Oliver Cowdery

Family Background

1806. October 3: Born in Wells, Vermont. In 1832 he married Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, daughter of Peter Whitmer, Sr. Only one of their six children lived to adulthood. Cowdery was brother-in-law to Brigham Young's brother Phineas and to Book of Mormon Witnesses David Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, and Peter Whitmer, Jr. He was a third cousin to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Book of Mormon Scribe

1829. A rural school teacher, he became aware of the gold plates while boarding in the home of Joseph Smith, Sr. As the Prophet's scribe, "I wrote with my own pen, the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages), as it fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph Smith, as he translated it by the gift and power of God."

Book of Mormon Witness

1829. As one of the Three Witnesses, Cowdery testified, "We, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record …. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid them before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates."

Early Church Leader

Cowdery is mentioned in twenty-seven sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, which include references to his ordination by John the Baptist (section 13), his gift of faith and power equalling that of the Prophet (section 17), and his appointment as "first preacher to the Church" (section 21). Cowdery was one of the six original members of the Church, the first person baptized, and the first ordained to the priesthood in this dispensation.

1830. According to Joseph Smith's 1838 journal history, as they neared completion of the Book of Mormon, they became concerned about the restoration of priesthood authority. "We had not long been engaged in solemn and fervent prayer, when the word of the Lord came unto us in the chamber, commanding us; that I should ordain Oliver Cowdery to be an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ; and that he also should ordain me to the same office, and then to ordain others as it should be made known unto us, from time to time: we were however commanded to defer this our ordination untill, such times, as it should be practicable to have our brethren, who had been and who should be baptized, assembled together, when we must have their sanction to our thus proceeding to ordain each other, and have them decide by vote whether they were willing to accept us as spiritual teachers or not."

April 6: Designated "second elder" at the organization of the Church, Cowdery was called on a mission six months later with Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba Peterson "into the wilderness among the Lamanites" (D&C 32).

1834. December 5: Ordained "to assist in presiding over the whole church, and, to officiate in the absence of the President," a position that gave him authority over Joseph Smith's counselors. Church historian Joseph Fielding Smith coined the term "associate president" to describe Cowdery's office.

1835. With Martin Harris and David Whitmer, Cowdery selected twelve elders to constitute the first Quorum of the Twelve.

1836. In the Kirtland Temple Cowdery administered endowments and, on April 3, shared with Joseph Smith a vision of Christ, Moses, Elias, and Elijah.

Editor

Editor of the Messenger and Advocate and of the edited republication of the Evening and Morning Star in Kirtland, Ohio.

Alleged Polygamist

1832. According to Brigham Young, "While Joseph And Oliver were translating the Book of Mormon they had a revelation that the order of Patriarchal Marriag and the Sealing was right. Oliver Said unto Joseph, 'Br Joseph why dont we go into the Order of Polygamy, and practice it as the ancients did? We know it is true, then why delay?' Joseph's reply was 'I know that we know it is true, and from God, but the time has not yet come.' This did not seem to suit Oliver, who expressed a determination to go into the order of Plural Marriage anyhow, although he was ignorant of the order and pattern and the results. Joseph said, 'Oliver if you go into this thing it is not with my faith or consent.' Disregarding the counsel of Joseph, Oliver Cowdery took to wife Miss Annie Lyman cousin to George A. Smith. From that time he went into darkness and lost the spirit. Annie Lyman is still alive, a witness to these things."

This statement by President Young seems to have been either to discredit Oliver Cowdery or to enhance polygamy. No charges of sexual misconduct were made against Cowdery during his 1838 excommunication trial. However, one of the charges brought against him, was seeking to destroy the prophet's character by"insinuating that he was guilty of adultery." Cowdery had openly condemned the Prophet for that "dirty, nasty, filthy affair of his and Fanny Alger's."

Excommunication

1838. Excommunicated in Far West, Missouri, for (1) persecuting the brethren by urging on vexatious lawsuits against them; (2) accusing Joseph Smith of adultery; (3) not attending meetings; (4) not being governed by ecclesiastical authority in temporal matters (charge withdrawn); (5) selling land in Jackson County against the wishes of Joseph Smith (charge withdrawn); (6) sending an insulting letter to Thomas B. Marsh (charge withdrawn); (7) leaving his calling to practice law; (8) being in the "bogus business"; (9) dishonestly keeping notes that had been paid.

Left Missouri after he, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, W.W. Phelps, and Lyman E. Johnson received a letter signed by eighty-four Church members ordering the dissenters to leave the country or "face a more fatal calamity." For Cowdery, there was a special irony in his fleeing Missouri under Church duress. In November, 1836, he had joined with sixty-nine other Church leaders who signed a petition warning a hostile justice of the peace to leave Kirtland.

Lawyer

1840s Practiced law for several years in Ohio and Wisconsin. He described his 1842 practice as "steadily increasing—nothing operates against me, except the fact that I have been formerly connected with, what is now an important church."

