, “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.
Page 43
general conference of elders which was to be held qua[r]terly. For some time after the commencement of the church, an elder might ordain an elder, priest, teacher or deacon, when and where he thought proper, but after stakes were planted, and the church became organized they established a rule that none should be ordained without consent of the church or branch that he belonged to. Neither should any man be placed over a branch or take charge of it without consent of the same. Thus I have given a brief portrait of the authorities of the church. In vewing the subject, I saw that there were several different bodies that had equal power. I thought therefore they would serve as a check on <upon> each other, and I concluded there was no dander where the full power power and authority was reserved to the people. I did not examine the scriptures much on the subject, but I thought that no man who was acquainted with his Bible would pretend to deny that two presthoods existed in ancient times. As to the Apostolic church I knew that Paul declared that Christ himself was a priest after the order of Melchesideck, that it never changed and was such a presthood as become them: from which I infered that it was confered on them. Inasmuch is as the New testament was pretty much silent on the subject [p. 43]