28 Facts About Oliver Cowdery

1.

Oliver Cowdery was the first baptized Latter Day Saint, one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's golden plates, one of the first Latter Day Saint apostles, and the Second Elder of the church.

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2.

In 1838, as Assistant President of the Church, Oliver Cowdery resigned and was excommunicated on charges of denying the faith.

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3.

Oliver Cowdery became a Methodist, and then in 1848, he returned to the Latter Day Saint movement.

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4.

Oliver Cowdery clerked at a store for just over two years and in 1829 became a school teacher in Manchester, New York.

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5.

Oliver Cowdery lodged with different families in the area, including that of Joseph Smith, Sr.

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6.

Oliver Cowdery met Joseph Smith on April 5,1829—a year and a day before the official founding of the church—and heard from him how he had received golden plates containing ancient Native American writings.

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7.

Oliver Cowdery told Smith that he had seen the golden plates in a vision before the two ever met.

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8.

From April 7 to June 1829, Oliver Cowdery acted as Smith's primary scribe for the translation of the plates into what would later become the Book of Mormon.

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9.

Oliver Cowdery unsuccessfully attempted to translate part of the Book of Mormon by himself.

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10.

Later that year, Oliver Cowdery reported sharing a vision, along with Smith and David Whitmer, in which an angel showed him the golden plates.

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11.

Oliver Cowdery was a member of the first presiding high council of the church, organized in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1834.

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12.

On December 18,1832, Oliver Cowdery married Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, the daughter of Peter Whitmer, Sr.

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13.

Oliver Cowdery helped Smith publish a series of Smith's revelations first called the Book of Commandments and later, as revised and expanded, the Doctrine and Covenants.

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14.

Oliver Cowdery was the editor, or on the editorial board, of several early church publications, including the Evening and Morning Star, the Messenger and Advocate, and the Northern Times.

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15.

In 1834 and 1835, with the help of Smith, Oliver Cowdery published a contribution to an anticipated "full history of the rise of the church of Latter Day Saints" as a series of articles in the church's Messenger and Advocate.

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16.

Oliver Cowdery's version was not entirely congruent with the later official history of the church.

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17.

For instance, Oliver Cowdery ignored the First Vision but described an angel who called Smith to his work in September 1823.

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18.

Oliver Cowdery placed the religious revival that inspired Smith in 1823 and stated that this revival experience had caused Smith to pray in his bedroom.

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19.

Further, after first asserting that the revival had occurred in 1821, when Smith was in his "fifteenth year, " Oliver Cowdery corrected the date to 1823 and stated that it was in Smith's 17th year.

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20.

Oliver Cowdery studied law and practiced at Tiffin, Ohio, where he became a civic and political leader.

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21.

Oliver Cowdery joined the Methodist church there and served as secretary in 1844.

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22.

Oliver Cowdery edited the local Democratic newspaper until it was learned that he was one of the Book of Mormon witnesses; then he was assigned as assistant editor.

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23.

In 1846, Oliver Cowdery was nominated as his district's Democratic Party candidate for the state senate, but when his Mormon background was discovered, he was defeated.

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24.

In 1848, Oliver Cowdery traveled to meet with followers of Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve encamped at Winter Quarters, Nebraska, where he asked to be reunited with the church.

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25.

On November 12,1848, Oliver Cowdery was rebaptized by Orson Hyde of the Quorum of the Twelve into—what had become following the succession crisis—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Indian Creek at Kanesville, Iowa.

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26.

Oliver Cowdery was a third cousin of Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith's mother.

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27.

The Oliver Cowdery family lived in Rutland County in the early 19th century and later attended a Congregationalist church in Poultney, Vermont.

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28.

Witnesses from Vermont connected William Cowdery to the sect before these witnesses could have known that his son, Oliver, was a dowser.

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