Warren Cowdery was appointed as a high priest in this revelation (D&C 106:1). Commentary later published in the December 1834 issue of the Latter-day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate listed Warren as “the presiding elder of the church at Freedom, N.Y.”¹ Warren Cowdery is not well known in the Church today, but he made several important contributions to the Church in his time. Warrant worked as a clerk for Joseph Smith, and in the publishing office in Kirtland, where he helped edit a newspaper published by the Church. Serving as a clerk for Joseph Smith, Warren recorded the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple, later included in the Doctrine and Covenants as section 109. Warren also served as a member of the high council of the Church in Kirtland.² The Lord recognized Warren’s struggles to join the Church when he told him “there was joy in heaven when my servant Warren bowed to my scepter, and separated himself from the crafts of men” (D&C 106:6). He also tenderly counseled Warren when he added, “blessed is my servant Warren, for I will have mercy on him; and, notwithstanding the vanity of his heart, I will lift him up inasmuch as he will humble himself before me” (D&C 106:7).³

Warren’s service as the presiding elder in Freedom was marred when, a year later, he was accused of writing a letter containing “reports derogatory to the character and teaching of the twelve.”⁴ In the letter, Warren told Church leaders that the Twelve had failed to provide instruction to the members of the Church at Freedom about the need to donate funds for the construction of the Kirtland Temple.⁵ In response, the Twelve charged Warren with “unchristian conduct.”⁶ The matter was dropped when Warren “confessed his mistake” in a meeting with the Twelve on March 5, 1836.⁷

Like his brother Oliver, Warren Cowdery was a gifted writer and scribe. Warren eventually moved to Kirtland, where he served as the editor for the Latter-day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate and as a bookbinder in the Church’s printing office in Kirtland. Warren even assisted in writing the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple (D&C 109) and served as a member of the Kirtland High Council. Unfortunately, Warren was swept up in the tumult that overthrew the Church in Kirtland and became disaffected from Church leadership in 1838. The excommunication of Oliver Cowdery (which occurred in April 1838) undoubtedly affected Warren’s feelings toward Church leadership. Warren stayed behind after most active Church members left Kirtland. According to an 1850 census, he was living with his wife and six children in Kirtland in 1850. He passed away in 1851. Unlike his brother Oliver, he never returned to the Church in his lifetime.⁸

1. “A Summary,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1834, 1:45. 

2. Warren A. Cowdery, biography, JSP.

3. Lisa Olsen Tait, “Warren Cowdery,” Revelations in Context, 2016, 219-223.

4. Minutes, 26 September 1835, p. 119, JSP.

5. Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 4 August 1835, p. 90, JSP.

6. JS, Journal, 16 Jan. 1836, p. 119, JSP.

7. “Historical Introduction,” Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 4 August 1835, p. 90, JSP.

8. Warren A. Cowdery, biography, JSP.