Warren Parrish
Encyclopedia
Warren Parrish (1803–1887) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint
or Mormonism
movement. Parrish held a number of positions of responsibility, including that of scribe to church president Joseph Smith Jr. Parrish and other leaders became disillusioned with Smith after the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society
and left the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Parrish remained in Kirtland, Ohio
with other disaffected former church leaders and formed a short-lived church which they called the Church of Christ, after the original name of the church organized by Joseph Smith. This church disintegrated as the result of disagreement between church leaders, and Parrish later left Kirtland and became a Baptist minister.
, one of the original LDS apostles. Patten records that on "May 20, 1833, brother Brigham Young
came to Theresa, Indian River Falls, where I had been bearing testimony to my relatives; and after preaching several discourses, he baptized my brothers Archibald and Ira Patten, Warren Parrish, Cheeseman and my mother and my sister, Polly."
together "to preach the Gospel." Patten reports that "we baptized twenty, during which time several instances of the healing power of God were made manifest."
to be raised in Kirtland which would then march to Missouri and "redeem Zion." Parrish volunteered to join a group of about 200 men to form the militia which became known as "Zion's Camp
."
In 1835 Parrish joined the leadership of the church as a member of the First Quorum of Seventy.
, William W. Phelps and Frederick G. Williams
, attempted unsuccessfully to make translations of characters from the Book of Abraham
papyrii by matching them with English sentences that Smith had already produced. Parrish and Phelps eventually produced a set of documents called the "Grammar & A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language."
to join Patten and Wilford Woodruff
. According to Woodruff, they travelled through Kentucky
and Tennessee "preaching the word of God, healing the sick, and the Spirit of God was with us and attended our ministrations." During this time, Parrish, Woodruff and Patten were arrested by a local sheriff at the urging of Matthew Williams, a Methodist minister, who claimed that they were making false prophecies. The group was accused of preaching "That Christ would come the second time before this generation passed away" and that "four individuals should received the Holy Ghost within twenty-four hours." A mock trial
was held in which they were not allowed to speak, at the end of which they were pronounced guilty. They were later released unharmed on the condition that they pay court costs and leave the area within ten days.
from 1835–1837.
, a joint-stock company with note issuing powers. Parrish later became the company's treasurer. Smith encouraged church members to invest in the Kirtland Safety Society. By 1837, the "bank" had failed, partly as the result of Parrish and other bank officers stealing funds. As a result of Parrish's role in this, he was excommunicated from the church. From this time forward, Parrish sought to destroy Joseph Smith and the church, and as a result Smith was forced to leave Kirtland. Soon after Smith and Sidney Rigdon
left on July 26, 1837 a crisis formed within the church at Kirtland during their absence.
Parrish and those supporting him soon claimed ownership of the Kirtland Temple. Eliza R. Snow relates that Parrish and a group of others came into the temple during Sunday services "armed with pistols and bowie-knives and seated themselves together in the Aaronic pulpits, on the east end of the temple, while father Smith
and others, as usual, occupied those of the Melchizedek priesthood on the west." Parrish's group interrupted the services and, according to Snow "a fearful scene ensued—the apostate speaker becoming so clamorous that Father Smith called for the police to take that man out of the house, when Parrish, John Boynton
, and others, drew their pistols and bowie-knives, and rushed down from the stand into the congregation; John Boynton saying he would blow out the brains of the first man who dared to lay hands on him." Police arrived and ejected the troublemakers, after which the services continued.
, page 170, which agrees with Harris's testimony." Wilford Woodruff recorded his reaction to some of Parrish's writings in his journal entry of April 4, 1838, stating that they were "full of slander and falsehoods against Joseph Smith Jr."
wrote that the group intended "to renounce the Book of Mormon
and Joseph Smith, and take the 'Mormon' doctrines to overthrow all the religions in the world, and unite all the Christian churches in one general band, and they to be its great leaders." Among those who associated themselves with this church was Martin Harris. Parrish's group believed that Joseph Smith had become a fallen prophet. By the beginning of 1838, Parrish's church had taken control of the Kirtland Temple
as Smith and those loyal to him left Kirtland to gather in Far West, Missouri
.
A debate arose among Parrish's group regarding the validity of the Book of Mormon
and the existing revelations, with Parrish, John F. Boynton
, Luke S. Johnson
, and several others claiming that it was all nonsense. George A. Smith reported: "One of them told me that Moses
was a rascal and the Prophets were tyrants, and that Jesus Christ was a despot, Paul a base liar and all religion a fudge. And Parrish said he agreed with him in principle." This resulted in a permanent division between Parrish's supporters and other leaders, including Martin Harris, who cautioned them not to reject the book. Cyrus Smalling, Joseph Coe and several others "declared [Harris's] testimony was true." Parrish's church dissolved soon after this division.
minister for a salary of $500 per year. In 1850 Parrish was living in Mendon, New York
where he was listed as a "clergyman" by the census. By 1870, he had apparently lost his sanity and was living in Emporia, Kansas
where he died in 1887.
