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27470
Journal, 1839
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to the world about great judgements but rather to preach
the simple gospel— Explained con cerning the coming of the son of Man &c that all will be raised to meet
him62 but the righte ous will remain with him in the cloud whilst all the
proud and all that do wickedly will have to return to the earth, and suffer his vengeance which he will take
upon them this is the second death &c &c
See 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17.
Also that it is a false idea that the saints will escape all the judgements whilst the wicked
suffer— for all flesh is subject to suffer— and “the righteous shall hardly escape”63
still many of the saints will
escape— for the just shall live by faith—64
yet many of the right eous shall fall a prey to disease to pestilence &c and yet &c by reason of the weakness of the flesh and yet be saved in the kingdom of God65
So that it is an unhallowed principle to say that such and such have
trans gressed because they have been preyed upon by disease or death for all flesh is subject to death and the
Saviour has said, “Judge not “lest ye be judged”.66
An
August 1831 apocalyptic revelation stated that “the saints also shall hardly escape.” (Revelation, 30 Aug.
1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 20:9, 1835 ed. [D&C 63:34].)
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Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
See Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; and Hebrews 10:38.
Over a
dozen Latter-day Saints living in and along the Mississippi River valley had died over the summer, including
infants and children, JS’s uncle Silas Smith, and family members of close friends. (Obituary for Silas Smith, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:32; see various obituaries in Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839–Oct. 1840; see also Tullidge, Women of Mormondom, 213–214.)
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Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Tullidge, Edward W. The Women of Mormondom. New York: Tullidge and Crandall, 1877.
See Matthew 7:1; and Luke 6:37.
All the fore part of this week at home and preparing for conference Thurs day met in council and
on
A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...
View GlossarySaturday 5th October 1839 met in general conference which continued
Saturday and Sunday—67
the assemb [p. [13]]
5 Oct. 1839
JS presided over general church conference at Commerce, Illinois, and stakes in Commerce area and Iowa.
The conference continued into Monday, 7 October 1839.
(Minutes, Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:30–31.)
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Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Following their success in forcing the Mormons to evacuate the village of De Witt in Carroll
County, Missouri, in October 1838, anti-Mormon vigilantes applied similar pressure in Daviess County,
beginning with raids on isolated Mormon homes. State militia commander Alexander Doniphan acknowledged that
his troops could not be relied upon to maintain order or to protect the Latter-day Saints’ property rights.
The Mormons mounted a preemptive strike in Daviess County beginning in mid-October, targeting the property
of vigilantes.
Located on bluffs north of Missouri River, about six miles above mouth of Grand River. Permanently settled, by 1826. Laid out, 1836. First called Elderport; name changed to De Witt, 1837, when town acquired by speculators David Thomas and Henry Root, who ...
More InfoArea in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...
More Info9 July 1808–8 Aug. 1887. Lawyer, military general, insurance/bank executive. Born near Maysville, Mason Co., Kentucky. Son of Joseph Doniphan and Ann Smith. Father died, 1813; sent to live with older brother George, 1815, in Augusta, Bracken Co., Kentucky...
View Full BioBurning and plundering by both sides and the evacuation of most of Daviess County’s non-Mormon
residents led to outright warfare. After a company of Ray County volunteers captured three Latter-day Saints
in an area lying between Caldwell and Ray counties, JS helped mobilize a company of Mormons from Caldwell
County as a rescue party. The ensuing battle at Crooked River on 25 October, at which two Mormons, their
guide, and one Missourian were killed, gave rise to exaggerated reports that the Mormons had killed or
captured the entire Ray County contingent and were about to attack Richmond, the seat of Ray County. In the
wake of this news and word of Mormon depredations in Daviess County, in late October 1838 Missouri governor
Lilburn W. Boggs decried Mormon “outrages” and ordered a large militia force to “exterminate” the Mormons or
drive them from the state. JS and other leaders were arrested and incarcerated, and most Mormons left
Missouri in early 1839, trudging eastward for more than 150 miles and crossing the Mississippi River into
Illinois.1
Area in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...
