Sutcliffe Maudsley, later a portrait artist in Nauvoo is born in Whitehouse, England. He painted some of the earliest known paintings of the Prophet Joseph. (1)
-- mid May 1837
Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were unable to continue the operation of the Church's printing business due to overwhelming personal debts. They sold the printing office, press and bindery equipment to William Marks. This effectively ended the old "Literary Firm." (2)
-- May 20, 1837
[Whitmer, Peter, Jr] ; last child born 20 May 1837, after Whitmers death. (3)
-- May 22, 1837
In a trial before the Kirtland High Council concerning unfulfilled contracts the Council decides: "After a long investigation by the Councilors and parties, the Presidency. W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer, [it was decided] that both accuser and accused should be disfellowshiped, if they did not settle their difficulties." (4)
-- (Tue) May 23, 1837
Parley Pratt wrote an angry letter to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, accusing them of wrongful dealings with certain Church members, including himself. Pratt said that the LDS leaders took advantage over members like himself, "by undue religious influence," and insinuated that the "scheme of speculation" underlying the operations of the KSS was "of the devil." [Letter printed in Richard Livesey, "An Exposure of Mormonism," (1838), p. 9; original in the Lake County Historical Society Library]. (2)
-- May 23, 1837
Apostle Parley P. Pratt writes an angry letter to Joseph Smith saying that Smith has wronged him in turning his personal notes for debt over to a bank. Pratt says Smith was "taking advantage of your brother by undue religious influence" and "the whole scheme of speculation in which we have been engaged, is of the devil." He insists it had given rise to "lying, deceiving, and taking advantage of one's neighbor" and that Smith and Rigdon "have been the principle means in leading this people astray . . . by false prophesying and preaching." Pratt threatens to bring church charges against Smith, but six days later it is his brother, Apostle Orson Pratt, and Apostle Lyman Johnson who bring charges before a bishop's court condemning Joseph Smith for "lying and misrepresentation-also for extortion-and for speaking disrespectfully against his brethren behind their backs." (4)
-- May 25, 1837
Oliver Cowdery is elected a Justice of the Peace in Kirtland without opposition.
-- (5)
-- (Fri) May 26, 1837
The Painesville Telegraph published an open letter to Sidney Rigdon, written by Grandison Newell. In the letter Newell outlined his charges that Smith had conspired with two other Mormons to have him murdered. (2)
-- May 26, 1837
John Corrill named "an agent of the Church and Keeper of the Lord's Store House." (5)
The Painesville Telegraph publishes Grandison Newell's letter to the editor charging that Joseph Smith had sent two men to murder him. (5)
-- May 27, 1837
[Lucy Mack Smith] Parley P. Pratt, greatly disillusioned by economic problems, writes a harshly critical letter to Joseph Smith for which he later apologizes. (6)
-- 28May37
[Joseph Smith Sermon] Kirtland, Ohio 28th Sunday I repaired to the house of the Lord to worship the GOD of Israel with the congregation of the Saints in Kirtland. Behold it was a day of experience, of interest & of Knowledge. The same spirits of murmering, complaining, & of mutiny, that I spake of in Feb. 19th in this journal, hath not slept from that day to the present they have been brewing in the family circle in the secret chamber & in the streets untill many & some in high places had risen up against Joseph the servent whom God had raised up to lead Israel and they were striving to overthrow his influence & cast him down untill Joseph was grieved in spirit to stand insuch perils among fals brethren.
But notwithstanding this thick cloud of darkness standing over Kirtland Joseph being unmoved in the cause entered the congregation of the Saints arose in the stand & spake to the people in the name of the Lord in his own defince the Lord was with him by his power & spirit to the convinceing of the honest that he would stand & his enemies fall. (7)
-- May 28, 1837
At Sunday services in Kirtland, Wilford Woodruff finds "the same spirits of murmering, complaining, & of mutiny," that he witnessed on February 19.
-- (5)
Footnotes:
1 - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, United Kingdom, "On This Day," https://www.lds.org.uk/show_oda.php
2 - Broadhurst, Dale R., Mormon Chronology, http://olivercowdery.com/history/morchrn2.htm
3 - Cook, Lyndon W., The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith: A Historical and Biographical Commentary of the Doctrine and Covenants, Seventy's Mission Bookstore, Provo UT, 1985
4 - On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com
5 - Kenny, Scott, "Mormon History 1830-1844," http://saintswithouthalos.com/dirs/d_c.phtml
6 - Anderson, Lavina Fielding, Editor, Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir, 2001, Signature Books
7 - The Parallel Joseph, http://www.boap.org/LDS/Parallel/
LDS History Timeline
About this site: http://mormon-church-history.blogspot.com/2008/12/welcome-to-mormon-church-history.html
Mormon History Chronology
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