Footnotes
“Contents of the Historian and Recorder’s Office. G. S. L. City July 1858,” 6, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; Turley, “Assistant Church Historians,” 20–21; see also Park, “Developing a Historical Conscience,” 115–134.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
Turley, Richard E., Jr. “Assistant Church Historians and the Publishing of Church History.” In Preserving the History of the Latter-Day Saints, edited by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Steven C. Harper, 19–47. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010.
Park, Benjamin E. “Developing a Historical Conscience: Wilford Woodruff and the Preservation of Church History.” In Preserving the History of the Latter-day Saints, edited by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Steven C. Harper, 115–134. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010.
Footnotes
Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107:33–35]; Revelation, 23 July 1837 [D&C 112:1–10].
Woodruff left the Fox Islands on 28 April 1838. Regarding his return on 7 August, Woodruff wrote, “I received a letter from Elder Thomas B. Marsh from Zion in answer to the one I wrot to the Bishop & Presidency & Saints in Zion.” The following day, Woodruff visited the post office to obtain further mail, which indicates that he received Marsh’s letter from one of the members he visited before he went to the post office. (Woodruff, Journal, 28 Apr. and 7–8 Aug. 1838.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
JS spent most of late May and early June in Daviess County, surveying the land and directing the construction of houses. (JS, Journal, 18 May–5 June 1838.)
After hearing reports of “much evil” regarding fellow apostles Luke Johnson, John F. Boynton, and Lyman Johnson, Marsh called for the apostles to meet in Kirtland on 24 July 1837 so he could help resolve problems and give counsel regarding the quorum’s proselytizing plans. Marsh, William Smith, and Patten—who were members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—departed Far West sometime in late May or June and arrived by 8 July 1837. (Thomas B. Marsh and David W. Patten, Far West, MO, to Parley P. Pratt, Toronto, Upper Canada, 10 May 1837, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 62–63; “T. B. Marsh,” [2], Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861, CHL; Mary Fielding, Kirtland, OH, to Mercy Fielding Thompson, Upper Canada, 8 July 1837, Mary Fielding Smith, Collection, CHL.)
Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.
Smith, Mary Fielding. Collection, ca. 1832–1848. CHL. MS 2779.
At the reorganization conference held in early September 1837, members in Kirtland voted to retain in office JS and church leaders who were loyal to him. (See Minutes, 3 Sept. 1837.)
Marsh and Hyrum Smith left Kirtland in early September and arrived in Far West by mid-October 1837. (See Vilate Murray Kimball, Kirtland, OH, to Heber C. Kimball, Preston, England, ca. 10–12 Sept. 1837, Heber C. Kimball, Collection, CHL; and Power of Attorney to Hyrum Smith, 5 Sept. 1837.)
Kimball, Heber C. Collection, 1837–1898. CHL. MS 12476.
It is uncertain why Marsh inserted “Pres[iden]t” before William Smith’s name. Smith was called “Pres[ident]” in two instances in JS’s journal in 1836, but extant documents do not mention Smith, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, being appointed president of any church council or quorum. It is possible that, like his brother Hyrum; his father, Joseph; and his uncle John, he was at some point included in the general church presidency, although there is no other evidence of him belonging to the presidency. The designation of Smith as “Pres[iden]t” was omitted in the version of the letter published in the July issue of the church newspaper. (JS, Journal, 28 Jan. and 6 Feb. 1836; Minutes, 3 Sept. 1837; Thomas B. Marsh, [Far West, MO], to Wilford Woodruff, [Vinalhaven, ME], [ca. 18 June 1838], in Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 36.)
JS, Rigdon, William Smith, and Vinson Knight departed Kirtland for Far West on 27 September 1837. (Travel Account and Questions, Nov. 1837.)
Both John Smith and Vilate Kimball identified Parrish, Boynton, Johnson, