During the first years of their administration, the First Presidency wrestled with a number of important questions and issues in their quest to fulfill their responsibilities as presidents over the Church. Joseph had struggled with many of these issues alone, but now he had counselors to advise him who shared the keys of presidency with him. Not leaving aside the spiritual considerations, what was to be the configuration and extent of the temporal aspect of the kingdom of God on the earth? How would the kingdom be built? How would it be financed? Where should the Presidency’s headquarters be located? Were the newly baptized converts supposed to gather into communities? What responsibility did the Church have for its poor? Were the words of God to be published as well as preached? What organizational form was the Church to have? How was it to be administered? Who were to be its officers? And what were their duties? Within a few years, the First Presidency was inspired to establish or to expand a number of key organizations and institutions to deal with these and other issues of a growing church. Some of these were already in operation prior to March 18, 1833, when the First Presidency was officially formed.
Many of these institutions operated simultaneously and often with shared or overlapping responsibilities and spheres of influence. Some were called by different names at the same time (United Firm/United Order; School of the Prophets/School of the Elders). Others became long-standing features of the Church (temples, Apostles, high councils), while others were dissolved with changing circumstance (Literary Firm, School of the Prophets). Some of the institutions, in chronological order of their establishment or initial identification, included the Literary Firm (November 12, 1831), the United Firm (March 1832), the School of the Prophets (December 27, 1832), the Kirtland Temple and Kirtland Stake (March 23, 1833), the Firm of F. G. Williams & Co. (September 11, 1833), the patriarch to the Church (December 18, 1833), the high council in Kirtland (February 17, 1834), the high council in Far West (July 3, 1834), the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (February 14, 1835), and the Quorum of the Seventy (February 28, 1835).
United Firm
In an attempt to address the temporal and literary needs of a growing Church, Joseph, under the guiding spirit of the Lord, established an entity known as the United Firm that was made up of the top leaders of the Church together with its wealthiest members. The original revelation on the literary and mercantile establishments, given on March 1, 1832, in Kirtland, and recorded in the handwriting of Frederick G. Williams, reads in part: “For verily I say unto you the time has come, and is now at hand, and behold and lo it must needs be that there be an organization of the literary and mercantile establishments of my church both in this place and in the land of Zion for a permanent and everlasting establishment and firm unto my Church to advance the cause which ye have espoused.”1
When this revelation was published in the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants (1835), the United Firm (together with its companion entity the Literary Firm) had already been dissolved and the above italicized wording was changed to “organization of my people, in regulating and establishing the affairs of the storehouse for the poor of my people,” thus deleting the explicit reference to these business ventures, and that is how the revelation continues to be read in our modern edition.2 In The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Lyndon W. Cook, while commenting on section 78, distinguishes between the United Order and the law of consecration, a principle with which it has often been mistakenly identified.
Section 78 was received by Joseph Smith while he was visiting the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. The revelation calls for an “order” to be established according to a “bond” or “covenant” that cannot be broken. This order, variously known as the “United Order,” the “Order of Enoch,” and the “United Firm,” was created at this time.
The United Firm was a business partnership consisting of about a dozen Church leaders. Members of the firm were either landowners or merchants whose purpose was to work in concert, using the financial means at their disposal, to generate profits. Inasmuch as the members of the partnership were also presiding Church leaders, it is difficult to determine which of their financial transactions were purely personal and which were Church related. This dual relationship has led some writers to erroneously conclude that the United Firm administered the law of consecration. Specifically, the Church bishop administered the program of consecration. The United Firm was essentially a private business concern.3
The organization of the United Firm came in stages. The first members included Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Newel K. Whitney in Ohio. These brethren then traveled over eight hundred miles to Missouri to establish the Zion branch of the United Firm, as directed in the March 1, 1832, revelation.4 In a meeting held in Zion, Jackson County, Missouri, on April 27, 1832, the two mercantile branches of the firm were officially organized and named.
