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26015
History, circa Summer 1832
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Frederick G. Williams handwriting begins.
In
contemporaneous religious writing, “experience” often denoted
personal enlightenment through divine communication. (“Experience,”
in Oxford English Dictionary, 3:430.)
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The Oxford English Dictionary. Edited by James A. H. Murray, Henry Bradley, W. A. Craigie, and C. T. Onions. 12 vols. 1933. Reprint, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970.
In the early 1830s, often referred to an “order of men set apart for sacred offices”; also referred more generally to power or authority from God. The priesthood was conferred through the laying on of hands to adult male members of the church in good standing...
View GlossaryTEXT: “it” changed to “in”, then “in” canceled.
A religious rite. JS taught that ordinances were covenants between man and God, in which believers could affirm faith, gain spiritual knowledge, and seek blessings. Some ordinances were considered requisite for salvation. The manner in which ordinances were...
View GlossaryIn the early church, the term keys referred to JS’s authority to unlock the “mysteries of the kingdom.” Early revelations declared that both JS and Oliver Cowdery held the keys to bring forth “those parts of my scriptures which have been hidden because of...
View GlossarySee Matthew 16:19; Revelation, 30 Oct. 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 24:1, 1835 ed. [D&C 65:2]; and
Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832, in Doctrine and Covenants 79:1, 1835 ed.
[D&C 81:2].
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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).
I was born in the town of
Charon [Sharon] in the <State> of Vermont North America on the twenty third day of December AD
1805 of goodly Parents4
who spared no pains to instruct<ing> me in <the> christian
religion[.] at the age
of about ten years my Father Joseph Smith Seignior
moved to Palmyra
Ontario County5
in the State of New York and being in indigent
circumstances were obliged to labour hard for the support of a
large Family having nine chilldren6 and as it
require d their exertions of all that
were able to render any assistance for the support of the Family
therefore we were deprived of the bennifit of an education
suffice it to say I was mearly instruct tid in reading and writing and the ground <rules> of Arithmatic which const[it]uted my whole lite rary
acquirements.7
At about the age of twelve
years my mind become seriously imprest [p. 1]
Compare Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 5 [1 Nephi
1:1].
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The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. Palmyra, NY: E. B. Grandin, 1830.
12 July 1771–14 Sept. 1840. Cooper, farmer, teacher, merchant. Born at Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty. Nominal member of Congregationalist church at Topsfield. Married to Lucy Mack by Seth Austin, 24 Jan. 1796, at Tunbridge...
View Full BioFirst permanent white settlers arrived, ca. 1789. Included village of Palmyra. Erie canal opened, 1825, in southern portion of township. Population in 1810 about 2,200. Population in 1830 about 3,400. Home of Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith family, beginning...
More InfoPalmyra was part of Ontario County until April 1823, when it became part of newly created Wayne County. (An Act to Erect a New County, from Parts of the Counties of Ontario and Seneca, by the Name of Wayne, and For Other Purposes [11 Apr. 1823], Laws of the State of New-York [1823], chap. 138, pp. 158–162.)
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Laws of the State of New-York, Passed at the Forty-Sixth Session of the Legislation. Begun at the City of Albany the First Day of January, and Continued Till April 24, 1823. Albany: Leake and Croswell, 1823.
The Smith family embarked on a new effort
to clear land and establish a family farm in New York after years of
financial misfortune in Vermont and
New Hampshire. JS and his siblings did, however,
receive some formal schooling in their youth and probably received
some rudimentary education at home. (See Palmyra, NY, Attendance record, first school district, Sept.–Nov. 1817, Macedon Historical Society, Macedon, NY; see also Marquardt, Rise of Mormonism, 33–34.)
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School Records, First School District, Palmyra, NY. Macedon Historical Society, Macedon, NY.
Marquardt, H. Michael. The Rise of Mormonism: 1816–1844. Longwood, FL: Xulon Press, 2005.
