Richard McClellan

RICHARD MCCLELLAN is an amateur historian who has lived near Kirtland, Ohio, for twenty years. He has presented Kirtland related papers at the Mormon History Association annual meetings in 1993, 1994, and 2003.

Sidney Rigdon’s 1820 Ministry: Preparing the Way for Mormonism in Ohio

Articles/Essays – Volume 36, No. 4

One month after Sidney Rigdon’s conversion to Mormonism, he visited Joseph Smith in New York, occasioning the following revelation:

I say unto my servant Sidney, I have looked upon thee and thy works. I have heard thy prayers, and prepared thee for a greater work. Thou art blessed, for thou shalt do great things. Behold, thou wast sent forth, even as John, to prepare the way before me. . .and thou knewest it not. (Doctrine and Covenants, hereafter D&C, 35:3-5)