| 749 of the church, and was chosen one of the first seven apostles. He was ordained to that office on April 8, 1853, by J. W. Briggs, H. H. Deam, and Z. H. Gurley.
He appeared to be quite active for several years, but for some cause, unknown to us, did not give himself entirely to the ministry. For this reason the church in conference failed to sustain him, or did so reluctantly. Yet he retained a standing in the Quorum of Twelve until 1873. At the April General Conference of 1872, the following action was had: "Resolved that a committee of two be appointed, said committee to be members of the Quorum of Twelve, designated by the President of the Church, and be instructed to ascertain from Bro. Newkirk whether he is willing to magnify his office as an apostle, and to notify him that the General Conferences of the Church are no longer willing to sustain him as an apostle unless he shall make an effort to magnify his calling." We infer from this that there was nothing against him morally or doctrinally, the only complaint being that he was not active in his ministry. The President appointed as the committee provided for, Jason W. Briggs and William W. Blair.
We have seen no report from this committee, and what success attended their efforts we do not know. The revelation presented at the Annual Conference of 1873 provided for his release from the Quorum of Twelve. The language of the revelation is as follows: "Let the names of my servants Daniel B. Rasey and Reuben Newkirk be taken from the record of the Quorum of the Twelve and placed with the records of the names of the elders, and let them labor as elders, and their labors will be accepted by me."
From this time his labors were of local character, and he was withdrawn from public notice. We understand that he maintained an excellent character, and retained the faith until death, and that he died a few years ago in western Iowa.
JOHN CUNNINGHAM.
Of John Cunningham, who was one of the first seven apostles in the Reorganization, we known but little. We
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