why were the Whitmers deposed as leaders in Missouri?

Post by **_Sethbag** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:09 am

I've wondered about this, and haven't got available to me books that discuss it. Who can explain the background and what happened that lead to the High Council in Far West deposing David Whitmer, John Whitmer, and W.W. Phelps as the Stake Presidency on Jan. 26th 1838?

Post by **_karl61** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:29 am

didn't they leave due to the danites and what was going on in missouri (i.e., the raids of Davies county etc.) and thought it had gone too far.

Post by **_karl61** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:30 am

I think Phelps wrote "the spirt of god like a fire is burning" I heard he was excommunicated - not sure why they are singing his song then.

Post by **_evolving** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:36 am

is this what you are looking for ??

Two senior apostles and most of the high council reject David and John Whitmer, W. W. Phelps as presidents of the church in Zion and arrange for neighborhood meetings on the case.

http://www.saintswithouthalos.com/m/380126.phtml

Post by **_Sethbag** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:05 am

Ah, so it was apparently one of the same issues that they threw in Oliver Cowdery's face. That is, that they chose to sell some personally-owned land in Jackson County, which others in the church were adamant should be held onto, pending some eventual LDS return to that promised land. And the Stake Presidency refused to be controlled by others in the church in decisions such as how to dispose of their own property.

And they threw in a little Word of Wisdom as a bonus. Kind of ironic since Joseph Smith himself was a violator of the Word of Wisdom until, quite literally, the day he died.

Somehow I think there was more to this than control of their temporal affairs.

I do find it interesting though that a Stake High Council could simply vote to, essentially, fire the Stake Presidency.

Was this a case of moderates in the leadership being overthrown by more hardliners?

Post by **_LifeOnaPlate** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 7:54 pm

This is discussed very adequately in Bushman's Rough Stone Rolling.

Post by **_Jason Bourne** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 8:03 pm

Sethbag wrote:I've wondered about this, and haven't got available to me books that discuss it. Who can explain the background and what happened that lead to the High Council in Far West deposing David Whitmer, John Whitmer, and W.W. Phelps as the Stake Presidency on Jan. 26th 1838?

in my opinion the ever power hungry Sidney Rigdon wanted the Whitmers and Oliver Cowdry out of the way. I think he was the main mover behind all that happened to them as well as many of the reasons the Church had problems in Missouri.

Post by **_Sethbag** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:19 am

The Lesueur book does seem to show Rigdon saying things, and fostering a militant attitude, that seems to have really backfired on the Mormons in Missouri later in 1838. One has to wonder what might have happened with the church had Sidney Rigdon not been around.

Post by **_Blixa** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 4:13 am

LifeOnaPlate wrote:This is discussed very adequately in Bushman's Rough Stone Rolling.

Yep, when I want scholarship I want adequate scholarship. None of this challenging or thorough kind for me...

Post by **_Dr. Shades** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 5:26 am

LifeOnaPlate wrote:This is discussed very adequately in Bushman's Rough Stone Rolling.

Well, don't keep us in suspense. What does Bushman say was the reason?

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why were the Whitmers deposed as leaders in Missouri?

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