What Happened to the Whitmers?
- stephenstrent7
- Apr 6
- 30 min read
David Whitmer, an early adherent of the Latter Day Saint movement who eventually became the most interviewed of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon's Golden Plates.
Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants: Come Follow Me Lesson: April 7-13: Doctrine and Covenants 30-36
As a 19-year-old missionary, I had not heard of the “Church of Christ”. Driving down a country road one day, my companion and I passed a tiny white church with a sign above the door that said, “Church of Christ: Bible and Book of Mormon Teaching.” It seemed so odd to us that we stopped and took some pictures. I believe that was June 16, 1968, when my companion and I traveled from Vincennes, Indiana to Olney, Illinois, which was in our District, to meet with the Elders there.
Doctrine and Covenants 30 is a, “Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to David Whitmer, Peter Whitmer Jr., and John Whitmer, at Fayette, New York, September 1830, following the three-day conference at Fayette, but before the elders of the Church had separated. Originally this material was published as three revelations (Book of Commandments 31-33); it was combined into one section by the Prophet for the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.” My current essay will focus on David Whitmer, but Peter, John, and other family members also will be discussed.
Verses 1-4 state, “Behold, I say unto you, David, that you have feared man and have not relied on me for strength as you ought. But your mind has been on the things of the earth more than on the things of me, your Maker, and the ministry whereunto you have been called; and you have not given heed unto my Spirit, and to those who were set over you, but have been persuaded by those whom I have not commanded. Wherefore, you are left to inquire for yourself at my hand, and ponder upon the things which you have received. And your home shall be at your father’s house, until I give unto you further commandments. And you shall attend to the ministry in the church, and before the world, and in the regions round about. Amen.”
The minutes for the three-day conference referred to in the heading note that thirty-five members had joined since the last conference, making the total number of Church members sixty-two.1
Apparently, there is no information concerning David’s response to the missionary call recorded in section 30. He had been one of the three witnesses to whom an angel showed the Gold Plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated, “about 11. A. M.” on Sunday, 28 June 1829.2 He was one of the six men officially designated as the first members of the Church on Tuesday, 6 April 1830, in his father, Peter Whitmer’s home.3 The official name of the Church at that April 6th meeting was “The Church of Christ.”4
Of the eleven witnesses to Book of Mormon’s Gold Plates, seven were Whitmers by blood or marriage. The Whitmers appear to have been a relatively wealthy and extremely close-knit family with very deep family ties. Their farm in Fayette, New York, apparently had at least two houses, where extended family and friends lived. Their very first issue with Church authority appears to have been in June of 1830, just over one month after the Church was organized, when Oliver Cowdery, who was living with the Whitmers at the time, and would later marry Elizabeth Ann Whitmer in 1832, wrote a letter to Joseph Smith, commanding him “in the name of God”, “…to change a passage in ‘Articles and Covenants,’ a document outlining the basic beliefs and practices of the Church of Christ [Oliver Cowdery had copied passages from the Book of Mormon manuscript to produce a text titled “Articles of the Church of Christ,” which gave instructions on priesthood offices, baptism, the administration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, and other matters. The next year in June 1830, the newly organized Church of Christ voted to accept as authoritative a document originating with Joseph Smith that contained similar but more extensive instructions, entitled “Articles and Covenants.”]…In response, JS traveled from Harmony, Pennsylvania, to Fayette, New York, to persuade Cowdery and the Whitmers that they were mistaken. According to JS’s later account, it was ‘not without both labor and perseverance’ that he ‘could prevail with any of them to reason calmly on the subject.’ Finally, with support from Christian Whitmer, JS convinced Cowdery and the Whitmer family ‘that they had been in error, and that the sentence in dispute was in accordance of the rest of the commandment.’”5
“The second challenge to JS’s authority came in early September, when JS and Emma Smith moved from Harmony to Fayette and found to their ‘great grief’ that ‘Brother Hyrum [Hiram] Page had got in his possession, a certain stone, by which he had obtained to certain revelations…all of which were entirely at variance with the order of Gods house, as laid down in the new Testament, as well as in our late revelations.’ With another conference of the church approaching, JS initially ‘thought it wisdom not to do much more than to converse with the brethren on the subject, until the conference should meet.’ But upon finding that many, including Cowdery and the Whitmer family, supported Page, JS (apparently with Cowdery’s encouragement) decided it would be ‘best to enquire of the Lord concerning so important a matter.’ Before the conference convened, JS dictated the revelation featured here [Doctrine and Covenants 30], which addressed the issues surrounding both Cowdery’s role and ‘the things set forth by this [Page’s] stone.’”6
Hiram Page was one of the Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, and David’s brother-in-law by his marriage to Catherine Whitmer in 1825. Hiram and Catherine were living with her parents when, in September 1830, “Hiram…had a certain stone and professed to be receiving revelations by its aid concerning the upbuilding of Zion and the order of the Church. Several members had been deceived by these claims, and even Oliver Cowdery was wrongly influenced thereby. Just prior to an appointed conference, the Prophet inquired earnestly of the Lord concerning the matter, and this revelation followed.”7
