“Extract, from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.,” July 1839
Source Note
JS, “Extract, from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.,” in Times and Seasons (Commerce, IL), July 1839, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 2–9; edited by and ; includes typeset signature. The copy used for transcription is currently part of a bound volume held at CHL.
The eight-page article is the second item in the first number of the Times and Seasons. This issue comprises eight leaves, making sixteen pages that measure 8⅝ x 5¼ inches (22 x 13 cm). The text on each page is set in two columns. It is unknown how long this copy of this issue of the Times and Seasons has been in church custody.
Historical Introduction
The historical account contained in “Extract, from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.” was composed in the aftermath of the 1838 armed conflict between the Latter-day Saints and other Missourians, a struggle that culminated in the incarceration of JS and the expulsion of the Saints from the . On 20 March 1839, from the in , Missouri, JS wrote to the Saints instructing them to document “all the facts and suffering and abuses put upon them by the people of this state and also of all the property and amount of damages which they have sustained.” A month later, on 16 April, JS escaped from the custody of Missouri lawmen, and on 22 April he was reunited with the Mormon exiles in , Illinois. Within days he arranged extensive land purchases for Mormon settlement at nearby , Illinois, and across the in . JS himself was among the initial Latter-day Saints to relocate to Commerce in May 1839. On 4 June 1839, during a visit to Quincy, JS created a record of his own Missouri losses, titled “Bill of Damages against the state of Missouri.” Written in the handwriting of JS’s recently appointed clerk, , the bill of damages was created as a petition to the federal government for redress, and it became the basis of “Extract, from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.,” published in July 1839. The reference to a “private journal” in the title notwithstanding, the article was not in fact based on a journal source; JS’s bill of damages is the only known manuscript source. The manuscript is much more than a simple bill of damages, however, and the historical narrative it contains bridges the chronological gap between JS’s last Missouri journal and his first journal.
After an introduction stating that JS encountered enmity from the moment of his arrival in in March 1838, “Extract, from the Private Journal” covers most of the significant episodes in the Missouri conflict. The first specific historical event is the siege of the Mormon settlement at in Carroll County. The article then narrates the subsequent conflict around in Daviess County, the battle at with militia from , and the siege at in Caldwell County. Also recounted are JS’s capture, imprisonment, and indictment, as well as the exodus of the Latter-day Saints to . The narrative draws to a close with JS’s escape and his flight from Missouri. Where the bill of damages ends with a list of losses and sufferings for which remuneration is sought, the “Extract” concludes with an address to the American people at large, appealing to the principles of liberty and justice.
“Extract, from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.” was published in the first issue of the church newspaper Times and Seasons. The prospectus published at the end of the issue declared that the newspaper would provide “a history of the unparallelled persecution, which we, as a people, received in ”; the lead article in the issue, an “Address” from the editors, similarly announced that the newspaper’s mission included publication of “a detailed history of the persecution and suffering” experienced in Missouri. “Extract, from the Private Journal” directly follows, taking up half of the issue’s sixteen pages. Times and Seasons editors and printed only about two hundred copies of the July 1839 issue before a malaria epidemic left them debilitated. Months later they published a reprint of the first issue, including JS’s “Extract,” under a November 1839 date. JS’s account of Missouri sufferings constituted part of a new genre of Mormon historical writing, and in the next issue, the Times and Seasons began publishing an eleven-part series on the Saints’ Missouri persecutions.
JS’s bill of damages was revised for publication as the “Extract” sometime between 4 June 1839, when the bill of damages was composed, and 12 July, when recorded “looking over the proof sheet of the first number of the Times & seasons.” JS returned to from on 5 June and remained in the area until 12 July, except for a 15–26 June journey through western . Therefore, JS’s narrative of persecutions was likely revised in Commerce between 5 and 14 June or between 27 June and 12 July. The first issue of the Times and Seasons was probably published within a few days of 12 July, the day Wilford Woodruff helped check the proof sheet.
