Kanesville Tabernacle

Sept 2nd -8th

We serve in such a beautiful area and such a historic area of the Church We thought we
should tell the story of the Kanesville Tabernacle and the Reorganizing the First Presidency.

The settlement was Miller’s Hollow, Iowa, across the river from Winter Quarters. The Saints
would soon call the town Kanesville in honor of Thomas L. Kane, a non–Latter-day Saint who was a
friend to the Church. The Apostles tried to hold a conference there on December 3 and 4, but they
were “dreadfully crowded” in the small building where they met Reorganizing the First Presidency:
Revelation to the Apostles, the Apostles set their sights on building up the kingdom of God throughout
the earth. On December 5, they met in the cabin of Elder Orson Hyde, a member of the Quorum of
the Twelve. Their discussions included an issue they had considered for some time: reorganizing the
First Presidency. They had especially struggled with this subject over the three previous weeks. They
had counseled together about it during their trip to Winter Quarters and in multiple meetings after they
arrived.at the time, the Quorum of the Twelve was the Church’s highest governing quorum. Quorum
members had this authority because a few months before Joseph Smith died, he conferred on them
all of the priesthood keys needed to lead the Church. Latter-day Saints looked to the President of the
Quorum of the Twelve, Brigham Young, as their leader. For three and a half years after the
death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the Church did not have a President or a First Presidency.

Brigham Young was convinced that the Church needed to reorganize the First Presidency. He was
worried that the Apostles’ many administrative duties would consume too much of their time. A First
Presidency could carry much of that load, allowing the Twelve to better serve as “special witnesses
of the name of Christ in all the world.”

In Elder Hyde’s cabin, the Apostles’ discussion began much as it had in previous meetings. Some of
the Apostles were open to the idea of reorganizing the First Presidency. Others believed that their
quorum should continue as the governing body of the Church.

Like past meetings on this subject, this gathering included lively discussion and frank disagreements.
But in the end, this meeting was different from the others. As the Apostles in attendance discussed
the issue, the Lord revealed His will. The Apostles gained a unified witness that the time was right to
reorganize the First Presidency. They unanimously sustained Brigham Young, the senior member of
their quorum, as President of the Church. He presented Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as his
counselors in the First Presidency, and all in attendance sustained them.

Bathsheba Smith had traveled to the Hyde cabin with her husband, Elder George A. Smith, who
was one of the Apostles. She did not participate in the meeting, but she felt the power of the
gathering. She later recalled: “A great manifestation of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon those
present. . . . I slept in the cabin that night and the sweet influence of the Holy Spirit which had been
engaged in the council, still remained.”1

Sustaining a New First Presidency: Revelation to the People

By December 24, the local Saints had completed the tabernacle. The log building could hold about
1,000 people—as long as they didn’t mind close quarters. (It measured 60 feet by 40 feet—18 meters
by 12 meters—significantly smaller than a full-size basketball court today.) Latter-day Saints gathered
there for four days of meetings, which would function as a general conference for the Church.

On the third day of the conference, a Sunday, Brigham Young told the Saints: “If you have not been
careful to pray night and morning, begin tonight. Pray tomorrow. Come here tomorrow and you shall
have one of the best days you ever had and see if we can’t have a fire that will not go out from this
time henceforth.”

The next morning, Monday, December 27, 1847, the tabernacle was “crammed” with people who
had prepared themselves as Brigham had said. “The glory of the Lord is here,” wrote the clerk of
the conference. By late afternoon, the Saints would have an experience similar to the meeting of
the Apostles in Orson Hyde’s cabin. In fact, their experience would be an extension of that meeting.

Elder Orson Pratt of the Quorum of the Twelve, who had once been firmly against the idea of
reorganizing the First Presidency, was the first to recommend it to the men and women at the
conference. “The time has come,” he said, “when the Twelve must have their hands liberated to
go to the ends of the earth. If there is no First Presidency, it confines the Twelve too much to
one place. . . . They cannot have their eyes on the distant parts of the earth.

The Saints did act on the subject. Local members nominated Brigham Young as President of the
Church. Elder Amasa Lyman, another member of the Twelve, echoed Elder Pratt’s declaration. “Here
is the power of doing the work of God,” he said. With a First Presidency, the Twelve would not
be “cooped up in Salt Lake City.” They could go and plant “the seeds of life . . . in the four corners
of the earth,” and Zion would “enlarge.” Inspired by these words, local members made a motion that
the First Presidency be organized. Brigham Young then presented Heber C. Kimball and
Willard Richards as his counselors.The congregation gave their sustaining vote to each
recommendation.

With that, Brigham Young, the new President of the Church, stood as the concluding speaker.
He said, “What I have heard today is as good doctrine as ever I heard in my life. The Spirit of the
Lord is here. Joy, communion of the Holy Spirit with each other and God is here. Let us grow in
grace until we come to perfection. May the consolation of the Lord be with you.”

Guided by the Lord, the people in the Kanesville Tabernacle had participated in a meeting that
would help establish a divine pattern for Church leadership.  (Excerpts from History.LDS.org)

Kanesville blessed the lives of the saints in so many ways. We feel it a privilege to be able
to serve here and help others realize the blessings and miracles of this area. 

history.churchofjesuschrist.org and visit us a on Facebook