History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843]
History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843]
Source Note
Source Note
JS, History, 1838–1856, vol. D-1, created 4 July 1845–4 Feb. 1846 and 1 July 1854–2 May 1855; handwriting of , Robert L. Campbell, and ; 275 pages, plus 6 pages of addenda; CHL. This is the fourth volume of a six-volume manuscript history of the church. This fourth volume covers the period from 1 Aug. 1842 to 1 July 1843; the remaining five volumes, labeled A-1, B-1, C-1, E-1 and F-1, continue through 8 Aug. 1844.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
History, 1838–1856, volume D-1, constitutes the fourth of six volumes documenting the life of Joseph Smith and the early years of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The series is also known as the Manuscript History of the Church and was originally published serially from 1842 to 1846 and 1851 to 1858 as the “History of Joseph Smith” in the Times and Seasons and Deseret News. This volume contains JS’s history from 1 August 1842 to 1 July 1843, and it was compiled after JS’s death.
The material recorded in volume D-1 was initially compiled under the direction of church historian , with the assistance of . After Richards’s death in 1854, continued work on the volume as the new church historian with Bullock’s continued help. The process adopted by Richards and Bullock involved Richards creating a set of rough draft notes and Bullock transcribing the notes into the volume along with the text of designated documents (such as letters and meeting minutes). George A. Smith followed a similar pattern, though he dictated the draft notes to Bullock and other scribes.
According to the Church Historian’s Office journal, finished the third volume of the series, volume C-1, on Thursday, 3 July 1845, in , Illinois. He began work on the fourth volume, D-1, the next day, beginning on page 1362 with the entry for 1 August 1842. (The pages in volumes A-1–E-1 were numbered consecutively.) Bullock continued work on the record, drawing upon ’s draft notes, until 3 February 1846—the day before D-1 and the other volumes were packed up in preparation for the Latter-day Saints’ exodus from Nauvoo. At that point he had reached page 1485 with the entry for 28 February 1843. Subsequently, apparently after the collection had arrived in Utah, Bullock added a brief comment beneath that entry: “end of W. Richard’s compiling[.] the books packed Feby. 4— 1846 in Nauvoo[.] Miles Romney— present. The records carried by T Bullock from Winter Quarters to G S L [Great Salt Lake] City in 1848.”
A notation at the top of page 1486 reports that “the books were unpacked in G. S. L. City by and . June 7. 1853. J[onathan] Grimshaw & Miles Romney present.” Vertically, in the margin, is a poignant epitaph: “Decr. 1 1853 Dr. Willard Richards wrote one line of History—being sick at the time—and was never able to do any more.” With Richards’s death on 11 March 1854, JS’s cousin was called to the office of church historian. The notation on the top of page 1486 acknowledges this change in officers, noting, “commencement of George A. Smith’s compiling as Historian. April 13. 1854[.] [C]ommenced copying July 1. 1854.” From mid-April to the end of June 1854, George A. Smith, in collaboration with Thomas Bullock, worked on the draft notes for the history before a new scribe, , resumed writing in D-1 on 1 July 1854, beginning with the entry for 1 March 1843.
continued transcribing intermittently into the late fall of 1854, when he was assigned other duties in the Historian’s Office. He had reached page 1546 with the entry for 5 May 1843. Work resumed in February 1855 in the hand of Robert L. Campbell, recently returned from a mission. He concluded volume D-1 on the morning of 2 May 1855 and began writing in E-1 that afternoon.
The 274 pages of volume D-1 contain a record of much that is significant in the life of JS and the development of the church he founded. Among these events are
• JS’s 6 August 1842 prophecy that the Saints would become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains.
•JS’s 8 August 1842 arrest on a warrant for being “an accessory before the fact” to an attack on former governor .
• ’s 17 August 1842 letter to governor , pleading for the humane treatment of her husband and family.
•JS’s 1 and 6 September 1842 instructions regarding the proper procedures for performing baptisms for the dead.
• JS’s 15 November 1842 “Valedictory” as he stepped down as editor of the Times and Seasons.
• The 26 December 1842 arrest of JS on a “proclamation” by former governor , and subsequent hearing in , Illinois.
