| Jesse Gause | |
|---|---|
| First Counselor inFirst Presidency | |
| March 8, 1832 – December 3, 1832 | |
| Called by | Joseph Smith |
| End reason | Excommunicated |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1785 East Marlborough,Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | c. 1836 (aged 50–51) unknown |
| Spouse(s) | Martha Johnson Minerva Eliza Byram |
| Children | At least 4 |
| Parents | William Gause Mary Beverly |
Jesse Gause (1785 – c. 1836) was an early leader in theLatter Day Saint movement and served in the presidency of the high priesthood, which later would become theFirst Presidency, as a counselor tochurch founderJoseph Smith. For decades Gause was generally unknown toLatter Day Saint historians.[citation needed] It was only in the 1970s and 80s that research identified his rightful place among early church leaders.
The son of William Gause and Mary Beverly, Gause was born in 1785 inEast Marlborough,Chester County, Pennsylvania. Gause followed the faith of his parents and in 1806, apparently still single at twenty-one, he requested and was received into theSociety of Friends, becoming aQuaker.
Although a Quaker in good standing, Gause'sQuaker pacificism did not prevent him from joining theDelaware militia in 1814 during theWar of 1812. Upon leaving the military in 1815 he moved toWilmington, where he married Martha Johnson. In 1822, the family finally settled in Chester County where he became a teacher in a Quaker school. Martha died in 1828 after the birth of their fourth child.
Gause resigned from the Quakers on January 30, 1829, and joined theShakers.[citation needed] In August 1830, Gause married Minerva Eliza Byram.[1] They settled inHancock, Massachusetts.[citation needed] Gause's new wife followed him, apparently accepting the Shaker practice of sexual abstinence even for married couples.[citation needed] In 1831, Gause, his wife, and infant son moved to the Shaker community near North Union,Ohio, leaving Martha's four children in the care of his sister, who was also a Shaker.
At the same time that Gause was moving to North Union,Latter Day Saints fromNew York were also emigrating toOhio, settling in the environs ofKirtland, some fifteen miles east of North Union. It is not known when Gause came into contact with these new settlers, but some time after October 1831 he was baptized; this time his wife refused to follow him. Gause rose quickly to a position of prominence in his new faith; in an early record book it states that on March 8, 1832, Joseph Smith "[c]hose this day and ordained brother Jesse Gause and Broth[er] Sidney [Rigdon] to be my counsellors of the ministry of the presidency of the High Priesthood".[2] A week later, Smith said he received a revelation concerning Gause's selection as a counselor in what later became known as the First Presidency, as well as giving him additional instructions concerning his new assignment.[3] Smith may have chosen a recent convert for such a responsible position due to Gause's experience with the Shakercommunal society, because the Latter Day Saints had recently commenced their own communal experiment, theLaw of Consecration.[citation needed] Both Gause and Smith's other counselor,Sidney Rigdon, had previous experience living in communal societies.[4]
Gause settled into his new role, accompanying Smith toJackson County,Missouri, between April and June 1832, in order to set up the Law of Consecration. Upon returning to Kirtland, Gause started on a mission withZebedee Coltrin on August 1, 1832. The two missionaries traveled to North Union, where six days later Gause attempted to persuade Minerva to acceptMormonism, but she continued to refuse to join him. He then attempted unsuccessfully to take their daughter but had to leave "very much [e]nraged." Within a short time, Coltrin became ill and decided to return to Kirtland. The two men "parted in the fellowship of the gospel" on August 20. From this date Gause simply disappears from church history. It is not known what occurred to sour him on Mormonism, but by the end of 1832 he had "denied the faith" and was probably the "Bro. Jesse" recorded as excommunicated on December 3, 1832.[5]
Gause's role in church history went unacknowledged for decades. The revelation given to him in 1832 was altered by replacing his name with his replacement in the First Presidency,Frederick G. Williams. His name was only recognized in the 1980 edition of theDoctrine and Covenants, but then only in the historical introduction to the revelation; his replacement's name remained in the text itself. Only after historians demonstrated his role in the formation of the church hierarchy, beginning withRobert J. Woodford in 1975 andD. Michael Quinn in 1983, was his name restored to the church's list ofgeneral authorities.[citation needed]
Gause's activities after 1832 are not known. Apparently he did not rejoin Minerva at North Union, but may have returned to Chester County to be near his other children. By 1836, when he would have been 51 years old, he had died atMontgomery, Chester County, Pennsylvania. In that year his brother assumed the guardianship of Martha's children. However, his sister stated in 1873 that Gause "died away from his family", suggesting that he died estranged from his children.
| Church of Christ titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| First | First Counselor inFirst Presidency March 8, 1832 – December 3, 1832 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
