JS, History, 1838–1856, vol. F-1, created 9 Apr.–7 June 1856 and 20 Aug. 1856–6 Nov. 1856; handwriting of and Jonathan Grimshaw; 304 pages, plus 10 pages of addenda; CHL. This is the final volume of a six-volume manuscript history of the church. This sixth volume covers the period from 1 May to 8 Aug. 1844; the remaining five volumes, labeled A-1 through E-1, go through 30 Apr. 1844.
Historical Introduction
History, 1838-1856, volume F-1, constitutes the last 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 May 1844 to the events following his 27 June 1844 death, and it was compiled in Utah Territory in 1856.
The material recorded in volume F-1 was initially compiled under the direction of church historian , who was JS’s cousin, and also assistant church historian . Smith collaborated with in collecting material for the volume and creating a set of draft notes, which Smith dictated to Bullock and other clerks. Woodruff gathered additional material concerning the death of Joseph Smith as a supplement to George A. Smith’s work recording that event. Jonathan Grimshaw and , members of the Historian’s Office staff, transcribed the draft notes into the volume along with the text of designated documents.
According to the Historian’s Office journal, Jonathan Grimshaw initiated work on the text of volume F-1 on 9 April 1856, soon after Robert L. Campbell had completed work on volume E-1. (Historian’s Office, Journal, 5 and 9 Apr. 1856.) Grimshaw’s scribal work begins with an entry for 1 May 1844. Unlike previous volumes in which the numbering had run consecutively to page 2028, Grimshaw began anew with page 1. He transcribed 150 pages by June 1856, and his last entry was for 23 June 1844. Though more of his writing does not appear in the volume, he continued to work in the office until 2 August, before leaving for the East that same month. (Historian’s Office, Journal, 2 and 10 Aug. 1856.)
assumed the role of scribe on 20 August 1856. (Historian’s Office, Journal, 20 Aug. 1856.) He incorporated ’s draft notes for the period 24–29 June 1844 on pages 151–189, providing an account of JS’s death and its immediate aftermath. He next transcribed a related extract from ’s 1854 History of Illinois on pages 190–204. Pages 205–227 were left blank.
provided the notes for the final portion of the text. This account begins with an entry for 22 June 1844 and continues the record through 8 August 1844, ending on page 304. (The volume also included ten pages of addenda.) The last specific entry in the Historian’s Office journal that captures at work on the history is for 6 November 1856. A 2 February 1857 Wilford Woodruff letter to indicates that on 30 January 1857, the “presidency sat and heard the history read up to the organization of the church in , 8th. day of August 1844.” (Historian’s Office, Journal, 6 Nov. 1856; Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 2 Feb. 1857, Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 410; see also Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to Amasa Lyman and Charles C. Rich, 28 Feb. 1857, Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, pp. 430–431.)
The pages of volume F-1 contain a record of the final weeks of JS’s life and the events of the ensuing days. The narrative commences with and arriving at , Illinois, on 1 May 1844 from their lumber-harvesting mission in the “” of Wisconsin Territory. As the late spring and summer of 1844 unfold, events intensify, especially those surrounding the suppression of the Nauvoo Expositor in mid-June. Legal action over the Expositor leads to a charge of riot, and subsequently JS is charged with treason and is incarcerated at the jail in , Illinois. The narrative of volume F-1 concludes with an account of the special church conference convened on 8 August 1844 to consider who should assume the leadership of the church.
<May 3.> “The prophet has a charter for a dam from the lower line of the to the island opposite , and from thence to the sand bar above in the . Could five, six, or seven thousand dollars be raised to commence the dam at the lower extremity, and erect a building, any machinery might be propelled by water. The value of a steam engine would nearly build the dam sufficient for a Cotton factory, which we much need. Start some Capitalists if you can; ’tis the greatest speculation in the world; a world of cotton and woollen goods are wanted here.
“We have proposed to to return to your assistance in the shipping business soon; also to enter into exchanges of goods and produce; which he will do he has not decided. What will hinder your doing a good business in shipping this season? good? yes; in competing with the first offices in the , and by next season taking the lead, if not this! When the saints get to , &c, let them go to work, spread abroad in the land, or come to , as they find convenient and have means; and when the season arrives start again for . Write soon after the receipt of this, and let us know the prospect.
“Tell the saints when they arrive in to make themselves as comfortable as they can, and be diligent in business, and not be over anxious if they cannot come to ; they will find elders in all the States who will be ready to give them instruction, and if they can gather something by the way by their industry to assist themselves with then they arrive here it will be well for them.
“We have dropped the until the can be completed, and the is going on finely. We have had an open winter and forward spring. The Twelve are holding general Conferences all over the ; they will go east soon, and [HC 6:353] will write you as soon as he gets the information to tell what house you can remit the book money to in . We shall have a State Convention at on the 17th inst.— an Election— a great many are believing the doctrine. If any of the brethren wish to go to Texas we have no particular objection; you may send a hundred thousand there if you can in eighteen months, though we expect before that you will return to receive your endowment, and then we will consult your interest, with others who may be going abroad, about taking their families with them. The Kingdom is organized; and although as yet no bigger than a grain of mustard seed, the little plant is in a flourishing condition, and our prospects brighter than ever. Cousin Lemuel is very friendly, and cultivating the spirit of peace and union in his family very extensively.
“ and , , & , &c., have organized a new church. (Laws and Fosters were first cut off.) is prophet, and , counselors; Higbee and of the Twelve: cannot learn all particulars; , Bishop; old Dr. Green and old his counselors; they are talking of sending a mission to , but it will probably be after this when they come among you. ’Tis the same old story over again, ‘the doctrine is right, but Joseph is a fallen prophet.’