The volumes of The Joseph Smith Papers are an intensely and unusually collaborative enterprise. That collaboration begins with the administrators and officials of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, which sponsors the project, and the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation, which provides generous financial support. The editors of this volume express our thanks to these institutions and to the management, staff, and missionaries at the Church History Library, Salt Lake City, where the project is centered and where the majority of Joseph Smith’s papers are located.
Numerous other libraries and repositories also provided materials and assistance. These include the Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City; Community of Christ Library-Archives, Independence, Missouri; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City; Special Collections and Archives, Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University, Logan; Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, Illinois; Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; Illinois State Archives, Springfield; Illinois Regional Archives Depository, Leslie F. Malpass Library, Western Illinois University, Macomb; International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Pioneer Memorial Museum, Salt Lake City; Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum, Cedar City, Utah; Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City; Library of Congress, Washington DC; National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC; Chicago History Museum; Special Collections Research Center, Joseph Regenstein Library, University of Chicago; Special Collections, St. Louis Public Library; Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka; Hancock County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Carthage, Illinois; Hancock County Clerk’s and Recorder’s Office, Carthage; Hancock County Historical Society, Carthage; California State Library, Sacramento; Church History Museum, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City; Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City; and Oshkosh Public Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
We are indebted particularly to several people associated with the Joseph Smith Papers. Our annotation of Council of Fifty meetings held during Joseph Smith’s lifetime draws extensively upon the research and writing of Andrew H. Hedges, Alex D. Smith, and Brent M. Rogers, editors of the third volume of Smith’s journal. These historians also generously consulted on numerous issues, and Rogers drafted some of the annotation for this volume. Gordon A. Madsen, Jeffrey N. Walker, Sharalyn D. Howcroft, and Chad Foulger assisted in understanding complex legal issues. Other historians not associated with the Smith Papers also gave valuable assistance. Andrew F. Ehat and Christopher J. Blythe shared portions of their own research on the council and closely reviewed the entire manuscript (Blythe later joined the Smith Papers). Bryon C Andreasen, Brady Winslow, Clinton Bartholomew, Gary J. Bergera, Christopher C. Smith, and Bruce W. Worthen shared research and insights into various topics.
The various elements of reference material and the illustrations are also the product of a collaborative effort. Noel R. Barton, Brian P. Barton, Steven Motteshard, Wayne T. Morris, and Patricia L. Spilsbury performed genealogical research for the biographical directory. Joseph Johnstun reviewed the information in many of the biographical entries, and Alison Palmer helped coordinate the biographical work and assisted with typesetting. Keaton Reed prepared context files for biographical and geographical research and designed the organizational charts. Amanda Owens oversaw the development of the geographical directory and assisted with maps and textual verification. Kimberly A. Dalton helped with the geographical terms. Welden C. Andersen of the Publishing Services Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, took the textual photographs featured in the volume. Jeffrey G. Cannon found contextual images, provided provenance and other information on images, and oversaw research by volunteer missionaries. Maps for this volume were developed by Geographic Information Services, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, under the direction of David Peart, with cartography by Blake Baker. Several of these maps were based on work done by Brandon Plewe and his team of researchers from Brigham Young University for earlier volumes of The Joseph Smith Papers.
Kelley Konzak checked the inputting of changes made to the text during final verification. Missionaries and volunteers George B. Cook, Silvia Ghosh, Naoma W. Eastley, Eleanor Brainard, and Lee Ann Clanton transcribed relevant documents. Interns Carlin Cottam, Reilly Ben Hatch, Bradley Kime, Hannah Morse, and McCall Pitcher assisted with various research tasks. Rachel I. Gessel helped prepare the manuscript for typesetting. Stephanie Steed helped with a variety of editing tasks, including copyediting and proofreading. Thanks are also due to Susan Jackson, who prepared the initial typescript of the council’s minutes; to Kiersten Olson, who serves as administrative assistant for the entire project; to Glenn N. Rowe and Brandon Metcalf for assistance with original documents; to Margaret A. Hogan and Caroline Larsen for proofreading; and to Kate Mertes for the excellent index. We thank Ed Brinton of Expand Business Solutions, Inc., Salt Lake City, for typesetting the volume.
We also thank the management and staff at Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, for their help with the printing, distribution, and marketing of this volume. We especially acknowledge Sheri L. Dew, Laurel Christensen Day, Lisa Roper, Amy Durham, Suzanne Brady, Richard Erickson, and David Kimball. Thanks are also due to Scott Eggers, Scott Eggers Design, Salt Lake City, for designing the dust jacket and cover, and to Ben Ellis Godfrey and Debra Xavier, Church History Library, who assisted with marketing.