See also source note for JS History, circa 1841, draft.
Historical Introduction
was a recent convert to Mormonism when he visited in 1840. There he was immediately engaged by JS as a clerk at his office. Coray later reminisced in his autobiography that after he completed his initial assignment, JS requested that he “undertake, in connection with , the compilation of the Church History.”
At the time received his charge, JS’s and the church’s “history” had been an ongoing project for a decade. Several early attempts had apparently fallen short and been abandoned. However, JS and ’s 1838 effort initiated with , and JS’s ensuing collaboration with , had begun to bear fruit. Unfortunately, Mulholland had died 3 November 1839 after inscribing fifty-nine pages of text in a large record book subsequently designated as volume “A-1” of the manuscript history of the church. was appointed “general church clerk” in October 1840 and succeeded Mulholland as scribe for A-1.
Meanwhile, JS assigned and to draft additional historical material, using sources JS provided. Woolley eventually withdrew from the project and was replaced by a “Dr. Miller,” who remains unidentified. Their work evidently resulted in two different kinds of drafts. According to Coray’s later reminiscences, the first grew out of instructions “not only to combine, and arrange in cronological order, but to spread out or amplify not a little, in as good historical style as may be.” No manuscript matching this description has survived, but their work may have provided the basis for material subsequently copied into the history by other scribes.
did, however, produce an edited version of the narrative inscribed in the large history volume (A-1). According to Coray’s later account, JS was directly involved in this reworking of the history, reading aloud and dictating revisions from the large volume. Two drafts of this work have survived. However, the main history endeavor continued in the large history volume, and there is no indication that either draft was used in subsequent compiling or in publication of the history. Though a short-lived effort, Coray’s manuscript represents the intention to revise the history, suggesting that JS had not yet settled on a final historical product even after he had directed scribes to begin inscribing the history in the large, more permanent volume in 1839.
’s history draft includes departures from the material recorded in A-1 which, though minor, show an intention to refine the story. Coray deleted passages that seemed to be defensive, to plead the cause of the Saints, or to play on the reader’s sympathies—a list of grievances, for example, or complaints against individuals. The draft often softened wording about the persecution of JS and employed more moderate language in describing opposition, avoiding the word “mob” and glossing over accounts of violence.
’s work on JS’s history was not located until 2005, when two manuscripts in Coray’s hand were identified among documents in the possession of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These two manuscripts consisted of a lightly edited draft of the material and had written in the large history volume, and a fair or clean copy of that material that incorporated the revisions Coray made in his earlier draft. The first draft was published in volume 1 of the Histories series of the The Joseph Smith Papers. (See History Drafts, 1838—ca. 1841.) The second or “fair copy” of the two drafts is the document herein featured. An inscription in Coray’s handwriting at the bottom of the first page of this document identifies it as the second copy. In 1869 Coray signed a statement that was later attached to the paper wrapper that enclosed the two drafts: “These hundred pages of History were written by me, under Joseph the Prophet’s dictation. Dr Miller helped me a little in writing the same.”
for we were not fighting our own battls but were fighting [those of] the GreatIAm Shortly after our return home we received the following commandments July 1830
1 Behold thou wast called and chosen to write the Book of Mormon and to my ministry and I have lifted thee up out of thine afflictions and have counseled thee that thou hast been delivered from all thine enemies and thou hast been delivered from the powers of Satan and from darkness Nevertheless thou art not excusable in thy transgressions nevertheless go thy way and sin no more
2 Magnify thine office and after thou hast sown the fields and secured them go quickly unto the Chuch which is in and and they shall support thee and I will bless them both spiritually and temporally but if they receive thee not I will send upon them a cursing instead of a blessing
3 And thou shalt continue in calling upon God in my name and writing the things which shall be given thee by the comfoter and expounding all scriptures unto the church and it shall be given thee in the very moment what thou shalt say and write and th[e]y shall hear it or I will send unto them a cursing instead of a blessing
4 For thou shalt devote all thy service in Zion and in this thou shalt have strength. Be patient in afflictions for thou shalt have many: but endure them for lo I am with you even unto the end of thy days. And in temporal labors thou shalt not have strength for this is not thy calling and thou shalt have where with to magnify thine office and to expound all scripture and continue in laying on of the hands and confirming the Churches
5 And thy brother shall continue in bearing my name before the world and also to the Church. And he shall not suppose that he can [p. 82]