On 16 August 1842, while in hiding at ’s house, JS blessed and several others. At the same time, JS reflected on the loyalty demonstrated to him by Derby, , , and many other friends and family members. In accordance with his plan to “continue the subject again,” JS dictated further reflections on 23 August, after he had relocated and was hiding in his in , Illinois.
JS believed it was important to include the names of faithful Latter-day Saints in the Book of the Law of the Lord, which had used to record tithing donations since late 1841 and which had served as JS’s journal since late 1841 or early 1842. The Book of the Law of the Lord had apparently been created in response to direction JS gave in an 1832 letter to , in which he explained that the ’s clerk was appointed “to keep a hystory and a general church reccord of all things that transpire in and of all those who consecrate properties and receive inhertances legally from the and also there manner of life and the faith and works.” The names of faithful Saints, JS emphasized, should be recorded in “the book of the Law of God”; he warned that those whose names were not found there “shall not find an inheritence among th[e] saints.” By 1842, the Book of the Law of the Lord was being used, in part at least, to record the names of those who supported JS during times of trial, as demonstrated in these featured reflections.
JS dictated these reflections while hiding from officers intent on arresting and extraditing him to . An editorial in the 15 August issue of the Times and Seasons placed this extradition attempt within a longer narrative of the Saints’ persecution at the hands of Missourians. This narration of persecution represented a counterpoint to the desire to record the righteous deeds of faithful Saints; in an 1839 letter written from a Missouri , JS had instructed the Saints to record and publish “the names of all persons that have had a hand in their oppressions.”
The entries featured here begin with a blessing for , who was staying with JS while he was in hiding and was carrying letters from JS to and . After pronouncing the blessing, JS transitioned into a wide-ranging reflection on individuals who exemplified loyalty and kindness; he then pronounced blessings upon several of them. The 16 August portion of the reflections begins with those who met with JS on an in the on 11 August and then broadens to others who had supported him during his time in hiding. In the 23 August portion, JS’s reflections and blessings extend to those who had assisted him earlier in his life. JS did not attempt to provide a comprehensive list but rather mentioned those who were “emblematical” of the many friends who had come to his aid. Near the end of these reflections, he turned his attention to those closest to him, dictating nostalgic reminiscences of his deceased father, , and brothers, and . His effort to create a record of faithful friends and family was consistent with other developments in . During this same period, JS introduced and rituals meant to unite the Saints in eternal family bonds and again emphasized the importance of recording the participants’ names.
On 16 August, JS dictated the blessing and the initial portion of the reflections to , who probably inscribed them onto a loose leaf before copying them into JS’s journal after returning to , likely between 16 and 20 August. JS’s scribes had a practice of setting aside pages in the Book of the Law of the Lord for journal entries and tithing donations. As a result, the scribes sometimes ran out of space when recording JS’s journal, forcing them to continue the inscription a number of pages later. Such was the case with the 16 August entry, which is broken up by pages of tithing donations. Clayton inscribed the 23 August portion of the reflections into JS’s journal as JS dictated it.
See Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, 421–423, 477–478. Within days of dictating these reflections, JS spoke to the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo regarding baptism for the dead, instructing the members that “all persons baptiz’d for the dead must have a Recorder present. . . . It will be necessary in the grand Council.” In early September, he wrote to the Saints on the same topic, noting that a recorder must be present so that “it may be recorded in heaven.” (Minutes and Discourse, 31 Aug. 1842; JS, Journal, 4 Sept. 1842 [D&C 127:6–7].)
Bushman, Richard Lyman. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. With the assistance of Jed Woodworth. New York: Knopf, 2005.
