Joseph Coe (November 12, 1784 – October 17, 1854) was a leader in the early days of the

Latter-day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded b ...

. Coe was born in

Cayuga County, New York Cayuga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 76,248. Its county seat and largest city is Auburn. The county was named for the Cayuga people, one of the Native American tribes in the I ...

. In 1831, while living in

Macedon, New York Macedon is a town in Wayne County, New York, United States. The population was 9,148 at the 2010 census. The Town of Macedon is named after the birthplace of Alexander the Great, in Ancient Macedonia. It is located in the southwest corner of W ...

, he joined the newly established

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * Christianity, the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ * Christian Church, an ecclesiological term used by denominations to describe the true body of Christia ...

, led by

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

. He was ordained an elder and moved his family to

Kirtland, Ohio Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,937 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Kirtland is known for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement from 1831 to 1837 and the site of ...

to join the main gathering of Latter-day Saints. In 1831 he served short missions to New York and Missouri. In August 1831, Coe was one of the individuals who assisted Smith in laying the cornerstones for the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

at the

Temple Lot The Temple Lot, located in Independence, Missouri, is the first site to be dedicated for the construction of a Temple (Latter Day Saints), temple in the Latter Day Saint movement. The area was dedicated on August 3, 1831, by the movement's found ...

Independence, Missouri Independence is a city in and one of two county seats of Jackson County, Missouri, United States. It is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020 Unite ...

. Coe was ordained a high priest of the Latter Day Saints by Smith on October 1, 1831, and in 1834 he became one of the twelve inaugural members of the

presiding high council In the Latter Day Saint movement, there are two presiding high councils, one said to be "standing," and the other "traveling." The traveling high council is generally known as the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Both councils, at least in theory, presi ...

in Kirtland; he was a member of the high council until 1837. In 1835, Coe provided $800 of the $2400 used by the church to purchase some

mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...

and

papyri Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can ...

which Smith used to produce the

Book of Abraham The Book of Abraham is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1842 by Joseph Smith. Smith said the book was a translation from several Egyptian scrolls discovered in the early 19th century during an archeologic ...

. After the collapse of the

Kirtland Safety Society The Kirtland Safety Society (KSS) was first proposed as a bank in 1836, and eventually organized on January 2, 1837, as a joint stock company, by leaders and followers of the then-named Church of the Latter Day Saints. According to KSS's 1837 " ...

, Coe became one of the Latter-day Saint dissenters. He was 'cut off' from the church by the high council in December 1837 and was formally

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

in December 1838. Coe lived the rest of his life in Kirtland and did not associate with any Latter-day Saint group after his excommunication. Coe died in Kirtland when he was trampled by his bull on his farm.''Painsville Telegraph'' hio October 25, 1854. He was buried in the Kirtland North Cemetery.

Notes

External links

"Joseph Coe"

Joseph Smith Papers ''The Joseph Smith Papers'' (or Joseph Smith Papers Project) is a documentary editing project to collect, research, and publish all documents created by, or under the direction of, Joseph Smith (1805–1844), the founder of the Latter Day Saint m ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coe, Joseph 1784 births 1854 deaths American Latter Day Saint missionaries Leaders in the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) People excommunicated by the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) People from Cayuga County, New York People from Kirtland, Ohio Accidental deaths in Ohio Converts to Mormonism Former Latter Day Saints Doctrine and Covenants people Deaths due to animal attacks in the United States People from Macedon, New York Religious leaders from New York (state) Latter Day Saint missionaries in the United States