JS’s circa summer
1832 history is the only narrative of the foundational
spiritual events of JS’s early life that includes his
own handwriting. It begins in an imposing manner, announcing “A History
of the life of Joseph Smith Jr. an
account of his marvilous experience and of all the mighty acts which
he doeth in the name of Jesus Ch[r]ist … and also an account of the
rise of the church of Christ in the eve of time.” Following this introduction, JS started with his
own birth and then quickly moved to the events that marked the beginning
of his career as a prophet: his study of the Bible, his early
visions, the reception of the gold plates, the financial and scribal
assistance of Martin Harris at the beginning of JS’s
translation of the plates, and Harris’s loss of the early translation
manuscript. Then, following a brief mention of Oliver Cowdery, who in the account had not yet met JS but
would soon provide him desperately needed scribal and financial
assistance, the document ends abruptly after only six pages. The introductory prospectus to the history refers
to four foundational events in JS’s life: “the testamony from on
high,” later explained as his first vision of Deity; “the ministering of
Angels,” or the angel Moroni’s revelation of the gold plates of the
Book of Mormon; the “reception of the holy Priesthood”; and “a
confirmation and reception of the high Priesthood.” JS related the
first two events in some detail, providing a firsthand account of his childhood and early religious experiences, but this history includes nothing further about the reception of priesthood authority.
18 May 1783–10 July 1875. Farmer. Born at Easton, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s Landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married first his first cousin Lucy Harris at Palmyra...
View Full Bio3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioIn the early 1830s, often referred to an “order of men set apart for sacred offices”; also referred more generally to power or authority from God. The priesthood was conferred through the laying on of hands to adult male members of the church in good standing...
View GlossaryIt is not clear why JS ended his earliest history before completing his stated intentions. Some of his other documentary
endeavors, including the journal he began the same year, are similarly incomplete, perhaps indicating that other activities simply took precedence.1 It is possible, however, that JS deliberately ended the history where he did, viewing it as part of a larger historical record that would include the work of others assigned as record keepers. Even though JS wrote
his own history in about summer 1832, he continued to affirm John Whitmer’s role as church historian, demonstrating that JS’s historical venture did not
relieve Whitmer of the responsibility to continue the church history.2
For his part, Whitmer viewed his history as continuing work begun by Oliver Cowdery, whom he replaced as church record keeper.3
The question of whether JS expected Cowdery’s or Whitmer’s work to fit together with the account begun in his own history cannot be settled for certain; JS’s narrative does, however, cover only earlier history for which JS alone could provide a firsthand account, and it concludes just before Cowdery enters the scene.4
Although JS began his first journal with the explicit intention “to keep a minute acount of all things that come under my obsevation,” there were substantial gaps in his journal keeping. (JS, Journal, 27 Nov. 1832.)
27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
View Full BioSee JS, Hiram, OH, to William W. Phelps,
[Independence, MO], 31 July 1832, JS Collection, CHL; JS, Kirtland, OH, to William W. Phelps, [Independence, MO], 27 Nov. 1832, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 1–4; Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–A, in Doctrine and Covenants 28:1, 1835 ed. [D&C
69:3]; and JS and Sidney Rigdon, Far West, MO, to John Whitmer, Far West, MO, 9 Apr. 1838.
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Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL.
JS Letterbook 1 / Smith, Joseph. “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL.
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).
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioMinute Book 2, 9 June 1830; Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–B, in Book of Commandments 50 [D&C 47]; Whitmer, History, 25; see also the Historical Introduction to Whitmer, History, in JSP, H2:8.
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Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
A Book of Commandments, for the Government of the Church of Christ, Organized according to Law, on the 6th of April, 1830. Zion [Independence], MO: W. W. Phelps, 1833. 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).
Whitmer, History / Whitmer, John. “The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment,” ca. 1838–1847. CCLA.
JSP, H1 / Davidson, Karen Lynn, David J. Whittaker, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Richard L. Jensen, eds. Histories, Volume 1: Joseph Smith Histories, 1832–1844. Vol. 1 of the Histories 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, 2012.
Although no narrative history by Oliver Cowdery predating JS’s first history is known, Cowdery wrote a series of historical letters in 1834–1835 that were published in the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate and later copied into JS’s 1834–1836 history. Cowdery may have taken JS’s history into account when he began the first letter, as he picked up the story just where JS had left off—when the two first met in Harmony, Pennsylvania, on 5 April 1829. Cowdery went on to describe the receipt of the lower (Aaronic) priesthood. Thus, whether by design or coincidence, Cowdery detailed the third event outlined in the prospectus to JS’s history (“the reception of the holy Priesthood by the ministring of— Aangels”). In chapter 7 of his history, Whitmer covered the fourth event (the “confirmation and reception of the high Priesthood”). (Oliver Cowdery, Norton, OH, to William W. Phelps, 7 Sept. 1834, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:13–16 [also in JS History, 1834–1836]; JS History, ca. summer 1832; Whitmer, History, 27.)