Hiram Page’s stone was apparently quite an impressive item. “Newel Knight recalled that Page ‘had quite a roll of papers full of these revelations, and many in the church were led astray by them.’ Ezra Booth, who wrote a series of antagonistic letters denouncing JS after leaving the church in the fall of 1831, explained his understanding of Page’s seer stone: ‘[He] found a smooth stone, upon which there appeared to be writing, which when transcribed upon paper, disappeared from the stone, and another impression appeared in its place. This when copied, vanished as the former had done, and so it continued alternately appearing and disappearing; in the meanwhile, he continued to write, until he had written over considerable paper. It bore most striking marks of a Mormonite revelation, and was received as an authentic document by most of the Mormonites, till Smith, by his superior sagacity, discovered it to be a Satanic fraud.’ George A. Smith later stated that the stone was black and explained that on it Page saw ‘certain characters’ that he copied down as revelations. Emer Harris also recalled that Page’s stone was black; he added that it was destroyed.”8 Susan Easton Black added that “It appears that Hiram accepted the rebuke and counsel, for at the September 1830 conference he renounced the stone and the spurious revelations.”9
The following three verses are from Doctrine and Covenants 28:2, 11-12, “But, behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as Moses…And again, thou shalt take thy brother, Hiram Page, between him and thee alone, and tell him that those things which he hath written from that stone are not of me and that Satan deceiveth him; For, behold, these things have not been appointed unto him, neither shall anything be appointed unto any of this church contrary to the church covenants.”
Moses, the quintessential prophet, is mentioned in that revelation; yet Moses had plenty of problems with the people he was called to lead. The Israelites were constantly complaining to him and about him. Their murmuring came to a head when the twelve spies returned with their report from Cannan. We are told in Numbers 13:30-14:10, “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt…all the congregation bade stone them with stones…”
In Doctrine and Covenants 28:6-7, Oliver Cowdery was told, “And thou shalt not command him who is at thy head, and at the head of the church; For I have given him the keys of the mysteries, and the revelations which are sealed, until I shall appoint unto them another in his stead.” Joseph Smith’s role as the only one to receive revelation for the Church “…was ratified at the subsequent conference, convened 26 September, at which JS was appointed ‘by the voice of the Conference to receive and write Revelations & Commandments for this Church.’”10
Then, in response to the “revelations” of Hiram Page, Doctrine and Covenants 28:8-9 states, “And now, behold, I say unto you that you shall go unto the Lamanites and preach my gospel unto them; and inasmuch as they receive thy teachings thou shalt cause my church to be established among them; and thou shalt have revelations, but write them not by way of commandment. And now, behold, I say unto you that it is not revealed, and no man knoweth where the city Zion shall be built, but it shall be given hereafter. Behold, I say unto you that it shall be on the borders by the Lamanites.”
We can read in The Joseph Smith Papers, “Cowdery signed a statement on 17 October declaring that he would preach and ‘rear up a pillar as a witness where the Temple of God shall be built, in the glorious New-Jerusalem.’ A revelation earlier that month had affirmed that church elders would establish the New Jerusalem in America as an apocalyptic fulfillment of both biblical and Book of Mormon prophecy. After other men [Peter Whitmer Jr., Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson] were called to accompany Cowdery, the group of missionaries left in late October 1830.”11
For most modern members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the issue of the President of the Church being the only one to receive revelation for the Church in general is firmly established. None-the-less, in the April 2018 General Conference of the Church, our newly sustained President and Prophet, Russell M. Nelson stated, “One of the things the Spirit has repeatedly impressed upon my mind since my new calling as President of the Church is how willing the Lord is to reveal His mind and will. The privilege of receiving revelation is one of the greatest gifts of God to His children…As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, I prayed daily for revelation and gave thanks to the Lord every time He spoke to my heart and mind.”12
“Imagine the miracle of it! Whatever our Church calling, we can pray to our Heavenly Father and receive guidance and direction, be warned about dangers and distractions, and be enabled to accomplish things we simply could not do on our own. If we will truly receive the Holy Ghost and learn to discern and understand His promptings, we will be guided in matters large and small…”13
“I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation, for the Lord has promised that ‘if thou shalt [seek], thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal.’”14
During the April 2020 General Conference, Elder Quentin L. Cook, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, stated, “I assure you that revelatory guidance can be received by each of us as we humbly labor in the Lord’s vineyard. Most of our guidance comes from the Holy Ghost. Sometimes and for some purposes, it comes directly from the Lord. I personally testify that this is true. Guidance for the Church, as a whole, comes to the President and prophet of the Church.”15
Today, I find great comfort in knowing that I can receive personal revelation within my frame of influence and that the Church receives revelation through a living Prophet. However, in 1830, the boundries between personal revelation and that for the Church were still blurry, at least to some. David Whitmer stated, “Brother Joseph’s true prophesies were almost all published, but those of the other brethren were not. I could give you the names of many who gave great prophesies which came to pass. I will name a few: Brothers Ziba Peterson, Hiram Page, Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Peter Whitmer, Christian Whitmer, John Whitmer, myself and many others had the gift of prophesy.”16 He appears to have considered prophecy as some sort of fortune-telling.
