JS, History, 1838–1856, vol. E-1, created 20 Aug. 1855–5 Apr. 1856; handwriting of Robert L. Campbell, , and Jonathan Grimshaw; 392 pages, plus 11 pages of addenda; CHL. This is the fifth volume of a six-volume manuscript history of the church. This fifth volume covers the period from 1 July 1843 to 30 Apr. 1844; the remaining five volumes, labeled A-1, B-1, C-1, D-1, and F-1, continue through 8 Aug. 1844.
Historical Introduction
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1, constitutes the fifth 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 July 1843 to 30 April 1844, and it was compiled in Utah Territory in the mid-1850s.
The material recorded in volume E-1 was initially compiled under the direction of church historian , who was JS’s cousin. Smith collaborated with in collecting material for the history and creating a set of draft notes that Smith dictated to Bullock and other clerks.
Robert L. Campbell, a recently returned missionary and member of the Historian’s Office staff, transcribed ’s notes into the volume along with the text of designated documents (such as letters and meeting minutes). The Church Historian’s Office journal entry for 2 May 1855 pinpoints the beginning of his work: “R. L. C. on Book D forenoon, afternoon began book E.” Campbell’s work on the volume apparently concluded on 5 April 1856; entries in the Historian’s Office journal indicate that he then moved on to other assignments while another clerk, Jonathan Grimshaw, began work on volume F-1, the last manuscript in the series. (Historian’s Office, Journal, 2 May 1855; 5 and 9 Apr. 1856.)
Volume E-1 contains 391 pages of primary text and 11 pages of addenda. The initial entry on page 1637 is a continuation of the 1 July 1843 entry that closed volume D-1. The final entry in volume E-1 is for 30 April 1844.
The 391 pages of volume E-1 document a crucial period of JS’s life and the history of the church. Important events recorded here include
• An account of JS’s 2 July 1843 meeting with several Pottawatamie chiefs.
• JS’s 4 July 1843 address regarding his recent arrest, the Legion, and Mormon voting practices.
• JS’s 12 July 1843 dictation of a revelation regarding eternal marriage, including the plurality of wives, in the presence of and .
• The 13 August 1843 disfellowshipment of and revocation of his priesthood license.
• Dispatch of the first missionaries to the Pacific Islands on 20 September 1843, led by .
• JS’s 1 October 1843 announcement of ’s appointment to a mission to Russia.
• Minutes of a 6–9 October 1843 general conference inserted under the date of 9 October at which pled his case in regard to his 13 August 1843 disfellowshipment and was permitted to continue as counselor in the First Presidency.
• Text of JS’s appeal to the Green Mountain Boys of , inserted under the date of 29 November 1843.
• A 20 January 1844 entry that includes a poem by commemorating the presentation of two copies of the Book of Mormon to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert by .
• JS’s nomination on 29 January 1844 as an independent candidate for the presidency of the .
<September 10> thrown down, and the foundation thereof plowed up that not one stone was left upon another. Christ said that Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, which has been the case to the very letter, until the present generation. [HC 6:25] Will not God in like manner as truly and faithfully bring to pass those great, important, and tremendous events upon the heads of the Gentile world, which have been proclaimed by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and many other Holy Prophets; also by Christ and the Apostles on the Continent of Asia, as well as by Lehi, Nephi, Alma, Moroni, and others on this Continent?; all of whom have proclaimed these things as they were moved upon by the Spirit of inspiration, the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost?
The Apostle says, that ‘no prophecy of the scriptures is of any private interpretation, and the commandments came not of olden time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost’. Isaiah’s soul seemed to be on fire, and his mind wrapt in the visions of the Almighty, while he declared, in the name of the Lord, that it should come to pass in the last days that God should set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, assemble the outcasts of Israel, gather together the dispersed of Judah, destroy the Tongue of the Egyptian sea and make men go over dry shod, gather them to Jerusalem on horses, mules, swift beasts, and in chariots, and rebuild Jerusalem upon her own heaps; while at the same time the destroyer of the Gentiles will be on his way; and while God was turning the captivity of Israel, he would put all their curses and afflictions upon the heads of the gentiles, their enemies, who had not sought to recover but to destroy them, and had trodden them underfoot from generation to generation. At the same time the standard should be lifted up, that the honest in heart, the meek of the earth, among the Gentiles should seek unto it; and that Zion should be redeemed, and be built up a Holy City, that the glory and power of God should rest upon her, and be seen upon her; that the watchman upon Mount Ephraim might cry ‘arise ye and let us go up unto Zion, the city of the Lord our God;’ that the gentiles might come to her light, and kings to the brightness of her rising; that the Saints of God may have a place to flee to, and stand in holy places while judgment works in the earth; that when the sword of God that is bathed in heaven falls upon Idumea or the world— when the Lord pleads with all flesh by sword and by fire, and the slain of the Lord are many— the Saints may escape these calamities by fleeing to the places of refuge like Lot and Noah.
Isaiah in his 24 ch. gives something of an account of the calamities and judgments, which shall come upon the heads of the gentile nations, and this because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant— The Apostle Paul says to his Roman brethren, that if the Gentiles do not continue in the [HC 6:26] goodness of God, they, like the house of Israel should be cut off. Though Babylon says, ‘I sit as a queen and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow,’ the Revelator says, ‘therefore shall [p. 1729]