Footnotes

1. [1]

   George Barstow, History of New Hampshire from Its Discovery, in 1614, to the Passage of the Toleration Act, in 1819 (Concord, NH: I. S. Boyd, 1842). Barstow’s initial interest in the church may have been prompted by recent Latter-day Saint missionary activity and church growth in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. (See Letter from Eli Maginn, 22 Mar. 1842; and Williams, “Missionary Movements of the LDS Church in New England,” 128–133, 147–156.)  

   Williams, Richard Shelton. “The Missionary Movements of the LDS Church in New England, 1830–1850.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1969.

2. [2]

   “Mormonism,” American Revivalist, and Rochester (NY) Observer, 2 Feb. 1833, [2]; Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 4 Jan. 1833; Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 12 Feb. 1833.  

   American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer. Rochester, NY. 1827–1833.

3. [3]

   Hayward, Religious Creeds and Statistics, 130–142.  

   Hayward, John. The Religious Creeds and Statistics of Every Christian Denomination in the United States and British Provinces. With Some Account of the Religious Sentiments of the Jews, American Indians, Deist, Mahometans, &c. Boston: By the author, 1836.

4. [4]

   Taylor, Short Account of the Murders, 8.  

   Scott, Franklin William. Newspapers and Periodicals of Illinois, 1814–1879. Springfield, IL: Illinois State Historical Library, 1910.Taylor, John. A Short Account of the Murders, Roberies, Burnings, Thefts, and Other Outrages Committed by the Mob and Militia of the State of Missouri, Upon the Latter Day Saints. Springfield, IL: By the author, 1839.

5. [5]

   See, for example, History, ca. Summer 1832; and JS History, vol. A-1, 1–61.  

6. [6]

   The issue was likely published after 2 March, when JS read the proof sheets. Wilford Woodruff, who worked in the printing office, recorded that he spent the day of 4 March “at the [printing] Office making up the Mails or prepairing papers for it.” (JS, Journal, 2 Mar. 1842; Woodruff, Journal, 4 Mar. 1842.)  

   Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

7. [7]

   History, ca. Summer 1832; Conversations with Robert Matthews, 9–11 Nov. 1835; JS History, vol. A-1, 1–7. For a comparison between Pratt’s Interesting Account and the featured text, see Orson Pratt, A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, 1840.  

8. [8]

   Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:29–36]; Oliver Cowdery, “Address,” Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:1–2; Hayward, Religious Creeds and Statistics, 139–140; see also Pratt and Higbee, Address; compare Pratt, Late Persecution of the Church, iii–xiii.  

   Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

   Hayward, John. The Religious Creeds and Statistics of Every Christian Denomination in the United States and British Provinces. With Some Account of the Religious Sentiments of the Jews, American Indians, Deist, Mahometans, &c. Boston: By the author, 1836.

   Pratt, Parley P., and Elias Higbee. An Address by Judge Higbee and Parley P. Pratt, Ministers of the Gospel, of the Church of Jesus Christ of “Latter-day Saints,” to the Citizens of Washington, and to the Public in General. N.p., 1840.

9. [9]

   During this period, John Taylor reportedly assisted JS with producing content for the Times and Seasons. (Woodruff, Journal, 19 Feb. 1842.)  

   Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

10. [10]

    Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:710. When the history was updated and sent to Israel Daniel Rupp for publication, JS was again named as author of the text. (Rupp, He Pasa Ekklesia, 404.)  

11. [11]

    Church historian Brigham H. Roberts was among the first to refer to the featured text as the “Wentworth letter.” Given its lack of a date, salutation, and valediction, the featured text is not a letter, though portions of the text may have been derived from one. (History of the Church, 4:535.)  

    History of the Church / Smith, Joseph, et al. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Edited by B. H. Roberts. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1902–1912 (vols. 1–6), 1932 (vol. 7).

12. [12]

    From early 1839 onward JS and other church leaders encouraged the Latter-day Saints to gather up “knowledge of all the facts and suffering and abuses put upon them by the people of this state [Missouri].” In late 1839 JS, Sidney Rigdon, and others traveled to Washington DC to seek redress from the federal government by presenting a lengthy memorial that described the violence Missouri vigilantes perpetrated against church members. These experiences and the possibility of redress were never far from JS’s mind during this period and beyond. (Letter to Edward Partridge and the Church, ca. 22 Mar. 1839; Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; Minutes and Discourse, 6 Mar. 1840; JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Henry Clay, 4 Nov. 1843, draft, JS Collection, CHL.)  

13. [13]

    From 1844 to 1851 these doctrinal statements appeared in various church-related tracts under different titles, including “Faith and Doctrine of the Latter Day Saints,” “L.D. Saints’ Faith,” “Latter Day Saint’s Faith,” and “Faith of the Latter-Day Saints.” The 1878 version of the Pearl of Great Price referred to the statements as “Articles of our Faith”; the 1902 version added numbers to the statements and referred to them as “The Articles of Faith Of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” ([Gooch], Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram Smith, 9–10; Flanigan, Reply to a Sheet, 7–8; Orson Hyde, “Latter Day Saint’s Faith,” Frontier Guardian [Kanesville, IA], 20 Feb. 1850, [1]; [Mayhew], Mormons, 46–47; Pearl of Great Price, 1878 ed., 63; Pearl of Great Price, 1902 ed., 102–103, emphasis in original.)  

    Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram Smith, Who Were Murdered while in Prison at Carthage, on the 27th Day of June, A. D. 1844. Boston: John Gooch, 1844.

    Flanigan, J. H. Reply to a Sheet Entitled, “The Result of Two Meetings between the L.D. Saints and Primitive Methodists,” at Gravely, Cambridgshire. Bedford, England, 1849.

    Frontier Guardian. Kanesville, IA. 1849–1852.

    [Mayhew, Henry]. The Mormons; or, Latter-Day Saints. With Memoirs of the Life and Death of Joseph Smith, the “American Mahomet.” London: Office of the National Illustrated Library, [1851].

    The Pearl of Great Price: Being a Choice Selection from the Revelations, Translations and Narrations of Joseph Smith, First Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Latter-day Saints’ Printing and Publishing Establishment, 1878.

    The Pearl of Great Price: A Selection from the Revelations, Translation, and Narrations of Joseph Smith First Prophet, Seer and Revelator to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1902.

14. [14]

    Editorial, Quincy (IL) Whig, 12 Mar. 1842, [2].  

    Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

15. [15]

    Kidder, Mormonism and the Mormons, 334. Kidder may have been referring to both “Church History” and the more extensive “History of Joseph Smith” that JS began publishing serially in the 15 March 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons. (Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:726.)  

    Kidder, Daniel P. Mormonism and the Mormons: A Historical View of the Rise and Progress of the Sect Self-Styled Latter-Day Saints. New York: G. Lane and P. P. Sandford, 1842.

16. [16]

    Hayward, Book of Religions, 260–266; Correspondence between Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and Col. John Wentworth, 3–6.  

    Hayward, John. The Book of Religions; Comprising the Views Creeds, Sentiments, or Opinions, of All the Principal Religious Sects in the World, Particularly of All Christian Denominations in Europe and America; To Which Are Added Church and Missionary Statistics, Together with Biographical Sketches. Boston: John Hayward, 1842.

    Correspondence between Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and Col. John Wentworth, Editor of “The Chicago Democrat,” and Member of Congress from Illinois; Gen. James Arlington Bennet, of Arlington House, Long Island, and the Honorable John C. Calhoun, Senator from South Carolina. . . . New York: John E. Page and L. R. Foster, 1844.

17. [17]

    Rupp, He Pasa Ekklesia, 404–410; Winebrenner, History of All the Religious Denominations in the United States, 344–349. In 1843, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, publisher Clyde, Williams & Co. requested that JS submit an article on the Latter-day Saints for inclusion in a book; with the aid of scribe William W. Phelps, JS later supplied them with an expanded version of the historical sketch and doctrinal statements. After receiving a copy of the book, JS offered to furnish Rupp with “further information, at a proper time.” (Clyde, Williams & Co., Harrisburg, PA, to JS and Sidney Rigdon, Nauvoo, IL, ca. 15 July 1843; JS per William W. Phelps, Nauvoo, IL, to Clyde, Williams & Co., Harrisburg, PA, 1 Aug. 1843, copy, JS Collection, CHL; William W. Phelps, Historical Article, Sept. 1843, CHL; JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Israel Daniel Rupp, Lancaster, PA, 5 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL.)  

    Winebrenner, John, comp. History of All the Religious Denominations in the United States: Containing Authentic Accounts of the Rise and Progress, Faith and Practice, Localities and Statistics, of the Different Persuasions: Written Expressly for the Work, by Fifty-Three Eminent Authors, Belonging to the Respective Denominations. 2nd ed. Harrisburg, PA: John Winebrenner, 1848.

18. [18]

    See, for example, [Gooch], Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram Smith, 9–10; The Latter-Day Saints’ Belief (n.p., [1851?]), copy at CHL; Flanigan, Reply to a Sheet, 7–8; “Latter Day Saint’s Faith,” Frontier Guardian (Kanesville, IA), 20 Feb. 1850, [1]; and [Mayhew], Mormons, 46–47.  

    Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram Smith, Who Were Murdered while in Prison at Carthage, on the 27th Day of June, A. D. 1844. Boston: John Gooch, 1844.

    The Latter-Day Saints’ Belief. N.p., [1851?]. Copy at CHL.

    Flanigan, J. H. Reply to a Sheet Entitled, “The Result of Two Meetings between the L.D. Saints and Primitive Methodists,” at Gravely, Cambridgshire. Bedford, England, 1849.

    Frontier Guardian. Kanesville, IA. 1849–1852.

    [Mayhew, Henry]. The Mormons; or, Latter-Day Saints. With Memoirs of the Life and Death of Joseph Smith, the “American Mahomet.” London: Office of the National Illustrated Library, [1851].

19. [19]

    Pearl of Great Price, 1851 ed., 55; Pearl of Great Price, 1878 ed., 63; “Fiftieth Semi-annual Conference,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 13 Oct. 1880, 588.  

    The Pearl of Great Price: Being a Choice Selection from the Revelations, Translations, and Narrations of Joseph Smith, First Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1851.

    The Pearl of Great Price: Being a Choice Selection from the Revelations, Translations and Narrations of Joseph Smith, First Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Latter-day Saints’ Printing and Publishing Establishment, 1878.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.