Resolved, that the name of the Firm mentioned in the Commandments yesterday be Gilbert, Whitney & Company in Zion. And Newel K. Whitney & Company in Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio.
Resolved that brs. William W. Phelps & Sidney Gilbert draft the bond for the above named Firm.5
At the April 30, 1832, meeting of the United Firm, also held in Jackson County, the firm’s members and agents were named and authorization was given that the firm take out a loan for $15,000, to be repaid over five years at 6 percent interest.
Resolved that A. S. Gilbert & Newel K. Whitney be appointed agents to act in the name of this Firm.
Resolved that whenever any special business occur it shall be the duty of the United Firm by their branches at Jackson County Missouri & Geauga County Ohio to regulate the same by special agency.
Resolved That the firm [secure a] loan [for] fifteen thousand dollars for five years or longer at six per cent anually or semi-anually as the agreement can be made, & that N. K. Whitney & Co. be appointed to negotiate the same.6
The number of members in the United Firm probably never exceeded twelve, even counting both the Ohio and Missouri branches. The names of known members in 1832, according to Lyndon W. Cook, were Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Jesse Gause, Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, A. Sidney Gilbert, Newel K. Whitney, and “undoubtedly Edward Partridge, William W. Phelps, and John Whitmer were also members in that year. Frederick G. Williams and John Johnson became members of the order in 1833.”7 The revelation calling Frederick G. Williams to become a member of the United Firm was received by Joseph Smith on March 15, 1833. A copy of the original is in President Williams’s handwriting and is found in the Church History Library.
Kirtland 15th March 1833
Verily thus saith the Lord I give unto the United firm organized agreeable to the Commandment previously given a revelation & Commandment concerning my servant Frederick that ye shall receive him into the firm. What I say unto one I say unto all. And again I say unto you my servant Frederick thou shalt be a lively member in this firm and in as much as thou art faithful in keeping all former Commandments thou shalt be blessed for ever
“Revelation To Frederick,” written in his own hand, later published, with some variations, as Doctrine and Covenants 92. Courtesy Church History Library.
Joseph Smith, in a letter addressed to “Dear Brethren in Zion,” dated April 21, 1833, from Kirtland, made a point of telling the Missouri Saints that a revelation had been received calling Frederick G. Williams as a member of the firm, and included a copy of the same. “For your satisfaction, I here insert a revelation given to Shederlaomach [Frederick G. Williams],9 the 15th of March, 1833, constituting him a member of the United Firm.”10
The United Firm, although technically a private for-profit business venture, was also responsible for and administered the financial affairs of the early Church. Thus the firm’s members were set-apart stewards over the sacred funds of the Church, while, at the same time, trying to earn a profit. Ultimately the firm did not prosper and its operation was discontinued less than three years after it was begun.
The members of the United Firm were consecrated in their respective responsibilities, and although they were to benefit personally from the profits of the firm, the surplus profits were to be used for the operation and blessing of the whole Church.
The United Firm was short-lived. On 10 April 1834 members of the firm met and decided that the order should be dissolved, and branches of the firm become separate entities and that the members discontinue operating jointly.11
On April 7, 1834, three days before it disbanded, a handful of the leaders, including Frederick G. Williams, had knelt before the Lord to ask for divine intervention.12 “Bishop Whitney, Elder Frederick G. Williams, Oliver Cowdery, Heber C. Kimball, and myself, met in the council room, and bowed down before the Lord, and prayed that He would furnish the means to deliver the Firm from debt, that they might be set at liberty; also, that I might prevail against that wicked man, [Doctor Philastus] Hurlbut, and that he might be put to shame.”13
The Prophet learned on April 9, 1834, that he had prevailed against Hurlbut in the lawsuit, “for which I thank my Heavenly Father,”14 but no relief was forthcoming to pay for the firm’s indebtedness. Accordingly, on April 10, 1834, it was decided to dissolve the firm.