More InfoLocated in northwestern Missouri. Area settled, 1815. Created from Howard Co., 1820. Initially included all state land north of Missouri River and west of Grand River. Population in 1830 about 2,700; in 1836 about 6,600; and in 1840 about 6,600. Latter-day...
More InfoLocated in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More InfoLocated in northwest Missouri. Rises in Clinton Co. and flows about sixty miles southeast through Caldwell and Ray counties; drains into Missouri River. Saints settled mainly on northwestern and southeastern sections of river, by 1835; main settlement also...
More InfoArea settled, ca. 1814. Officially platted as Ray Co. seat, 1827. Population in 1840 about 500. Seat of Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri; also location of courthouse and jails. JS and about sixty other Mormon men were incarcerated here while awaiting...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More Info14 Dec. 1796–14 Mar. 1860. Bookkeeper, bank cashier, merchant, Indian agent and trader, lawyer, doctor, postmaster, politician. Born at Lexington, Fayette Co., Kentucky. Son of John M. Boggs and Martha Oliver. Served in War of 1812. Moved to St. Louis, ca...
View Full BioLeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, chaps. 7–14; Baugh, “Call to Arms,” chaps.
7–12; Hartley, “Almost Too Intolerable a Burthen,” 9–10, 36–37.
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LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.
Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
Hartley, William G. “‘Almost Too Intolerable a Burthen’: The Winter Exodus from Missouri, 1838–39.” Journal of Mormon History 18 (Fall 1992): 6–40.
After a grueling confinement through the winter in the jail at Liberty, Missouri, JS and his
fellow Mormon prisoners were transported to Daviess County for a grand jury investigation. There they were
indicted for treason, riot, arson, burglary, and receiving stolen goods but were granted a change of venue
to Columbia, Missouri, for their contemplated trial. During the journey to the new location, the guards
allowed their prisoners to escape.2
Located in western Missouri, thirteen miles north of Independence. Settled 1820. Clay Co. seat, 1822. Incorporated as town, May 1829. Following expulsion from Jackson Co., 1833, many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay Co., with church leaders and other...
More InfoArea in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...
More InfoHyrum Smith, Testimony, 1 July 1843, Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 78; Lyman Wight, Testimony, 1 July 1843, Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 131–132;
Promissory Note, JS to John Brassfield, 16 Apr. 1839, JS Collection, CHL.
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Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book / Nauvoo Municipal Court. “Docket of the Municipal Court of the City of Nauvoo,” ca. 1841–1845. CHL.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL.
On 22 April 1839, six days after their escape, JS and his companions crossed the Mississippi
River into Illinois. There they reunited with thousands of other Latter-day Saint refugees from Missouri,
many of whom had received a sympathetic, hospitable reception from the citizens of Quincy, Illinois. That
same day, JS rehired James Mulholland, who had performed clerical work for him the previous autumn.
Mulholland began his record in this small journal by noting JS’s escape in Missouri and then, beginning with
JS’s arrival in Quincy, kept a contemporaneous record for six months.
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoLocated on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...
More Info1804–3 Nov. 1839. Born in Ireland. Baptized into LDS church. Married Sarah Scott, 8 Feb. 1838, at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Engaged in clerical work for JS, 1838, at Far West. Ordained a seventy, 28 Dec. 1838. After expulsion from Missouri, lived ...
View Full BioDuring the period covered by this journal, Mulholland worked closely with JS, recording JS’s
history and occasionally accompanying him in his travels. Unlike the September–October 1838 journal, which
Mulholland kept for JS in Missouri, the present journal benefits from JS reporting to his scribe some of the
activities that took place in Mulholland’s absence. A few of the entries in these instances may have been
dictated by JS, although most entries were based on Mulholland’s observation.
1804–3 Nov. 1839. Born in Ireland. Baptized into LDS church. Married Sarah Scott, 8 Feb. 1838, at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Engaged in clerical work for JS, 1838, at Far West. Ordained a seventy, 28 Dec. 1838. After expulsion from Missouri, lived ...