Richard Bushman said that “Through the summer [of 1830], Oliver Cowdery and the Whitmer family began to conceive of themselves as independent authorities with the right to correct Joseph and receive revelation.”17 David Whitmer was of the opinion that, “God called him [Joseph] to translate his sacred word by the power and gift of God; but he was not called to set up and establish the church any more than any of us Elders were.”18 The issue came to a head at the 26 September conference.
Lyman D. Platt has done a remarkable job of researching and listing the 62 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attending the 26-28 September1830 conference. The following list is extracted from Platt’s paper.19
1. JOSEPH SMITH, JR Died on 27 Jun 1844 at Carthage
2. OLIVER COWDERY Died 3 Mar 1850 at Richmond, Ray, Missouri
3. SAMUEL HARRISON SMITH Died 30 Jul 1844 at Nauvoo
4. HYRUM SMITH Died 27 Jun 1844 at Carthage
5. JOSEPH SMITH, SR. Died 14 Sep 1840 at Nauvoo,
6. LUCY MACK Died 8 May 1855 at Nauvoo
7. MARTIN HARRIS Died 10 Jul 1875 at Clarkston, Cache, Utah
8. DAVID WHITMER Died at Richmond 25 Jan 1888
9. PETER WHITMER, JR Died Liberty, Clay, Missouri on 22 Sep 1836
10. ORRIN PORTER ROCKWELL Died 9 Jun 1878 at Salt Lake City, Utah
11. SARAH WITT Died in Nauvoo shortly after their arrival
12. SOLOMON CHAMBERLIN Died 26 March 1862 Washington, Utah
13. HIRAM PAGE Died near Richmond, 12 Aug 1852
14. KATHERINE WHITMER
15. ANNE SCHOTT She died in Seneca County, New York
16. CHRISTIAN WHITMER Died Clay County 27 Nov 1835
17. ELIZABETH SCHOTT M. Jacob Whitmer, 1838 left the church Richmond, Missouri
18. JACOB WHITMER Richmond, Missouri, died 21 Apr 1856
19. ELIZABETH JOLLY did not leave New York
20. VINCENT JOLLY did not leave New York
21. WILLLAM JOLLY did not leave New York
22. RICHARD ZIBA PETERSON He is not with the Mormons after the Missouri period
23. PETER WHITMER, SR Died 12 Aug 1854 at Richmond, Missouri
24. MARY MUSSELMAN wife of Peter Whitmer Sr., Died Jan. 1856, Richmond, Missouri
25. ELIZABETH ANN WHITMER married to Oliver Cowdery. Died 7 Jan 1892, Missouri
26. ALVTRA OR ALMIRA MACK Niece of Lucy Died 10 Mar 1886 at Salt Lake City
27. MEWEL K. KNIGHT Died in Knox County, Nebraska 11 Jan 1847
28. HARRTET JOLLY It does not appear that she left New York
29. JOHN JOLLY It does not appear that John left Missouri
30. JULIA ANN JOLLY wife of David Whitmer, Died in Illinois
31. JOHN POORMAN wife, Nancy, not with the Saints after Missouri
32. CAROLINE ROCKWELL sister of Orin Porter, Died 20 February 1887 Vinton, Ohio
33. ELECTA ROCKWELL sister of Porter, Utah, Died 12 Nov.1900 Santa Clara, CA
34. PETER ROCKWELL brother of Orin Porter, Died 1879 California
35. DON CARLOS SMITH Died 7 Aug 1841 at Nauvoo
36. CATHERINE SMITH Died 1 Feb 1900 at Fountain Green, Hancock, Illinois
37. WILLIAM B. SMITH Strangite, Died 13 Nov 1893 at Osterdock, Clayton, Iowa.
38. JERUSHA BARDEN Married Hyrum Smith, Died 13 Oct 1831 at Kirtland
39. EMMA HALE Died 30 Apr 1879 at Nauvoo
40. HEZEKIAH PECK Died 25 Aug 1850 in Andrew County, Missouri, en route to the west.
41. MARTHA LONG Married Hezekiah Peck, Died 4 April 1858 Des Moines, Iowa
42. JOSEPH KNIGHT, SR Died 3 Feb 1847 at Mt. Pisgah, Harrison, Iowa
43. POLLY PECK Married to Joseph Knight, Sr, Died 6 Aug 1831 Jackson, Missouri
44. JOSEPH KNIGHT, JR Died 3 Nov 1866 at Salt Lake City
45. POLLY KNIGHT Polly died in Nauvoo 27 Apr 1944
46. SALLY COLBURN Married Newel K Knight, Died 15 Sep 1834, Clay County, Missouri
47. JULIA ANN STRINGHAM Died 30 Apr 1886 Sangamon, Illinois
48. WILLIAM STRINGHAM Married Esther Knight Died 3 November 1865 Manti, Utah
49. ESTHER KNIGHT Married William Stringham, Died in Jackson Missouri in 1833
50. AARON CULVER Married Esther Knight
51. ESTHER KNIGHT Married Aaron Culver, in Jackson, Missouri1831 without husband
52. LEV1 HALL (HALE?) He apparently left the church when it left New York
53. ANNA KNIGHT Died 22 July 1878 at Manti, Sanpete, Utah
54. EMILY COLBURN Living or near Madison, Wisconsin in 1882
55. HOPIESTILL HASKINS Died at Winter Quarters 12 Jan 1847
56. PARLEY PARKER PRATT Murdered 13 May 1857 near Arkansas border on a mission
57. PHILIP BURROUGHS 25 July 1865 Portage, Livingston, New York
58. JOSEPH COE Remained in Kirtland where he died 17 Oct 1854
59. CALVIN W. STODDARD Died at Kirtland, Lake, Ohio 19 May 1836
60. THOMAS BALDWIN MARSH Died at Ogden, Weber, Utah, Excomm. and returned
61. FREEBORN DEMILL Died 23 Jan 1881 at Manti, Sanpete, Utah
62. ORSON PRATT Died 3 Oct 1881 at Salt Lake City
Of those 62 members at the 26 September 1830 conference: 7 apparently never left New York; 14 died in Kirtland, Missouri, or Nauvoo before 1845; 1 never left Kirtland; 11 died in Missouri after 1844; 2 never left Nauvoo; 3 died on their way to Utah; 11 died in Utah; 10 died elsewhere (apparently not associated with the Church); for 3 others, their places of death remain unknown. Of those 62, apparently only 28 (45%) were still affiliated with the Church when they died.
That percent of membership retention in the first year of the Church’s history was probably about the same, if not better, than it is today. Elder Dalin H. Oaks, a modern Apostle, stated in a 2000 talk to new mission presidents, “For several years President Hinckley has been reminding us forcefully that ‘there is absolutely no point in doing missionary work unless we hold on to the fruits of that effort.’… He continues to remind us that with all of our success in baptizing new members, a distressing proportion of them still fall away into inactivity. We have not yet significantly increased our effectiveness in fellowshipping new converts so that they invariably continue to grow in the gospel, to serve in the Church, and to receive the blessings of the temple.”20
Of the 11 people on Platt’s list dying in Missouri after 1844, David Whitmer has left the most complete record of why he left the Church, and perhaps the most complete record of why anyone has left the Church. In 1887, at Richmond, Missouri, David Whitmer, an 83-year-old man, and less than one year before his death, wrote a 75-page pamphlet entitled, An Address to All Believers in Christ.21 The pamphlet is rather convoluted, with a lot of repetition. To me, in that pamphlet, David comes across as a very dogmatic, arrogant, self-righteous, and bitter old man; and the only person in possession of the truth. I do not doubt his truthfulness, within the limits of his memory, but I strongly disagree with his interpretation of events in the 1830s and, although he appears to consider himself a Bible scholar, I don’t agree with his interpretation of Christ’s original Church.
In his pamphlet, Whitmer stated, “Now, when April 6, 1830, had come, we had then established three branches of the “Church of Christ,” in which three branches were about seventy members [obviously, by September 26 of that year there were more than 62 members of the Church]: One branch was at Fayette, N. Y.; one at Manchester, N. Y., and one at Colesville, Pa…We were as fully organized - spiritually - before April 6th as we were on that day. The reason why we met on that day was this; the world had been telling us that we were not a regularly organized church, and we had no right to officiate in the ordinance of marriage, hold church properly, etc. ... and that we should organize according to the laws of the land. On this account we met at my father's house in Fayette, N. Y., on April 6, 1830, to attend to this matter of organizing according to the laws of the land…There were six elders and about seventy members before April 6th, and the same number of elders and members after that day. We attended to our business of organizing, according to the laws of the land, the church acknowledging us six elders as their ministers; besides, a few who had recently been baptized and not confirmed were confirmed on that day; some blessings were pronounced, and we partook of the Lord's supper.”22 David Whitmer was one of the original six elders/members, along with his brother, Peter and future brother-in-law, Oliver Cowdery. The other three being Joseph, Hyrum, and Samuel Smith.
