Lyman Cowdery, son of William Cowdery Jr. and Rebeccah (Rebecca) Fuller, was born on March 12, 1802 in Wells, Rutland County, Vermont.[1] Lyman was the brother of Oliver and Warren Cowdery. His early years were spent in Vermont where his father supported the family as a farmer.
Rebeccah Fuller Cowdery died in September 1809 in Middletown Springs, Rutland County when Lyman was age seven. His father married Keziah Pearce Austin on March 18, 1810. Three daughters were born to their union. Their daughter Lucy Cowdery married Phinehas H. Young, a brother of Brigham Young.
William Cowdery moved his family to Williamson, Ontario County, New York. There is some question as to whether Lyman moved with his father to Western New York. On April 20, 1825 at age twenty-three, Lyman married Eliza Alexander, daughter of Robert Alexander and Catharine Campbell, in Wells, Vermont. Soon after their marriage, Lyman and Eliza moved to Arcadia, Wayne County, New York, about ten miles from Palmyra. Their first three children were born in Arcadia.
The Year 1828
In 1828, Lyman was appointed “Marshal of the Court Martial” of the 39th Regiment of Infantry in Ontario County. As marshal, Lyman was handed a warrant from the military court which directed him to “collect fines of certain persons, arrest persons as charged, and commit persons to jail.”[2] Essentially, Lyman Cowdery was a bounty hunter—a tough guy. He was willing to take personal risks to follow orders from authority figures in the military.
Leaders of the 39th Regiment of Infantry in Ontario County included—
Thomas Rogers II (Colonel promoted to Brigadier General) George Beckwith (Captain promoted to Colonel) Nathaniel Beckwith (Captain promoted to Lieutenant Colonel) Alexander McIntyre (Surgeon’s Mate) Durfee Chase (Ensign) Isaac Durfee (Captain) Oliver Durfee (Corporal) Lemuel Durfee Jr. (Ensign)
George Beckwith was particularly fond of the military. He gratuitously supplied uniforms to any militia men in his regiment unable to purchase uniforms. On September 3, 1823, Thomas Rogers II ordered regiments and battalions to appear armed and equipped as the law directs for parading.[3] Parading occurred at special times in Palmyra, none more watched or more spectacular than the military parade on July 4th celebrating Independence Day.
On July 3, 1828, the Martin Harris family was busy with the wedding of Polly Harris Cobb, sister of Lucy Harris. The day after the wedding was July 4th,which in Palmyra meant festivities and parading. Lyman Cowdery could easily skip the festivities—wedding or Independence Day celebrations—without being missed and break into either Harris house undetected.
Lyman Cowdery was trusted by Thomas Rogers II, George Beckwith, and Lemuel Durfee Jr. to collect fines and arrest militiamen. Did these military leaders of high standing in Palmyra tell Lyman Cowdery to steal the manuscript? It is possible.
Although Lyman lived in Arcadia, about ten miles from Palmyra, he received his mail in Palmyra. The Wayne Sentinel of July 11, 1828 named Lyman Cowdery as having unclaimed letters at the Palmyra post office.
Complaint against Joseph Smith before a Magistrate in Lyons, New York
How would Lucy Harris know of Lyman Cowdery and his bounty-hunting skills? It is possible that men of high standing in Palmyra advised Lucy. For example, military officer Lemuel Durfee Jr. was not only a worshipper in the Quaker faith with Lucy Harris, but also a sheriff in Macedon. In 1828, Lyman Cowdery wrote in a newspaper article,
I certify that in the year 1828 I was appointed Marshal of the Court Marshal of the 39th Regiment of Infantry, of which Col. Ambrose Salisbury was President. That, as such, I received from the court a warrant, directing me to collect certain fines of certain persons therein mentioned, for military delinquencies. I also received a warrant to collect similar fines, which had been issued the year before, and partly collected, with directions to collect the balances due. By virtue of these warrants, I levied on property of several persons, in the town of Macedon . . . I further certify that by virtue of the same warrant of 1828, I arrested several individuals, against whom military fines were charged, in that warrant, for want of property whereon to levy, residing in the town of Farmington, and took them in custody to Canandaigua with a view of committing them to jail.