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
or Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
movement. Parrish held a number of positions of responsibility, including that of scribe to church president Joseph Smith Jr. Parrish and other leaders became disillusioned with Smith after the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society
Kirtland Safety Society
The Kirtland Safety Society was a quasi-bank organized in 1836 by leaders and followers of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. According to KSS's 1837 "Articles of Agreement", it was intended to serve the banking needs of the growing Mormon community in Kirtland, Ohio...
and left the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Parrish remained in Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, USA. The population was 6,670 at the 2000 census. Kirtland is famous for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Origins of Kirtland:...
with other disaffected former church leaders and formed a short-lived church which they called the Church of Christ, after the original name of the church organized by Joseph Smith. This church disintegrated as the result of disagreement between church leaders, and Parrish later left Kirtland and became a Baptist minister.
Baptism by Brigham Young
Parrish married Elizabeth Patten, the sister of David W. PattenDavid W. Patten
David Wyman Patten was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles...
, one of the original LDS apostles. Patten records that on "May 20, 1833, brother Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
came to Theresa, Indian River Falls, where I had been bearing testimony to my relatives; and after preaching several discourses, he baptized my brothers Archibald and Ira Patten, Warren Parrish, Cheeseman and my mother and my sister, Polly."
Mission to Missouri
In September 1834, Parrish and Patten travelled throughout upper MissouriMissouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
together "to preach the Gospel." Patten reports that "we baptized twenty, during which time several instances of the healing power of God were made manifest."
Participation in Zion's Camp
In 1834, Joseph Smith said he received a revelation from God, calling for a militiaMilitia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
to be raised in Kirtland which would then march to Missouri and "redeem Zion." Parrish volunteered to join a group of about 200 men to form the militia which became known as "Zion's Camp
Zion's Camp
Zion's Camp was a paramilitary expedition of Latter Day Saints, led by Joseph Smith, Jr., from Kirtland, Ohio to Clay County, Missouri during May and June 1834 in an unsuccessful attempt to regain land from which the Saints had been expelled by non-Mormon settlers...
."
In 1835 Parrish joined the leadership of the church as a member of the First Quorum of Seventy.
Attempts at translation
Joseph Smith recorded in his journal that Parrish had been promised the ability to "know of hidden things" and be "endowed with a knowledge of hidden languages." During the fall of 1835, Parrish, along with Oliver CowderyOliver Cowdery
Oliver H. P. Cowdery was, with Joseph Smith, Jr., an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836, becoming 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...
, William W. Phelps and Frederick G. Williams
Frederick G. Williams
Frederick Granger Williams was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and served in the First Presidency as Second Counselor to church president Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1833 to 1837...
, attempted unsuccessfully to make translations of characters from the Book of Abraham
Book of Abraham
The Book of Abraham is a 1835 work by Joseph Smith, Jr. that he said was based on Egyptian papyri purchased from a traveling mummy exhibition. According to Smith, the book was "a translation of some ancient records....purporting to be the writings of Abraham, while he was in Egypt, called the Book...
papyrii by matching them with English sentences that Smith had already produced. Parrish and Phelps eventually produced a set of documents called the "Grammar & A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language."
Preaching in Tennessee
In May 1836, Parrish traveled from Kirtland to TennesseeTennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
to join Patten and Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff, Sr. was the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1889 until his death...
. According to Woodruff, they travelled through Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and Tennessee "preaching the word of God, healing the sick, and the Spirit of God was with us and attended our ministrations." During this time, Parrish, Woodruff and Patten were arrested by a local sheriff at the urging of Matthew Williams, a Methodist minister, who claimed that they were making false prophecies. The group was accused of preaching "That Christ would come the second time before this generation passed away" and that "four individuals should received the Holy Ghost within twenty-four hours." A mock trial
Mock trial
A Mock Trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or...
was held in which they were not allowed to speak, at the end of which they were pronounced guilty. They were later released unharmed on the condition that they pay court costs and leave the area within ten days.
Scribe to Joseph Smith
Parrish was scribe and secretary to church founder and president Joseph Smith, Jr., primarily in Kirtland, OhioKirtland, Ohio
Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, USA. The population was 6,670 at the 2000 census. Kirtland is famous for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Origins of Kirtland:...
from 1835–1837.
Disillusionment after failure of the Kirtland Safety Society
In 1836 Joseph Smith organized the Kirtland Safety Society Antibanking CompanyKirtland Safety Society
The Kirtland Safety Society was a quasi-bank organized in 1836 by leaders and followers of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. According to KSS's 1837 "Articles of Agreement", it was intended to serve the banking needs of the growing Mormon community in Kirtland, Ohio...
, a joint-stock company with note issuing powers. Parrish later became the company's treasurer. Smith encouraged church members to invest in the Kirtland Safety Society. By 1837, the "bank" had failed, partly as the result of Parrish and other bank officers stealing funds. As a result of Parrish's role in this, he was excommunicated from the church. From this time forward, Parrish sought to destroy Joseph Smith and the church, and as a result Smith was forced to leave Kirtland. Soon after Smith and Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Baptist background:...
left on July 26, 1837 a crisis formed within the church at Kirtland during their absence.
