History draft; handwriting of , John L. Smith, Jonathan Grimshaw, Robert L. Campbell, , , and ; 101 numbered pages plus several inserted pages; CHL. This manuscript covers the period from 1 March 1843 to 31 December 1843.
<10d contd> I directed to fix a room to confine the City prisoners in. <>
I told that I had no objection to him building a brewery.
Proverb
As finest steel doth shew a brighter polish
The more you rub the same;
E’en so, in love, rebuke will ne’er demolish
A wise man’s goodly name.
I signed <issued> an against — and——
Issued a search warrant in favor <on oath of> , to search the house of Dial Sherwood; ¶ in the evening the brought 2 trying squares, claimed by bro Norton; 1 Padlock, claimed by & 1 Shirt, which were claimed; by owners also a bit stock, smoothing plane, & 3 or 4 other little tools. some of which were claimed as stolen property.
I with & many others, about 7 p.m. discovered a stream of light in the South west quarter of the Heavens, the its pencil rays of light were in the form of a broad sword, with the hilt downward, the blade raised, pointing from the West south west, raised to an angle of 45 degrees from the horizon, & extending nearly, or within 2 or 3 degrees to the zenith of the degree where the sign appeared; this sign gradually disappeared from 7½ oclock & at 9 had entirely disappeared. while viewing it I declared as sure as there is a God who sits enthroned in the heavens, & as sure as he ever spoke by me, so sure there will be a speedy & bloody war, & the broad sword seen this evening is the sure sign thereof—
A shock of an Earthquake felt in Lancashire, England <& on the Guernsey isle of Guernsey,> producing considerable alarm.
The papers teem with accounts of singular phenomena, fearful sights are seen in all parts of the world.
<Last night I dreamed that an <silver headed> old man came to me, & said there was a mob force coming upon him & he was likely to loose his life, that <He had heard> that I was the Lieut.t Gen.l & had the command of a large force, <that I always sought to defend the oppressed> & I was also a Patriot & disposed to protect the innocent & unoffending, & wanted I should assist <protect> him. <and he had come to hear with his own ears what I would say to him,> I told him I wanted some written documents to shew the facts that they r [are] the aggressors, & I would raise a force sufficient to protect him, that I would collect the . He <the old man then> turned to go from me, <when he got a little distance, he suddenly> but turned again & said to me, <You must call out the Legion & he would have the papers ready when I arrived, and says he> “I have any amount of men & will put them <which you can have> under your command.”>
<11> Very severe frost <cold> last night, the water froze in the warmest rooms in the .
at 9 am I started in company with bro to & had a delightful drive, arrived at at 1/4 to 4: lodged with bro. . In the evening I pulled up Justus A. Morse, the strongest man in , with one hand, at pulling sticks.
It is reported in the papers that workmen employed on the General Pratte (which was burned & sunk last fall near , in the ,) with a diving bell, on the 3rd. Jan.y. found the wreck in about 24 feet water; on that night was an earthquake; next day the wreck had disappeared, no trace could be found, & the water was from 100 to 120 feet deep, & for about 100 feet no bottom; and in another place, a bar was discovered where previous was deep water.
<The N. Y. Herald published The Vision in Poetry &c also miss ’s festival song. an unusual act of liberality towards the Saints, for a Publisher.>
<12> I preached to the Saints in <in the morning> taking for a text 14 ch John 20, in my fathers house r [are] many mansions.
I found the brethren well & in good spirits: in the afternoon preached.
having been called to , 1200 inhabitants of petition for Elders & to come & labor in that place <and also to return to > the same a similar petition was also sent from , Mass: by Elder . [p. 4]
TEXT: A bracket, a line, and “here” indicate that this and the following paragraph should be moved three lines down to follow the paragraph about JS’s dream.