Footnotes

1. [1]

   Patriarchal Blessings, 1:9–11.

   Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.

2. [2]

   Minutes, 16 Sept. 1835. As recorded in the 16 September minutes, the expense of the book became an issue. Given that the book was purchased shortly before the blessings began to be recorded and that the cost precluded immediately purchasing another such volume, the book discussed in these minutes is almost certainly the one purchased for recording patriarchal blessings.

3. [3]

   Previously, the United Firm had voted to provide Williams with $300 a year for his work as assistant scribe. That salary is unlikely to have continued, however, as the United Firm apparently ceased to function as such after April 1834. The task of recording the patriarchal blessings did not appear to have required travel expenses, but costs associated with paper, pen, and ink for original note-taking may have been incurred. (Note, 9 Jan. 1833; Revelation, 23 Apr. 1834 [D&C 104]; Parkin, “Joseph Smith and the United Firm,” 33–34.)

   Parkin, Max H. “Joseph Smith and the United Firm: The Growth and Decline of the Church’s First Master Plan of Business and Finance, Ohio and Missouri, 1832–1834.” BYU Studies 46, no. 3 (2007): 5–66.

4. [4]

   Copying blessings into Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 required Cowdery to collect blessings that had previously been given, many of which were in the possession of only the recipients. In a 7 October 1835 notation, Cowdery confessed that it would be impossible to collect them all, leaving the volume somewhat incomplete as a record of all of Joseph Smith Sr.’s blessings. Part of the difficulty was that individuals were charged a fee of $0.10 per folio (a unit of one hundred words) to have their blessings recorded in the volume. It is possible that some blessings were not recorded because individuals could not, or simply did not want to, pay. At least one account suggests that payment was required to even have a personal copy of the blessing provided. Other accounts, however, attest that blessings were given free of charge. The willingness of many to pay a fee underscores the interest of church members in having their names recorded in official church records. It is unclear if the fees were retained by Cowdery or divided with the clerks who originally recorded the blessings. (Patriarchal Blessings, 1:16; Cowdery, “Account Book of Writing,” 1; Judd, Autobiography of Zadoc Knapp Judd, 17; Stevenson, Autobiography, 7.)

   Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.

   Cowdery, Oliver. “Account Book of Writing,” 1835–1836. CHL. MS 2314.

   Judd, Zadoc Knapp. Autobiography of Zadoc Knapp Judd (1827–1909). [Provo, UT]: Brigham Young University Library, 1954. Copy at CHL. MS 4545.

   Stevenson, Edward. Autobiography, ca. 1891–1893. Edward Stevenson, Collection, 1849–1922. CHL. MS 4806, box 5, fd. 1.

5. [5]

   Revelation, July 1830–C [D&C 25:11].

6. [6]

   Minutes, 30 Apr. 1832.

7. [7]

   The hymnal was dated 1835 but was likely printed sometime in early 1836. (William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, to Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, 14 Nov. 1835, in Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 14 Nov. 1835; “Extract from My Journal,” 28 Nov. 1835, William W. Phelps, Papers, BYU; Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:57–59.)

   Historical Department. Journal History of the Church, 1896–. CHL. CR 100 137.

   Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.

   Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.