A contemporary described him as "an able lawyer and great advocate. His manners were easy and gentlemanly; he was polite, dignified, yet courteous. He had an open countenance, high forehead, dark brown eyes, Roman nose, clenched lips and prominent lower jaw. He shaved smooth and was neat and clean in his appearance. He was of light stature about five feet, five inches high and had a loose easy walk. With all his kind and friendly disposition there was a certain degree of sadness that seemed to pervade his whole being."

Return to the Church

1848. Though he joined the Methodist church in Tiffin, Ohio, he kept in constant communication with his brother-in-law, Phineas Young, who encouraged him to travel to Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was permitted to address the Saints when he arrived, and the next day he was rebaptized by Orson Hyde.

Brigham Young wrote him in 1849, "congratulating him on his return to the Church, admonishing him to righteousness and informing him of their [The First Presidency's] desire that he should accompany Mr. Babbitt [Almon] to Washington and endeavor 'to obtain the admission of the state of Deseret' into the union."

Death

1850. Wishing to visit his in-laws, the Whitmers, Cowdery left Council Bluffs for Richmond, Missouri. He wrote Phineas Young, "I am poor, very poor, and I did hope to have health and means sufficient last spring to go West and get some gold, that I might so situate my family, that I could be engaged in the cause of God; but I did not succeed."

Neither Cowdery's financial status nor his health improved. Suffering from consumption (tuberculosis), he complained, "My lungs are very bad, with considerable cough. I have been careful to take exercise in the open air and flatter myself that my cough is less severe and that I raise less also. I have spit no blood during this attack as last winter."

Died March 3 at the age of forty-three. David Whitmer, who was present, said he died "the happiest man I ever saw." Buried in the "old" Richmond, Missouri, Cemetery.

Sources
Anderson, Richard Lloyd. Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1981.
Gunn, Stanley R. Oliver Cowdery: Second Elder and Scribe. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1962.
History of the Church, 2:379-383, 3:16.
Lang, W. History of Seneca County from the Close of the Revolutionary War to July 1880. Tiffin, Ohio: Transcript Printing Co., 1880.
Larson, A. Karl, and Katharine Miles Larson. The Diary of Charles Lowell Walker. 2 vols. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1980.
Quinn, D. Michael. "Echoes and Foreshadowings: The Distinctiveness of the Mormon Community." Sunstone 3 (March-April 1978):12-17.
_____. "The Mormon Succession Crisis of 1844." Brigham Young University Studies 16 (Winter 1976):187-233.
Salt Lake City, Utah. LDS Church Archives. Pottawattamie High Council Minutes, 4-5 November 1848.

	A Book of Mormons Richard S. Van Wagoner and Steven C. Walker Copyright 1982, Signature Books Salt Lake City, Utah Contents


	Oliver Cowdery (1806-1850)

		Oliver Cowdery was Joseph Smith's scribe, a Book of Mormon witness, and Associate President of the Church. Photograph courtesy LDS Church Archives.


