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 12> “ confirmed the statements of ; said the stated his authority and demanded the keys of the building, which denied, and ordered the door to be forced, and the press was broken, and type pied in the street. [HC 6:456]
“James Jackson sworn— confirmed the statements of previous witnesses; heard no noise on opening the door, most of the confusion he heard was and his company throwing blackguard language to the posse which they did not regard; saw the whole proceedings till they were dismissed— all was done in order. ’s blackguard language was not answered to at all by the ranks; heard nothing said about shooting; heard some one damn the city authorities; understood it was . I am a stranger in this place.
“John Kay, Robert Clift, Augustus A. Farnham, , , , , John Gleason, sworn.
“ confirmed the statement of previous witnesses. Pullin called for , and the officer commanded silence. ’s threats have been lavish towards Gen. Smith and for a long time; has threatened injury upon them and the property of the Smith’s; his conspiracies and threats have not been a little.
“ sworn— some three or four weeks ago, said said he would go his death against Joseph and ; said, ‘I know my course is wrong, but if I stop I shall get hell, and if I go on I shall get only hell’, and would do what he intended at the risk of his life, and would destroy the General if possible; said the council had ordered the press destroyed, and ‘who lays his hands on the press it is death to them’. has frequently heard tell lies about the General to injure his character.
“John Hughes, Joseph Dalton, , and sworn. John Hughes said said ‘by God all I want to live for is to see this sunk down to the lowest Hell, and by God it shall’. This was just previous to the ’s arriving on the 10th. said two years this June, confessed he was concerned with in his iniquity, and had a bad disorder; said he knew his character was ruined. From time to time since that knew had been threatening General Smith’s character and property.
“ heard threaten to shoot Gen. Smith at Rollison’s store, and said the destinies of this people are this day sealed in the archives of heaven, and there shall not be left one stone upon another on that .
“John P. Mc.Ewan— said in reference to Joseph Smith, ‘God damn him, I will shoot him; and God damn him, I will shoot him, and all that pertains to him, and before ten suns shall go over our heads, the , , and , shall all be destroyed, and it will be the total downfall of this community’. [HC 6:457]
“ sworn— said he would never let things go till he had accomplished the downfall of Gen. Smith; that he did not value his life to produce the downfall of Gen. Smith.
“Joseph Dalton sworn— said if they laid their hands upon the press from that hour they might date their downfall; that ten suns should not roll over their heads till the was destroyed.
“Court decided that Joseph Smith had acted under proper authority in destroying the establishment of the Nauvoo Expositor on the 10th inst; that his orders were executed in an orderly and judicious manner, without noise or tumult; that this was [p. 90]