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. Miller 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 the sincerest gratitude to Gail Miller Wilson. 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 Latterday Saints; on faculty, researchers, and editors at Brigham Young University; and on independent scholars and editors. Those who have assisted us include Mark Ashurst-McGee, Quinten Barney, Ronald Barney, Suzy Bills, Jeffrey G. Cannon, LaJean Purcell Carruth, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, Sherilyn Farnes, Melissa Garrison, Matthew J. Grey, David W. Grua, Brian Hauglid, Andrew H. Hedges, Richard L. Jensen, Robin S. Jensen, Shannon Kelly, Kelley Konzak, Melissa Rehon Kotter, Caroline Larsen, Michael Hubbard MacKay, Jeffrey Mahas, Scott D. Marianno, Spencer W. McBride, Adam McLain, Kerry Muhlestein, Andrea Kay Nelson, Sharon E. Nielsen, Rachel Osborne, Amanda Owens, Alison Palmer, Keaton Reed, Alex D. Smith, Mark L. Staker, Jed Woodworth, and Zachary Zundel. We especially thank Joseph F. Darowski and Kay Darowski, who assisted with early drafts of annotation in this volume. We are grateful to Jay R. Eastley and Naoma W. Eastley, volunteers at the Church History Library, who assisted with research and preliminary drafts for the Geographical Directory; Lee Ann Clanton and Eleanor Brainard, also volunteers, who helped with document transcription; and Noel R. Barton, Brian P. Barton, 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 Paddy Spilsbury and consisting of Marlene Breti, Patsy Hendrickson, James Jacobs, Beverly Jones, Paul Simpson, Laura Tropple, Judith Wight, Nola Wilkinson, and Kathleen Williams. We express thanks for their help. We are also very appreciative of Kate Mertes, who created the index for this volume, and Carolyn Call of the Joseph Smith Papers, who skillfully typeset the volume.
We express our thanks to Glenn N. Rowe and Brandon Metcalf, Church History Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for their diligent assistance with the documents; to Gordon A. Madsen and Jeffrey N. Walker for help in understanding legal issues touched on in this volume; and to Welden C. Andersen of the Publishing Services Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who shot textual photographs. We also thank Kiersten Olson for administrative assistance and Patrick Dunshee, Ben Ellis Godfrey, and Deb Xavier for their efforts in marketing the project and the volume.
In addition, we express special thanks to Kay Darowski, Joseph Smith Papers, who oversaw a talented team of student researchers at Brigham Young University from 2003 to 2012. They include Lisse L. Brox, Kendall Buchanan, Ethan J. Christensen, Jared P. Collette, Justin Collings, Lia Suttner Collings, Christopher K. Crockett, Eric Dowdle, Vanessa Ann Dominica Dowdle, James A. Goldberg, Angella M. Hamilton, Christopher C. Jones, Cort Kirksey, Mary-Celeste Lewis, Kara Nelson, Amy Norton, Jason M. Olson, Benjamin E. Park, Daren E. Ray, Ryan W. Saltzgiver, David Harrison Smith, Kelli M. Smith, Timothy D. Speirs, Virginia E. Stratford, M. Nathaniel Tanner, Kathryn Jensen Wall, and Stephen Whitaker.
Many libraries and repositories have provided essential assistance. We sincerely thank the management and staff of the Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, where the majority of Joseph Smith’s papers are located; the Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City; and the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. We express special thanks to the Community of Christ Library-Archives, Independence, Missouri, and to the historians and site directors of the Community of Christ; in particular, we thank Mark Scherer, Ronald E. Romig, Barbara J. Bernauer, and Lachlan MacKay. We likewise extend gratitude to the Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, Ohio, and its staff; the Southern Historical Collection in the Louis Round Wilson Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; the Oberlin College Archives, Oberlin, Ohio; Ann Sindelar and Vicki Catozza at the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio; the Henry E. Huntington Library; the Boston Public Library; Catherine Robertson at the Philips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts; Christine Kull at the Monroe County Historical Museum, Monroe, Michigan; and the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC. Finally, we are indebted to and extend our most sincere appreciation to Nan Lee, president of the North Haven Historical Society, North Haven, Maine, for opening up the archives there and pointing us to important sources used in researching this volume. Nan, along with Hope Richins Quicksage, generously took the time to show us around the island, giving us a tour of the places that Wilford Woodruff and Jonathan Hale visited on their trip to North Haven in 1837.
Many of the maps in this volume were developed by Geographic Information Services, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, under the direction of David Peart, with cartography by Blake Baker. The maps are based on historical research; the names of those who performed the research are listed alongside the maps in this volume, and we thank these individuals for their contributions.
We also thank the management and staff at Deseret Book for the professional help and advice they provided regarding the design, printing, and distribution of this volume. We especially appreciate the contributions of Sheri L. Dew, Laurel Christensen Day, Lisa Roper, Amy Durham, Richard Erickson, David Kimball, and Derk Koldewyn.
We would be remiss if we did not express the utmost gratitude to our families for their love, support, and encouragement during the development and production of this volume. Thank you to all.