto a young man by the name of Oliver Cowdry [sic] and shewed unto him the plates in a vision and also the truth of the work.” Oliver kept this vision secret for some time, only revealing that he had prayed to Joseph Smith after he receives a revelation from the Lord specifically mentioning that experience (found in D&C 6). (1)
Oliver loved the Smiths and even considered them his family. And so, as soon as the school year ended, he set out with Samuel Smith to meet Joseph in Harmony, Pennsylvania, where Joseph was translating the record and in need of a new scribe.
Years later, in 1835, Oliver bore this testimony about the translation in the Church’s publication, The Messenger and Advocate: “These were days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, ‘Interpreters,’ the history or record called ‘The Book of Mormon.’” (2) As they translated together, Oliver and Joseph learned about the fullness of the gospel and the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ to the inhabitants of the ancient Americas.
At one point in the translation process, Oliver requested to translate from the gold plates. He was told in a revelation that he could, but he soon was called to be a scribe for the prophet. Those revelations to Oliver appear in Sections 8 and 9 in the current edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. Interestingly enough, in the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon, twenty-eight words in Alma 45:22 appear in Joseph Smith’s handwriting, interrupting Oliver’s on either side. That verse, with the words in Joseph’s handwriting marked for emphasis, is as follows: “Therefore, Helaman and his brethren went forth to establish the church again in all the land, yea, in every city throughout all the land which was possessed by the people of Nephi. And it came to pass that they did appoint priests and teachers throughout all the land, over all the churches.” Though it is impossible to tell if Oliver had been at least partially successful at translating, it certainly would have been an inspiring moment for the young scribe if he had been, much like the Apostle Peter’s experience walking on water.
The most remarkable experience during the translation, however, involved an angelic manifestation. When they had translated the injunction of Jesus Christ in 3 Nephi to be baptized, they realized that they had not been baptized according to this authority. Praying for guidance on the banks of the Susquehanna, John the Baptist appeared. “On a sudden, as from the midst of eternity," Oliver wrote, "the voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us, while the veil was parted and the angel of God came down clothed with glory, and delivered the anxiously looked for message, and the keys of the Gospel of repentance.” (2) Having received the authority to baptize, Joseph baptized Oliver and then Oliver baptized Joseph for the remission of sins, Oliver being the first to receive this ordinance in the last days.
Soon after, Peter, James, and John appeared, bestowing on them the Melchizedek Priesthood and Apostolic keys. Oliver was the second ordained Apostle in this dispensation, and eventually was recognized as the Assistant President to the Church for it.
In Missouri, however, hard times hit the Saints. Oliver had not had much in his life, and all he had had was given to the Church. When lands were sold in Jackson County, Oliver kept some of the funds for himself, though I cannot believe that this was done selfishly or with ill intent based on Oliver's character. A mistake for certain, but one that Oliver felt was owed to him for all he had sacrificed.
A disciplinary council was held. Unable to excommunicate Oliver, they waited for Joseph's arrival. But Oliver felt that wicked men were in that council who sought to aggrandize themselves and take his place in the Church. Writing a letter renouncing his membership the same day as another council was held with the Prophet, Oliver had left the Church. However, it should be noted that his wife, Elizabeth Ann Whitmer Cowdery, never left the Church and was partially responsible for his decision to return to the Church ten years later.
After fleeing Missouri for fear of persecution from the Danites, Oliver took up law in Ohio. Phineas Young, younger brother to Brigham Young and Oliver's good friend and brother-in-law, would correspond with him in an effort to help him reunite with the Church. Upon hearing from Young that Oliver held no ill-resentment towards the Church, Joseph Smith and the Twelve Apostles composed a letter to Oliver, inviting him back to full fellowship among the Saints. Oliver received the letter in December 1843, and replied to his friend explaining some of the reasons he had left, including his belief that some aspiring and wicked leaders of the Church had tried to come between Joseph and himself in an effort to grab power: “I believed at the time, and still believe, that ambitious and wicked men, envying the harmony existing between myself and the first elders of the church, and hoping to get into some other men’s birthright, by falsehoods the most foul and wicked, caused all this difficulty from beginning to end. They succeeded in getting myself out of the church; but since they themselves have gone to perdition, ought not old friends— long tried in the furnace of affection, to be friends still?” (3)
Still, Oliver did not yet join the Church, and the keys of the Priesthood he held were bestowed upon Hyrum Smith in accordance with D&C 124. Oliver continued to write Joseph, and, upon learning that Joseph was incarcerated in Carthage, wrote to his friend offering aid. That letter arrived hours before pistol and ball would take the life of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. (4)
Oliver was thrown into a deep depression upon the news that Joseph was killed in cold blood. FOr four years he searched his soul as he continued to correspond with church leaders in Utah. Eventually moving to Wisconsin after it was granted statehood in 1848, he became a Democratic candidate for the state assembly. The Whig Party candidate who opposed him won the election by forty votes, and his prime political weapon was Oliver’s role and testimony in bringing forth the Book of Mormon. Reuben Miller and Horrace Tenney observed in a newspaper article following the election: “[Oliver Cowdery] is a man of sterling integrity, sound and vigorous intellect, and every way worthy, honest and capable. He was defeated in consequence of his religion!” (5)
After his loss in the election, Oliver began to desire more completely rebaptism into the Church. He made his way to a special conference presided by Elders Orson Hyde and Ezra T. Benson in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and on 21 October 1848, was invited to address the Saints gathered there. Oliver bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood, and in the continued leadership offered by the Twelve Apostles. He and Orson Hyde embraced, and immediately he began conversing with the two church leaders about rebaptism.
Soon thereafter, Elder Orson Hyde, who had once been baptized by Oliver Cowdery, rebaptized Oliver as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Oliver desired to go west to the Salt Lake Valley with the main body of the Church, but first wanted to visit his friend and brother-in-law David Whitmer in Richmond, Missouri. He and his wife did not have very many funds and likely needed support from their family, but they likely also desired to reunite the rest of the Whitmer family with the Church. While in Richmond, Oliver’s health declined rapidly. Oliver would die two years after his rebaptism in the home of Peter Whitmer Sr., unable to go west to serve the Church as he desired, but completely assured nonetheless that he would be welcomed again into the presence of his Father in Heaven.
I personally find great comfort in the tale of Oliver Cowdery. His is a beautiful tale of faith in the Lord and seeking His will throughout his life, of overcoming hurt feelings (and probably completely justifiable hurt feelings) to rejoin sacred communion with the Lord, and of the testimony we too can gain of the work of Almighty God.
NOTES
1. "History, circa Summer 1832," p. [6], The Joseph Smith Papers, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-summer-1832/6 (retrieved October 2019).
2. Oliver Cowdery, Messenger and Advocate, vol. 1 (October 1834): 14-15.
3. Oliver Cowdery to Brigham Young, 25 December 1843, Church Archives.
4. See Scott H. Faulring, “The Return of Oliver Cowdery,” FARMS Preliminary Report (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1997): 4.
5. Reuben Miller to James M. Adams, 30 May 1848, Community of Christ Archives. Emphasis in original.
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