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.
<June 17> house, and after a long and close examination, we were discharged. The following is a copy of the minutes of this trial:— [HC 6:487]
“For the Neighbor.
“State of Illinois,)
Ss.
County of )
Justices court; June 17th, 1844; , Justice of the Peace, presiding.
“State of , vs Joseph Smith, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and .
“Defendants were brought before the Court by , Constable of the aforesaid, by virtue of a warrant issued by the court on complaint of , for a ‘Riot committed in the city of , aforesaid, on or about the 10th day of June, 1844, by forcibly entering a brick building, in said , occupied as a printing office, and taking therefrom by force, and with force of arms, a printing press, types and paper, together with other property belonging to , , , , and , and breaking in pieces and burning the same in the streets.’
“, Esq. appeared as council for the defence and , Esq., for the prosecution.
“ sworn— said he was present when the city council passed an order for the destruction of the press; went up to the and heard the read the order of the Mayor; did not know how they got into the building; the press was taken out and destroyed.
“Defendants’ counsel objected to witness’ stating who voted for the passage of the bill in the council, and read Burns<’>’s definition of a riot, and said there could be no accessory.
“ read from the statute page 173, and plead there might be an accessory to <a riot. Court decided there <might be> an accessory to> any crime either before or after the fact.
“Witness knew some who voted for the order in the city council; heard give orders for the destruction of the press; , , and took an active part in the destruction of the press. Did not know all the persons.
“Cross-examined— City Council considered the press a nuisance and ordered it to be abated; was present at the execution of the Mayor’s [HC 6:488] orders; no unnecessary noise; all was done peaceably; saw no disorder; heard no language by the prisoners calculated to disturb the peace.
“ sworn— was at the printing office; heard give orders to open the door. carried out the press and type; recollected ; could not identify any others; no contention between the and ; asked for the key which he refused to give; heard no threats concerning the destruction of the press at any time.
“O. F. Moesseur sworn— saw many of the people gather around the printing office; went over, back, and over again; could not identify any person; heard no loud talking or noise.
“P. T. Rolfe sworn— was at work in the printing office last Monday night; came in and said the Council was about to destroy the press, and took some papers from the desk; came with a company and demanded the key. [p. 111]