He also stated, “I do not consider that the church was any more organized or established in the eyes of God on that day than it was previous to that day. I consider that on that day the first error was introduced into the Church of Christ, and that error was Brother Joseph being ordained as ‘Prophet Seer and Revelator’ to the church.”23 That statement, to me, sounds like that of a bitter old man who, perhaps thought he was of the same stature as Joseph Smith. He seems to have boasted, “In June, 1829, the Lord called Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and myself as the three witnesses, to behold the vision of the Angel, as recorded in the fore part of the Book of Mormon, and to bear testimony to the world that the Book of Mormon is true. I was not called to bear testimony to the mission of Brother Joseph Smith any farther than his work of translating the Book of Mormon, as you can see by reading the testimony of us three witnesses.”24 In his pamphlet, as far as I can perceive, Whitmer never mentioned the First Vision, or why God and Jesus visited Joseph Smith and not him. He never stated why Moroni came to Joseph Smith and not him. He never mentioned that the Aaronic Priesthood and then the Melchizedek Priesthood were restored to Joseh Smith and Oliver Cowdery, not David Whitmer. In his pamphlet, he never mentioned the Kirtland Temple or the visitation of Jesus Christ, Moses, Elias, and Elijah, restoring keys to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, not David Whitmer. He seems to have conveniently forgotten some of the most important parts of the restoration.
Whitmer further stated, “Paul, Peter, Barnabas, Philip and others went here and there preaching, every one receiving revelations from God for themselves, by dreams, visions, the gift of prophecy, etc. They had no head of the Church on earth to go to.”25 In his pamphlet, he failed to mention Matthew 16:17-20, and the debate over whether the “rock” was Peter or revelation. However, even though verses 17 and 18 may be ambiguous, verse 19 states very plainly, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Furthermore, he never mentioned the Mount of Transfiguration, or why only Peter, James, and John were with the Savior there and not the other apostles.26 We also learn in Acts 10-11:18 that it was Peter, not the other apostles, who received the revelation to take the gospel to the gentiles, even though Christ had restricted their earlier teaching to the Jews. Furthermore, the other apostles “contended” with him until he told them of his vision and what had happened in Joppa to Cornelius.
Whitmer did not like that the Church’s name was changed from “The Church of Christ” to “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” The name of the Church was never given by Christ in the New Testament. We read in Acts 11:26, “…the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” Whitmer claimed the Book of Mormon as his evidence for the “proper” name of the Church. We read in 3 Nephi 27:3-8, “And they said unto him: Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the name whereby we shall call this church; for there are disputations among the people concerning this matter. And the Lord said unto them: Verily, verily, I say unto you, why is it that the people should murmur and dispute because of this thing? Have they not read the scriptures, which say ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name? For by this name shall ye be called at the last day; And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day. Therefore, whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name; therefore ye shall call the church in my name; and ye shall call upon the Father in my name that he will bless the church for my sake. And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel.” Notice that Christ never used the phrase “Church of Christ.” The phrase “Church of Jesus Christ” seems to fit even better with Christ’s teaching to the people here in America.
We read in, 4 Nephi 1:1, “And it came to pass that the thirty and fourth year passed away, and also the thirty and fifth, and behold the disciples of Jesus had formed a church of Christ in all the lands round about. And as many as did come unto them, and did truly repent of their sins, were baptized in the name of Jesus; and they did also receive the Holy Ghost.” Even though Whitmer uses this passage as evidence that the official name of the Church should be “The Church of Christ”, the phrase “a church of Christ” does not provide evidence of such an official name. Furthermore, we read in Mormon 8:38, “O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world?” Here the Church in the Americas is called “the holy Church of God”.
We are told very specifically in Doctrine and Covenants 115:3-4, “And also unto my faithful servants who are of the high council of my church in Zion, for thus it shall be called, and unto all the elders and people of my Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, scattered abroad in all the world; For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” However, David Whitmer rejected the Doctrine and Covenants after about section 30, knowing that he knew better than God’s chosen prophet — who, he believed, had gone astray.
The following additional information is given at our Church website to help explain the name change. “The restored Church of Christ was not the only body of Christian believers called by the name ‘the Church of Christ.’ Some Congregational churches in New England called themselves by this name, and professing Christians sometimes referred to themselves collectively as the church of Christ. To help the Saints distinguish themselves from other Christians, elders at a conference at Kirtland, Ohio, voted on May 3, 1834, to change the name of the Church to ‘the Church of the Latter Day Saints.’ Besides lending clarity, the new name also distanced the Church from the terms ‘Mormon’ and ‘Mormonite’ used by opponents of the Church.”27
Whitmer spent a lot of space in his pamphlet deriding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as being in error because we have High Priests.28 He took exception to the book of Hebrews wherein Paul speaks of High Priests in the present tense as well as in the past. Paul never stated that Christ was the “last High Priest.”29 It is clear that in Hebrews 3:1, Paul is speaking of himself as a High Priest, “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus…” Furthermore, he spoke of High Priests being currently ordained in his time, in Hebrews 5:1, “For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins…”
Whitmer said, “If Christ did not mean for the doctrine of ‘baptism for the dead’ to be an ordinance in his church, it is a serious error.”30 He made this statement in spite of the fact that the original Christians, shortly after Christ’s ministry, were practicing baptisms for the dead. Paul uses such practice as evidence of the resurrection, when he stated in 1 Corinthians 15:29, “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?” Interestingly, David Whitmer, in his 75-page pamphlet, said nothing about temples, or the Kirtland Temple, which was dedicated in 1836, two years before he left the Church. It did not have a font for baptism for the dead. Such a font was first included in the Nauvoo Temple.
