Evan M. Greene, Warren Smith, Otis Hobert, Alexander Cheney, John Gaylord, and John Norton: The Faithful Clerks of the Kirtland Elders Quorum

The Kirtland Elders Quorum Record (1836–1841) is one of the most important primary source documents from the Kirtland Temple period. It contains 55 handwritten pages of minutes for meetings of the Elders Quorum — nearly all held inside the Kirtland Temple itself.

The clerks who painstakingly recorded these minutes were six men whose names are rarely remembered but whose faithful service preserved an irreplaceable historical record: Evan M. Greene, Warren Smith, and Otis Hobert recorded most of the minutes. Alexander Cheney, John Gaylord, and John Norton each served in the clerk role as well.

These meetings took place during one of the most spiritually intense periods in Church history — the years immediately following the Kirtland Temple dedication, when visions of the Savior, visitations of Moses, Elijah, and Elias, the outpouring of the Spirit of God, speaking in tongues, and other Pentecostal manifestations were being experienced by the assembled Saints.

By faithfully writing down what was said, what was decided, who was present, and what was experienced, these six clerks ensured that future generations would have access to firsthand accounts of the Restoration's most miraculous period. Their ministry was humble, consistent, and largely unrecognized — yet without them, much of what we know about Kirtland Temple worship would be lost.

They represent all those who have served in quiet callings, whose faithfulness preserved the record of God's power among His people.