Leman Copley

Leman Copley (March 25, 1781 – December 1862) was an early convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[1] Born in Connecticut,[2] Copley moved to Rutland County, Vermont,[3] sometime before 1800 and was living in Thompson Township,[4] Ohio, by 1820.[5] Prior to his conversion to the Church of Christ, Copley was a Shaker.[3]

Copley was born in Connecticut in 1781. His father’s name was Samuel Copley. He married a woman named Salley, with whom he had one son. While living in Pittsford, Vermont, he joined the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (the Shakers) and moved to join others of the faith near Cleveland, Ohio.[6]

He later joined the Church of Christ (predecessor to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints),[1] but maintained his Shaker beliefs in some aspects. Prompted by Copley’s belief system, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, petitioned God for an explanation of the Shaker’s beliefs in the context of religious truth, resulting in section 49 of the Doctrine and Covenants.[6] In March 1831, Copley was called by Smith through a revelation to preach the gospel to the Shakers along with Sidney Rigdon and Parley P. Pratt.[7][8] The three read Doctrine and Covenants section 49 to the Shakers, but the group rejected it.[6]

When the members of the branch of the Church of Christ from Colesville, New York[9] came to settle in Ohio, Copley was persuaded allow them to settle on his large farm[10] of nearly 1000 acres.[8] Then, when he and the church had a falling out, he forced them all to leave.[11] Joseph Smith received a revelation to have the "Colesville Saints" go to Missouri,[12] where God would reveal to Smith the location of the land of Zion.[13] This was the beginning of the church's movement to Missouri[14][15] and the dual centers of church activity (i.e. Kirtland, Ohio and Independence, Missouri).[16][17] Copley was disfellowshipped in 1832 for refusing to keep his promise to help the Colesville Saints. Then, at Doctor Philastus Hurlbut's 1834 trial, Copley testified against Joseph Smith.[6]

Copley was readmitted into full fellowship with the church in April 1836.[6] He served another mission in March 1833, this time with Doctor Hurlbut.[18] He did not travel west with the rest of the Mormon pioneers.[6] Sometime before 1850, Copley moved to Madison, Ohio,[2] where he died in May 1862.[2][19]

Notes
  1. Intellectual Reserve (2016). Revelations in Context: The Stories behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ISBN 978-1-4651-1885-1.
  2. John Whitmer (1995). From Historian to Dissident: The Book of John Whitmer. Signature Books. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-56085-043-4.
  3. Lyndon W. Cook (1981). The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith: A Historical and Biographical Commentary of the Doctrine and Covenants. Seventy's Mission Bookstore.
  4. Mormon Historical Studies. Mormon Historic Sites Foundation. 2007.
  5. Biography of Leman Copley, The Joseph Smith Papers (accessed 21 December 2011)
  6. McCune, George M. (1991). Personalities in the Doctrine and Covenants and Joseph Smith–History. Salt Lake City, Utah: Hawkes Publishing, Inc. pp. 31–32. ISBN 0890365180. OCLC 25553656.
  7. Lynn F. Price (1 February 1997). Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants. Cedar Fort. pp. 31–2. ISBN 978-1-4621-0500-7.
  8. Randal S. Chase (1 December 2010). Church History Study Guide, Pt. 1: 1805-1832. Plain & Precious Publishing. p. 354. ISBN 978-1-937901-04-2.
  9. Susan Easton Black; Charles D. Tate (1 June 1993). Joseph Smith: the prophet, the man. Religious Studies Center,, Brigham Young University. ISBN 978-0-88494-876-6.
  10. Donna Hill (October 1983). Joseph Smith: The First Mormon. Signature Books. ISBN 9780941214162.
  11. Randal S. Chase (1 December 2010). Church History Study Guide, Pt. 1: 1805-1832. Plain & Precious Publishing. pp. 361–. ISBN 978-1-937901-04-2.
  12. Richard Lyman Bushman (18 December 2007). Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-42648-2.
  13. Duane S. Crowther (1 January 2008). Prophecies of Joseph Smith. Cedar Fort. ISBN 978-0-88290-842-7.
  14. Terryl L. Givens; Matthew J. Grow (4 October 2011). Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism. Oxford University Press. pp. 60–. ISBN 978-0-19-991330-5.
  15. Milton Vaughn Backman (1 October 1983). The heavens resound: a history of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830-1838. Desert Book Co. ISBN 978-0-87747-973-4.
  16. John J. Hammond (2012). A Divided Mormon Zion: Northeastern Ohio Or Western Missouri?. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 978-1-4691-9005-1.
  17. Terryl Givens (2004). The Latter-day Saint Experience in America. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 19–. ISBN 978-0-313-32750-6.
  18. Joseph Smith Papers. "Hurlbut, Doctor Philastus". Joseph Smith Papers.
  19. Joseph Smith (1989). The Papers of Joseph Smith: Autobiographical and Historical Writings. Deseret Book Company. p. 480. ISBN 978-0-87579-199-9.
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