	Family Background 1806. October 3: Born in Wells, Vermont. In 1832 he married Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, daughter of Peter Whitmer, Sr. Only one of their six children lived to adulthood. Cowdery was brother-in-law to Brigham Young's brother Phineas and to Book of Mormon Witnesses David Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, and Peter Whitmer, Jr. He was a third cousin to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Book of Mormon Scribe 1829. A rural school teacher, he became aware of the gold plates while boarding in the home of Joseph Smith, Sr. As the Prophet's scribe, "I wrote with my own pen, the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages), as it fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph Smith, as he translated it by the gift and power of God." Book of Mormon Witness 1829. As one of the Three Witnesses, Cowdery testified, "We, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record …. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid them before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates." Early Church Leader Cowdery is mentioned in twenty-seven sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, which include references to his ordination by John the Baptist (section 13), his gift of faith and power equalling that of the Prophet (section 17), and his appointment as "first preacher to the Church" (section 21). Cowdery was one of the six original members of the Church, the first person baptized, and the first ordained to the priesthood in this dispensation. 1830. According to Joseph Smith's 1838 journal history, as they neared completion of the Book of Mormon, they became concerned about the restoration of priesthood authority. "We had not long been engaged in solemn and fervent prayer, when the word of the Lord came unto us in the chamber, commanding us; that I should ordain Oliver Cowdery to be an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ; and that he also should ordain me to the same office, and then to ordain others as it should be made known unto us, from time to time: we were however commanded to defer this our ordination untill, such times, as it should be practicable to have our brethren, who had been and who should be baptized, assembled together, when we must have their sanction to our thus proceeding to ordain each other, and have them decide by vote whether they were willing to accept us as spiritual teachers or not." April 6: Designated "second elder" at the organization of the Church, Cowdery was called on a mission six months later with Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba Peterson "into the wilderness among the Lamanites" (D&C 32). 1834. December 5: Ordained "to assist in presiding over the whole church, and, to officiate in the absence of the President," a position that gave him authority over Joseph Smith's counselors. Church historian Joseph Fielding Smith coined the term "associate president" to describe Cowdery's office. 1835. With Martin Harris and David Whitmer, Cowdery selected twelve elders to constitute the first Quorum of the Twelve. 1836. In the Kirtland Temple Cowdery administered endowments and, on April 3, shared with Joseph Smith a vision of Christ, Moses, Elias, and Elijah. Editor Editor of the Messenger and Advocate and of the edited republication of the Evening and Morning Star in Kirtland, Ohio. Alleged Polygamist 1832. According to Brigham Young, "While Joseph And Oliver were translating the Book of Mormon they had a revelation that the order of Patriarchal Marriag and the Sealing was right. Oliver Said unto Joseph, 'Br Joseph why dont we go into the Order of Polygamy, and practice it as the ancients did? We know it is true, then why delay?' Joseph's reply was 'I know that we know it is true, and from God, but the time has not yet come.' This did not seem to suit Oliver, who expressed a determination to go into the order of Plural Marriage anyhow, although he was ignorant of the order and pattern and the results. Joseph said, 'Oliver if you go into this thing it is not with my faith or consent.' Disregarding the counsel of Joseph, Oliver Cowdery took to wife Miss Annie Lyman cousin to George A. Smith. From that time he went into darkness and lost the spirit. Annie Lyman is still alive, a witness to these things." This statement by President Young seems to have been either to discredit Oliver Cowdery or to enhance polygamy. No charges of sexual misconduct were made against Cowdery during his 1838 excommunication trial. However, one of the charges brought against him, was seeking to destroy the prophet's character by"insinuating that he was guilty of adultery." Cowdery had openly condemned the Prophet for that "dirty, nasty, filthy affair of his and Fanny Alger's." Excommunication 1838. Excommunicated in Far West, Missouri, for (1) persecuting the brethren by urging on vexatious lawsuits against them; (2) accusing Joseph Smith of adultery; (3) not attending meetings; (4) not being governed by ecclesiastical authority in temporal matters (charge withdrawn); (5) selling land in Jackson County against the wishes of Joseph Smith (charge withdrawn); (6) sending an insulting letter to Thomas B. Marsh (charge withdrawn); (7) leaving his calling to practice law; (8) being in the "bogus business"; (9) dishonestly keeping notes that had been paid. Left Missouri after he, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, W.W. Phelps, and Lyman E. Johnson received a letter signed by eighty-four Church members ordering the dissenters to leave the country or "face a more fatal calamity." For Cowdery, there was a special irony in his fleeing Missouri under Church duress. In November, 1836, he had joined with sixty-nine other Church leaders who signed a petition warning a hostile justice of the peace to leave Kirtland. Lawyer 1840s Practiced law for several years in Ohio and Wisconsin. He described his 1842 practice as "steadily increasing—nothing operates against me, except the fact that I have been formerly connected with, what is now an important church." A contemporary described him as "an able lawyer and great advocate. His manners were easy and gentlemanly; he was polite, dignified, yet courteous. He had an open countenance, high forehead, dark brown eyes, Roman nose, clenched lips and prominent lower jaw. He shaved smooth and was neat and clean in his appearance. He was of light stature about five feet, five inches high and had a loose easy walk. With all his kind and friendly disposition there was a certain degree of sadness that seemed to pervade his whole being." Return to the Church 1848. Though he joined the Methodist church in Tiffin, Ohio, he kept in constant communication with his brother-in-law, Phineas Young, who encouraged him to travel to Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was permitted to address the Saints when he arrived, and the next day he was rebaptized by Orson Hyde. Brigham Young wrote him in 1849, "congratulating him on his return to the Church, admonishing him to righteousness and informing him of their [The First Presidency's] desire that he should accompany Mr. Babbitt [Almon] to Washington and endeavor 'to obtain the admission of the state of Deseret' into the union." Death 1850. Wishing to visit his in-laws, the Whitmers, Cowdery left Council Bluffs for Richmond, Missouri. He wrote Phineas Young, "I am poor, very poor, and I did hope to have health and means sufficient last spring to go West and get some gold, that I might so situate my family, that I could be engaged in the cause of God; but I did not succeed." Neither Cowdery's financial status nor his health improved. Suffering from consumption (tuberculosis), he complained, "My lungs are very bad, with considerable cough. I have been careful to take exercise in the open air and flatter myself that my cough is less severe and that I raise less also. I have spit no blood during this attack as last winter." Died March 3 at the age of forty-three. David Whitmer, who was present, said he died "the happiest man I ever saw." Buried in the "old" Richmond, Missouri, Cemetery. Sources Anderson, Richard Lloyd. Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1981. Gunn, Stanley R. Oliver Cowdery: Second Elder and Scribe. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1962. History of the Church, 2:379-383, 3:16. Lang, W. History of Seneca County from the Close of the Revolutionary War to July 1880. Tiffin, Ohio: Transcript Printing Co., 1880. Larson, A. Karl, and Katharine Miles Larson. The Diary of Charles Lowell Walker. 2 vols. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1980. Quinn, D. Michael. "Echoes and Foreshadowings: The Distinctiveness of the Mormon Community." Sunstone 3 (March-April 1978):12-17. _____. "The Mormon Succession Crisis of 1844." Brigham Young University Studies 16 (Winter 1976):187-233. Salt Lake City, Utah. LDS Church Archives. Pottawattamie High Council Minutes, 4-5 November 1848.