, “Brief History,” Manuscript, ca. 6 April 1838– ca. 26 January 1839; handwriting of and an unidentified scribe; seventy pages numbered 20–90, plus three unnumbered pages; John Fletcher Darby Papers, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
, a careful observer, had enjoyed a close association with Mormon leaders, and consequently his account provides valuable insights into the development and structure of the early church. He summarized many of the doctrines taught by JS and provided a detailed description of the conflict between the Latter-day Saints and other settlers. But his chronicle also related the story of a personal spiritual journey into and then out of the church as came to disapprove of the church’s course in 1838 in Missouri. Yet despite his estrangement from the church and his excommunication in 1839, he retained a degree of sympathy for the Saints and maintained some contact.
apparently began compiling portions of his account while serving as an officially appointed church historian in . He probably completed his narrative by 11 February 1839, when he secured a copyright with the district federal copyright office. He arranged for Thomas Watson & Son of to print A Brief History. The entire print run may have included up to twelve hundred copies.
The document presented here, ’s circa 1838–1839 rough draft of his history, is incomplete. It includes the title page, copyright notice, and preface but is missing twenty-one pages, including the nineteen pages that constitute chapters 1 through 6. The manuscript is almost entirely in Corrill’s handwriting, though some of the chapter summaries (added after he drafted the narrative) were written in a different hand, possibly that of the printer.
’s published version of A Brief History receives comprehensive treatment in volume 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers and is available on this website as part of the history series.
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partly armed, and marched to , but on learning that the Mormons had agreed to leave the , they conceded to the same and gave up their arms,— fifty two guns, a pistol and sword, which and others faithfully agreed to deliver up after the as soon as they had left the : but this they <afterwards> refused to do, although required to by a written order from the , and the Mormons have never received the guns nor an equivalent for them to this day. The Mormons all left in the course of three or four weeks. Some went to Vanburen county, some went <to the> eastward, but the major part went to , where they were received in a hospitable manner. and They were not suffered to return to , even to settle up their af business. During all these difficulties, the Mormons were accused of many crimes. This of course was necessary for an excuse. But the people of well know, that up to that time, the Mormons had not been guilty of crime nor done any thing whereby they could criminate them by the law; and, in my opinion, the<se> <stories> only reasons oftheir raising up <originated in> wastheir hatred towards the Mormon religion, and <the fear intertained> their fear of their overrunning and ruling the . The people of gave the Mormons employment and paid them good wages; and by their industry they made themselves comfortable with the exception of some [p. 31]