• The 7 February 1843 recovery of a volume of patriarchal blessings given by , which had been stolen in , Missouri.
• JS’s 21 February 1843 remarks regarding the and .
• JS’s 2 April 1843 instruction at , Illinois, on the nature of God and other subjects.
• JS’s 16 May 1843 remarks at , Illinois, on the everlasting covenant and eternal marriage.
• The account of JS’s 23 June 1843 arrest and his hearing the following week at .
Footnotes
<January 2> whole world, But said Mr. Sollars “May I not repent and be baptized, and not pay any at[HC 5:218]tention to dreams, visions, and other gifts of the Spirit?” I replied, suppose I am travelling and am hungry, and meet with a man and tell him I am hungry; and he tells me to go yonder, there is a house for entertainment, go and knock. and you must conform to all the rules of the house, or you cannot satisfy your hunger, knock, call for food, sit down and eat, and I go and knock and ask for food, and sit down to the table, but do not eat, shall I satisfy my hunger? No! I must eat: the gifts are the food; and “the graces of the Spirit” are the gifts of the Spirit.
When I first commenced this work, and had got two or three individuals to believe, I went about 30 miles with , and only one horse between us, to see them— when we arrived a mob of about a hundred <men> came upon us before we had time to eat, and chased us all night, and we arrived back again, having travelled about 60 miles in all, and without food a little after day light; I have often travelled all night to see the brethren, and <when travelling to preach the gospel among strangers> have frequently been turned away without food. Thus the evening was spent in conversation and teaching and closed by singing and prayer, when we parted [blank], and , , and myself lay down upon <a bed on the floor> and enjoyed refreshing rest till morning.
<3> Tuesday 3rd. After breakfast called on Sister Crane, and blessed her little baby Joseph Smith and returned to ’, where we conversed with Messrs. [M.] Trobridge, Jonas Browning and others on my old case of treason— At 9½ went to the Court room and had conversation with Messrs. , Owen, , and others— at 12 returned and spent the P. M. <afternoon> at — At dusk the Marshal called with Subpoenas for my witnesses— spent the evening with the brethren at , in a very social manner, and prophesied in [HC 5:219] the name of the Lord that no very formidable opposition would be raised at my trial on the morrow— Slept on a Sofa as usual while at
<4> Wednesday 4. At 9 o’clock A. M. repaired to the Court Room, Judge on the Bench and 10 Ladies by his side, when Attorney General of the State of , appeared and moved to dismiss the proceedings, and filed the following objections to the jurisdiction of the Court— viz— 1st. The arrest and detention of Smith was not under or by color of authority of the , or of any officers of the , but under or by color of authority of the State of , by the officers of . 2nd. when a fugitive from justice is arrested by authority of the Governor of any State, upon the requisition of the Governor of another State, the Courts of justice, neither State or Federal, have any authority or jurisdiction to enquire into any facts behind the Writ.” My counsel then offered to read in evidence affidavits of several persons, showing conclusively that I was at , in the County of Hancock and State of Illinois, on the whole of the 6th. and 7th. days of May, in the year 1842 and on the evenings of those days, more than three hundred miles distant from, in the State of , where it is alleged that the said was shot, and that I had not been in the State of at any time between the 10th. day of February and the 1st. day of July 1842, the said persons having been with me during the whole of that period— That on the 6th. day of May aforesaid; I attended an officer’s drill at aforesaid, in the presence of a large number of people, and on the 7th. day of May aforesaid I reviewed the Nauvoo Legion in presence of many thousand people. The reading of these Affidavits was objected to [p. 1435]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
- [271]
TEXT: Caret and dotted lines indicate “a little after day light” should be moved to line above after “back again”.
- [272]
See 3 Jan. 1843 entry in History Draft.
- [273]
JS, Journal, 3 Jan. 1843.
- [274]
See 4 Jan. 1843 entry in History Draft.
- [275]
JS, Journal, 4 Jan. 1843; “Circuit Court of the U. States for the District of Illinois,” Times and Seasons, 16 Jan. 1843, 4:65–71.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Go to page