Church History, 1785

-- 1785
Solomon Spalding graduates from Dartmouth (previously attended Plainfield Academy and Studied Law in Windam), later ordained as a Congregational Minister and preaches for 3 or 4 years. (Tidd)

-- 1785
[Sydney Rigdon] William Rigdon (Sidney's father) purchased land along Piney Fork of Peter's Cr. (later Peter's twp., Washington Co., PA) (Broadhurst-Rigdon)

-- 1786
Ethan Smith (reportedly a Seminary classmate of Solomon Spalding) enters Dartmouth. (Tidd)

-- c. 1786
[Oliver Cowdery] William Cowdery, Jr. (1765-1847) married Rebecca Fuller (1768-1809) in East Haddam, Middlesex, CT (or possibly Reading, Windsor, VT). The couple soon after settled in Poultney, Ruland, VT and then moved to Wells, Rutland, VT. (Broadhurst-Cowdery)

-- 1786
[Sydney Rigdon] Peters Township, Washington Co., formally organized (Broadhurst-Rigdon)

-- 1787
[U.S. Religious History] Constitution and Bill of Rights advanced freedom. (Backman)

-- April 12, 1787
[U.S. Religious History] Richard Allen, the first black ordained in the first Methodist Episcopal Church, founded the Free African Society. (USRelHist)

-- 1788
[Sydney Rigdon] Alexander Campbell born in Ireland (Broadhurst-Rigdon)

-- 1788 spring
[Oliver Cowdery] Ethan Smith graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, Grafton, NH (about 45 miles from Wells, Rutland, VT). He returned to the area in Nov. 1821 to become pastor of the Poultney Congregational church. (Broadhurst-Cowdery)

-- 1788 Oct. 17
[Oliver Cowdery] Warren A. Cowdery born to William & Rebecca Cowdery in Poultney, Rutland, VT. (Some accounts say Wells, Rutland, VT). At about the time Warren was born William & Rebecca probably moved into Wells, living near the border between Wells and Middleton townships). (Broadhurst-Cowdery)

-- 1789
[Oliver Cowdery] Nathaniel Wood was excommunicated from the Congregational Church in Middleton, Rutland, VT. He, his family, and some neighbors founded a new sect who believed themselves to be modern Israelites, a chosen people for whom America was an inheritance and whom were promised salvation while their Gentile neighbors would be stricken with divine punishment. The Wood sect may have even had plans to re-establish the Israelite religion in America, complete with a Temple. William Cowdery, Jr. may have left the Congregational Church at about this same time to become an early follower of Nathaniel Wood. (Broadhurst-Cowdery)

-- c. 1789
[Oliver Cowdery] Lucy Mack, future wife of Joseph Smith, Sr. moved to Tunbridge, Orange, VT to live with her brother Stephen Mack. About this same time Dr. Jabez Cowdery (1741-1826) also moved to Tunbridge, where he bought land in 1790. Jabez was an paternal uncle of William Cowdery, Jr. and a great uncle to Oliver Cowdery. (Broadhurst-Cowdery)

-- 30-Apr 1789
George Washington becomes U.S. President. (Tidd)

-- 1789 May 2
[Sydney Rigdon] Peter's Creek Baptist Church "Subscription Paper" drawn up; among signers were Thomas & William Rigdon (Sidney's father) (Broadhurst-Rigdon)

-- June 11, 1789
[U.S. Religious History] Richard Allen was ordained a deacon of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Allen would later go on to found the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and become the first African-American bishop in the United States. (USRelHist)

-- November 06, 1789
[U.S. Religious History] Father John Carroll was elected the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States. (USRelHist)


Sources: http://groups.google.com/group/mormon-church-history/web/Source+Information?hl=en
-- For a look at current events in Mormonism, see http://groups.google.com/group/mormon-issues

/Mormon Church History Chronology/

3 comments:

  1. This is great. I look forward to reading this each day.

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  2. Thanks. I'm excited to read through it all too.

    If email delivery works better for you, try http://groups.google.com/group/mormon-church-history/subscribe

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  3. I found the entry regarding Nathaniel Wood interesting and looked him up in Wikipedia, which was even more interesting. Some interesting parallels with mormonism.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Wood


    Nathaniel Wood was the leader of a sect called the New Israelites, which was formed in Middletown, Rutland County, Vermont at the end of the 1790s ... Wood may have been influenced by the Newent Separates of Norwich, who believed in perfectionist immortalism and spiritual wifery, and the preaching of Rev. Joel Benedict, who taught that Hebrew was the angelic tongue. ...

    Wood claimed literal descent from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and to possess the powers of revelation. After coming into contact with a treasure seer by the name of Justus Winchell, the New Israelites commenced looking for buried treasure and embarked on the construction of a temple. The group employed the divining rod for both treasure hunting and other forms of revelation. ... Wood predicted the arrival of a "Destroying Angel" that would bring down plagues and earthquakes upon the "gentiles." For this reason one might arguably call the New Israelites a Millennarian group. The locals were so alarmed that on the night in question the militia was called out. When this apocalypse failed to occur, Wood and his family moved to Ellisburg, Lawrence County, New York. This event was subsequently known as the "Wood Scrape.

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