LYMAN COWDERY[4]
In the above article, Lyman Cowdery explained what he was asked to do—“collect certain fines,” “collect the balances due,” “arrest several individuals,” and “commit them to jail.”
In about 1829, Lucy Harris entered her “complaint against Joseph Smith before a certain magistrate of Lyons.” The complaint charged Joseph Smith Jr. with never having gold plates. Lucy Harris wrote a personal affidavit regarding conditions as she saw them and directed “officers whom to subpoena,” including her husband Martin Harris as “a principal witness in the case.” According to Lucy Mack Smith—
[Lucy Harris] then sent word to Lyman Cowdery requesting him to come to Lyons prepared with a good horse to travel post haste to Pennsylvania, after the decision was given in the case against Joseph Smith that he might with the officers assist them in securing him and confining him in prison.[5]
What was Lyman Cowdery’s reaction to the request of Lucy Harris? According to Lucy Smith, “Lyman Cowdery was very obedient to her suggestion.”[6] He had done this type of dirty work before under orders of military regiment leaders.
In March 1829, the judicial proceeding was called to order. Lyman Cowdery was not the prosecutor in the case. Witnesses for the prosecution were duly sworn, and according to Lucy Smith—
The 1st Witness testified that Joseph Smith told him that the box which he had contained nothing but sand and he only said it was gold plates to deceive the people.
2nd Witness swore that Joseph Smith told upon a certain occasion that it was nothing but a box of lead and he was determined to use it as he saw fit.
3rd Witness declared under oath that he enquired of Joseph Smith what he had in that box and Joseph Smith said to him that there was nothing in the box saying I have made fools of the whole of you and all I want is to get Martin Harris’s money away from him. Witnesses also stated that Joseph had already got $200 or $300 from Martin by his persuasion.[7]
A Teaching Position in Manchester
In 1829, a schoolteacher position opened in Manchester. Lucy Mack Smith wrote,
There came a man into our neighborhood by the name of Lyman Cowdery. He went to Hyrum (as he was one of the principal trustees) and applied for the school. A meeting of the trustees was called, and it was settled that Mr. Cowdery should be employed. But the next day, this Mr. Cowdery brought his brother Oliver to the trustees and requested them to receive him in his place, as business had arisen that would oblige him to disappoint them. But he would warrant the prosperity of the school in Oliver’s hands, if the trustees would accept of his services. All parties were satisfied.
Adding details to the above statement, on Thursday, November 20, 1828 in Manchester, Lyman Cowdery visited Hyrum Smith to talk about teaching school. Lyman applied for a teaching position with the Manchester, Ontario, New York School Board of Trustees. Trustee Hyrum Smith purportedly offered Lyman Cowdery the position of schoolmaster in Manchester.
Lyman accepted the position, but within a day he backed out. Did he consult with men of high standing in Palmyra about the job offer before turning it down and offering his youngest brother, twenty-two year old Oliver Cowdery as a possible substitute? Did the men of high standing not want Lyman Cowdery near the Smiths because of what he knew? Were they concerned that he would talk about the lost manuscript?
Although Hyrum Smith had been in favor of Lyman Cowdery in 1828, his opinion of Lyman changed. Hyrum wrote,
Those with whom I had been acquainted from my youth, and who had ever pretended the greatest friendship toward me, came to my house while I was in prison, and ransacked and carried off many of my valuables; this they did under the cloak of friendship. Among those who treated me thus, I cannot help making mention of Lyman Cowdery.[8]
In 1829, Complaint entered against Lyman and Oliver Cowdery
In January 1829, about nine months after the complaint was issued by Lucy Harris against Joseph Smith, David Adams filed a complaint before a justice of the peace in Lyons for a debt owed him by Lyman and Oliver Cowdery. Lyman sent a representative to Lyons to admit that he owed the debt. Hugh Jameson, a justice of the peace, rendered judgment against Oliver and Lyman Cowdery. The judgment stated that the Cowdery brothers were liable for the balance of $17.65 (with court costs, it came to $19.41).
