Oliver Cowdery
| Oliver Cowdery | |
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Daguerreotype of Oliver Cowdrey found in the Library of Congress, taken in the 1840s by James Presley Ball
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| Assistant Counselor in the First Presidency | |
| September 3, 1837 – April 11, 1838 | |
| End reason | Resignation / Excommunication |
| Assistant President of the Church | |
| December 5, 1834 – April 11, 1838 | |
| End reason | Resignation / Excommunication |
| Second Elder of the Church | |
| April 6, 1830 – December 5, 1834 | |
| End reason | Called as Assistant President of the Church |
| Latter Day Saint Apostle | |
| 1829 (aged 22) – April 12, 1838 | |
| Reason | Restoration of priesthood |
| End reason | Resignation / Excommunication |
| Reorganization at end of term |
No apostles immediately ordained |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Oliver H. P. Cowdery October 3, 1806 Wells, Vermont, United States |
| Died | March 3, 1850 (aged 43) Richmond, Missouri, United States |
| Resting place | Richmond Pioneer Cemetery, Missouri, United States 39°17′6.76″N 93°58′34.93″W / 39.2852111°N 93.9763694°W |
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Oliver H. P. Cowdery (October 3, 1806 – March 3, 1850) was, with Joseph Smith, an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836. He was the first baptized Latter Day Saint, one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's golden plates, one of the first Latter Day Saint apostles, and the Second Elder of the church.
In 1838, Cowdery left and was excommunicated from the church founded by Smith and later became a Methodist. In 1848, he returned to the Latter Day Saint movement and was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Cowdery was born October 3, 1806, in Wells, Vermont. His father, William, a farmer, moved the family to Poultney in Rutland County, Vermont when Cowdery was three. (Cowdery's mother Rebecca Fuller Cowdery died on September 3, 1809.) In his youth, Cowdery hunted for buried treasure using a divining rod.
At age 20 (c. 1826), Cowdery left Vermont for upstate New York, where his older brothers had settled. He clerked at a store for just over two years and in 1829 became a school teacher in Manchester, New York. Cowdery lodged with different families in the area, including that of Joseph Smith, Sr., who was said to have provided Cowdery with additional information about the golden plates of which Cowdery said he had heard "from all quarters."
Cowdery met Joseph Smith on April 5, 1829—a year and a day before the official founding of the church—and heard from him how he had received golden plates containing ancient Native American writings. Cowdery told Smith that he had seen the golden plates in a vision before the two ever met.
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