, “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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one plan and some another, but there was a sort of backwardness in bringing it about, untill delivered from the pulpit, what I call the salt Sermon. “If the salt have lost its saviour [savor] it is of thenceforth good for nothing but but to be cast out and trod[d]en under the feet of men,” was his text, and although he did not call names in his sermon, yet it was plainly understood that he meant that dissenters or those who had denied the faith, ought to be cast out and literally troden underfoot. He indirectly accused some of them with crime.
This sermon had the desired effect. Excitement was produced in the church, and, suffice it to say, that in three or four days several of the dissenters became much alarmed from the and fled from the place in a gr[e]at fright, and their families soon followed; but their property was attached for debt. Necessity compelled others of the dissenters to confess and give satisfaction to the church. This scene I looked upon with horror, and considered it as proceeding from a mob spirit. Thus the work of purifying was commenced, and now it must be carried out. Another thing was in the way. There was a good deal of murmuring, finding fault and complaining against the first presidency and others of the leaders for various causes, but more especially on account of money which the had presidency had borrowed from time to time during the building of the in , and the carrying on [p. 54]