From Arcadia to Manchester
In 1830, Lyman and his family were living in Arcadia.[9] The Western Argus [Lyons, NY] on March 27, 1833 published “Arcadia Awake!” In the article, Lyman Cowdery was named as a delegate to represent Arcadia at a convention to be held in Clyde, New York. This was the first notice that Lyman had political aspirations. After his third child was born in 1833, Lyman and Eliza Cowdery moved their family to Lyons, a few miles east of Palmyra. In Lyons, they resided near William Cowdery, the father of Lyman.
By 1834, Lyman Cowdery and his family had returned to the Palmyra area and were living in Manchester when their fourth child was born. Oliver Cowdery, who had moved to Kirtland, wrote a letter to Lyman stating, “The body maybe confined in chains, racked upon the wheel, or consumed with the fagot, but still Mens Invicta Manet”—meaning the mind remains unconquered.[10]
At this point, Lyman was touting himself as a legal pettifogger—a lawyer who “takes small cases” and pleads in behalf of the defendant before a justice of the peace. Before his fourth child was born in 1836, Lyman was an Ontario County probate judge.
Resident of Kirtland, Ohio
Lyman Cowdery and his family moved to Ohio in 1837. The Joseph Smith Papers contain several legal bonds signed by Lyman Cowdery in 1837—including bonds for Grandison Newell, Warren Parish, William Smith, and William Marks. In early January 1838, Lyman was referenced in the Lord Sterling Law Firm letters—January 11, 1838, August 5, 1839, and October 1839—and in the History of Geauga and Lake County.[11]
More importantly, there were several letters from Oliver Cowdery to his brothers, Warren and Lyman. The letters were sent to Ohio. On February 4, 1838, Oliver wrote the “radical principles of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon” carries “forward those damning doctrines to the subversion of the liberties of the whole church.”[12] On February 24, 1838, Oliver wrote of being “a victim to receive the displeasure of men who profess to hold the connecting link between heaven and earth.”[13] On March 10, 1838, Oliver wrote, “That a trial before a ‘newfangled council’ [will] plead Smith’s instructions and justify themselves in trying Presidents of the church before a rabble and call it legal.”[14] On June 2, 1838, Oliver wrote, “When I left Kirtland, Salmon Gee was indebted to me a few dollars and agreed to erect a fence or railing around the grave of my little babe, has he done so? If not, I hope he will.”[15]
After writing the letters, Oliver Cowdery moved to Ohio and studied law with Benjamin Bissell at Painesville. He was admitted to the Ohio bar and practiced law with his brother Lyman in January 1840 at a law office a few rods south of the Kirtland Temple.
By 1840, Ohio was a gathering place for the Cowdery family. Lyman’s father, William Cowdery, and his brothers, Warren Cowdery and Oliver Cowdery, lived in Kirtland. Erastus Cowdery resided in Youngstown, and Stephen Fuller Cowdery lived in Cleveland. The 1844 Ohio Census shows Lyman residing in Kirtland.
Lyman Cowdery and the Mormon Question in Missouri
In 1839, Lyman journeyed to Missouri and met with “apostate Mormons.” On January 15, 1839, Anson Call wrote of his conversation with Lyman:
On the 15th of January [1839], Lyman Cowdery came to my house and inquired after me, telling my wife he wished to see me that evening and he should like to meet me at W. W. Phelps. I accordingly met with him there and David Whitmer, William McLellin, Burr Riggs, a number of other apostates. Mr. Cowdery stated that he had come from Ohio to see me on some special business. He said that I had taken his brother Oliver and David with a warrant for stealing my goods somewhere between Wellsville on the Ohio River and that place and that he had come to settle with me. He said he knew the cause of my taking them because Joe had told me to and I was not particularly to blame. W. W. Phelps frequently remarked in the conversation, “damned tall oath” and other similar expressions.
Cowdery said he had been acquainted with me a number of years in the Ohio and he did not consider that I was to blame, for I had to do as Joe told me, “but he is now where he will not lead anybody into difficulty again. Justice will soon overtake him.”