Whitmer did not like the idea of Apostles in the modern Church, even though such organization is clearly part of Christ’s Church, as we read in Ephesians 4:11-14, “He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things…And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive…”
David Whitmer believed that anyone who remained a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been deceived. According to Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, the whole purpose of the Church structure, especially the apostles and prophets, is to perfect the saints and keep us from being deceived. Whitmer said, “False spirits, which come as an Angel of Light, are abroad in the earth to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. Those whom Satan can deceive and lead into error he deceives.”31 It is ironic that, throughout his pamphlet, Whitmer refers to the Prophet and head of Christ’s Church as the one being deceived, but fails to even consider that it might be he who is being deceived.
A 2021 article posted at Doctrine and Covenants Central, entitled “Why Did David Whitmer Never Return to the Church?” states, “During most of this period [after 1838], the Whitmers kept their religious views to themselves, and they generally did not affiliate with the off-shoot churches that emerged after Joseph Smith’s death. However, there were two brief exceptions… First, in 1846 James Strang alleged the Whitmer clan supported his claims of being Joseph Smith’s successor. Evidence from Whitmer documents does show that they briefly accepted Strang’s claims, but ultimately they remained detached and never took any meaningful action to support him or his movement…Second, in 1847 estranged former-apostle William E. McLellin persuaded the Whitmers that David was Joseph’s true successor. McLellin believed that God had called him to organize the Church with David at its head, and he actively recruited each of the Three Witnesses to join his cause. The Whitmers initially followed along with McLellin, but they disavowed his movement about a year later. They still believed that David was the true successor but did not think the time was right to for him to take his place at the head of a church…After these very brief affiliations, the Whitmers stood apart from all the movements that grew out of the Restoration.”32
The 2021 article at Doctrine and Covenants Central continued, “Oliver Cowdery rejoined the Church in 1848 and went to visit the Whitmers—his wife’s family—optimistic that David, too, would soon reunite with the Saints…During this time, however, the Whitmers’ religious views had evolved. They progressively came to reject nearly all the revelations given after the Book of Mormon was translated…and with these shifts came changes in how David and others in the Whitmer family remembered early events in Church history…The one thing that never changed, however, was their testimonies of the Book of Mormon. David and his brothers each remained stalwart in insisting that they had seen the plates—and for David, that he had also seen an angel…In the 1870s, …David Whitmer…finally took action to establish his own ‘Whitmerite’ church [which he called the “Church of Christ”]. Under David’s leadership, the small Restoration off-shoot preached from the Bible and Book of Mormon but disregarded the rest of the revelations Joseph Smith had been given. At its largest, it consisted of approximately 750 members before slowly fading out at the turn of the century…”33
Oliver Cowdery apparently repented of his animosity toward the Church and traveled from Elkhorn, Wisconsin to Kanesville, Iowa where he was rebaptized in late 1848. He stated to the High Council in Kanesville, “Brethren, for a number of years, I have been separated from you. I now desire to come back…I seek no station. I only wish to be identified with you.” He remained in Iowa, helping Orson Hyde in publishing a newspaper until April 1849.
