John the Baptist's Ordination of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery
Published October 19, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Contributed by
Young Woman's Journal Research
On May 15, 1829, while Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were praying in the woods to understand baptism, a heavenly messenger appeared and ordained them to the Priesthood of Aaron.
In his own account recorded in the Patriarchal Blessings volume, Oliver Cowdery provides specific details regarding the location and sequence of events, stating that the ordination took place in Harmony, Susquehannah County, Pennsylvania, on Friday, May 15, 1829. Cowdery notes that immediately following the angelic visitation and their ordination to the Aaronic Priesthood, they repaired to the Susquehannah River where they baptized one another, with Joseph Smith officiating first. Cowdery also mentions that they had been seeking the 'right of the fathers' and the 'authority of the holy priesthood' through 'mighty prayer' prior to the angel’s appearance.
In Their Own Words
“I was ordained by the angel John, unto the lesser or Aaronic priesthood, in company with myself, in the town of Harmony, Susquehannah County, Pennsylvania, on Fryday, the 15th day of May, 1829, after which we repaired to the water, even to the Susquehannah River, and were baptized, he first ministering unto me and after I to him. But before baptism, our souls were drawn out in mighty prayer to know how we might obtain the blessings of baptism and of the Holy Spirit, according to the order of God, and we diligently saught for the right of the fathers, and the authority of the holy priesthood, and the power to admin in the same: for we desired to be followers of righteousness and the possessors of greater knowledge, even the knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Therefore, we repaired to the woods, even as our father Joseph said we should, that is to the bush, and called upon the name of the Lord, and he answered us out of the heavens, and while we were in the heavenly vision the angel came down and bestowed upon us this priesthood; and then, as I have said, we repaired to the water and were baptized. After this we received the high and holy priesthood: but an account of this will be given elsewhere.”
— Oliver Cowdery, Patriarchal Blessings 1:12
Sources & References
The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 21 no. 9 (September 1910). L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University digital collections. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/YWJ/id/16987 (account extracted verbatim from the collection's page-level OCR; research confidence: high) Additional sources (periodical research): The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 'Priesthood Restoration,' The Joseph Smith Papers. https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/site/priesthood-restoration. Brian Q. Cannon and BYU Studies Staff, 'The Earliest Accounts of the Restoration of the Priesthood,' in Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820–1844, 2nd ed. (Provo, UT: BYU Studies, 2017). https://byustudies.byu.edu/online-book/opening-the-heavens/the-earliest-accounts-of-the-restoration-of-the-priesthood. Full first-person account: The Joseph Smith Papers, 'Priesthood Restoration' https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/site/priesthood-restoration
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