“On the 10th [April 1834], had a council of the United Order, in which it was agreed that the Order should be dissolved, and each one have his stewardship set off to him.”15 A revelation received on April 23, 1834, gives the particulars of how the assets of the United Firm were to be distributed among its several members. President Williams was to “have the place upon which he now dwells”16 and was to share the printing office and all its accessories with Oliver Cowdery, which was to be the beginning of the stewardship for them and their seed after them.
And let my servants Frederick G. Williams and Oliver Cowdery have the printing office and all things that pertain unto it.
And this shall be their stewardship which shall be appointed unto them.
And inasmuch as they are faithful, behold I will bless, and multiply blessings upon them.
And this is the beginning of the stewardship which I have appointed them, for them and their seed after them.
And, inasmuch as they are faithful, I will multiply blessings upon them and their seed after them, even a multiplicity of blessings.17
Revelation to Give Up All Notes and Demands, Including Williams’s Farm
The first part of the prayer offered to the Lord on April 7, 1834, to “deliver the Firm from debt” was evidently not answered as they hoped, but the second part “that they might be set at liberty” was fulfilled according to the Lord’s will. After the receipt of Doctrine and Covenants 104 specifying how the defunct firm’s assets were to be distributed among its members, another revelation was received on April 23, 1834, but apparently never recorded, in which Joseph was directed to instruct the firm members that they were required to give up all the notes and demands that they had against each other and all become equal. In other words, by canceling each other’s debts they would be “set at liberty.”
There are at least five known written references by three firm members to this latter revelation. The first is contained in the Newel K. Whitney collection (and likely written by him or at his direction), which confirms not only the date of the revelation, but the amounts of the notes that were due him, which totaled $3,635.35.
Amt. of Balances due from the following persons the 23d day of Apl. 1834 at which time Joseph said it was the will of the Lord the accounts v.s. [against] those persons should be balanced (up to the above date) in full without any value recd; amts as follows Viz.
Frederick G. Williams likewise made reference to the revelation in three different handwritten statements; but he listed only the amounts that were owed him by Joseph Smith Jr., which came to $4,613. In the first statement, which he titled “N. K. Whitney, John Johnson, Oliver Cowdery of the revelation concerning giving up the demands &c,” President Williams mentions that he had often assisted Joseph Smith with cash and given him the use of his farm free of charge for two years; he also took promissory notes for farm tools and other items.
From the time I first became acquainted with Js Smith I frequently assisted him let him have the use of my farm in Kirtland two years for which I recd no compensation though he frequently promised me & had given me several notes for oxen farming utentials, wagon & ox-sled &c, for the use of the farm I never took any note neither rec[eiv]ed any thing for it frequently let him have money of which I mad[e] no account—recollect letting him have 10 dollars at one time when making the road up the hill—also 31 dollars to redeem Kirtland currency with.19
Continuing this statement, President Williams, like Newel K. Whitney, specifically mentions that due to the revelation given to the Prophet, he received no remuneration, not even for the sale of his farm, which sale came on May 5, 1834, well after the April 23, 1834, revelation. The reference to the revelation “under page 240” of the original Doctrine and Covenants corresponds to today’s Doctrine and Covenants 104. “About the time we rec[eiv]ed the revelation under page 240 if I recollect right a revelation was received requiring every one of what was then called the firm to give up all notes & demands that they had against each other and all be equal which was the cause that I never got any thing for my farm.”20
In a second statement by President Williams titled “Statement of Facts Relitive to J Smith & Myself,” Williams rehearsed the same general facts but included a few new details.
