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> which they “fled”— there must have been a “flight” in fact and indeed from the State where the offence was committed, or the Governor has no jurisdiction to “deliver up.” If the charge of having “fled” is made, and the Governor acting in is attempting to deliver up upon that charge, the person attempted to be made the victim has a clear undoubted constitutional right, by means of a writ of , to test its truth before a judicial tribunal of the , and if the charge is proven to be false, the Governor is ousted of his jurisdiction over the person of the prisoner, and he is restored to his liberty before he has undergone the penalty of the transportation to a foreign country, upon the mere charge of an interested or partial witness. The power of the Executive of a State to—— surrender up a citizen to be transported to a foreign State for trial; is a most tremendous power which might be greatly abused, were it not limited by—— Constitutional checks, and the Citizen secured against its despotic exercise by the writ of Habeas Corpus. In the case of Williams, the of , in his reply to the Governor of Alabama, says, “What occurs daily in the ordinary course of criminal proceedings, may take place in regard to persons transported to a distant jurisdiction for trial. It may happen that an innocent man will be accused, and, if demanded, he must be delivered [HC 5:176] up, should your exposition of the Constitution be sanctioned. Under these circumstances his condition would be perilous indeed; dragged from his home, far removed from friends; born down by the weight of imputed guilt, and unable, probably to obtain the evidence by which he might vindicate his innocence; if appearances were against him he could scarcely hope to escape unmerited condemnation.”
The American Colonists regarded the exercise of this power, as an act of revolting tyranny, and assigned it in the declaration of—— Independence, as one of the prominent causes that impelled them to a—— separation from the British Empire. A power which may <be> thus oppressively used should be resorted to with the greatest caution. When its exercise is invoked, it is not sufficient that the case may apparently come within the letter of the Constitution; it is the duty of the Executive, before yielding a blind obedience to the letter of the law, to see that the case comes within the spirit and meaning of the Constitution. It may be pleasing as well as instructive to look into the proceedings of the Executive of our Sister , and witness, that by faithfully administering the law in relation to the delivery up of fugitives from justice, according to its spirit and meaning they have saved at least two of the Citizens of from becoming victims to its abuse. In the year 1839 the Governor of the State of was presented with the copy of an indictment by a grand jury in the against John and Nathan Aldritch, for fraud in obtaining goods by false pretences, and was requested to make a—— requisition upon the Governor of , to surrender them up as fugitives from justice. Now here was a case which came exactly within the letter of the Law of Congress in relation to fugitives from justice. An Indictment had been found charging them with having committeda crime. But did the Governor of make the “requisition?” No; he referred the application to the Hon: John C. Spencer, now Secretary of War, and one of the most enlightened lawyers of the age. [p. 1411]