Armed confrontation in the Kirtland Temple
In addition to Parrish, the failure of the bank caused a major rift among some other church leaders as well, who concluded that Smith could not be a true prophet if he could not foresee that the "bank" would be unsuccessful.Parrish and those supporting him soon claimed ownership of the Kirtland Temple. Eliza R. Snow relates that Parrish and a group of others came into the temple during Sunday services "armed with pistols and bowie-knives and seated themselves together in the Aaronic pulpits, on the east end of the temple, while father Smith
Joseph Smith, Sr.
Joseph Smith, Sr. was the father of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Joseph Sr. was also one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, which Mormons believe was translated by Joseph Jr. from the Golden Plates. In 1833 Joseph Sr...
and others, as usual, occupied those of the Melchizedek priesthood on the west." Parrish's group interrupted the services and, according to Snow "a fearful scene ensued—the apostate speaker becoming so clamorous that Father Smith called for the police to take that man out of the house, when Parrish, John Boynton
John F. Boynton
John Farnham Boynton was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an American geologist and inventor. He was one of the original members of the Latter Day Saint movement's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles....
, and others, drew their pistols and bowie-knives, and rushed down from the stand into the congregation; John Boynton saying he would blow out the brains of the first man who dared to lay hands on him." Police arrived and ejected the troublemakers, after which the services continued.
Parrish's efforts to discredit church leaders
Parrish wrote letters to several newspapers expressing his anger with church leaders, referring to them as "infidels." In one such letter, Parrish claims that "Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses; has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision; and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted; – see new edition, Book of CovenantsDoctrine and Covenants
The Doctrine and Covenants is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement...
, page 170, which agrees with Harris's testimony." Wilford Woodruff recorded his reaction to some of Parrish's writings in his journal entry of April 4, 1838, stating that they were "full of slander and falsehoods against Joseph Smith Jr."
Formation of a new church
Parrish eventually led a group of dissenters that formed a new church based in Kirtland, which they called the "Church of Christ," after the original name of the church organized by Joseph Smith. George A. SmithGeorge A. Smith
George Albert Smith was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the church's First Presidency.-Childhood:Smith was born in Potsdam, St...
wrote that the group intended "to renounce the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
and Joseph Smith, and take the 'Mormon' doctrines to overthrow all the religions in the world, and unite all the Christian churches in one general band, and they to be its great leaders." Among those who associated themselves with this church was Martin Harris. Parrish's group believed that Joseph Smith had become a fallen prophet. By the beginning of 1838, Parrish's church had taken control of the Kirtland Temple
Kirtland Temple
The Kirtland Temple is a National Historic Landmark in Kirtland, Ohio, USA, on the eastern edge of the Cleveland metropolitan area. Owned and operated by the Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , the house of worship was the first temple to be...
as Smith and those loyal to him left Kirtland to gather in Far West, Missouri
Far West, Missouri
Far West, Missouri, was a Latter Day Saint settlement in Caldwell County, Missouri.-Foundation and early history:The town was founded by Missouri Mormon leaders, W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer in August 1836 shortly before the county's creation. The town was platted originally as a square area,...
.
A debate arose among Parrish's group regarding the validity of the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
and the existing revelations, with Parrish, John F. Boynton
John F. Boynton
John Farnham Boynton was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an American geologist and inventor. He was one of the original members of the Latter Day Saint movement's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles....
, Luke S. Johnson
Luke S. Johnson
Luke Samuel Johnson was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1835 to 1838. He served in the Quorum with his younger brother, Lyman E. Johnson and Orson Hyde, his brother-in-law.Johnson was born November 3, 1807, in Pomfret,...
, and several others claiming that it was all nonsense. George A. Smith reported: "One of them told me that Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
was a rascal and the Prophets were tyrants, and that Jesus Christ was a despot, Paul a base liar and all religion a fudge. And Parrish said he agreed with him in principle." This resulted in a permanent division between Parrish's supporters and other leaders, including Martin Harris, who cautioned them not to reject the book. Cyrus Smalling, Joseph Coe and several others "declared [Harris's] testimony was true." Parrish's church dissolved soon after this division.
Parrish becomes a Baptist minister
After the dissolution of his church, Parrish left Kirtland altogether. In 1844, Parrish was working as a BaptistBaptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister for a salary of $500 per year. In 1850 Parrish was living in Mendon, New York
Mendon, New York
Mendon is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States, and an affluent suburb of Rochester, New York. The population was 9,152 at the 2010 census.The Town of Mendon is on the south border of the county...
where he was listed as a "clergyman" by the census. By 1870, he had apparently lost his sanity and was living in Emporia, Kansas
Emporia, Kansas
Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,916. Emporia lies between Topeka and Wichita at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 with Interstates 335 and 35 on the Kansas Turnpike...
where he died in 1887.