From the time I first became acquainted with Joseph Smith Jr which was in the month of August 1831—I frequently assisted him by letting him have money & other things among which was the use of my farm in Kirtland two years for which I never took any note or security I also furnished him with farming utentials oxen chain sled wagon and other things not now recollected for which he gave me his note to the amount several hundred dollars but about the time we received the revelation under pages 240 in the doctrine and covenants, a revelation was received (but not written) requiring a certain number among us (among which I was one) to balance all accounts & give up all notes & demands that they had against each other & all be equal which was done this included all that he was to give me for my farm & the obligation which I held against him &c but he never gave me any obligation for my farm.21
In the financial statement written by President Williams titled “Account on Farm,” which I have heretofore reproduced, Frederick discloses the sale price of his farm ($2,200), as well as the price of some farm implements he had supplied, such as a yoke of oxen ($80), a two-ox wagon ($75), and other goods and services rendered to Joseph Smith (including a silver watch for $50), which totaled a hefty $4,613.00.22
These statements on the farm may have been written later by President Williams in response to disgruntled members over the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society. They show that, notwithstanding he was an officer of the bank and a member of the First Presidency, Frederick had never received any money for his property. These statements are also affirmations of his testimony. President Williams does not doubt the veracity of the revelation but acknowledges that it comes from the Lord. If he were discontented or in apostasy, he would call the revelation bogus, merely a clever ploy by Joseph Smith to cheat him out of $4,613 and cheat Newel K. Whitney out of $3,635. But Newel and Frederick were not merely hearers of the word, but doers also, and canceled their outstanding debts.23
As we have seen, the date of the bill of sale for the farm was May 5, 1834, the same day Williams and Smith joined forces with dozens of other men to begin the 800-mile march to Missouri as part of Zion’s Camp. The date is not a coincidence, for these men were marching off to war and there was the possibility that they would not return. Better to set all financial affairs in order before they departed. From the words and tone of the letter Frederick wrote to Rebecca on that military march, dated June 4, 1834, just a month after turning over his farm to Joseph Smith, it is clear that Frederick and Rebecca fully trusted the Lord and his prophet and had willingly sacrificed a major portion of their material wealth by submitting to the requirement to consecrate their farm by canceling the debt. They also renounced every other demand owed to them by Joseph Smith and, we can assume, canceled every other note owed to Frederick by members of the Firm, which likely would have included several outstanding medical bills. The second paragraph of Frederick’s letter to Rebecca betrays no regrets or concerns over money, but only trust in the Lord: “I want you to make use of the money I send you in wisdom, for such thing as you need, and make yourselves as comfortable and contented as you can and continue to pray to the Lord to hasten the day when we shall be permitted to behold each other’s face again and enjoy the blessings of the family circle in peace and in righteousness, and be prepared to meet every event that awaits us in life.”24
The third and last member of the United Firm to reference the April 23, 1834, revelation, albeit indirectly, was Oliver Cowdery. Oliver alluded to the revelation in 1838, and suggested that by that date Williams had had a change of heart regarding the consecration of his farm. In a letter dated June 2, 1838, from Far West, Missouri, to his brothers, Warren and Lyman Cowdery, at Kirtland, Ohio, Oliver states that Frederick was contemplating a lawsuit to get his farm back. The “bro. Lyman” spoken of in the letter is Oliver’s own brother Lyman, one of the recipients of the missive.
Doctor Williams talks of going to Springfield, Ill. He told me a few days since that he should write bro. Lyman on the subject of the old farm—whether he though[t] it could be reached in Law and I venture to mention it now, as I suppose he is either busy or has forgotten. He has probably told you under what circumstances the farm was deeded away. If the opinion should be favorable, he will give a chance to make a “splash.” Perhaps you better think of the matter and write immediately.25
Oliver Cowdery was then estranged from the Prophet and from the Church—he had been excommunicated on April 11, 1838—so it is entirely possible that it was Oliver and not Frederick who was the instigator of the idea to recover the farm by appealing to the law, hoping, perhaps, to persuade Williams to become his ally against Joseph Smith. Cowdery admits that Williams was either too busy or had forgotten about asking Lyman Cowdery to look into the matter, but clearly Oliver had not, for he asked that his brother consider the merits of the plan and write him back immediately.26
It is true that Williams had been present at some of the meetings held by the dissidents in Missouri. But what were his feelings about the Church and, especially, about the Prophet? Had he lost his testimony? If contemporary accounts written by his friends and associates were extant today, they could possibly shed light on the events. Unfortunately, what exists are recollections made years later by Church leaders speaking at general conferences in Utah. In those cases, Frederick, if he is mentioned at all, is named along with several others in sweeping generalizations and in the context of showing that a great apostasy had taken place in the early days, when all but two members of the Quorum of the Twelve (Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball) had apostatized and each of the Prophet’s counselors had forsaken him.
