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 .
<June 30> of God. The next day I was a prisoner in their midst, in the hands of of and of . As the latter drove up, he exclaimed, “Ha, ha, ha! By God, we have got the prophet now!” He gloried much in it; but he is now our prisoner. When they came to take me, they held two cocked pistols to my head, and saluted me with “God damn you, I’ll shoot you! I’ll shoot you; God damn you,” repeating these threats nearly fifty times from first to last. I asked them what they wanted to shoot me for. They said they would do it if I made any resistance. “O, very well,” I replied, “I have no resistance to make.” They then dragged me away, and I asked them by what authority they did these things. They said, “By a writ from the Governors of and .” I then told them I wanted a writ of . Their reply was, “God damn you, you shan’t have it.” I told a man to go to , and get me a writ of Habeas Corpus. then repeated, “God damn you, youshan’thaveit. I’ll shoot you.” When we arrived at , I sent for a Lawyer, who came, and shut the door in his face, and would not let me speak to him, re[HC 5:469]peating, “God damn you, I’ll shoot you.” I turned to him, opened my bosom, and told him to “shoot away; I have endured so much persecution and oppression that I am sick of life: why then don’t you shoot, and have done with it, instead of talking so much about it?” This somewhat checked his insolence. I then told him that I would have council to consult; and eventually I obtained my wish. The lawyers came to me, and I got a writ of Habeas Corpus for myself and also a writ against and for unlawful proceedings, and cruel treatment towards me. Thanks to the good citizens of , who nobly took their stand against such unwarrantable and unlawful oppression, my persecutors could not get out of town that night: although, when they first arrived, they swore I should not remain in five minutes; and I found that they had ordered horses accordingly to proceed to Rock Island. I pledged my honor to my Council that the city charter conferred jurisdiction to investigate the subject; so we came to , where I am now a prisoner in the custody of a higher tribunal than the circuit court.
The charter says that “the city Council shall have power and authority to make, ordain, establish, and execute such ordinances, not repugnant to the Constitution of the , or of this , as they may deem necessary for the peace, benefit, and safety of the inhabitants of said ;” and also that “the Municipal Court shall have power to grant writs of Habeas Corpus in all cases arising under the ordinances of the city council.” The City Council have passed an ordinance “that no citizen of this shall be taken out of this by any writ, without the privilege of a writ of Habeas Corpus.” There is nothing but what we have power over, except where restricted by the Constitution of the . “But,” say the mob “what dangerous powers!” Yes; dangerous, because they [p. 1600]