Footnotes
The page numbers on pages 19–71, 86–90, and 122–125 are in the handwriting of Willard Richards; on pages 72–85, 91–121, 126–167, and 171–477, in the handwriting of William Clayton; and on pages 168–170, in the handwriting of Erastus Derby. There are two pages numbered 453. Pages 476–477 constitute the last leaf of lined paper. The headers generally consist of a year or a month and year. The headers inscribed on pages 26–27, 29–71, 88–95, 119, and 121–126 are in the handwriting of Richards; the headers inscribed on pages 28, 72–87, 96–118, 120, 127–167, and 172–215 are in the handwriting of Clayton; pages 168–171, which were inscribed by Derby, have no headers. A few other pages are missing headers.
This serialized history drew on the journals herein, beginning with the 4 July 1855 issue of the Deseret News and with the 3 January 1857 issue of the LDS Millennial Star.
Most of these now-erased graphite inscriptions are recoverable with bright white light and magnification. Pages 209–215, which were not erased, represent the state of the journal entries generally when they were used for drafting the “History of Joseph Smith.”
Tithing and Donation Record, 1844–1846, CHL; Trustee-in-trust, Index and Accounts, 1841–1847, CHL.
Trustee-in-Trust. Index and Accounts, 1841–1847. CHL.
Historian’s Office, “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th April 1855,” [1]; Historian’s Office, “Inventory. Historians Office. G. S. L. City April 1.1857,” [1]; Historian’s Office, “Historian’s Office Inventory G. S. L. City March 19. 1858,” [1]; Historian’s Office, “Historian’s Office Catalogue Book March 1858,” [11], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
Emmeline B. Wells, “Salt Lake Stake Relief Society Conference,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 July 1880, 9:22.
Woman’s Exponent. Salt Lake City. 1872–1914.
“Inventory of President Joseph Fielding Smith’s Safe,” 23 May 1970, First Presidency, General Administration Files, CHL.
“Inventory of President Joseph Fielding Smith’s Safe,” 23 May 1970. First Presidency, General Administration Files, 1921–1972. CHL.
Letter of transfer, Salt Lake City, UT, 8 Jan. 2010, CHL.
Letter of Transfer, Salt Lake City, UT, 8 Jan. 2010. CHL.
| Date | Manuscript Page | Page in JSP, J2 |
| December 1841 | 26, 31, 33, 36, 39, 43–44 | 10–21 |
| Dec. 1841 | 36 | 16 |
| 11–13 Dec. 1841 | 33 | 14–15 |
| 13 Dec. 1841 | 26, 33 | 10–11, 15–16 |
| 14 Dec. 1841 | 26 | 11 |
| 15–16 Dec. 1841 | 31 | 13–14 |
| 17 Dec. 1841 | 26 | 11 |
| 22 Dec. 1841 | 36 | 16–17 |
| 24–28 Dec. 1841 | 39 | 17–19 |
| 29–31 Dec. 1841 | 43–44 | 19–21 |
| January 1842 | 31, 43–44, 48, 56–60, 66–67 | 14, 21–32, 36–38 |
| 1 Jan. 1842 | 44 | 21 |
| 4 Jan. 1842 | 48 | 23–24 |
| 5 Jan. 1842 | 31, 44 | 14, 21 |
| 6 Jan. 1842 | 57 | 25–26 |
| 12–16 Jan. 1842 | 48 | 24 |
| 15 Jan. 1842 | 58 | 26–27 |
| 16 Jan. 1842 | 48, 58 | 24, 27 |
| 17 Jan. 1842 | 43, 56, 58 | 20–21, 24–25, 27 |
| 18–22 Jan. 1842 | 58 | 27–30 |
| 23 Jan. 1842 | 59, 66 | 30, 36–37 |
| 24 Jan. 1842 | 59 | 30 |
| 25 Jan. 1842 | 59, 66 | 30, 37 |
| 26–27 Jan. 1842 | 59 | 30–31 |
| 28 Jan. 1842 | 59, 67 | 31, 38 |
| 29–31 Jan. 1842 | 60 | 31–32 |
| February–July 1842 | 60–61, 88–95, 122–128 | 32–36, 38–80 |
| August 1842 | 128–135, 164–167, 179–184 | 80–99, 115–124 |
| 3–15 Aug. 1842 | 128–135 | 80–92 |
| 16 Aug. 1842 | 135, 164–165 | 93–96 |
| 17–21 Aug. 1842 | 165–167 | 96–99 |
| Copied Correspondence | 168–178 | 100–114 |
| 23–31 Aug. 1842 | 179–184 | 115–124 |
| September–December 1842 | 184–215 | 124–183 |
Footnotes
One of Richards’s entries records that he was ill “& did not take notes.” Other entries, such as those dictated by JS to William Clayton while in hiding, are clearly copies of previously inscribed notes. (JS, Journal, 17 June 1842; 16 and 23 Aug. 1842.)
Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 16; Brigham Young et al., “Baptism for the Dead,” Times and Seasons, 15 Dec. 1841, 3:626.
Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 18; Clayton, Journal, 10 Feb. 1843.
Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
JS, Kirtland, OH, to William W. Phelps, [Independence, MO], 27 Nov. 1832, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 1–2 [D&C 85:1–2, 5]; 2 Chronicles 17:9; 34:14; Nehemiah 9:3.
See also the entry for 29 June 1842, in which Richards transferred “this Journal” to his assistant William Clayton.
