JS, History, 1838–1856, vol. F-1, created 9 Apr.–7 June 1856 and 20 Aug. 1856–6 Nov. 1856; handwriting of and Jonathan Grimshaw; 304 pages, plus 10 pages of addenda; CHL. This is the final volume of a six-volume manuscript history of the church. This sixth volume covers the period from 1 May to 8 Aug. 1844; the remaining five volumes, labeled A-1 through E-1, go through 30 Apr. 1844.
Historical Introduction
History, 1838-1856, volume F-1, constitutes the last of six volumes documenting the life of Joseph Smith and the early years of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The series is also known as the Manuscript History of the Church and was originally published serially from 1842 to 1846 and 1851 to 1858 as the “History of Joseph Smith” in the Times and Seasons and Deseret News. This volume contains JS’s history from 1 May 1844 to the events following his 27 June 1844 death, and it was compiled in Utah Territory in 1856.
The material recorded in volume F-1 was initially compiled under the direction of church historian , who was JS’s cousin, and also assistant church historian . Smith collaborated with in collecting material for the volume and creating a set of draft notes, which Smith dictated to Bullock and other clerks. Woodruff gathered additional material concerning the death of Joseph Smith as a supplement to George A. Smith’s work recording that event. Jonathan Grimshaw and , members of the Historian’s Office staff, transcribed the draft notes into the volume along with the text of designated documents.
According to the Historian’s Office journal, Jonathan Grimshaw initiated work on the text of volume F-1 on 9 April 1856, soon after Robert L. Campbell had completed work on volume E-1. (Historian’s Office, Journal, 5 and 9 Apr. 1856.) Grimshaw’s scribal work begins with an entry for 1 May 1844. Unlike previous volumes in which the numbering had run consecutively to page 2028, Grimshaw began anew with page 1. He transcribed 150 pages by June 1856, and his last entry was for 23 June 1844. Though more of his writing does not appear in the volume, he continued to work in the office until 2 August, before leaving for the East that same month. (Historian’s Office, Journal, 2 and 10 Aug. 1856.)
assumed the role of scribe on 20 August 1856. (Historian’s Office, Journal, 20 Aug. 1856.) He incorporated ’s draft notes for the period 24–29 June 1844 on pages 151–189, providing an account of JS’s death and its immediate aftermath. He next transcribed a related extract from ’s 1854 History of Illinois on pages 190–204. Pages 205–227 were left blank.
provided the notes for the final portion of the text. This account begins with an entry for 22 June 1844 and continues the record through 8 August 1844, ending on page 304. (The volume also included ten pages of addenda.) The last specific entry in the Historian’s Office journal that captures at work on the history is for 6 November 1856. A 2 February 1857 Wilford Woodruff letter to indicates that on 30 January 1857, the “presidency sat and heard the history read up to the organization of the church in , 8th. day of August 1844.” (Historian’s Office, Journal, 6 Nov. 1856; Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 2 Feb. 1857, Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 410; see also Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to Amasa Lyman and Charles C. Rich, 28 Feb. 1857, Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, pp. 430–431.)
The pages of volume F-1 contain a record of the final weeks of JS’s life and the events of the ensuing days. The narrative commences with and arriving at , Illinois, on 1 May 1844 from their lumber-harvesting mission in the “” of Wisconsin Territory. As the late spring and summer of 1844 unfold, events intensify, especially those surrounding the suppression of the Nauvoo Expositor in mid-June. Legal action over the Expositor leads to a charge of riot, and subsequently JS is charged with treason and is incarcerated at the jail in , Illinois. The narrative of volume F-1 concludes with an account of the special church conference convened on 8 August 1844 to consider who should assume the leadership of the church.
<June 12> determined by your honorable body; and your Petitioner, as in duty bound, will every pray.
Joseph Smith.
“Subscribed and sworn to this 12th day of June 1844, before me,
, Clerk, M. C. C. N.”
Whereupon the issued the following:—
“State of Illinois,)
City of )
The people of the State of to the of said , greeting:
“Whereas application has been made before the Municipal Court of said , that the body of one Joseph Smith of the aforesaid is in the custody of , constable of the County of and aforesaid.
“These are therefore to command the said , constable as aforesaid, to safely have the body of said Joseph Smith, of the aforesaid, in his custody detained, as it is said, together with the day and cause of his caption and detention by whatsoever name the said Joseph Smith may be known or called, before the Municipal Court of the said forthwith, to abide such order as the said Court shall make in his behalf. And further if the said or other person or persons having said Joseph Smith of said City of , in custody, shall refuse or neglect to comply with the provisions of this writ, you, the of said , or other person authorized to serve the same, are hereby required to arrest the person or persons [HC 6:455] so refusing or neglecting to comply, as aforesaid, and bring him or them, together with the person or persons in his or their custody, forthwith before the Municipal Court, aforesaid, to be dealt with according to law. And herein fail not, and bring this writ with you.
“Witness, , Clerk of the Municipal Court at , this 12th day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty four.
Seal.
,
Clerk of the Municipal Court of the City of .”
At 5 P. M., I appeared before the Municipal Court on the above Habeas Corpus; the following is a copy of their docket:—
“Special Session, June 12th 1844. 5 o’clock P. M.
“Present, Aldermen , , , , , and , Associate Justices. The Mayor being on trial, was elected President pro tem.
“, Marshal, made his return on the writ of Habeas Corpus, ‘the body of Joseph Smith in Court.’
“ made his return on the copy of the warrant which was attached to the petition as follows:— ‘I hold the body of Joseph Smith by virtue of a writ of which the within is a copy. , Constable’.
“7th section of Addenda of City Ordinance read by Councilor . Resolution of City Council, June 10th. 1844, declaring the Printing Establishment of the Nauvoo Expositor a nuisance, read, Mayor’s order to the to execute the same was also read, and Lieut. General’s order of June 10th, 1844, to to assist the to destroy said printing establishment.
“, sworn— said that the order of the was executed quietly and peaceably, there was no riot or disturbance, no noise, no exultation; the endeavored to keep peace and silence, and the officers did also. The two companies under command of and , retired in perfect order; no exultation or shouting. Marched in front of the , and were dismissed. [p. 89]