The first two-thirds of the “Extract” was based closely on “Bill of Damages,” with only minor editorial changes. The changes softened some of the manuscript’s more strident rhetoric, omitted particulars regarding JS’s personal losses, and added details to emphasize the suffering of the Saints. Significant differences between the two documents are explained in footnotes herein. The final section of the article, which did not come from the bill of damages, may have been dictated or written by JS, perhaps with help from clerical assistants , , and . The published “Extract” was disseminated to Saints throughout the nation via the newspaper, and the document shaped their memory of the persecution in and their pattern for rehearsing it. JS clearly intended to reach not only the Latter-day Saints subscribing to the church newspaper but also the greater American public. As part of JS’s effort to gain sympathy in the court of public opinion, this document became part of the broadening agenda of gaining redress for grievances suffered in Missouri.
JS et al., Liberty, MO, to the church members and Edward Partridge, Quincy, IL, 20 Mar. 1839, in Revelations Collection, CHL [D&C 123:1–2]. In a letter to the church written three months earlier, JS had reflected on some of the causes leading to the expulsion. (JS, Liberty, MO, to “the church,” Caldwell Co., MO, 16 Dec. 1838, JS Collection, CHL.)
Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
JS, “Bill of Damages against the State of Missouri[:] An Account of the Sufferings and Losses Sustained Therein,” Quincy, IL, 4 June 1839, JS Collection, CHL; see also JS, Journal, 27 May–8 June 1839.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
The last entry in JS’s September–October 1838 journal is 5 October 1838. On that day, JS left Far West, Missouri, with a detachment of Mormon men to reinforce the besieged Saints in De Witt, Missouri; after an introductory overview, JS’s “Bill of Damages” begins with the De Witt conflict. The bill ends with JS’s escape from his captors on 16 April 1839 and his arrival in Quincy, Illinois, on 22 April 1839; the first two entries in JS’s 1839 journal resume JS’s journal keeping precisely at this point.
“Prospectus of the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, July 1839, 1:16; Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith, “Address,” Times and Seasons, July 1839, 1:1.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
“To the Patrons of the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:15–16; Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” The Return, May 1890, 257–258.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
It appears that there were three printings of the first issue of the Times and Seasons: the first in July; the second in November, from the same typesetting; and a third sometime thereafter, from a new setting of the text. The third printing, perhaps issued to satisfy increasing demand for the newspaper, retained the November 1839 date. Although minor spelling and punctuation changes appear in the later printings of the “Extract,” no changes were made to the wording. (See Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:94–95.)
Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.
JS’s journal records that he was “dictating History” 10–14 June and 3–5 July 1839, which may have included the historical narrative in the “bill of damages” along with his ongoing work on a complete history of the church. (JS, Journal, 10–14 June and 3–5 July 1839.)
Page 6
houses, and abused the innocent and unoffending inhabitants. They went to my house and drove my family out of doors. They carried away most of my property and left many destitute.— We were taken to the town, into the public square; and before our departure from , we, after much entreaties, were suffered to see our families, being attended all the while with a strong guard; I found my and children in tears, who expected we were shot by those who had sworn to take our lives, and that they should see me no more. When I entered my house, they clung to my garments, their eyes streaming with tears, while mingled emotions of joy and sorrow were manifest in their countenances. I requested to have a private interview with them a few minutes, but this privilege was denied me, I was then obliged to take my departure, but who can realize my feelings which I experienced at that time; to be torn from my , and leaving her surrounded with monsters in the shape of men, and my children too, not knowing how their wants would be supplied; to be taken far from them in order that my enemies might destroy me when they thought proper to do so. My wept, my children clung to me and were only thrust from me by the swords of the guard who guarded me. I felt overwhelmed while I witnessed the scene, and could only reccomend them to the care of that God, whose kindness had followed me to the present time; and who alone could protect them, and deliver me from the hands of my enemies and restore me to my family
