JS, History, 1838–1856, vol. B-1, created 1 Oct. 1843–24 Feb. 1845; handwriting of and ; 297 pages, plus 10 pages of addenda; CHL. This is the second volume of a six-volume manuscript history of the church. This second volume covers the period from 1 Sept. 1834 to 2 Nov. 1838; the subsequent four volumes, labeled C-1 through F-1, continue through 8 Aug. 1844.
Historical Introduction
This document, volume B-1, is the second of the six volumes of the “Manuscript History of the Church.” The collection was compiled over the span of seventeen years, 1838 to 1856. The narrative in volume B-1 begins with the entry for 1 September 1834, just after the conclusion of the Camp of Israel (later called Zion’s Camp), and continues to 2 November 1838, when JS was interned as a prisoner of war at , Missouri. For a fuller discussion of the entire six-volume work, see the general introduction to the history.
, serving as JS’s “private secretary and historian,” completed the account of JS’s history contained in volume A-1 in August 1843. It covered the period from JS’s birth in 1805 through the aftermath of the Camp of Israel in August 1834. When work resumed on the history on 1 October 1843, Richards started a new volume, eventually designated B-1.
At the time of JS’s death in June 1844, the account had been advanced to 5 August 1838, on page 812 of volume B-1. ’s poor health led to the curtailment of work on B-1 for several months, until 11 December 1844. On that date, Richards and , assisted by , resumed gathering the records and reports needed to draft the history. Richards then composed and drafted roughed-out notes while Thomas Bullock compiled the text of the history and inscribed it in B-1. They completed their work on the volume on or about 24 February 1845. Richards, , and Jonathan Grimshaw later added ten pages of “Addenda,” which provided notes, extensive revisions, or additional text to be inserted in the original manuscript where indicated.
Though JS did not dictate or revise any of the text recorded in B-1, and chose to maintain the first-person, chronological narrative format established in A-1 as if JS were the author. They drew from a variety of primary and secondary sources including JS’s diaries and letters, minutes of meetings, the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, church and other periodicals, reports of JS’s discourses, and the reminiscences and recollections of church members. As was the case with A-1, after JS’s death, , , , and others modified and corrected the manuscript as they reviewed material before its eventual publication.
Beginning in March 1842 the church’s Nauvoo periodical, the Times and Seasons, began publishing the narrative as the “History of Joseph Smith.” It was also published in England in the church periodical the Millennial Star beginning in June 1842. Once a press was established in Utah and the Deseret News began publication, the “History of Joseph Smith” once more appeared in print in serialized form. Beginning with the November 1851 issue, the narrative picked up where the Times and Seasons had left off over five years earlier.
The narrative recorded in B-1 continued the story of JS’s life as the prophet and president of the church he labored to establish. The account encompasses significant developments in the church’s two centers at that time—, Ohio, and northwest —during a four-year-span. Critical events included the organization of the Quorums of the Twelve Apostles and the Seventy, the dedication of the House of the Lord in Kirtland, Ohio, the establishment of the Kirtland Safety Society, dissension and apostasy in Kirtland and Missouri, the first mission to England, JS’s flight from Kirtland to Missouri in the winter of 1838, the Saints’ exodus from Kirtland later that year, the disciplining of the Missouri presidency, and the outbreak of the Missouri War and arrest of JS. Thus, B-1 provides substantial detail regarding a significant period of church expansion and transition as well as travail.
to the church, was the establishing the grades of the different quorums. It was <April 6 Solemn Assembly> ascertained that all but one <or two> of the Presidents of the Seventies, were High Priests, and when they had ordained and set apart from the quorum of Elders, into the quorum of seventies, they had confered upon them the high priesthood also: This was declared to be wrong and not according to the order of heaven. New Presidents of the <New Presidents of Seventies ordained> Seventies were accordingly ordained to fill the places of such of them as were high priests, and the exofficio Presidents, and such of the Seventies as had been legally ordained to the high priesthood, were directed to unite with the high priests. All the quorums then assembled in the lower room of the , where they were addressed by the Presidents from the stand. [HC 2:476]
<Joseph’s address to the Quorum on Priesthood &>President Joseph Smith Junr. addressed the assembly, and said that the Melchisedek High priesthood was no other than the Priesthood of the Son of God: that there are certain ordinances which belong to the Priesthood, from which flow certain results; that the Presidents, or Presidency, are over the church, and revelations of the mind and will of God to the church are to come through the presidency. This is the order of heaven and the power and privilege of this priesthood. It is also the privilege of any officer in this church, to obtain revelations so far as relates to his particular calling and duty in the church. All are bound by the principles of virtue and happiness, but one great privilege of this priesthood is to obtain revelations of the mind and will of God. It is also the privilege of the Melchisedec Priesthood, to reprove, rebuke, and admonish, as well as to receive revelations. <If the church knew all the commandments they would condemn> Whatcommands,onehalftheChurchwillcondemn, through ignorance and prejudice. A high priest, is a member of the same melchisedec priesthood, with the presidency, but not of the same power or authority in the church. The Seventies are also members of the same priesthood; are a sort of travelling council, or priesthood, and may preside over a church or churches, until a high-priest can be had. The Seventies are to be taken from the quorum of elders, and are not to be high-priests. They are subject to the direction and dictation of the Twelve, who have the Keys of the Ministry. All are to preach the gospel, by the power and influence of the Holy Ghost; and no man can preach the gospel without the Holy Ghost. The Bishop is a high-priest, and necessarily so, because he is to preside over that particular branch of church affairs, that are denominated the lesser priesthood, and because we have no direct lineal descendant of Aaron to whom it would of right [HC 2:477] belong. This is the same, or a branch of the same priesthood, which may be illustrated by the figure of the human body, which has different members, which have different offices to perform; all are necessary in their place, and the body is not complete without all the members. From From a retrospect of the requirements of the servants of God to preach the gospel, we find few qualified even to be priests; and if a priest understands his duty, his calling and ministry, and preaches by the Holy Ghost his enjoyment is as great as if he were one of the Presidency; and [p. 756]