This volume is made possible by the help and generosity of numerous people and institutions. We are particularly grateful to the administrators and officials of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, which sponsors the project. We also express deep appreciation to the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation for its continued support of the project. The foundation’s generosity and encouragement have enabled us to meet an ambitious production schedule while adhering to the highest scholarly standards. In particular, we express sincere gratitude to Gail Miller. Her continued devotion to this work has made this and all other volumes of The Joseph Smith Papers possible.
The Joseph Smith Papers Project relies on the skills and dedication of employees and volunteers in the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and on independent scholars and editors. Employees who have assisted us include Carolyn Call Ashton, Heather Claridge, Melissa Garrison, Petra Javadi-Evans, Robin Scott Jensen, Kaytee Johnson, Shannon Kelly Jorgensen, Jeffrey D. Mahas, Catherine Reese Newton, Sharon E. Nielsen, Alex Smith, and Kate Staker. Research assistance was provided by Jacob R. Anderson, Susan Yungfleisch Fife, Nathan Jones, Megan Sanderson, William V. Smith, and Sheridan Sylvester. We are also indebted to Matthew J. Grey and Thomas A. Wayment, whose research and guidance were indispensable to the volume. We express our gratitude to Jeffrey Walker for help with matters related to the legal documents within the volume. We thank Bryon Andreasen, who also helped with legal and other matters. We are grateful to Christy L. Best, who helped identify and catalog documents; Jay R. and Naoma W. Eastley, volunteers at the Church History Library, who assisted with research and preliminary drafts for much of the Geographical Directory; and Eleanor Brainard and Lee Ann Clanton, also volunteers, who helped with document transcription. We are grateful to those who helped with document verification, including Anne Berbert, Tom Clark, Doris Dant, Lorin Groesbeck, Jessica Neilson, Janice Simmons, Bart Summerhays, and Jeremy Walker. We also thank Brian P. Barton, Noel R. Barton, Wayne T. Morris, and Steven Motteshard, who provided professional genealogical research services in support of the Biographical Directory. Other research used in the Biographical Directory was provided by a volunteer team headed by Patricia L. Spilsbury and consisting of Joyce Bastian, Elaine Gunther, Larry Gunther, Brenda Homer, Shirley Larkins Romney, Kathleen Williams, and Joanne Wright. We thank them for their help. We are also grateful to Kate Mertes, who created the index for this volume, and Margaret A. Hogan, who carefully proofread the volume. We express our thanks to Brandon Metcalf for his diligent assistance with documents and to the staff of the Preservation Division, Church History Department, who, among other things, facilitated digitization of the textual images. Thanks also to Benson Y. Parkinson of the Publishing Services Department for improving the complex process of publishing simultaneously in print and digital channels. We also thank Deborah Gayle Gates for administrative assistance and Debra Xavier Abercrombie and Benjamin H. Wood for their efforts in marketing the project and the volume.