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Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
JS History, 1834–1836 / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1834–1836. In Joseph Smith et al., History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1, back of book (earliest numbering), 9–20, 46–187. CHL.
JS History, ca. Summer 1832 / Smith, Joseph. “A History of the Life of Joseph Smith Jr,” ca. Summer 1832. In Joseph Smith, “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835, 1–[6] (earliest numbering). Joseph Smith Collection. CHL.
Whitmer, History / Whitmer, John. “The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment,” ca. 1838–1847. CCLA.
The circa summer 1832 history came about as part of a
new phase in JS’s record-keeping practices.
During the first four years of Mormon record keeping (1828–1831), JS focused
primarily on preserving his revelatory texts. The records surviving
from the early period of his prophetic career are almost exclusively
sacred texts, including the Book of Mormon manuscripts, JS’s
revision of the Bible, and his own contemporary
revelations. Scriptural record keeping overshadowed personal and
institutional record keeping. This focus changed in 1832, when JS began documenting his personal
life in detail for the first time, both in his history and in the journal he
began on 27 November 1832. He and
his scribes also began compiling a minute book and a letterbook,
providing material recording day-to-day events. With this broader
record-keeping focus, JS began to document his role as revelator and
church leader in addition to preserving the texts of revelations and visions.
In the early 1830s, when this history was written, it appears that
JS had not broadcast the details of his first vision of Deity. The history of
the church, as it was then generally understood, began with the gold
plates. John Whitmer mentioned in his history “the commencement of the
church history commencing at the time of the finding of the
plates,” suggesting that Whitmer was either unaware of JS’s earlier vision or did not
conceive of it as foundational.5
Records predating
1832 only hint at JS’s earliest
manifestation. The historical preamble to the 1830 “articles and covenants,” for example, appears to
reference JS’s vision in speaking of a moment when “it truly was manifested unto this first elder, that he had received a
remission of his sins.”6
Initially, JS may have considered this vision to be a personal experience tied to his own religious
explorations. He was not accustomed to recording personal events,
and he did not initially record the vision as he later did the sacred texts at the center of his attention. Only
when JS expanded his focus to include historical records did he
write down a detailed account of the theophany he experienced as a youth. The result was a
simple, unpolished account of his first “marvilous experience,”
written largely in his own hand. The account was not published or
widely circulated at the time, though in later years he told the
story more frequently.
27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
View Full BioWhitmer, History,
25.
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Whitmer, History / Whitmer, John. “The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment,” ca. 1838–1847. CCLA.
Articles and covenants, 10 Apr. 1830, in Book of Commandments 24:6–7 [D&C 20:5–8]. In the circa summer 1832
history, Christ’s first message to JS is “thy sins are forgiven
thee.”
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A Book of Commandments, for the Government of the Church of Christ, Organized according to Law, on the 6th of April, 1830. Zion [Independence], MO: W. W. Phelps, 1833. 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).
Understanding the production of the circa summer 1832 history is
complicated by the possibility that it was copied from an earlier
manuscript, a possibility suggested by the known
record-keeping practices of JS and Frederick G. Williams, in
whose alternating handwriting the history is inscribed. In the same time period, they jointly copied six
revelations from 1831 and 1832, some of which JS originally dictated to
Williams, into the beginning of a compilation of revelations.7
They
also divided inscription work when they copied JS’s 27 November 1832 letter to William W. Phelps, which JS
originally dictated, into JS’s first letterbook (begun in the same
volume that contains the circa summer 1832 history). Thus, the other extant 1832
documents inscribed in both JS’s and Williams’s handwriting are
all copies.8
In their early record-keeping efforts, JS and his scribes established the
practice of copying loose minutes, letters, and revelations into
more permanent blank books. In fact, the large blank books used in church
record-keeping through 1832 were filled
entirely or almost entirely with material copied from loose
leaves.9
Thus, the fact that the extant history
exists in a record book and not as loose leaves suggests it is a
copy.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioSee Revelation Book 2, 1–10, 12–15, 18–31.
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Revelation Book 2 / “Book of Revelations,” 1832–1834. Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL.
17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...
