Church History
Doctrine and Covenants 49–50


Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources: Doctrine and Covenants 49–50, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2020)

Doctrine and Covenants 49–50, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources

Doctrine and Covenants 49–50

Image
White clapboard house and annex sit in a grove of trees just beginning to turn colors.

The farm of Isaac and Lucy Morley, Kirtland, Ohio, USA. The Morleys’ property served as Church headquarters for six months in 1831, when Joseph and Emma Smith lived there. (The house in the photo was built after the Morleys lived on the property.)

Texts

Historical background and the earliest manuscript of each revelation, as published in The Joseph Smith Papers

Revelation, 7 May 1831 [D&C 49]

This revelation directed Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, and Leman Copley to visit a community of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (popularly called Shakers) in North Union, Ohio. More …

Revelation, 9 May 1831 [D&C 50]

In late fall 1830, Oliver Cowdery and his missionary companions left Kirtland, Ohio, on their way to preach to the American Indians in the territory just west of Missouri after having baptized more than one hundred persons into the Church. More …

People

Biographical facts and historical images of individuals associated with the revelations

Historical Background

Revelations in Context

Essays on the background of each revelation

Leman Copley and the Shakers

D&C 49

In the spring of 1831, a prosperous farmer named Leman Copley joined the fledgling Church of Christ (as the Church was then known). His farm in Thompson, Ohio, was only a few miles northeast of the village of Kirtland. More …

Religious Enthusiasm among Early Ohio Converts

D&C 46, 50

When Parley P. Pratt returned from Missouri in March, he too noted the continued displays of enthusiasm as he visited the congregations scattered about the Kirtland area. More …

Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days

Narrative history of events surrounding the revelations

Volume 1, Chapter 11

Ye Shall Receive My Law

Joseph remained optimistic about the Indian mission, even as he turned his attention to strengthening the Church in Kirtland. More …

Volume 1, Chapter 12

After Much Tribulation

Polly Knight was sick when she and the Colesville Saints settled on Leman Copley’s land. Here the Knights could start over and practice their new faith in peace, although many worried that Polly would not be long with them. More …

At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women

Lucy Mack Smith: “Where Is Your Confidence in God?”

“Brethren and sisters,” said I, “we call ourselves Latter-day Saints and profess to have come out from among the world.” More …

Church History Topics

Essays on subjects related to the revelations

Gifts of the Spirit

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ promised His disciples that “signs shall follow them that believe.” More …

Religious Beliefs in Joseph Smith’s Day

As the earliest members of the Church transitioned into their new faith, they brought with them beliefs, traditions, and values from their prior religious experience. More …

Places

Maps and information about places associated with the revelations from The Joseph Smith Papers, Historic Sites, and other helpful sources

Chronology

Timeline placing each revelation in the context of key events in the Church’s first century

View the chronology …

Image
Painting of a man laboring to plow a field.

For church members in the 1830s, building Zion was a temporal endeavor as well as a spiritual one. This figure heaves as he struggles to keep the horses pulling straight.

Mabel Frazer, The Furrow, 1929, oil on canvas, Church History Museum.