View Full BioArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoWhile keeping this journal for JS, Mulholland was also keeping his own journal, which he wrote
in the back of the record he had kept for JS during autumn 1838. Mulholland’s personal journal entries,
where illuminating, are used to annotate the parallel entries he wrote for JS in the present journal. When
he was separated from JS, Mulholland also focused entries in JS’s journal on Mulholland’s own activities.
Mulholland’s use of first-person narration to refer sometimes to himself and sometimes to JS requires
careful reading to determine whose activities are being described.
1804–3 Nov. 1839. Born in Ireland. Baptized into LDS church. Married Sarah Scott, 8 Feb. 1838, at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Engaged in clerical work for JS, 1838, at Far West. Ordained a seventy, 28 Dec. 1838. After expulsion from Missouri, lived ...
View Full BioThe Illinois resumption of JS’s record keeping reflected the reestablishment of
characteristically Mormon procedures that were suspended during the upheaval in Missouri. Record keeping
lapsed during the Mormon War, the imprisonment of JS, and the expulsion of the Latter-day Saints from the
state. The principle of gathering—at least in an official sense—also lapsed during the aftermath of that
expulsion. Latter-day Saints realized that their practice of gathering to create religious communities,
though mandated by revelation, aroused antagonism of nearby citizenry wherever they settled. In the interest
of survival, should they now intersperse with others, coming together for worship but not living in
tight-knit, exclusive communities? Writing from jail in Liberty in January 1839, JS acknowledged that for
the present “the gathering of necessity [is] stopt.”3
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoLocated in western Missouri, thirteen miles north of Independence. Settled 1820. Clay Co. seat, 1822. Incorporated as town, May 1829. Following expulsion from Jackson Co., 1833, many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay Co., with church leaders and other...
More InfoJS et al., Liberty, MO, to Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young, Far West, MO, 16 Jan. 1839, JS Collection, CHL.
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Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL.
Yet the gathering did not stop. Even without JS’s direction, many of the Mormons fleeing
Missouri sought collective refuge in western Illinois and thereby kept the question of gathering alive. In
March, before JS’s escape, a church conference at Quincy conducted by Brigham Young confronted the question
of whether to “gather” or “scatter.” Young advised settling “in companies,” or at least in sufficiently
close proximity to establish congregations.4
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoLocated on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...
More Info1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...
View Full Bio“Extracts of the Minutes of Conferences,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:15.
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Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Within days of his arrival in Quincy, JS decisively arranged for a new gathering place. In the
months to come, he taught that a gathered community of believers was essential for building a house of the
Lord. As was true for Kirtland, Ohio, and as JS had intended for Far West, Missouri, this new gathering
place was to become a city with a temple.5
Located on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...
More InfoLocated ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...
More InfoOriginally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More InfoLeonard, Nauvoo,
235–237.
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Leonard, Glen M. Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002.
After purchasing some land about fifty miles upriver, at Commerce in Hancock County, Illinois,
JS moved his family and his people there. The riverfront site had poor harbors and swampy lowlands plagued
with malaria-bearing mosquitoes. This journal offers glimpses of JS’s involvement in land purchases and
community planning that provided a basis for a cluster of Mormon settlements on both sides of the
Mississippi. The journal also records JS’s trips to Quincy, Plymouth, and Macomb, Illinois, and other nearby
places to visit family, groups of Latter-day Saints, and regional political and commercial centers.
Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...
More InfoLocated on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...
More InfoVillage located about thirty-five miles southeast of Nauvoo. Settled 1831. Surveyed 1836. Post office established, 1837. Population in 1846 about 60. JS’s brother William Smith moved to farm in area, 1839. JS visited William, June 1839. JS’s sister Katharine...
More InfoIncorporated as city, 1841. McDonough Co. seat. JS’s brother Don Carlos Smith lived nearby Macomb, 1839. JS visited Don Carlos, June 1839.