“And now, Anson, you are young, inexperienced in law, and I am sorry to find you in this fix. This has caused my brother and Mr. Whitmer much difficulty. You swore to that which is not true; the goods you swore were yours. I have a bill in my pocket of the purchase of them in Cincinnati. Notwithstanding all this, I feel disposed to show you leniency. I will propose two ways of settling this; you can take your choice. I sympathize much with you. In the first place, I will show you the law upon this point. A crime of this kind would be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary, not less than three years and the payment of all damages sustained which would not be less than 2,000 dollars. This is what you are subject to. Now I will propose another way. If you will go to the court with me at Richmond tomorrow and state that you did this because Joe told you so, that will then settle the matter and let the blame rest where it ought to.”
He then asked me if I had made up my mind which to do. I told him that I had. I then arose and told him that I was prepared to prove what I had sworn to by Vinson Knight, who helped me select the goods from a store in the Ohio, and I should have done it at the sitting of the court at Liberty if a Mormon had been permitted to have been there, and I wished him to understand that when I took an oath that I only was responsible and he might take the course that he thought proper. I then left the room and have not heard from him since.[16]
On February 20, 1841, Lyman wrote a letter to Missouri Governor Thomas Reynolds.[17] The letter is one more illustration of Lyman’s animosity towards Joseph Smith and Mormonism.
Kirtland Mills, Ohio
February 26th, 1841 His Excellency T. Reynolds Esq.
Dear Sir. By the reports of the United States Senate, I learn that a report of the Legislature of your State has been made by a committee of that body, to the house upon the difficulties that occurred with the Mormons in the year of 1838.
Many of my fellow citizens, as well as myself are anxious to see that report, our Country has been flooded with their garbled pamphlets and newspapers, announcing the Democratic State of Missouri, and its inhabitances as a band of murderers and outlaws, their preachers, and in fact their whole society are at work on the weak and credulous position of community palming off their Slanders and falsehoods to gain proselytes through Sympathy.
Will you be so kind as to send copies of that Report to W.A Cowdery, Cyrus Smallings, Nathan Daggert, and Jacob Bump, and one to myself.
Lyman Cowdery.
Lyman Cowdery practiced Law in Elkhorn, Wisconsin
Lyman’s stay in Missouri and his return to Kirtland was brief. He was not in Kirtland when his father died in February 1847, or when Warren died in February 1851. By 1846, Lyman had moved his family to Elkhorn, Wisconsin, twenty miles from the Illinois state line. The Advert Tri-weekly Argus [Elkhorn, WI] of October 21, 1847 printed a “Law Notice” that reads, “Lyman Cowdery, Attorney & Counsellor at Law, Elk Horn, Walworth county, Wis.”[18]
In Elkhorn, Lyman’s vilification of Mormonism ended. He turned his attention to civic responsibilities. He served as secretary of the Cemetery Society and as a founding member of the Elkhorn Harmony Lodge, the first Masonic lodge in Walworth County. At one point, Lyman served as treasurer and his brother Oliver Cowdery served as secretary of the masonic lodge.
Lyman drafted a legislative bill to introduce in the Wisconsin Territorial House of Representatives, authorizing his brother Oliver Cowdery to prepare “a complete index arranged in alphabetical order of all the session laws from the years 1839 to 1848.” The bill passed but was negated on March 7, 1848. If it had passed, the Wisconsin government would have given Oliver Cowdery the potential earnings of $650.
From 1850 to 1852, Lyman was the county clerk of Walworth County.[19] From January 14, 1856 to June 2, 1856, he had a judgeship. When Mr. Potter was elected to the judgeship by the unanimous vote of Walworth County, Governor Bashford of Wisconsin said—
upon knowledge of the gross unworthiness, unfitness, and incapacity of Mr. Cowdery for such a place, removed him from the color of title to the office and appointed Mr. Potter . . . Mr. Cowdery refused to deliver the books and papers, saying he did not recognize Mr. Bashford as Governor.” This led to Lyman being cited to appear before a court in Racine and ordered to deliver up the books. The order was served by the sheriff.[20]
Death of Lyman Cowdery
After moving to Rochester, Olmsted County, Minnesota and burying his wife there in March of 1879, Lyman returned to Elkhorn in 1880. At the time, he was suffering from paralysis. He moved into his old homestead with his son, Dyar LaMotte Cowdery. On April 22, 1881, at age seventy-nine Lyman Cowdery died at Dyar Cowdery’s residence, thirty-seven miles from the residence of Flanders Dyke.[21] His funeral was held at the local Baptist Church. Reverend Mr. Sweet gave his funeral sermon.[22] Lyman was buried at the Hazel Ridge Cemetery in Elkhorn.