View Full BioSee Vision, 16 Feb. 1832, in Revelation Book 2, pp. 1–10 [D&C 76]; Revelation, 4
Dec. 1831, in Revelation Book 2, pp. 12–15 [D&C 72]; Revelation, 7 Mar. 1832, in
Revelation Book 2, pp. 18–19 [D&C 80]; Revelation, 22 and 23 Sept.
1832, in Revelation Book 2, pp. 20–31 [D&C 84]; and JS, Kirtland, OH, to William W. Phelps, [Independence, MO], 27 Nov. 1832, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 1–4. A small section of JS inscription among his Bible revisions may be an exception; it was made in either 1832 or 1833.
(Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 72.)
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JS Letterbook 1 / Smith, Joseph. “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL.
Faulring, Scott H., Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews, eds. Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2004.
Later JS documents, however, such as his
journals for 1835–1836, March–September 1838, and
1841–1842, provide examples of original material inscribed
directly into large blank books. Frederick G. Williams evidently
also began inscribing topical indexes of scriptural references
directly into several blank books beginning 17 July 1833. (See Jensen, “Ignored and Unknown Clues of Early Mormon Record Keeping,” 136–139.)
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Jensen, Robin Scott. “Ignored and Unknown Clues of Early Mormon Record Keeping.” In Preserving the History of the Latter-day Saints, edited by Richard E. Turley and Steven C. Harper, 135–164. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2010.
Textual clues also indicate that the extant 1832 history may
not be an original composition. The handwriting of Williams and JS passes
back and forth with little or no correspondence to the narrative
progress of the history; the two sometimes alternate inscription
mid-sentence. In JS’s writing, moreover, the disruptions to
inscription caused by changing or sharpening a quill and dipping it
in ink occur in the middle of a thought and even in the middle of a
word, suggesting he was copying rather than composing.10
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioOn the second page of the manuscript, for example, the quill sharpness changes between the u and the r of “courses” in the phrase “the stars shining in their courses.”
Other textual evidence, however, indicates that the
circa summer 1832 history may be the original inscription. In their work
on the history, neither JS nor Williams made inscription
errors that one might expect to find if it were a copy,
errors that both men made in contemporary copying work. For example,
when copying a 27 November 1832
letter into his first letterbook, JS inadvertently repeated a phrase
from a line above and then struck the phrase after realizing his
error.11
Similarly, in
copying a December 1833 letter into
the same volume, Williams apparently skipped a line of the original
before catching himself and fixing the mistake.12
Errors like these
do not appear in the 1832 history.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioJS, Kirtland, OH, to William W. Phelps, [Independence, MO], 27 Nov. 1832, in JS Letterbook 1, p. 4.
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JS Letterbook 1 / Smith, Joseph. “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL.
JS, Kirtland Mills, OH, to Edward Partridge et al., Liberty, MO, 10 Dec. 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, p. 71.
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JS Letterbook 1 / Smith, Joseph. “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL.
The history also contains several significant
contemporaneous revisions in JS’s handwriting,
which may indicate that JS was composing original narrative. For
instance, at the bottom of page 3 he wrote, “about that time my
mother and,” but then apparently decided he did not want to include
this detail and canceled the passage. Such revisions, however, could
have been made during copying, not during composition. JS and his
scribes made similar revisions as they copied drafts and other
antecedent documents into the 1834–1836 history and the multivolume
manuscript history initiated in 1838.
Likewise, JS and Williams may have been
modifying the circa summer 1832 history as they copied it from an earlier
text.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioAlthough JS’s earliest history bears no date, its approximate creation date can be determined by considering the language of the text, the volume in which it is found, and the larger historical context. Frederick G. Williams first met JS in summer 1831,
but there is no evidence that he began work as a scribe before 16
February 1832, the date of the first item he copied into
JS’s second revelation book.13
Although
none of the revelations he transcribed into the book bears a
transcription date, the inconsistent copying styles of the various
transcripts and the interspersed transcripts of older revelations
that appear among the March 1832 revelations suggest that the book
had become the active record-keeping repository for the revelations
by March 1832.14 If JS and Williams were copying
revelations in March 1832, it is not
implausible that they created the history around the same time.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioWilliams, “Frederick Granger Williams,” 245–247; see also Revelation Book 2, pp. 1–10.
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Williams, Frederick G. “Frederick Granger Williams of the First Presidency of the Church.” BYU Studies 12 (Spring 1972): 243–261.
