With the settlement of the Latter-day Saints in and
and the incorporation of the city of ,
JS’s extant documentary record
increased substantially from 1841 until his death in 1844. His many
administrative responsibilities led to a period of intense documentary
production on his part and the part of his clerks during May–August
1842, the period of this volume. These months saw the production of
nearly 400 documents, not including multiple copies of correspondence
and civic records. One key reason for this documentary output was the
increased professionalization and organization of JS’s offce and staff
by scribes and . JS also worked closely with , the Nauvoo city recorder and clerk for the Nauvoo
Municipal Court. Important records during this time period include
personal records of JS, such as his journal
and correspondence; municipal records, such as records of the Nauvoo
City Council and the docket book for the Nauvoo mayor’s court; administrative
records, such as minutes of the Nauvoo , minutes
of the , and financial records related to JS’s role as
trustee-in-trust of the ; and ecclesiastical records, such
as revelations and accounts of JS’s discourses.
Records generated by JS, his clerks, and his
office provide not only many of the featured texts found in this
volume—including minutes, correspondence, and other documents—but also
serve as contemporaneous sources that provide context for these featured
documents. Many of these records—especially correspondence—are loose
documents that by 1973 were cataloged in the Joseph Smith Collection at
what is now the Church History Library. Additional correspondence was
retained by descendants of the Smith family or was kept by and passed down to
his descendants. These records are housed in the Joseph Smith Materials
collection at the Community of Christ Library and Archives and in the
Whitney Papers at Brigham Young University. Other documents are included
in record books. To preserve letters and minutes, church historians and
clerks often copied texts from loose sheets into more permanent record
books, such as the Book of the Law of the Lord, which contains
both correspondence and JS’s journal for this period. In addition, when
creating city council records, would often draft
minutes of meetings on loose sheets of paper before copying them into a
rough minute book, which he would then use as his source text to record
the official minutes in the Nauvoo City Council Minute Book. also compiled loose minutes of the Female
Relief Society of Nauvoo into an official minute
book for that organization. Other significant minute books
include those for the Nauvoo high council and the ; both of these organizations have additional
records that are important for understanding JS’s many roles and this
period more broadly.
Several featured texts come from newspapers,
especially the Times and Seasons, for which JS served as editor from March to September 1842. The
Times and Seasons frequently printed correspondence
from individuals proselytizing outside of Nauvoo. It also published the
minutes of important ecclesiastical and municipal meetings. In addition,
the newspaper contained original editorial content created by JS and the
editorial staff of the paper. Because of his position as editor, JS took
responsibility for all original published content, even if he did not
author it himself. This editorial content included notices to readers,
theological treatises, commentary on archaeological discoveries, and
diatribes against politicians who had accused church leaders of undue
influence in politics. Additional articles reported
on important events that occurred in Nauvoo and in the church. The
Wasp—a newspaper originally published by , JS’s brother—is another source for several
featured texts, including letters, notices, and a poem written to JS.
Like the Times and Seasons, it provides meaningful
contextual material for life in Nauvoo.
Other newspapers, such as the Quincy
Whig and Sangamo Journal, are also important
contextual sources for this volume. The Sangamo Journal
is particularly significant because of the paper’s publication of
several letters written by in an
attempt to discredit JS and the church. These letters are
integral to understanding the conflict between JS and Bennett in the
summer of 1842. Other newspapers, including the New York
Herald, provide an understanding of how individuals in the
eastern reacted to
Bennett’s accusations against JS. In addition, regional newspapers in
Illinois and , such as the Warsaw
Signal and the Hawkeye and Iowa Patriot, as
well as newspapers and journals published in larger cities such as , Baltimore, and , offer important contextual information about
perceptions of JS and the church both nationally and locally. These
contemporary newspapers give details not otherwise available and add a
useful outside perspective.
A variety of contemporaneous records—including journals,
diaries, and correspondence—helps contextualize the featured texts. One
of the most important sources is JS’s own journal,
which was kept mainly by and
for the period covered by
this volume. Not only does the journal contain daily entries of JS’s
life in , but it also
includes copies of letters sent and received by JS and reminiscences and
blessings JS dictated while in hiding in August 1842. Other
indispensable journals and diaries include those of , Willard Richards, , , , William Clayton, Abraham O. Smoot, Crandell Dunn, and
. It is from several of
these journals that we have accounts of JS’s 1842 sermons.
Contemporaneous correspondence from , , and Willard Richards
provide helpful context as well. Autobiographies, reminiscences, and
affidavits about plural marriage from individuals such as ,
, , Eliza R. Snow, Parley P. Pratt, , , William Burton, Alfred Young, Edward Hunter, , ,
Roxsena R. Adams, , and
are also important sources.
Financial records—including land records for and ,
Illinois—contribute additional context. These range from deed record
books to tax records. Although the trial records and other district
court records for JS’s bankruptcy petition were destroyed
in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, a few related documents have
survived, including contemporary bankruptcy notices and a later copy of
a portion of JS’s application. Helpful contextual information pertaining
to JS’s application for bankruptcy and related proceedings is found in
the Bankruptcy Act of 1841, as well as letters exchanged between , district attorney, and Charles Penrose, solicitor of the
United States Treasury. Financial accounts created by JS for his Nauvoo
, as well as those kept by other Nauvoo merchants such as
, supply information about financial transactions
in Nauvoo. Likewise, the records for donations, , and work on the Nauvoo , found in
the trustee-in-trust records and the Book of the
Law of the Lord, offer important background on the financial
state of the church and its members in Nauvoo.
Legal records are another source for useful contextual
information. Compilations of statutes in , , and other states help explain attempts
to extradite JS from Illinois to Missouri and offer
insight into civic procedures and proceedings, the creation of civic
institutions, and the laws the Saints used on their behalf. Other
records, such as loose records for the Nauvoo mayor’s court and city
council and the docket books for the mayor’s court and municipal
courts, provide information about crimes tried in the
Nauvoo courts and ordinances passed by the city council. All cases and
legal documents related to JS will be published at
josephsmithpapers.org.
Finally, JS’s multivolume manuscript history—in which JS’s scribes incorporated JS’s
journals, institutional documents, and other private papers and
collections into a documentary history of JS and the church—supplies
invaluable information, as do the history’s draft notes.
For more information on those historical manuscripts, see the Histories
series of The Joseph Smith Papers.