Children of Lyman and Eliza Cowdery
1. Helen Mar Cowdery (January 10, 1827–November 16, 1893). She was born in Arcadia, Wayne County, New York. She married Darius Coman (1827–1884) on March 21, 1850 in Warrensburg, Warren County, New York. She died in Trempealeau, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin.
2. Sophia Amanda Cowdery (September 21, 1831–July 5, 1857). She was born in Arcadia, Wayne County, New York. She married Francis Asbury Utter (1821–1877) on April 20, 1850 in St. Joseph County, Michigan. She died in Elkhorn.
3. Dyar LaMotte Cowdery (January 8, 1833–May 10, 1900). He was born in Arcadia, Wayne County, New York. He married Lydia Malvina (Malinna) Aldrich (1845–1928) on October 24, 1864 in Richmond, McHenry County, Illinois. From 1850 to 1853, Dyar had an apprenticeship with the Milwaukee Commercial Advertiser. He journeyed to California and engaged in mining. He returned to Wisconsin in 1859, and for sixteen years served as the foreman of the Elkhorn Independent. In 1875, he was elected clerk of Walworth County on the Republican ticket. After an illness of several months, Dyar died at his home in Elkhorn at age seventy-seven. His funeral was held in the courthouse, with Reverend C. C. Willett officiating. His burial service was conducted by the masonic fraternity.[23]
4. Lyman Emmett Cowdery (February 18, 1837–November 29, 1910). He was born in Manchester, New York. He married Sarah Fowler on May 9, 1861 in Lake Forrest, Illinois. He died in Heppepin County, Minnesota.[24]
[1] “Lyman Cowdery,” Vermont Births and Christenings, 1765–1908.
[2] The Western Argus, November 7, 1823.
[3] “Brigadier Orders”, Geneva Gazette, September 3, 1823.
[4] The Western Argus, November 7, 1823.
[5] Lucy Mack Smith History, 1845, in Joseph Smith Papers.
[6] Smith, History of Joseph Smith by his Mother, p. 138; Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, p. 96; Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:90; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, in Joseph Smith Papers.
[7] Smith, History of Joseph Smith by his Mother, p. 138; Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, p. 96; Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:90; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, in Joseph Smith Papers.
[8] Hyrum Smith quote, in Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism, p. 124.
[9] US Federal Census, 1830.
[10] Letter of Oliver Cowdery to Lyman Cowdery, January 13, 1834. Oliver Cowdery Letter Book, Huntington Library.
[11] History of Geauga and Lake County (1878), p. 30.
[12] Letter of Oliver Cowdery to Warren and Lyman Cowdery, February 4, 1838. Oliver Cowdery Letterbook, pp. 83–85. Huntington Library.
[13] Letter of Oliver Cowdery to Warren and Lyman Cowdery, February 24, 1838. Oliver Cowdery Letterbook, p. 89. Huntington Library.
[14] Letter of Oliver Cowdery to Warren and Lyman Cowdery, March 10, 1838. Oliver Cowdery Letterbook, p. 91. Huntington Library.
[15] Letter of Oliver Cowdery to Warren and Lyman Cowdery, June 2, 1838. Oliver Cowdery Letterbook, Huntington Library.
[16] Anson Call Autobiography. Church History Library.
[17] Lyman Cowdery to Governor Thomas Reynolds of Missouri, February 20, 1841. The Missouri Mormon War Office.
[18] Albert Clayton Beckwith, History of Walworth County (1912).
[19] Ellen Penwell, president of the “Whitewater Historical Society.”
[20] Newspaper clipping dated May 1, 1856 from Ellen Penwell, president of the “Whitewater Historical Society.
[21] “Lyman Cowdery,” Wisconsin, Death Records, 1867–1907; “Lyman Cowdery,” Find a Grave Index.
[22] E. D. Dowing’s weekly letter to the Geneva Herald.
[23] Aram Public Library Obituary File.
[24] Walworth County, Wisconsin, p. 504.