See Revelation Book 2, pp. 1–20. John Whitmer had earlier inscribed revelations into a blank book, Revelation Book 1, but because Whitmer took this book to Missouri in late November 1831, another book was needed for copying revelations. Revelation Book 2 filled this need, and it was apparently begun in February or March 1832.
The volume containing the history provides clues to determine the latest date by which the history was written. Sometime after the history was inscribed, the volume was repurposed as a letterbook, beginning with a letter dated 27 November 1832. The uneven copying styles of the letters from January to April 1833 indicate that the letterbook was being used as an active copy book during that period, with letters being transcribed into the volume in chronological order as they were written, prior to mailing them.15
JS probably followed this same pattern the previous fall, making a contemporaneous copy of the 27 November 1832 letter in the letterbook before sending the original. If indeed the volume that contains the circa summer 1832 history was repurposed as a letterbook at the end of November, the history must have been written before then.
See JS Letterbook 1, pp. 14–36.
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JS Letterbook 1 / Smith, Joseph. “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL.
The date range for likely composition of the history can be narrowed even further.
Williams took on
increasing clerical work in July
1832 during a suspension of Sidney Rigdon’s position as JS’s principal counselor
and scribe.16
In a later statement, Williams
wrote, “I commencd writing for Joseph Smith Jr July 20th
1832 as may be seen by S Rigdon permission dated as
above.”17
Following this
20 July appointment,
Williams’s clerical duties expanded and he recorded revelations,
Bible revisions, and letters as JS dictated.18
JS’s earliest history was probably inscribed between the 20 July appointment and 22 September 1832, the
date of a revelation that changed JS’s lexicon regarding priesthood. The history refers to the first
priesthood JS received as the “holy
priesthood,” which was then followed by the reception of the “high
priesthood,” but the
September 1832 revelation reserved the adjective “holy” for the
higher priesthood.19
JS’s subsequent writings and revelations consistently reserved the word “holy” to describe the greater priesthood only.20
The terminology of the
existing documentary record, therefore, coupled with the date of
Williams’s appointment as
scribe, suggests that the history was most likely composed between
20 July and 22
September 1832.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full BioAt the Sunday meeting held in Kirtland on 8 July 1832, JS demanded that Rigdon surrender his priesthood license because Rigdon had declared three days earlier that the “keys of the kingdom” had been taken from the church and that he alone retained them.a Three
weeks later JS reinstated Rigdon in the church presidency.b
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a“History [of] Charles Coulson Rich,” 3–4, Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880, CHL; Cahoon, Diary, 5–17 July 1832; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 13, [6]; Dibble, “Philo Dibble’s Narrative,” 79–80.
bHyrum Smith, Diary and Account Book, 28 July 1832; JS, Hiram, OH, to William W. Phelps, [Independence, MO], 31 July 1832, JS Collection, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880. CHL.
Cahoon, Reynolds. Diaries, 1831–1832. CHL.
Smith, Lucy Mack. History, 1844–1845. 18 books. CHL. Also available in Lavina Fielding Anderson, ed., Lucy’s Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith’s Family Memoir (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2001).
Dibble, Philo. “Philo Dibble’s Narrative.” In Early Scenes in Church History, Faith-Promoting Series 8, pp. 74–96. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1882.
Smith, Hyrum. Diary and Account Book, Nov. 1831–Feb. 1835. Hyrum Smith, Papers, ca. 1832–1844. BYU.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL.
Frederick G. Williams, Statement, no date, Frederick G. Williams, Papers, CHL. Although the cited
permission is not extant, the language of this undated statement
indicates that Williams was basing his information not on memory
but on contemporaneous documentation.
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Williams, Frederick G. Papers, 1834–1842. CHL.
See, for
example, Revelation Book 2, pp.
19–31;
Faulring et al., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible, 59, 70–72; JS, Hiram, OH, to William W.
Phelps, [Independence, MO], 31 July 1832, JS Collection, CHL;
and JS, Kirtland OH, to Vienna Jacques, Independence, MO, 4 Sept. 1833, JS Collection, CHL. Williams later wrote that from
the time of his employment on 20 July 1832 until January 1836, he
“was constantly in said Smiths employ.” (Frederick G. Williams, Statement, no date, Frederick G. Williams, Papers, CHL; compare
“Account on Farm,” no date, Frederick G. Williams, Papers, CHL.)