More InfoMeanwhile, JS and members of the Quorum of the Twelve clung tenaciously to another facet of the
Mormon mission: widespread proselytizing. An 1838 revelation commanded the Twelve to depart from Far West,
Missouri, on 26 April 1839 for a mission to Europe.6 From jail in Liberty, JS reminded
the apostles of that obligation.7
Enemies declared it in advance a false
revelation, as they now had the power to prevent it from being fulfilled. Nonetheless, as diary entries
began in mid-April 1839, members of the Quorum of the Twelve under acting president Brigham Young had just
left Quincy to return to Missouri to fulfill the injunction. Their predawn meeting on 26 April 1839 at Far
West marked the symbolic beginning of their mission abroad. But with much preparation remaining, they
returned to Illinois and did not actually depart for the East until late summer. In the intervening months,
JS met frequently with the eight or nine available apostles to teach them and help them prepare. JS also
attempted to strengthen and unify the quorum by helping to resolve the status of two apostles—Orson Hyde and
William Smith—who had abandoned the Latter-day Saints during the Missouri crisis. The departure of the
Twelve was marked by lengthier-than-usual journal entries reporting sermons and admonitions, indicative of
the significance attached to the mission.
Originally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More InfoSee Revelation, 8 July 1838–A, in JS, Journal, 8 July 1838 [D&C 118].
Located in western Missouri, thirteen miles north of Independence. Settled 1820. Clay Co. seat, 1822. Incorporated as town, May 1829. Following expulsion from Jackson Co., 1833, many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay Co., with church leaders and other...
More InfoJS et al., Liberty, MO, to Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young, Far West, MO, 16 Jan. 1839, JS Collection, CHL.
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Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL.
1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...
View Full BioLocated on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More Info8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...
View Full Bio13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...
View Full BioThe resettlement of the Mormons in Commerce and vicinity and the resumption of church
affairs—including the departure of the Twelve to Britain—were hampered by a malaria epidemic that ravaged
the area from late June to November. When JS was preoccupied with aiding the victims of the scourge for
eleven weeks in July, August, and September, journal entries were scaled back to weekly summaries. While the
entries suggest the duration and centrality of JS’s focus on relieving the sick, they characteristically
only skim the surface. For months, the Smith home and environs served as a hospital of sorts, with JS and
Emma nursing malaria victims. The couple moved their own family into a tent to provide better care in their
house for the sick. JS himself contracted the disease but soon recovered and continued to minister to the
afflicted. Mulholland spent three weeks in late August and early September caring for his own wife, who was
ill.8
Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...
More Info10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full Bio1804–3 Nov. 1839. Born in Ireland. Baptized into LDS church. Married Sarah Scott, 8 Feb. 1838, at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Engaged in clerical work for JS, 1838, at Far West. Ordained a seventy, 28 Dec. 1838. After expulsion from Missouri, lived ...
View Full BioTullidge, Women of Mormondom,
213–214; Historian’s Office, “History of Brigham Young,” 34–35; Woodruff, Journal, 12, 19, 22, and
25 July 1839; Mulholland, Journal, 19 Aug.–8 Sept. 1839.
Comprehensive Works Cited
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Tullidge, Edward W. The Women of Mormondom. New York: Tullidge and Crandall, 1877.
Historian’s Office. “History of Brigham Young.” In Manuscript History of Brigham Young, ca. 1856–1860, vol. 1, pp. 1–104. CHL.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. Also available as Wilford Woodruff’s Journals, 1833–1898, edited by Scott G. Kenney, 9 vols. (Midvale, UT: Signature Books, 1983–1985).
Mulholland, James. Journal, Apr.–Oct. 1839. In Joseph Smith, Journal, Sept.–Oct. 1838. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL.
Despite the epidemic, the Latter-day Saints remained at their new headquarters. When the
disease abated somewhat, JS became increasingly involved in arrangements for a new, larger town that would
soon eclipse and absorb Commerce. At a general conference of the church convened at Commerce in early
October 1839, JS advocated—and the membership of the church affirmed—that this was a suitable location to be
designated a stake of Zion and a gathering place for the Saints.
Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...