It is certainly possible that Frederick had engaged in inappropriate activities, for the Lord stated in a revelation received July 8, 1838, that F. G. Williams and W. W. Phelps had lost their previous standing “in consequence of their transgressions.”27 The only extant contemporary account that references Frederick G. Williams’s testimony of the restored gospel and of the Prophet Joseph Smith is contained in an 1838 exchange of letters between Rebecca and her father, Isaac Swain, living in Youngstown, New York. It had apparently been rumored to the old gentleman, that Frederick and Rebecca had renounced the Prophet and the Church, so he wrote to her asking for confirmation. Unfortunately, we do not have either Rebecca’s letter or her father’s, but we do know the gist of what she wrote and we know the effect it had on him, which comes from a letter her brother, George Swain, wrote to her on March 17, 1839, but which he never finished and therefore never posted. The letter was found by Isaac Swain’s granddaughter Sara S. Swain and sent to her cousin Orlando C. Williams on April 28, 1940. In her accompanying letter, she tells where the letter was found and gives a few particulars about the writer.
I have just been looking over some papers which were stored in an old chest in the attic at the Swain Homestead.
Among them is a letter which Uncle George father’s only brother wrote to Rebecca after the death of their father Isaac Swain. Why it was not sent I do not of course know. . . .
Uncle George was about nineteen at this time. Doubtless had he been older he would have written in a more unstrained manner; also have omitted the reference to Grandfather’s feelings about Rebecca. You must remember she was his baby girl, the last child of his English wife as father and uncle George always spoke of her (the first wife).28
George’s letter to his older sister Rebecca begins with an account of the death of their father, Isaac Swain, on September 7, 1838, and of the particulars of his funeral. Toward the end of the letter, George tells Rebecca about the impact of her letter on their father, who died soon after its receipt.
Your letter dated Aug. 1 [1838] came to hand Sept. 1st father was to hear it. On the next day, as he was sitting in his armed chair he requested me to read it to him. I did so, he then opened his pale febled unnerved hand. I placed it in his hand he read a few lines he stopped, looked up and uttered this single sentence “not one word of repentance.” The reason of this expression was a report that he had heard that Mr. Williams had renounced Joseph Smith. He had been at a great deal pains to hear from you and when he heard that report it raised his hopes. But when your letter reached him it dampned them all.29
In her letter of August 1, 1838, Rebecca had obviously borne her testimony of the Prophet and the Church once again, and assured her father that neither she nor her husband had renounced Joseph Smith. This is very significant, for the letter was written two months after Oliver Cowdery’s June 2, 1838, letter to his brothers, alleging Williams was considering taking Joseph Smith to court for his farm. And it was written three weeks after the July 8, 1838, revelation in which Phelps and Williams were told by the Lord why their former standings had been taken away and instructed in their duty.30
Notes
1. Kirtland Revelation Book, 16, published in Robin Scott Jensen, Robert J. Woodford, and Steven C. Harper, eds., Manuscript Revelation Books, facsimile edition, first volume of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2009), 444–45, italics added; see, for comparison, Doctrine and Covenants 78:3. The original words in the revelations and in most of the minutes and historical records speak of this organization as the United Firm. When the revelations were published in the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, the name was changed to United Order to obscure the identity of its principals and its business operations, allegedly at the urging of Sidney Rigdon. “David Whitmer, an original witness to the Book of Mormon, later wrote to Joseph Smith’s son that ‘Oliver Cowdery told me that Rigdon was the cause of those changes being made [in the revelations]: by smooth talk he convinced Joseph, Oliver, and F. G. Williams that it was all right.’” See Richard S. Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994), 124. For more information on the history of the United Firm, the pseudonyms in the Doctrine and Covenants, and the misunderstandings the term United Order has caused, see Max H Parkin, “Joseph Smith and the United Firm: The Growth and Decline of the Church’s First Master Plan of Business and Finance, Ohio and Missouri, 1832–1834,” BYU Studies 46, no. 3 (2007): 4–66.
