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 .
<October 20> charged with Treason, Felony, or other crime; “it is sufficient if he be charged with the commission of crime, either by indictment found or by affidavit. Second ‘He must be a person who shall flee from justice and be found in another State.” [HC 5:173] It is not sufficient to satisfy this branch of the Constitution, that he should be “charged” with having fled from justice, unless he has actually fled from the State where the offence was committed to another State, the Governor of this State has no jurisdiction over his person and cannot deliver him up. When Mr. Smith is brought up on a , he will have a right, under the 3rd. Sec. of our Habeas Corpus Act, to introduce testimony and shew that the process upon which he is arrested was obtained by falsepretence, that it is <un>true, that he fled from the State of—— , to evade being brought to justice there, for the crime of which he is charged he will have the right to place himself upon the platform of the Constitution of the , and say I am a Citizen of the State of : I have not fled from the State of or from the “justice” of that , on account of the commission of the crime with which I am charged. I am ready to prove that the charge of having fled from that is false, and I am not, therefore, subject under the Constitution of the to be delivered up to that for trial. You say in your letter to me that you doubt whether on a Habeas Corpus the Court would have a right to try the question whether Smith was in at the time of the Commission of the crime of which he is charged. To this I answer that upon a Habeas Corpus the Court would be bound to try the question, whether Smith fled from justice from to this ; the affidavit of is not conclusive on this point— it may be rebutted— unless Smith is a person who has fled from justice he is not subject to be delivered up,— under the express provisions of our own Habeas Corpus Act, he has a right to show that the affidavit is false and that the order for his arrest was obtained by false pretences. Again, the affidavit on its face was not sufficient to authorize the arrest of Smith, it is evasive and deceptive— it does not show that he fled from the State of to evade justice for the commission of the crime of which he is charged by .
Robert G. Williams, in the year 1835, was indicted in the State of Alabama for—— attempting to incite rebellion and insurrection in that State; he was demanded by the Governor of that State, of the of , and the requisition stated that he had fled from Justice— the of the State of () took notice that the said Williams was a Citizen of the State of , and had not fled from justice from Alabama, and on that ground alone refused to surrender him up. This was a stronger case than that of Smith’s as an Indictmenthadbeen found. puts his refusal upon the express ground that by the Constitution of the , the Gov[HC 5:174]ernor of one State had no right to demand, nor the Governor of another State a right to surrender up one of his Citizens unless he had fled from justice; and it was the right and duty of the Governor upon whom the demand was made to inquire into the fact whether he had fled from—— justice before he made the surrender. I have the book containing all the proceedings in this case of Williams: there are several other cases equally in point, and they all [p. 1409]