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Faulring, Scott H., Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews, eds. Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2004.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL.
Williams, Frederick G. Papers, 1834–1842. CHL.
Revelation, 22 and 23 Sept. 1832, in Doctrine and Covenants 4:2–3, 1835 ed. [D&C 84:6, 18–19]. For examples of pre–September 1832 use of “holy” to describe both the higher and lower priesthoods, see Book of Mormon, 1830 ed.,
73–74, 258–260 [2 Nephi 5:26, 6:2; Alma 13:1–19]; Elder’s license for John Whitmer, 9 June 1830, JS Collection, CHL; Teacher’s license for Christian Whitmer, 9 June 1830, Western Americana Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT; Priest’s license for Joseph Smith Sr., 9 June 1830, JS Collection, CHL.
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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).
The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. Palmyra, NY: E. B. Grandin, 1830.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL.
Western Americana Collection. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Whiting, Linda Shelley. David W. Patten: Apostle and Martyr. Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2003.
See, for example, Plat of City of Zion, 1833, CHL; JS to Oliver
Cowdery, Blessing, 18 Dec. 1833, in Patriarchal Blessings, 1:12;
Instruction on priesthood, ca. Apr. 1835, in Doctrine and Covenants 3:1, 8, 10, 1835 ed. [D&C
107:3, 14, 20].
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Plat of City of Zion, 1833. CHL.
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL.
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).
Regardless of when it was created, the circa summer 1832 history
provides the most personal, intimate account of JS’s early visions available and
preserves details of those visions not recorded elsewhere.
JS, “A History of the
life of Joseph Smith Jr. an account of his marvilous
experience and of all the mighty acts which he doeth in
the name of Jesus Ch[r]ist the son of the living God of
whom he beareth record and also an account of the rise
of the church of Christ in the eve of time according as
the Lord brought forth and established by his hand
firstly he receiving the testamony from on high
seccondly the ministering of Angels thirdly the
reception of the holy Priesthood by the ministring of—Aangels to adminster the letter of the Gospel—the Law
and commandments as they were given unto him—and the
ordinencs, forthly a confirmation and reception of the
high Priesthood after the holy order of the son of the
living God power and ordinence from on high to preach
the Gospel in the administration and demonstration of
the spirit the Kees of the Kingdom of God confered upon
him and the continuation of the blessings of God to him
&c—,” History, [ca. summer 1832]; handwriting
of Frederick G.
Williams and JS; six pages; in JS
Letterbook 1, JS Collection, CHL.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioJS’s circa
summer 1832 history was inscribed in the front of a
medium-size, commercially produced blank book. The book’s ledger paper is
horizontally ruled with thirty-six (now faint) blue lines
and vertically ruled with four red lines. The original book
apparently contained nine gatherings of twelve leaves each,
but eight leaves have been cut from the final gathering.
The text block was sewn all along over recessed cords. The
leaves measure 12⅝ x 7¾ inches (32 x 20 cm). The pastedowns
and flyleaves were blank white paper. The volume was
constructed with front and back covers of pasteboard and a
tight-back case binding with a brown calfskin
quarter-leather binding. The bound book measures 12⅞ x 8 x ⅞
inches (33 x 20 x 2 cm). The outside covers are adorned in
shell marbled paper, with brown body and veins of blue and
red. The front pastedown bears the inscriptions “c=c/i” and
“/i=”, possibly original merchandising notes. The original front flyleaf, and any
inscriptions it may have borne, is no longer extant.
The
history was inscribed by Frederick G.
Williams and JS with quill
pen in black ink (now oxidized to brown) on the first three
leaves of ledger paper. The first five pages of the
history were numbered by Williams. Later, the book was
turned over so the back cover became the front and the last
page became the first. One or more texts were inscribed in
this side (the back) of the book, as is evident from inscriptions
visible on the remaining stubs of the eight now-excised
leaves. The volume was also repurposed as a letterbook.
Beginning on the recto of the fourth leaf in the front of
the book (immediately following the history) are
ninety-three pages of copied outgoing letters, dated 14 June 1829 through 4 August 1835, in the
handwriting of Williams, JS, Orson Hyde, and Oliver Cowdery. The book’s
pagination also began anew with the copied letters. The
first page of letters bore the inscription “1a”, which is
only partially legible on the now-trimmed page but is
complete in photocopy and microfilm copies at the Church History Library.1
The front flyleaf is missing; perhaps it bore a title related to the history and
was removed when the volume was converted to a letterbook.