More InfoEven while JS built a new stake, Missouri still occupied much of his attention. In the months
and years following the expulsion of his people from that state, JS sought persistently to call attention to
the losses and injustices the Latter-day Saints had suffered and, if possible, to obtain government
compensation. He left Commerce on 29 October 1839, two weeks after the conclusion of this journal, to visit
Washington DC to seek relief and redress from the federal government. The next day, a gravely ill James
Mulholland was taken to Emma Smith’s makeshift hospital, where he died on 3 November, possibly a victim of
the malaria epidemic.9
It is
not clear to what extent the cessation of journal entries after 15 October resulted from Mulholland’s
illness or from a lack of access to JS. Daily entries did not resume until December 1841, more than two
years later, when Willard Richards took up the pen a few months after his return from missionary service in
England.
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoLocated near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...
More InfoCreated as district for seat of U.S. federal government by act of Congress, 1790, and named Washington DC, 1791. Named in honor of George Washington. Headquarters of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of U.S. government relocated to Washington ...
More Info1804–3 Nov. 1839. Born in Ireland. Baptized into LDS church. Married Sarah Scott, 8 Feb. 1838, at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Engaged in clerical work for JS, 1838, at Far West. Ordained a seventy, 28 Dec. 1838. After expulsion from Missouri, lived ...
View Full Bio10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full BioEmma Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to JS, Washington DC, 6 Dec. 1839, Charles Aldrich Autograph Collection, State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines.
Comprehensive Works Cited
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Aldrich, Charles. Autograph Collection. State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines.
24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813. Moved to Chatham, Columbia...
View Full BioJS, “Minute Book. 1839 J. Smiths Journal Escape from Prison,” Journal, Apr.–Oct.
1839; handwriting of James Mulholland; fifteen pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes redactions and
archival marking.
1804–3 Nov. 1839. Born in Ireland. Baptized into LDS church. Married Sarah Scott, 8 Feb. 1838, at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Engaged in clerical work for JS, 1838, at Far West. Ordained a seventy, 28 Dec. 1838. After expulsion from Missouri, lived ...
View Full BioMakeshift notebook, 10 x 4 inches (25 x 10 cm). The journal was fashioned by
folding eight 10 x 8 inch (25 x 20 cm) sheets of paper in half lengthwise to form the notebook
of sixteen leaves (thirty-two pages). Inscriptions that reach the end of a line and cross the
gutter onto another leaf indicate that the folded pages were not sewn during their original use.
Wear on the first and last pages indicates that the pages were not bound for some time. The text
of the journal is inscribed on the first fifteen pages in black ink that later turned brown. The
remaining seventeen pages are blank. At some point a cover for the notebook was made with a 10 x
16 inch (25 x 41 cm) sheet of blue-colored cover stock folded in half twice to create a 10 x 4
inch cover, which was then pamphlet bound with hand stitching. On the front cover, James
Mulholland wrote “Minute Book. | 1839 | J. Smiths Journal | Escape from Prison” with seven
decorative underlines in black ink. On the back cover, the lines “Joseph Smith’s Journal |
Escape from Prison 1839” are written sideways near the top in black ink. This notation, in
unidentified handwriting, appears to be early archival marking. Textual redactions and use marks
made in graphite pencil were added by later scribes who used the journal to produce the
multivolume manuscript history of the church.
1804–3 Nov. 1839. Born in Ireland. Baptized into LDS church. Married Sarah Scott, 8 Feb. 1838, at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Engaged in clerical work for JS, 1838, at Far West. Ordained a seventy, 28 Dec. 1838. After expulsion from Missouri, lived ...
View Full BioThis thin journal was probably among the miscellaneous documents collectively
listed in Nauvoo and early Utah inventories of church records.1
The use of the journal in connection
with the manuscript history, early inventories, and recent archival records indicate that this
journal—like the other JS journals—has remained in continuous church custody.2
Historian’s Office, “Schedule of Church Records”; “Inventory,” [2]; “Historian’s Office Inventory,” [3], Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Hide Works Cited
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL.
See Johnson, Register of the Joseph Smith Collection, 7.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Hide Works Cited
Johnson, Jeffery O. Register of the Joseph Smith Collection in the Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1973.
