Footnotes

1. [1]

   According to census records, during spring 1834 Samuel Musick’s wife, Elizabeth, gave birth to a son in Missouri whom they named Teancum, after a soldier mentioned in the Book of Mormon. In 1835 Sally Waterman Phelps wrote a letter to her husband, William W. Phelps, in which she mentioned a “Bothe [Brother] Music” living with the Saints in Clay County, Missouri, but provided no other identifying information. (1850 U.S. Census, Ward 6, St. Louis, MO, 473[A]; 1860 U.S. Census, Pike, Stoddard Co., MO, 483; 1900 U.S. Census, Mansfield City, Wright Co., MO, 229B; Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, to William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, 29 July 1835, William W. Phelps, Papers, BYU.)

   Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

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

2. [2]

   Missouri law differentiated between licensed taverns, which were authorized to sell “wine or spirituous liquor,” and private inns. The tavern operated by Musick and later by the Smiths was likely a licensed tavern. John Whitmer recorded purchasing brandy from Musick, and in June 1838 the high council in Far West instructed JS and other tavern keepers to no longer allow drinking at their establishments. In addition to regulating the sale and consumption of alcohol, Missouri law required innkeepers with tavern licenses to “find and provide . . . good and wholesome diet and lodging for travellers and other guests, and also provide and furnish sufficient stabling and provender for horses.” (Musick Account, 30 Nov. 1836–18 May 1837, in Whitmer, Daybook; Minute Book 2, 23 June 1838; An Act to Regulate Inns and Taverns [18 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1835], pp. 316, 317, 319, secs. 1–2, 13, 29.)

   Whitmer, John. Daybook, 1832–1878. CHL. MS 1159.

   The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly during the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. . . . St. Louis: Argus Office, 1835.

3. [3]

   See, for example, Kimball, “History,” 105–106; and Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 15, [6].

   Kimball, Heber C. “History of Heber Chase Kimball by His Own Dictation,” ca. 1842–1856. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 2.

4. [4]

   In documents produced as late as 13 April 1838, the tavern was strictly associated with Musick, suggesting that JS began renting the building sometime after that date and before the featured receipt was issued on 14 July. Heber C. Kimball later wrote that JS purchased a house in Far West “which had been formerly occupied as a public house.” According to Kimball, JS later related that shortly after his family moved into the home, one of his children became very sick and JS performed several healing blessings for the child. Although there is no contemporaneous record of this event, JS’s journal states that he spent much of 3 May 1838 “administering to the Sick,” which may have included this incident. (Minutes, 13 Apr. 1838; Kimball, “History,” 105–106; JS, Journal, 3 May 1838.)

   Kimball, Heber C. “History of Heber Chase Kimball by His Own Dictation,” ca. 1842–1856. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 2.

5. [5]

   Murdock, Journal, 23 June 1838, 95; John Murdock, Affidavit, Adams Co., IL, 10 Jan. 1840, photocopy, Material relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843, CHL; Minute Book 2, 23 June 1838.

   Murdock, John. Journal, ca. 1830–1859. John Murdock, Journal and Autobiography, ca. 1830–1867. CHL. MS 1194, fd. 2.

   Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2145.

6. [6]

   Minute Book 2, 6 July 1838.

7. [7]

   JS’s mother mentioned the tavern was “recently purchased from brother Gilbert,” but she was apparently mistaken about the identity of the tavern’s previous owner because there is no record of a Far West tavern owned by someone named Gilbert. Contemporaneous sources name only two taverns in Far West: the one operated by JS and one operated by church member John Burk. (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 15, [6]; Minute Book 2, 23 and 28–29 June 1838; see also History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, Missouri, 121.)

   History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, Missouri, Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources. . . . St. Louis: National Historical Co., 1886.

8. [8]

   On 23 June 1838, the high council in Far West appointed a committee to visit tavern keepers John Burk and JS to ensure that they keep “good orderly houses, and have no drinking, swearing, gambling, and debauchery carried on therein.” On 28 June, the committee reported that “Mr J. Smith jr, Mr J. Burke and families manifested a perfect willingness to comply with the request of your Honorable body.” The 23 June minutes do not mention the tavern keepers’ families, but the 28 June minutes do, suggesting JS’s extended family may have moved into the tavern between those dates. (Minute Book 2, 23 and 28–29 June 1838, italics added.)

9. [9]

   Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 16, [6].

10. [10]

    Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:9]; see also Pay Order from Robert Snodgrass, 18 Sept. 1838; and Receipt from Timothy Clark, Oct. 1838.

11. [11]

    Swartzell, Mormonism Exposed, 17–18.

    Swartzell, William. Mormonism Exposed, Being a Journal of a Residence in Missouri from the 28th of May to the 20th of August, 1838, Together with an Appendix, Containing the Revelation concerning the Golden Bible, with Numerous Extracts from the ‘Book of Covenants,’ &c., &c. Pekin, OH: By the author, 1840.