“Oliver’s occupation was clerking in a store until 1829 when he taught the district school in the town of Manchester.” — Lucy Cowdery Young¹

Oliver Cowdery, born in Wells, Vermont, on October 3, 1806, worked as a store clerk in New York before becoming a schoolteacher in Manchester County, where he encountered the Smith family.² Intrigued by their accounts of divine visions and golden plates, he traveled to Harmony, Pennsylvania, to meet Joseph Smith. There, he served as the primary scribe for the translation of the Book of Mormon.³ From April to June 1829, Oliver transcribed nearly the entire Book of Mormon as Joseph dictated the words to him.⁴

Joseph and Oliver were the first to be ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood (by John the Baptist)⁵ and Melchizedek Priesthood (by Peter, James, and John).⁶ Oliver was also one of the Three Witnesses who saw the gold plates.⁷

1. Lucy C. Young letter, Church History Catalog

2. "Cowdery, Oliver," josephsmithpapers.org

3. "Oliver Cowdery," churchofjesuschrist.org

4. "Joseph Smith Translates the Gold Plates," churchofjesuschrist.org

5. Saints, Volume 1, Chapter 7, 66-68

6. Saints, Volume 1, Chapter 8, 84

7. Saints, Volume 1, Chapter 7, 73-74