John Corrill, “Brief History,” Manuscript, circa 1838–1839
-
Source Note
, “Brief History,” Manuscript, ca. 6 April 1838– ca. 26 January 1839; handwriting of and an unidentified scribe; seventy pages numbered 20–90, plus three unnumbered pages; John Fletcher Darby Papers, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
-
Historical Introduction
Even while the embers of the 1838 Mormon War smoldered in , labored on the manuscript for his 1839 publication, A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, (Commonly Called Mormons;) Including an Account of Their Doctrine and Discipline; with the Reasons of the Author for Leaving the Church. Corrill had begun serving the church as a historian after ’s excommunication in March 1838, replacing Whitmer in that role in April. Whatever his initial labors as historian, Corrill completed A Brief History after distancing himself from JS and the Saints, as the full title implies., a careful observer, had enjoyed a close association with Mormon leaders, and consequently his account provides valuable insights into the development and structure of the early church. He summarized many of the doctrines taught by JS and provided a detailed description of the conflict between the Latter-day Saints and other settlers. But his chronicle also related the story of a personal spiritual journey into and then out of the church as came to disapprove of the church’s course in 1838 in Missouri. Yet despite his estrangement from the church and his excommunication in 1839, he retained a degree of sympathy for the Saints and maintained some contact.apparently began compiling portions of his account while serving as an officially appointed church historian in . He probably completed his narrative by 11 February 1839, when he secured a copyright with the district federal copyright office. He arranged for Thomas Watson & Son of to print A Brief History. The entire print run may have included up to twelve hundred copies.The document presented here, ’s circa 1838–1839 rough draft of his history, is incomplete. It includes the title page, copyright notice, and preface but is missing twenty-one pages, including the nineteen pages that constitute chapters 1 through 6. The manuscript is almost entirely in Corrill’s handwriting, though some of the chapter summaries (added after he drafted the narrative) were written in a different hand, possibly that of the printer.’s published version of A Brief History receives comprehensive treatment in volume 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers and is available on this website as part of the history series.
remarks to the church I will close
I have left you not because I disbelieve the Bible, for I believe in God, the Saviour and religion the same as ever, but when I retrace our track and view the doings of the church for six years past I can see nothing that convinces me that God has been our leader; calculation after calculation has failed, and plan after plan has been overthrown, and our prophet seemed not to know the event till too late. If he said go up and prosper, still we did not propser, but have labored and toiled and waded through trials, difficulties and temptations of various kinds in hope of deliverance. But no deliverance came. The promises failed, and time after time we have been disappointed; and still were commanded in the most rigid manner to follow him, which the church did untill many were led into the commission of crime, have been apprehended and broken down by their opponents and many have been obliged to abandon their country, their families and all they possessed, and great afflictions has been brought upon the whole church. What shall we say to these things? Did not Your prophet proclaim in your ears that the day was your own and you should overcome, when in less that a week you were all made prisoners of war, and [p. 89]
View entire transcript |
Cite this page
Cite this page
