Second Elder; Book of Mormon witness
Oliver Cowdery
1806–1850
3 topics · 10 dated events · 4 sources
Their part in each topic
The Book of Mormon: Origins, Translation, and Witnesses
Principal scribe, witness
A schoolteacher boarding with the Smiths, he arrived in Harmony on 5 April 1829 and began writing two days later; almost the whole surviving text was dictated to him. He also made the printer's manuscript and copied the witness testimonies into it. Excommunicated in 1838 after accusing Joseph of adultery, he rejoined the church in 1848 and, according to those at his deathbed, never retracted his witness statement.
The Book of Abraham and the Joseph Smith Papyri
Scribe; first public defender
Cowdery copied characters from the rolls, inscribed Egyptian Alphabet–B, and worked with Smith and Phelps on the alphabet on 1 October 1835 when, the journal says, 'the system of astronomy was unfolded.' His 22 December 1835 letter to William Frye, printed in the Messenger and Advocate as 'Egyptian Mummies—Ancient Records,' is the fullest contemporary public account and denies the rumor that the church claimed to own Abraham's body.
Joseph Smith's Plural Marriage
Second Elder; Book of Mormon witness
Probable author of the 1835 Article on Marriage that declared one man should have one wife. In an 1838 letter to his brother Warren he described Joseph Smith's relationship with Fanny Alger as a dirty, nasty, filthy affair, and was excommunicated that April on a charge that included insinuating that Joseph Smith was guilty of adultery. He is the only contemporary in Kirtland to make the accusation on the record.
In the timeline
10 events across 3 topics, chronological. Only events this person was actually part of — present at, responsible for, or the subject of — not every event where the name comes up.
Oliver Cowdery arrives; rapid dictation beginshinge
Cowdery, a schoolteacher who had boarded with Joseph's parents, walked to Harmony with Samuel Smith and began writing on 7 April. Almost the entire present text was dictated between April and late June 1829. Cowdery later wrote that these were 'days never to be forgotten — to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven.'
The work moves to the Whitmer farm at Fayette
Facing opposition in Harmony, Joseph and Cowdery accepted David Whitmer's offer of room and board at his father Peter Whitmer Sr.'s log home in Fayette, New York. The translation was finished there. Emma remained behind.
The Three Witnesseshinge
Following a revelation promising that 'it is by your faith that you shall obtain a view of them,' Joseph, Cowdery, Whitmer and Harris went into the woods near the Whitmer farm to pray. Harris withdrew and was joined by Joseph separately. All three afterward signed a statement that an angel showed them the plates and that they heard the voice of God declare the translation correct.
The Article on Marriage declares one man, one wifehinge
The 1835 Doctrine and Covenants published as section 101 a statement, probably drafted by Oliver Cowdery, reading: Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again. It remained in every edition of the Doctrine and Covenants until 1876, when it was replaced by section 132.
'The system of astronomy was unfolded'
Smith's journal records that he 'labored on the Egyptian alphabet, in company with brsr O. Cowdery and W. W. Phelps: The system of astronomy was unfolded.' Gee dates the three Egyptian Alphabet documents to this session on the strength of the entry and the three handwritings.
Cowdery's public account is printed
Oliver Cowdery's letter to William Frye appeared in the Messenger and Advocate as 'Egyptian Mummies—Ancient Records.' It corrects the rumor that the purchasers claimed to hold the bodies of Abraham, Abimelech or Joseph — 'which is utterly false' — and reports that seven of the eleven mummies had already been sold to gentlemen for private museums.
Joseph Smith revises the text
For the second edition Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery corrected the 1830 text against the manuscripts and made editorial changes. Four passages in 1 Nephi were altered: 'the mother of God' became 'the mother of the Son of God,' and 'the Eternal Father' and 'the Everlasting God' became 'the Son of' each. Further changes followed in 1840.
Oliver Cowdery calls it a dirty, nasty, filthy affair
Writing from Far West to his brother Warren, Cowdery said that a dirty, nasty, filthy affair of his and Fanny Alger's was talked over in which I strictly declared that I had never deserted from the truth in the matter, and as I supposed was admitted by himself. Three months later, on 12 April 1838, Cowdery was excommunicated on charges that included seeking to destroy the character of Pres. Joseph Smith Jr by falsly insinuating that he was guilty of adultery.
The witnesses scatter
Oliver Cowdery was tried and excommunicated at Far West; David and John Whitmer and W. W. Phelps were disciplined; Martin Harris was excommunicated in Kirtland. Whitmer said God told him by his own voice in June 1838 to separate himself from the Latter Day Saints. Stephen Burnett's letter that year reports Harris publicly qualifying what he had seen.
Oliver Cowdery dies at Richmond
Cowdery had returned to the church in 1848 at Council Bluffs and wintered with the Whitmers in Richmond, Missouri. David Whitmer, John Whitmer, Philander Page and others said he reaffirmed his testimony on his deathbed. No record of a denial by any of the eleven witnesses has been produced.
Sources in their own name
Source records in the database whose author line names this person. Each links to the topic that uses it.
Testimony of the Three Witnesses and Testimony of the Eight Witnesses, June 1829
Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Martin Harris, and eight others
The exact wording eleven men put their names to — and, equally, what those statements do not contain: no date, no place, no description of the event, and no surviving signed original.
Article on Marriage, Doctrine and Covenants (1835 first edition), section 101
Oliver Cowdery (attributed)
That the church's own canon declared for monogamy from 1835 until the statement was replaced in 1876.
Letter, Oliver Cowdery to Warren A. Cowdery, 21 January 1838 (Cowdery Letterbook)
Oliver Cowdery
The only contemporary Kirtland accusation naming Joseph Smith and Fanny Alger.
"Egyptian Mummies—Ancient Records" (Oliver Cowdery to William Frye, 22 December 1835)
Oliver Cowdery
The church's first public account of the acquisition, including the denial that the mummies were Abraham, Abimelech or Joseph, and the disposition of the eleven mummies.
Appears alongside
People who share the most dated events with Oliver Cowdery.
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