Typed copy of the minutes of the Kirtland Council of the Mormon Church. The materials were recorded while the Mormon Church had its headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio. The volume includes records of activities, ordinations, blessings, and one letter from Newell Kimball Whitney. The clerks who recorded the minutes were William W. Phelps, Orson Hyde, Oliver Cowdery, and George W. Robinson. Joseph Smith, first president of the Mormon Church, presided at the meetings. The item was typed by Lyndon W. Cook.

The only temple completed by Mormonism's founder, Joseph Smith Jr., the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio, receives 30,000 Mormon pilgrims every year. Though the site is sacred to all Mormons, the temple’s religious significance and the space itself are contested by rival Mormon dominations: its owner, the relatively liberal Community of Christ, and the larger Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. David J. Howlett sets the biography of Kirtland Temple against the backdrop of religious rivalry. The two sides have long contested the temple's ownership, purpose, and significance in both the courts and Mormon literature. Yet members of each denomination have occasionally cooperated to establish periods of co-worship, host joint tours, and create friendships. Howlett uses the temple to build a model for understanding what he calls parallel pilgrimage--the set of dynamics of disagreement and alliance by religious rivals at a shared sacred site. At the same time, he illuminates social and intellectual changes in the two main branches of Mormonism since the 1830s, providing a much-needed history of the lesser-known Community of Christ.

This unique chronology of the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints follows the Lord's chosen representatives as they were called and released as members of the Quarum of the Twelve Apostles. Beginning with Joseph Smith's ordination in 1829 to the present day, the life of every man who has served in these presiding quorums is illustrated in the brief narratives of this informative and well-written volume. ; ; Now is the perfect time to learn the gospel with your family and discover the humble beginnings of the Lord's Church in these latter days. This work honors the noble men who sacrificed their time and talents to unselfishly serve those around them. It is an excelllent reference for anyone looking to study Church history and the apostolic governing bodies of the Church.; ; Understand the order of succession to the presidency and see firsthand the challenges these quorums faced as they learned "line upon line" the Lord's will in fulfilling their sacred callings.

William Earl McLellin (1806-1883) was born in Smith County, Tennessee. He married Cinthia Ann in 1829 in Illinois. She died in about 1830-1831 in childbirth. In 1831 William joined the LDS Church and went on several missions. In 1832 he was excommunicated for a short time but was rebaptized and, in 1835, was one of the first members of the Twelve Apostles. By this time he had married Emeline Miller they had six children. He and his family settled in Jackson County, Missouri and suffered the persecutions against the Mormons. By late 1836 William and his family had left the LDS Church and settled in Illinois for a short time before returning to Missouri.