Clayton was with JS between 15 and 16 August and presumably did not have the very large Book of the Law of the Lord with him. He probably returned to Nauvoo on 16 or 17 August and likely copied the 16 August reflections in the Book of the Law of the Lord soon after returning and no later than 20 August, as suggested by the content of these and surrounding entries and changes in the ink color. (See Book of the Law of the Lord, 135, 164–167.)
and grovelling principles that are so subsequent to the human heart. I now say, that he never did a mean act that might be said was ungenerous, in his life, to my knowledge. I loved my and his memory; and the memory of his noble deeds, rest with ponderous weight upon my mind; and many of his kind and parental words to me, are written on the tablet of my heart. Sacred to me, are the thoughts which I cherish of the history of his life, that have rolled through my mind and has been implanted there, by my own observation since I was born. Sacred to me is his dust, and the spot where he is laid. Sacred to me is the tomb I have made to encircle o’er his head. that <Let> the memory of my eternally live. Let the faults, and the follies Let his soul, or the Spirit my follies forgive. With him may I reign one day, in the mansions above; and tune up the Lyre of Anthems, of the eternal Jove. May the God that I love look down from above, and save me from my enemies here, and take me by the hand; that on Mount Zion I may stand and with my crown me eternally there. Words and language, is inadequate to express the gratitude that I owe to God for having given me so honorable a parentage. My also is one of the noblest, and the best of all women. May God grant to prolong her days, and mine; that we may live to enjoy each others society long yet in the enjoyment of liberty, and to breath the free air. my oldest brother, I remember well the pangs of sorrow that swelled my youthful bosom and almost burst my aching <tender> heart, when he died. He was the oldest, and the noblest of my fathers family. He was one of the noblest of the sons of men: Shall his name not be recorded in this Book? Yes, ; let it be had here, and be handed down upon these sacred pages, forever and ever. In him there was no guile. He lived without spot from the time he was a child. From the time of his birth, he never knew mirth. He was candid and sober and never would play; and minded his , and , in toiling all day. He was one of the soberest of men and when he died the Angel of the Lord visited him in his last moments. These childish lines I record in remembrance of my child-hood scenes. My Brother , whose name I desire to record also, was a noble boy. I never knew any fault in him. I never saw the first immoral act; or the first irreligious, or ignoble disposition in the child. From the time that he was born, till the time of his death; he was a lovely, a good natured, and a kind-hearted, and a virtuous and a faithful upright child. And where his soul goes let mine go also. He lays by the side of my . Let my , , and , and children that I have buried be brought and laid in the Tomb I have built. Let my , and my brethren, and my sisters be laid there also; and let it be called the Tomb of Joseph, a descendant of Jacob; and when I die, let me be gathered to the Tomb of my . There are many souls, whom I have loved stronger than death; to them I have proved faithful; to them I [p. 180]
Joseph Smith Sr. appears to have been buried in the old burying ground on Durphy Street in Nauvoo.a The sacredness JS bestowed on his father’s remains and the place of his burial had roots in Latter-day Saint teachings on the body’s sanctity, resurrection, and enduring domestic relations, attitudes shared by nineteenth-century American Christians, who also approached the dead and their resting places with reverence.b The ordinance of baptism for the dead, which JS introduced in 1840, powerfully joined Latter-day Saint teachings about human bodies, death, resurrection, and eternal familial relations.c Shortly after dictating these 23 August 1842 reflections, JS wrote two letters to the church regarding baptism for the dead, in which he described the process of recording the names, dates, and places of baptism in relation to a “sealing and binding power,” which could be used for the “welding together of the dispensations.”d
In ancient Roman mythology, Jupiter, also referred to as Jove, was “the name of the supreme deity.” Contemporaneous writers also used the phrase “eternal Jove.” (“Jove,” in American Dictionary [1828]; “The Southern Stage,” Dramatic Mirror, and Literary Companion, 26 Feb. 1842, 19.)
An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.
Dramatic Mirror, and Literary Companion. Philadelphia and New York. 1841–1842.
Evidence suggests that this tomb was located on the south side of the Nauvootemple block and that it was not completed until 1845. (Johnstun, “Tomb and Burial of Joseph Smith,” 163–180; see also “Tomb of Joseph Smith.”)
Johnstun, Joseph D. “‘To Lie in Yonder Tomb’: The Tomb and Burial of Joseph Smith.” Mormon Historical Studies 6, no. 2 (2005): 163–180.