I was then taken back to the camp and then I with the rest of my brethren, viz: , , , , , and , were removed to , Jackson county. They did not make known what their intention or designs were in taking us there; but knowing that some of our most bitter enemies resided in that , we came to the conclusion that their design was to shoot us, which from the testimony of others. I do think was a correct conclusion. While there, we were under the care of Generals and , we had to find our own board, and had to sleep on the floor with nothing but a mantle for our covering, and a stick of wood for our pillow. After remaining there a few days we were ordered by General to return; we were accordingly taken back as far as , and there we were thrust into prison and our feet bound with fetters. While in , we were under the charge of from , who suffered all manner of abuse to be heaped upon us. During this time my afflictions were great, and our situation was truly painful. After remaining there a few days we were taken before the court of inquiry, but were not prepared with witnesses, in consequence of the eruelty [cruelty] of the mob, who threatend destruction to all who had any thing to say in our favor: but notwithstanding their threats there were a few who did not think their lives dear so that they might testify to the truth, and in our behalf, knowing we were unlawfully confined; but the court who was prejudiced against us, would not suffer them to be examined according to law, but suffered the State’s Attorney to abuse them as he thought proper. We were then removed to in Clay county, and there kept in close confinement in that place for more than four months. while there, we petitioned for a writ of , but on account of the prejudice of the jailor all communication was cut off; at length however, we succeeded iin getting a petition conveyed to him, but for fourteen days we received no answer. We likewise petitioned the other Judges but with no success. After the expiration of fourteen days ordered us to appear before him, we went and took a number of witnesses, which caused us considerable expense and trouble; but he altogether refused to hear any of our witnesses. The lawyers which we had employed refused to act; being afraid of the people. This being the case, we of course could not succeed, and were consequently [re]manded back to our prison house.— We were sometimes visited by our friends whose kindness and attention, [I] shall ever remember with feelings of [li]vely gratitude, but frequently we were not sufiered to have that privilege. Our vituals were of the coarsest [p. 6]
According to the bill of damages, this was done “under sanction of general Clark.” Major General John B. Clark, to whom Governor Boggs had assigned overall command of the expedition against the Mormons, did not arrive at Far West until 4 November, after General Moses Wilson had left for Independence with JS and other Mormon prisoners as directed by Major General Lucas. (John B. Clark, Richmond, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 10 Nov. 1838; Samuel D. Lucas, Independence, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 5 Nov. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)
JS’s bill of damages lists stolen horses, harnesses, cattle, hogs, books, and store goods. Mormon exiles from Missouri later reported tremendous losses in plundered property. (See redress petitions in Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843, CHL and in Mormon Redress Petitions, 1839–1845, CHL.)
Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2145.
Mormon Redress Petitions, 1839–1845. CHL. MS 2703.
JS’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, later recalled that when JS was taken prisoner she and Joseph Smith Sr. heard several gunshots and concluded that JS had been murdered. (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 16, [2].)
Smith, Lucy Mack. History, 1844–1845. 18 books. CHL. MS 2049. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
The description of JS bidding farewell to his family was expanded from the bill of damages. The three sentences that follow are also an expansion of the bill’s text, which reads only, “We were then removed to Jackson County.”
On 2 November Clark sent orders to Lucas to hold the seven prisoners until Clark arrived at Far West. Lucas apparently did not receive those orders before departing with the prisoners for Independence. Clark then sent orders on 3 November for Lucas to take the prisoners to Richmond. Lucas explained to Governor Boggs that he refused to comply with Clark’s 3 November order because Clark, being junior to Lucas in appointment as a major general in the Missouri militia, was not entitled to issue such a command to Lucas. By returning from the field of operations to his division headquarters in Independence and bringing the prisoners with him, Lucas maintained jurisdictional control over the situation. He reported to Boggs that he “march[ed] them to my head Quarters at Independence to await your further Orders.” (John B. Clark, Jefferson City, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 29 Nov. 1838; Samuel D. Lucas, Independence, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 5 Nov. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA; see also JS, Independence, MO, to Emma Smith, Far West, MO, 4 Nov. 1838, JS, Materials, CCLA.)
Pratt, Parley P. History of the Late Persecution Inflicted by the State of Missouri Upon the Mormons, In Which Ten Thousand American Citizens were Robbed, Plundered, and Driven From the State, and Many Others Imprisoned, Martyred, &c. For Their Religion, and All This by Military Force, by Order of the Executive. By P. P. Pratt, Minister of the Gospel. Written During Eight Months Imprisonment in that State. Detroit: Dawson and Bates, 1839.