However, rather than continuing on to Utah; he, Elizabeth Ann, and their only surviving child, Maria Louise; traveled to Richmond, Missouri, to be with Elizabeth’s Whitmer family. Oliver’s chronic tuberculosis worsened, and he died in David Whitmer’s home 3 March 1850. Apparently, neither Elizabeth nor Maria ever joined the Saints, but both died in Missouri in 1892. Maria had married Dr. Charles Johnson in Richmond in 1856. They had no children.34
Christian Whitmer died in 1835 and Peter Jr. 22 September 1836, both apparently in full fellowship. However, their wives stayed connected to the Whitmer family rather than the Church. Christian’s wife, Anna Schott, died in Fayette, NY in 1866. They had no children. Peter’s wife, Vashti Higley, died after 1850, unknown location; but their daughter, Vashti P Whitmer, died in 1903 in Richmond, Ray, Missouri.35
The 2021 article at Doctrine and Covenants Central goes on, “David…was surrounded by his family. The Whitmers all shared the same disagreements over the direction the Church was taking in 1837–1838 and collectively separated themselves from the Church at that time. On one hand, this meant they had a small but strongly committed social group of Book of Mormon believers—many of whom were Book of Mormon Witnesses—which no doubt helped all of them keep their faith in that sacred volume of scripture…On the other hand, it also meant that they continued to reinforce their perceived grievances against Joseph Smith and other Church leaders, preventing them from ever reflecting on their actions with the humility needed to bring about repentance. Instead their resentment slowly took over until they lost nearly all faith in Joseph’s prophetic ability outside his divine translation of the Book of Mormon…Recognizing this social element can help us better understand why David Whitmer never returned, but beyond that, this element of the Whitmers’ story illustrates the importance of President Russell M. Nelson’s counsel to those with doubts about the Restoration: “Stop increasing your doubts by rehearsing them with other doubters.”36
David Whitmer’s “Church of Christ” failed. The “Church of Christ” that my missionary companion and I saw in 1968 apparently was part of the “Church of Christ”, informally called the “Hedrickites” church or the “Church of Christ (Temple Lot)”, which is headquartered in Independence, Missouri, on what is currently referred to as the “Temple Lot”. The nickname for members of that church comes from Granville Hedrick, who had only been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1843, and who was ordained as his newly-founded Church of Christ’s leader by the former apostle, John E. Page, in July 1863.37
John E. Page is a perfect example of someone being carried about with every wind of doctrine. His fellow Apostles in Nauvoo said that “Page was a difficult man to get along with and that he enjoyed feeling sorry for himself.” After the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, Page said, “These reflections . . . have thrown my mind into a state that is almost indescribable. Suffice it to say, that my bosom has heaved with pain and anxiety day and night, my mind more or less enveloped in a gloom to which I was an entire stranger while President Smith lived…His youngest son, Justin, recalled: ‘I only knew my father as a sick man, or at best broken in health, and have heard him preach to an audience but little, but he was always at it, generally in village stores and shops, where groups would gather to hear him, some times in discussion with other Ministers and much in private conversation.’”38
Page first gravitated to the authoritarian, and apparently charismatic leadership of James Strang, convinced that Strang was the rightful heir to Joseph Smith. After becoming disillusioned with Strang, Page briefly affiliated with “The Church of Christ (Brewsterite)”, organized in 1848 by James C. Brewster and Hazen Aldrich. But then, in 1850, Brewster received a “revelation” that there was a land called “Bashan” in the Rio Grande Valley, which God had selected as the new “gathering place” for the Latter-day Saints. Brewster and some 32 of his followers formed a wagon train to find “Bashan.” There, in the southwest desert, the “The Church of Christ (Brewsterite)” disintegrated and Brewster returned to Illinois as a “former prophet”.39
For the next several years, Page, and others who lacked the stamina, courage, and/or commitment to join the vast numbers of Saints emigrating to the Salt Lake Valley, met in small, scattered unaffiliated groups in Illinois and Indiana. However, their “efforts in this direction did not meet with desired success, for it seemed the needed favor of God through the Holy Spirit was sadly lacking.”40
Among these scattered branches was a small branch of former Latter-day Saints in Crow Creek, Illinois, which had been led by Hedrick since April 1857. Quist then recounts that, “Page along with W. W. Blair, attended his first meeting with the Hedrickites in June 1857. Unwilling to commit himself too quickly, he waited until November 1862 before uniting with this group. The following May he spoke at a church conference on ‘the importance of having the primitive order of Apostles and Elders as necessary offices in the church.’ Due to Page's ordination as an apostle in 1838, he was respected as the church member holding the highest priesthood office [even though he had been removed as an apostle and excommunicated from the Church]. He therefore ordained four others ‘to the office of Apostles,’ one of whom was Granville Hedrick. At a conference the following July, Page nominated Hedrick to ‘preside over the High Priesthood’ and, after conference approval, ordained him to that position.41
Granville’s wealthy brother, John Hedrick purchased a 245-acre farm east of Independence, Missouri in 1865 and about sixty Hedrickites moved there in 1867. By 1877, the Hedrickites had purchased the main portion of the temple land that Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon had dedicated in 1831 as the future location of the temple and center of the New Jerusalem. Thus, their church became known as the Church of Christ (Temple Lot). In 2013, that church had 7,310 members. “The church exists today with a worldwide membership of approximately 5000.”42
As I was finishing this essay, I was also watching the Saturday morning session of General Conference. I was struck by the contrast between David Whitmer’s angry 1887 pamphlet, the struggling infant Church in 1830, and the beautiful scenes and messages of our 2025 conference. In this conference, we are privileged to hear from modern Apostles and other leaders of Christ’s true and restored Church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, during the 195th annual General Conference. The 21,000-seat Conference Center in Salt Lake City is filled to capacity and millions of us are watching the Conference via television and internet.