Pages 207–209, for example, contain such inscriptions. Willard Richards’s entry for 10 March 1842 also indicates contemporaneous inscription.
Brigham Young et al., “Baptism for the Dead,” Times and Seasons, 15 Dec. 1841, 3:626.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
JS, Journal, 8 Aug. 1842; see also Appendix 1.
Attorney Calvin A. Warren advised church members seven months earlier regarding the new federal bankruptcy law, after which JS petitioned, on 28 April 1842, to have his debts discharged.a Following an initial hearing that began on 6 June 1842, JS’s hearing for “final discharge from all his debts” was set for 1 October 1842.b Justin Butterfield, United States attorney for Illinois, objected to the discharge, however, alleging that JS had more assets—especially land—than he had disclosed.c Because of Butterfield’s opposition, the court reset 15 December 1842 for a final bankruptcy hearing.d In spite of continued efforts, JS was not granted bankruptcy before his death.
(aJS, Journal, 14 Apr. 1842; see also the bankruptcy notices that appeared in The Wasp from 7 May 1842 through 11 June 1842. bLetter, Justin Butterfield to Charles B. Penrose, 2 Aug. 1842; Notice to Creditors and Others, 17 June 1842. cOaks and Bentley, “Joseph Smith and Legal Process,” 740–741, 756–763. dLetter, Justin Butterfield to Charles B. Penrose, 11 Oct. 1842; JS, Journal, 9–20 Dec. 1842.)Oaks, Dallin H., and Joseph I. Bentley. “Joseph Smith and Legal Process: In the Wake of the Steamboat Nauvoo.” Brigham Young University Law Review, no. 3 (1976): 735–782.
JS was elected sole trustee for the church on 30 January 1841 in Nauvoo, with authority to “receive acquire manage or convey property” for the church. (Appointment, 2 Feb. 1841, Hancock Co., IL, Bonds and Mortgages, vol. 1, p. 95, microfilm 954,776, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; see also An Act concerning Religious Societies [6 Feb. 1835], Laws of the State of Illinois [1834–1835], pp. 147–149, secs. 1 and 3.)
Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835. Vandalia, IL: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835.
The affidavits charged that “letters had frequently been broken open money detained, and letters charged twice over &c. &c.” (JS per William Clayton, Nauvoo, IL, to Richard M. Young, Washington DC, 9 Feb. 1843, copy, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; see also JS, Journal, 8 Sept. 1842.)
Charles A. Wickliffe.
Sidney Rigdon was serving as postmaster of Nauvoo at the time. JS stated in a letter to Illinois senator Richard M. Young the following February that no response had been received to the petition to the postmaster general. (JS per William Clayton, Nauvoo, IL, to Richard M. Young, Washington DC, 9 Feb. 1843, copy, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; JS, Journal, 13 Feb. 1843.)
According to the provisions of the Nauvoo charter, the mayor served as a justice of the peace and had “exclusive jurisdiction in all cases arising under the ordinances of the corporation.” The mayor also served as chief justice of the municipal court. (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840, secs. 16–17.)
Erie Rhodes died in October 1841. This payment was likely made to the estate of Erie Rhodes as part of a land puchase on 16 September 1841. (Promissory note, JS to Erie Rhodes, 16 Sept. 1841, JS Collection, CHL; Bond from Erie Rhodes, 16 Sept. 1841; Hancock Co., IL, Probate Record, vol. A, p. 119, microfilm 954,481, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
On this date, the Nauvoo City Council passed “An Ordinance Regulating the proceedings on Writs of Habeas Corpus.” This ordinance followed earlier ordinances on habeas corpus passed by the city council on 5 July, 8 August, and 9 September 1842. The ordinance was the culmination of efforts attempting to protect JS from arrest and trial outside of Nauvoo. Among other things, it empowered the Nauvoo Municipal Court to issue writs of habeas corpus for “any Person or Persons” detained “for any criminal or supposed criminal matter” and to discharge them if the original arrest could be shown, “by hearing the testimony & arguments” of all interested parties, to be invalid. (Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 5 July 1842, 86–87; 8 Aug. 1842, 98–99; 9 Sept. 1842, 101; 14 Nov. 1842, 119–129.)
Young’s history records that he was “attacked with a slight fit of apoplexy.” (Historian’s Office, Brigham Young History Drafts, 66, part B.)
Historian’s Office. Brigham Young History Drafts, 1856–1858. CHL. CR 100 475, box 1, fd. 5.
Young’s history records that he suffered from a “violent fever” this day and that JS and Willard Richards “administered” to him. JS sat by him for six hours. (Historian’s Office, Brigham Young History Drafts, 66, part B.)
Historian’s Office. Brigham Young History Drafts, 1856–1858. CHL. CR 100 475, box 1, fd. 5.
Committee member Alpheus Cutler was not mentioned in the complaint, probably because he spent the previous winter with the church’s lumber operations in Wisconsin Territory, returning in July 1842, and had not been as active in the management of the stonecutters. The “principal” charges against Reynolds Cahoon and Elias Higbee were “an unequal distribution of provisions, also giving more iron & steel tools to Cahoons sons than to others. Also giving short measure of wood to father Huntington [William Huntington Sr.]; also letting the first course of stone around the Temple to the man who would do it for the least price &c.” (Clayton, Journal, 28 Nov. 1842; Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 30 July 1842.)
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.