According to JS’s bill of damages, “While we were in Jackson, General Clark with his troops arrived in Caldwell and sent an order for our return—holding out the inducement that we were to be reinstated to our former priviledges: but instead of being taken to Caldwell we were taken to Richmond.” Before arriving at Far West, Clark twice sent orders to Lucas to incarcerate the prisoners in the jail at Richmond. There is no indication in Clark’s correspondence that he ordered them returned to Far West. The prisoners were kept in Independence 4–8 November 1838. They were moved from Independence to Richmond 8–9 November. (John B. Clark, Jefferson City, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 29 Nov. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA; [Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 62–65.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
[Rigdon, Sidney]. An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri. Cincinnati: Glezen and Shepard, 1840.
Lieutenant Colonel Price served in Brigadier General Robert Wilson’s second brigade in Major General John B. Clark’s first division of the state militia. (See John B. Clark, Richmond, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 10 Nov. 1838; and Robert Wilson, Adam-ondi-Ahman, MO, to John B. Clark, 12 Nov. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)
Missouri, State of. “Evidence.” Hearing Record, Richmond, MO, 12–29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. Joseph Smith et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Cir. Ct. 1838). Eugene Morrow Violette Collection, 1806–1921, Western Historical Manuscript Collection. University of Missouri and State Historical Society of Missouri, Ellis Library, University of Missouri, Columbia.
[Rigdon, Sidney]. An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri. Cincinnati: Glezen and Shepard, 1840.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Sidney Rigdon claimed that some of the witnesses for JS and his codefendants were intimidated and fled the county before the hearing began, while those who did attend the hearing “were sworn at bayonet point.” Rigdon’s account of the hearing also claimed that Judge Austin A. King never allowed the defense attorneys to cross-examine the witnesses for the prosecution. King charged JS with “overt acts of Treason in Daviess county” and charged several other Latter-day Saints with treason, murder, larceny, and other crimes. ([Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 66–67; Document Containing the Correspondence, 150; see also Madsen, “Joseph Smith and the Missouri Court of Inquiry,” 98–101.)
[Rigdon, Sidney]. An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri. Cincinnati: Glezen and Shepard, 1840.
Document Containing the Correspondence, Orders, &c., in Relation to the Disturbances with the Mormons; and the Evidence Given before the Hon. Austin A. King, Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of the State of Missouri, at the Court-House in Richmond, in a Criminal Court of Inquiry, Begun November 12, 1838, on the Trial of Joseph Smith, Jr., and Others, for High Treason and Other Crimes against the State. Fayette, MO: Boon’s Lick Democrat, 1841.
JS was transported from Richmond, Daviess County, to Liberty, Clay County, on 30 November and 1 December, along with Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, and Caleb Baldwin. Some Mormon prisoners were transferred to other facilities. (Mittimus, 29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason [Daviess Co. Cir. Ct. 1839], copy, JS Collection, CHL; Hyrum Smith, Diary, [9]; see also Jessee, “Prison Experience,” 24–25.)
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.
Jessee, Dean C. “‘Walls, Grates and Screeking Iron Doors’: The Prison Experiences of Mormon Leaders in Missouri, 1838–1839.” In New Views of Mormon History: A Collection of Essays in Honor of Leonard J. Arrington, edited by Davis Bitton and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, 19–42. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987.
The Clay County jailer was Sheriff Samuel Hadley. (State of Missouri, Mittimus, 29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason [Daviess Co. Cir. Ct. 1839], copy, JS Collection, CHL.)
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
Alexander Doniphan and Peter Burnett represented the prisoners at the 25 January 1839 habeas corpus hearing in Clay County. No record of the proceedings has been found. Burnett later recounted that Doniphan made a spirited defense of the prisoners at this time. Judge Turnham released Rigdon, finding insufficient proof of his culpability in the record of the November 1838 court of inquiry over which Judge Austin A. King presided. (Fearing for his safety, Rigdon remained in the prison until 5 February.) JS and the other prisoners were returned to jail pending a hearing before a Daviess County grand jury, scheduled for April 1839. (Jessee, “Prison Experience,” 29; Burnett, Recollections and Opinions, 53–55; Sidney Rigdon, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, pp. [23]–[24], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
Jessee, Dean C. “‘Walls, Grates and Screeking Iron Doors’: The Prison Experiences of Mormon Leaders in Missouri, 1838–1839.” In New Views of Mormon History: A Collection of Essays in Honor of Leonard J. Arrington, edited by Davis Bitton and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, 19–42. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987.
Burnett, Peter H. Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer. New York: D. Appleton, 1880.