During the Saturday morning session of Conference, Elder Ronald A. Rasband, a modern Apostle, recounted that in early 1834, Joseph Smith spoke to a gathering of Priesthood holders in a small, 12 or 14-foot square log school building in Kirtland Ohio. Oliver Cowdery was there and I wondered if the Whitmers were also there. After asking some of those at that meeting to share their testimonies of the future of the Church, Joseph stated and prophesied, “‘I've enjoyed what you've said, but you no more comprehend the destinies of this Church…than a little child on its mother's lap…It will fill, eventually brethren, North and South America, and then eventually the whole earth.’”43
Then, Elder Quentin L. Cook, another modern Apostle, recalled the 60,000 faithful Latter-day Saints who crossed the plains from Nauvoo, and elsewhere, to the Great Slat Lake Valley. Twenty of my direct ancestors were among those 60,000, three of them were in the Mormon Battalion, and three were in the Martin Handcart Company, which Elder Cook discussed in some detail. In 1846, after the death of Joseph Smith, the majority of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints followed Brigham Young, with an estimated 80-90% of the members migrating west to what is now Utah. At least 236 pioneer companies of approximately 60,000 pioneers crossed the plains for Utah. With time, they transformed the desert valley into the bustling and prosperous Salt Lake City.44
Many other speeches at this year’s annual conference also reminded me of what I wish David Whitmer would have understood — perhaps now, in his after-life he does understand. I wonder what David Whitmer, John E. Page, and others who were prominent in the Church in the 1830s and then became disassociated with the Church would think of this week-end’s conference. I wonder why the members of my family, friends, and former students are leaving themselves out of what I consider to be the great blessings of the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Trent Dee Stephens, PhD
References
1. Revelation, September 1830–C [D&C 30:1–4], p. 42, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed April 1, 2025, josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-september-1830-c-dc-301-4/1
2. Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, 152; JS History, vol. A-1, 26; Cannon, Journal, 27 Feb. 1884; Stevenson, Journal, 22 Dec. 1877; Appendix 4: Testimony of Three Witnesses, Late June 1829, p. 589, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed April 2, 2025; josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-4-testimony-of-three-witnesses-late-june-1829/1#historical-intro
5. Revelation, September 1830–B [D&C 28], p. 41, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed April 3, 2025; josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-september-1830-b-dc-28/2#historical-intro; Articles of the Church of Christ, June 1829; Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20]; Minutes, 9 June 1830
6. Ibid
7. Doctrine and Covenants 28, heading
8. Knight, History, 146; “Letters from David and John C. Whitmer,” Saints’ Herald, 5 Feb. 1887, 90; Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—Nos. VIII–IX,” Ohio Star [Ravenna], 8 Dec. 1831, [1]; George A. Smith, in Journal of Discourses, 15 Nov. 1864, 11:2; Provo, UT, Central Stake, General Minutes, 6 Apr. 1856, vol. 10, p. 273; footnote: Revelation, September 1830–B [D&C 28], p. 41, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed April 3, 2025; josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-september-1830-b-dc-28/2#historical-intro
9. Black, Susan Easton, Who’s Who in the Doctrine and Covenants, Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, UT, 1997; FamilySearch
10. Revelation, September 1830–B [D&C 28], p. 41, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed April 3, 2025; josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-september-1830-b-dc-28/2#historical-intro
11. Revelation, September 1830–B [D&C 28], p. 41, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed April 3, 2025; josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-september-1830-b-dc-28/2#historical-intro
13. Ibid
14. Ibid; and see Doctrine and Covenants 42:61
16. Whitmer, David, An Address to All Believers in Christ, latterdaytruth.org/pdf/100023.pdf, 1887, p. 32
17. Bushman, Richard Lyman, Joseph Smith, Rough Stone Rolling, Vintage, Random House, New York, 2005
18. Whitmer ,1887, p. 26
19. Platt, Lyman D., Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints baptized by September 26,1830; 2013; ensignpeakfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/NJ1_Platt4.pdf
20. Oaks, Dalin H., The Role of Members in Conversion, Ensign, March 2003; adapted and updated from an address to new mission presidents, Provo Missionary Training Center, 20 June 2000
21. Whitmer, 1887
22. Whitmer, 1887, p. 33
23. Ibid
24. Whitmer, 1887, p. 32
25. Whitmer, 1887, p. 47
26. Matthew 17:1-13
28. Whitmer, 1887, p. 62ff, and elsewhere
29. Hebrews 3:1, 4:14-15, 5:1-6, 7:28, 8:1-3, 10:10-23
30. Whitmer, 1887, p. 42
31. Whitmer, 1887, p. 35
34. Black, 1997
35. Family Search
37. Wikipedia: Church of Christ (Temple Lot)
38. Quist, John, John E. Page: An Apostle of Uncertainty, Journal of Mormon History 12:53-68, 1985
39. Quist, 1985; Wikipedia: James C. Brewster
40. Ibid
41. Ibid
42. Wikipedia
43. Rasband, Ronald A.; see also Madsen, Truman G., Joseph Smith's Vision of the Global Church, BYU Idaho Speeches, January 29, 2005
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