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.> a malicious prosecution on the part of , and that said pay the costs of suit, and that Joseph Smith be honorably discharged from the accusations and of the writ, and go hence without d[el]ay.”
I received the following letter:—
“Eldorado, Union Co., Arkansas, May 4th, 1844.
“To Genl. Joseph Smith, of , Illinois;
Reverend Sir,
“Last winter while in the State of Mississippi, I became acquainted with one of your missionaries who was laboring at the time in that State. Also at the same time I had an opportunity of perusing some of your sacred books, and from what I have been able to learn, as well from reading as from observation, I am constrained to be very favorably impressed towards the new doctrine; although to me it certainly appears quite novel, yet I cannot do otherwise than believe there is great reality in it, so much so indeed, that I am extremely anxious to become better informed on this all-important, and truly vital matter.
“And, moreover, I am not the only one in this part who is an ardent seeker after truth; indeed the subject is beginning to produce a great deal of enquiry and some excitement in this county; hundreds who never before heard of the new Revelation are opening their eyes, and staring and gaping to know more about it.
“Some few days ago several emigrants arrived here from Mississippi, who speak in the highest terms of the Latter Day Saints. Their report has greatly increased the enquiry and excitement previously going the rounds in this quarter. I hear a number speak of visiting , some of taking their families with them, and so remain there. But it is the general wish of a great many here in Union County for you to send a minister here immediately to instruct us and lead us more fully into [HC 6:458] the light of this wonderful and new revealed religion, and direct us into the true road to salvation.
“This is the only subject on which my thoughts dwell both day and night, for indeed, during my waking hours nothing diverts my meditation from this absorbing topic, and while asleep I dream of nothing else.
“If you please, be so good as to send a laborer among us immediately, for indeed the harvest is great, and the laborers but few, or none at all. I have not the least doubt but that a Latter Day Saint would succeed here as well as the most sanguine could promise himself; his labors, I am sure, would be crowned with success, and the salvation of many a precious yet perishing soul might be rescued from death, and prove the rich fruits of the missionary’s toil.
“The principal denominations here are the Methodists, Baptists, and Campbellites. A great many of the people, however, are non-professors, the greater majority of whom are quite moral, and many of them religiously inclined.
“I shall look for a minister from you within two or three months; when he does come I will see that he is hospitably received and entertained.
Your obedient and humble servant,
Washington Tucker.”
To which I wrote the following reply:—
“, Ill., June 12th, 1844.
“Sir;
Your letter dated May 4th, has reached me, and its contents duly considered. A multiplicity of business keeps me from writing as freely to correspondents as I could wish; [p. 91]