JS, History, 1838–1856, vol. D-1, created 4 July 1845–4 Feb. 1846 and 1 July 1854–2 May 1855; handwriting of , Robert L. Campbell, and ; 275 pages, plus 6 pages of addenda; CHL. This is the fourth volume of a six-volume manuscript history of the church. This fourth volume covers the period from 1 Aug. 1842 to 1 July 1843; the remaining five volumes, labeled A-1, B-1, C-1, E-1 and F-1, continue through 8 Aug. 1844.
Historical Introduction
History, 1838–1856, volume D-1, constitutes the fourth of six volumes documenting the life of Joseph Smith and the early years of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The series is also known as the Manuscript History of the Church and was originally published serially from 1842 to 1846 and 1851 to 1858 as the “History of Joseph Smith” in the Times and Seasons and Deseret News. This volume contains JS’s history from 1 August 1842 to 1 July 1843, and it was compiled after JS’s death.
The material recorded in volume D-1 was initially compiled under the direction of church historian , with the assistance of . After Richards’s death in 1854, continued work on the volume as the new church historian with Bullock’s continued help. The process adopted by Richards and Bullock involved Richards creating a set of rough draft notes and Bullock transcribing the notes into the volume along with the text of designated documents (such as letters and meeting minutes). George A. Smith followed a similar pattern, though he dictated the draft notes to Bullock and other scribes.
According to the Church Historian’s Office journal, finished the third volume of the series, volume C-1, on Thursday, 3 July 1845, in , Illinois. He began work on the fourth volume, D-1, the next day, beginning on page 1362 with the entry for 1 August 1842. (The pages in volumes A-1–E-1 were numbered consecutively.) Bullock continued work on the record, drawing upon ’s draft notes, until 3 February 1846—the day before D-1 and the other volumes were packed up in preparation for the Latter-day Saints’ exodus from Nauvoo. At that point he had reached page 1485 with the entry for 28 February 1843. Subsequently, apparently after the collection had arrived in Utah, Bullock added a brief comment beneath that entry: “end of W. Richard’s compiling[.] the books packed Feby. 4— 1846 in Nauvoo[.] Miles Romney— present. The records carried by T Bullock from Winter Quarters to G S L [Great Salt Lake] City in 1848.”
A notation at the top of page 1486 reports that “the books were unpacked in G. S. L. City by and . June 7. 1853. J[onathan] Grimshaw & Miles Romney present.” Vertically, in the margin, is a poignant epitaph: “Decr. 1 1853 Dr. Willard Richards wrote one line of History—being sick at the time—and was never able to do any more.” With Richards’s death on 11 March 1854, JS’s cousin was called to the office of church historian. The notation on the top of page 1486 acknowledges this change in officers, noting, “commencement of George A. Smith’s compiling as Historian. April 13. 1854[.] [C]ommenced copying July 1. 1854.” From mid-April to the end of June 1854, George A. Smith, in collaboration with Thomas Bullock, worked on the draft notes for the history before a new scribe, , resumed writing in D-1 on 1 July 1854, beginning with the entry for 1 March 1843.
continued transcribing intermittently into the late fall of 1854, when he was assigned other duties in the Historian’s Office. He had reached page 1546 with the entry for 5 May 1843. Work resumed in February 1855 in the hand of Robert L. Campbell, recently returned from a mission. He concluded volume D-1 on the morning of 2 May 1855 and began writing in E-1 that afternoon.
The 274 pages of volume D-1 contain a record of much that is significant in the life of JS and the development of the church he founded. Among these events are
• JS’s 6 August 1842 prophecy that the Saints would become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains.
•JS’s 8 August 1842 arrest on a warrant for being “an accessory before the fact” to an attack on former governor .
• ’s 17 August 1842 letter to governor , pleading for the humane treatment of her husband and family.
•JS’s 1 and 6 September 1842 instructions regarding the proper procedures for performing baptisms for the dead.
• JS’s 15 November 1842 “Valedictory” as he stepped down as editor of the Times and Seasons.
• The 26 December 1842 arrest of JS on a “proclamation” by former governor , and subsequent hearing in , Illinois.
• The 7 February 1843 recovery of a volume of patriarchal blessings given by , which had been stolen in , Missouri.
• JS’s 21 February 1843 remarks regarding the and .
• JS’s 2 April 1843 instruction at , Illinois, on the nature of God and other subjects.
• JS’s 16 May 1843 remarks at , Illinois, on the everlasting covenant and eternal marriage.
• The account of JS’s 23 June 1843 arrest and his hearing the following week at .
<April 6> I do not say whether he will make his appearance, or I shall go where he is. I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, and let it be written, the Son of Man will not come in the <clouds of> Heaven till I am 85 years old— then read the 14th chapter of Revelations 6. and 7 verses, “and I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the Earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgement is come’: and Hosea 6th chapter, after 2 days &c 2520 years which brings it to 1890. The coming of the Son of Man never will be, never can be ’till the judgements spoken of, for this hour, are poured out, which judgements are commenced. Paul says “Ye are the children of the light and not of the darkness, that that day should—— overtake <you> as a thief in the night’; it is not the design of the Almighty to come upon the earth [HC 5:336] and crush it and grind it to powder, but he will reveal it to his Servants the Prophets.
Judah must return, must be rebuilt, and the Temple, and water come out from under the Temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed: It will take some time to build the walls <of the City> and the Temple &c. and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make his appearance. <There will be> wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above, and on the Earth beneath; the Sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood; earthquakes in divers places, the Seas heaving beyond their bounds; then <will appear> one grand sign of the Son of Man in Heaven: but what will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet &c, —— but the Son of Man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, <which will be> as the light of the morning cometh out of the East.
<7> convened at 10 A.M. Singing. Prayer by , and singing
President Joseph stated that the next business in order, was to listen to appeals of Elders, &c, but none appeared; he was rather hoarse from speaking so long yesterday, and therefore —— said he would use the boys’ lungs to day.
The next business in order, was to appoint some <Elders on Missions>.
Voted that be sent to preside over the at
"Joshua Grant "
" go to the village of , in and raise up a <branch of the> Church.
The were called up for trial.
said some may expect I am going to be a means of the downfall of the Temple Committee, ‘tis not so, but I design to shew <that> they have been partial. has over run the amount allowed by <the> Trustees about <one fourth>, pretty much all ’s son has received, has been in money and store pay— ’s son has had nothing credited on his . has [HC 5:337] paid all his tenth, the others of ’s sons have had nothing to their credit on tithing; the Committee have had a great amount of store pay— one man who is laboring continually wanted 25 cents in store pay, when his family [p. 1520]