I’m working hard on my Zerah Pulsipher biography and thought it would be fun to share a few items that I found interesting or fun. Today’s post focuses on blessings given to members of the newly-formed quorums of the seventies during the 1830s.
Blessings were given to many of the seventies as they were ordained that demonstrate what Joseph Smith and other Church leaders envisioned men serving in the new office accomplishing. Most followed a standard procedure of laying hands on the individual’s heads and stating that “We ordain you an Elder and one of the Seventy,” and noting (for those who served in the Camp of Israel (also known as Zion’s Camp)) that “You have given testimony that you were willing to lay down your life.” Afterwards, blessings were promised—some mundane and some fantastic. Some were promised grandiose missionary experiences in the future. Cyrus Smalling, for example, was told, “In the name of the Lord, therefore, thou Shalt go forth, and his angel shall go with thee whithersoever thou goest; for thou shalt go and nothing shall stay thee. … Thou shalt go to Europe and preach the gospel to the Kings of the earth. Thou shalt stand before bishops, archbishops and lord bishops, and even the pope himself.”[1] Darwin Richardson was told, “The Lord afar will send you afar off and you shall teach a multitude of nations in their own tongues, and you shall go [to?] the Islands and teach, and even depopulate them for you shall lead them to Zion.”[2]
Sometimes the seventy was encouraged to act in greater righteousness. Charles Kelly received a particularly ominous blessing: “Unless you seek the Lord with all your heart more than you have ever done, you shall die and not live. If you had not gone to Zion to lay down your life for your brethren you would not now receive this ministry.”[3] Levi Gifford was told “You are a strange kind of a man. curious spirits trouble you, but in the name of the Lord Jesus we rebuke all the evil Spirits that have troubled you, and say to you that you shall overcome them.”[4]
Other times, they were promised divine assistance in their missionary endeavors. Solomon Angell was told: “You shall have power to fill your days with usefulness and have favor in the eyes of God.”[5] Harrison Burgess received similar promises: “You shall have power given you to perform all the duties of your calling, and you shall bear a testimony that shall convince many.”[6] Lewis Robbins’s blessing went further, stating that “You shall yet declare that you have seen the Heavens opened <& and that the Lord Jesus lives> because you have seen him: And you shall be ministred unto by holy Angels. You shall speak to them in their own language, and you shall have great wisdom to teach and to set in order the things of Jesus.” Lewis Robbins was also blessed with “all power that is necessary even over waters, floods, fir[e]s & winds in order to accomplish your ministry,” and a similar blessing was given to Joseph Young, who was told, “You shall have power over fire water and all evil.”[7] Joseph Smith and his associates envisioned great things in the future of the seventies.
Footnotes:
[1] Ordination and Blessing of Cyrus Smalling, 30 June 1835, p. 24, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed June 19, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/ordination-and-blessing-of-cyrus-smalling-30-june-1835/1.
[2] Blessing to Darwin Richardson, 1 March 1835, p. 184, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed June 19, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/blessing-to-darwin-richardson-1-march-1835/1.
[3] Blessing to Charles Kelly, 1 March 1835, p. 175, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed June 19, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/blessing-to-charles-kelly-1-march-1835/1.
[4] Blessing to Levi Gifford, 1 March 1835, p. 170, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed June 19, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/blessing-to-levi-gifford-1-march-1835/1.
[5] Blessing to Solomon Angell, 1 March 1835, p. 178, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed June 19, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/blessing-to-solomon-angell-1-march-1835/1.
[6] Blessing to Harrison Burgess, 1 March 1835, p. 181, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed June 19, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/blessing-to-harrison-burgess-1-march-1835/1.
[7] Blessing to Joseph Young, 1 March 1835, p. 185, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed June 19, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/blessing-to-joseph-young-1-march-1835/1; Blessing to Lewis Robbins, 1 March 1835, p. 184, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed June 19, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/blessing-to-lewis-robbins-1-march-1835/1.
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