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 .
<April 15> above the little, picayune, cramped, narrow minded schemes of the dominant, undominant, and would be dominant parties, cliques, knots and factions; or whether, like the venerable fathers, I launch my new ship into the great ocean of existence, and, like them, luckily bring relief to the oppressed, is all the same, so long as the people are honored as noble in their patriotism: and almighty in their majesty: vox populi; vox Dei!
But it is extraneous, irrelevant and kick shawing to connect me or any part of my ‘Views on the Powers and Policy of the Government’ with , Mr. [Daniel] Webster, , , , , or any of their galvanic cronies— what have they done to benefit the people? The simple answer is— nothing but draw money from the treasury. It is entirely too late in the age of this Republic, to clarify a of the West; deify a of the East; quidify a of the Whigs, or bigify a of the Democrats; leaving and such fair samples of bogus-democracy, that he that runs may read.
As the beautiful excellence of a [hand pointing right] head [hand pointing left] may be a desideratum only remedied by the ‘Excelsior,’ of the brain, so a great man ought to exhibit his wisdom by his liberality to the unfortunate among men as a token of philanthropy, unbounded by party lines, unfettered by chain-cable opinions, and untrammelled by cast-iron rules. Why slur the noble project of letting the prisoners go free by petition? It is sanctioned by ancient custom; it is the counsel of God, and would be the only visible testimony to the world that this realm is what it professes to be, a Government of Liberty! Heaven, earth, and hell know that the penitentiaries of the several states are a disgrace to the , and a stink in the nostrils of the Almighty. And the county and city prisons are still worse. Unfortunate men, and in nine cases out of ten, innocent are hurled into prison by corrupted Judges, suborned witnesses, or ungodly men who gamble themselves into Congress, into Legislatures, into courts, into churches, and into notice and power, and then damn their friends and fellow beings to prison wretchedness and ruin. And in ninety and nine cases out of a hundred, the prisoners are treated meaner than dogs; half starved to put money into the pockets of speculators; fed upon unwholesome privisions; whipped without mercy and even murdered with impunity. Look at the beastly conduct of * * * * to the female in Auburn State Prison, N. Y. Remember a man was whipped to death, not long since in penitentiary, Illinois; and it is not uncommon to lacerate with the ‘rope’s end’ thirty men at once, in the parish prisons of , so that the voice of reason now cries from the vast numbers of prisons and the multiplying number of prisoners in the for relief; and the death like groans from cells, bastiles, castles, and cursed holes throughout the whole earth, is ascending up [p. 2019]