The back flyleaf is also missing. At some point,
Williams
began an index for the letters. This incomplete index is
inscribed on paper that does not match the original ledger
paper. It was apparently a loose leaf inserted in the
volume—as is Williams’s index to the contents of Revelation Book 22
—although it
is currently bound in the front of the volume as a result of
late twentieth-century conservation. This index does not
list the history.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio8 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 Bio3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioThe photocopy may have been
made from the microfilm. The letterbook was filmed on 12
November 1968. (Microfilming report, entry no. JP 1068, Historical Department, Microfilm Reports, 1949–1975, CHL.)
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Historical Department. Microfilm Reports, 1949–1975. CHL.
At some point, Williams’s
index for Revelation Book 2 was attached with
adhesive wafers to the inside front cover of the book.
(See JSP, MRB:412–413.)
Comprehensive Works Cited
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JSP, MRB / Jensen, Robin Scott, Robert J. Woodford, and Steven C. Harper, eds. Manuscript Revelation Books. Facsimile edition. First volume 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, 2009.
A reconstruction of the physical history of the
artifact helps explain the current material
context of the document. Photocopy and microfilm images of
the book, as well as an inspection of the conservation work
now present in the volume, indicate that the text block
separated from the binding at some point. Also, the initial
three leaves containing the history were excised from
the volume. The eight inscribed leaves in the back of the
volume may have been cut out at the same time.3 Manuscript evidence suggests that
these excisions took place in the mid-twentieth century. A
tear on the third leaf, which evidently occurred during its
excision, was probably mended at the time. This tear was
mended with clear cellophane tape, which was invented in
1930.4
The three leaves of the
history
certainly had been removed by 1965, when they were
described as “cut out,” although they were archived together
with the letterbook. The size and paper stock of the three
excised leaves match those of the other leaves in the book.
Also, the cut and tear marks, as well as the inscriptions in
the gutters of the three excised leaves, match those of the
remaining leaf stubs, confirming their original location in
the book.5
The three leaves
were
later restored
to the volume, apparently in the 1990s.6
This
restoration was probably part of a larger
conservation effort that took place, in which the entire volume was rebound,
including binding the formerly loose index of letters. The
first gathering, which contains the history, was slightly
trimmed in connection with this conservation work. The
volume shows marked browning, brittleness, and wear. It is
listed in Nauvoo,
Illinois, and early Salt Lake City, Utah, inventories made by the
Church Historian’s Office, as well as in the 1973 register of
the JS Collection, indicating continuous institutional
custody.7
These eight leaves have not been located.
Cole et al., Encyclopedia of Modern Everyday Inventions, 22; Edelman, “Brief History of Tape,” 45–46.
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Cole, David J., Eve Browning, and Fred E.H. Schroeder. Encyclopedia of Modern Everyday Inventions. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003.
Edelman, Jonathan. “A Brief History of Tape.” Ambidextrous 5 (Falling in 2006): 45–46.
Cheesman, “Analysis of the Accounts Relating Joseph Smith’s Early Visions,” 126;
Jessee, “The Early Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” 277–278.
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Cheesman, Paul Robert. “An Analysis of the Accounts Relating Joseph Smith’s Early Visions.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1965.
Jessee, Dean C. “The Early Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision.” BYU Studies 9 (Spring 1969): 275–294.
The leaves were
still detached when they were photographed for a 1984
publication.a
They were reattached by 2000, when scanned images that
show them as such were made by the Church Archives of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.b The
leaves are also reported as being reattached in a 25
February 2001 register of the JS Collection, which
states that they were “reattached in the 1990s.”c
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aJessee, Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, 15–20.
bTurley, Selected Collections,vol. 1, disc 20.
cFaulring, “Annotated Catalog of the Joseph Smith Collection.”
Jessee, Dean C., ed. and comp. The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith. Rev. ed. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002.
Turley, Richard E., ed. Selected Collections from the Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 2 vols. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002. DVD.
Faulring, Scott H. Early Manuscripts Collection, 1827–1876. CHL.
Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, LDS church purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas. Served as church headquarters, 1839...
More Info“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1]; “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th April 1855,”
[1], Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; Johnson, Register of the Joseph Smith Collection, 7.
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Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL.
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.
