, “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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in regular session, could not be appealed from to any other; for one had no right or power to reverse or overthrow the judgment or decision of the other. But they could all be called together and form a conference consisting of all the authorities, to which an appeal could be taken from either one and the decision reversed. These were the regular constituted authorities of the church; but besides this, Smith and taught the church that these authorities in ruling or watching over the church were nothing more than servants to the church, and that the church as a body had the power in themselves to do any thing that either or all of them these authorities could do, and that if either or all of these constituted leaders authorities became deranged or broken down, or did not perform their duty to the satisfaction of the church, the church had a right to raise up in a body and put them out of office, make another selection and reorganize them, and thus keep in order, for the power was in the p[e]ople and not in the servants. The High prists elders and priests were to travel and and to preach, but the teachers and deacons were to be standing ministers to the church. Hence, in the last organizing of the church, each branch of the church chose a teacher to preside over them, whose duty it was to take paticular charge of that branch and report from time to time to the [p. 42]