Reference to a literary entity to handle the publications of the Church had come as early as December 4, 1831. “And again, let my servants who are appointed as stewards over the literary concerns of my church have claim for assistance upon the bishop or bishops in all things—That the revelations may be published, and go forth unto the ends of the earth; that they also may obtain funds which shall benefit the church in all things” (D&C 72:20–21).
8. See Doctrine and Covenants 92:1–2. On the back side of the sheet is written “Hand writing of F. G. Williams, my father. E. G. Williams.” As with the other revelations dealing with the United Firm (sections 78, 82, 92, 96, and 104), the name was changed to United Order when the revelations were published in the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, 1835.
9. The original handwritten versions of this and other revelations do not contain the code name Shederlaomach in the place of Frederick G. Williams. However, to keep secret the financial dealings of the members of the United Firm, it was thought prudent for a time to mask the identity of the individuals, places, establishments, and activities spoken of in some correspondence and especially in five revelations published in the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants (today’s sections 78, 82, 92, 96, and 104). Thus we find that Shederlaomach appears in the place of Frederick G. Williams, Enoch or Gazelam for Joseph Smith Jr., Olihah [Oliver Cowdery], Pelagoram [Sidney Rigdon], Ahashdah [Newel K. Whitney], Mahemson [Martin Harris], Zombre [John Johnson], Seth [Joseph who was sold into Egypt], Shinehah [Kirtland], Cainhannock [New York], Laneshine house [printing office], Tahhanes [the tannery], Ozondah [mercantile establishment], Shule [ashery], shinelane [printing], talents [dollars]. We do not know the identities today of Mahalaleel, Horah, Shalemanasseh, or Alam, although the latter may be Edward Partridge (see note to 1981 edition of the D&C 82:11a). In subsequent editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, the code name was followed by the name of the individual or place in brackets. This practice was discontinued in the 1981 edition. See explanation in the heading to the current edition of Doctrine and Covenants section 78.
10. Joseph Smith Jr., History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2d ed., rev., 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971), 1:340; 2:47–48 (hereafter cited as History of the Church).
18. Quoted in Cook, Revelations of the Prophet, 211. The financial record is located in the Newel K. Whitney Collection, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
19. Statement written by F. G. Williams entitled “N. K. Whitney John Johnson, Oliver Cowdery of the Revelation Concerning Giving Up the Demands,” found in the Frederick G. Williams file in the Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City.
20. Frederick G. Williams file, Church History Library.
21. Second account written by F. G. Williams entitled “Statement of Facts Relitive to J Smith & Myself,” found in the Frederick G. Williams file, Church History Library. The wording in this second statement suggests that not all firm members were required to give up their notes, which agrees with the title of his first statement.
22. The third statement written by F. G. Williams is entitled “Account on Farm” and is found in the Frederick G. Williams file, Church History Library.
23. It seems that both Williams and Whitney wanted a record of their personal sacrifice, but their records were not for public consumption.
24. Appended to the letter from Joseph to Emma and copied by James Mulholland into Joseph Smith’s Letterbook 1:58–59, Selected Collections from the Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. Richard E. Turley Jr., 2 vols. (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2002), vol. 1, DVD 20.
25. Oliver Cowdery Papers, Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
26. It is worth noting that at Oliver Cowdery’s excommunication trial, held on April 11, 1838, Frederick G. Williams was one of those who testified against him. See Cannon and Cook, Far West Record, 168–69.
