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The 8 Witnesses

My husband and I were reading Doctrine&Covenants today about the 3 witnesses(Doctrine&Covenants 5) and so afterward we read the testimony of the 3 witnesses and the testimony of the 8 witnesses, and I read the sidenotes I'd written as to who each person was and what had happened to them. I had written in my notes that in the 8 witnesses-
Christian Whitmer, Peter Whitmer Jun, Joseph Smith Sen, Hyram Smith, and Samual H. Smith were always faithful-however Jacob Whitmer, John Whitmer, and Hiram Page were excommunicated. My husband asked what happenened to them.I think it was because they had apostized, but I don't remember exactly what happened to them. I remember hearing a story about one of them whose wife had stolen the cream off the butter before she gave it to the church(when they were in the days of the general store-give all to the church and they'll distribute whats needed so everyone gets what they need) I know that the 3 witnesses never lost thier testimony, but I believe at one time even they apostised. I was wondering if anyone knew anything on the subject or knew where I could get this information-this is the first time my husbands asked a question when we were reading and I really want to keep him interested in the scriptures and learn something at the same time. I've searched lds.org but I haven't found much. if you find out anything, please send me a message or reply to this forum. thank you.

Witnesses The

Hiram Page became disillusioned with Joseph Smith, feeling that he was putting himself above the scriptures by trying to gather the Saints to what is to be the city of Zion, before the proper time. He remained separate from the Church for the rest of his life, but always maintained his strong testimony of the Book of Mormon.

John Whitmer apparently fell due to pride (big surprise), as when he was called upon to account for some possible irregularities in the accounts that he was responsible for, refused to cooperate. He also refused to return the written histories of the Church that he held. Despite strong bitterness towards Joseph Smith and Mormonism, he always bore a very strong testimony of the Book of Mormon, and of the fact that Joseph Smith had translated it by the power of God.

Jacob Whitmer became bitter towards the Church, and rebelled against Priesthood authority in the great apostasy in Kirtland, in 1837. He was never excommunicated, but alienated himself from the Church. He always bore testimony of the Book of Mormon, throughout his life.

Oliver Cowdery also fell due to pride. He took it upon himself to publicly chastise the Prophet, and brought lawsuits against the leading men in the Church. He refused to attend the High Council meeting to discuss this situation, and was excommunicated in 1838. In 1848, he requested permission to rejoin the Church, and was welcomed back. He died in 1850.

David Whitmer was part of the apostasy in Kirtland, and was excommunicated in 1838. He continued on living a full and good life, never, ever denying his testimony of the Book of Mormon. His bitterness towards the Church was, however, long lived. He briefly associated with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but then realized that he was only part of it because of emotion, rather than revelation. Late in his life, he established the Church of Christ, which consisted mainly of his family members. On his deathbed, he again bore witness of the Book of Mormon.

Martin Harris was estranged from the Church in 1837. Brigham Young reported later that Martin was never disfellowshipped or excommunicated. However, for many years, Martin had nothing to do with the Church. He did, however, stay in Kirtland, where he assumed the responsibility of maintaining and caring for the Kirtland Temple. At age 88, he asked Brigham Young to help him go to Utah to visit. He was rebaptized in 1870 (remember, rebaptism was allowed and encouraged at that time). He died in 1875, bearing testimony of the Book of Mormon.

I got this information from two sources: Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses and Who's Who in the Doctrine and Covenants. I searched them using GospeLink online.

Edited: Nighthawk on 10th May, 2006 - 12:47pm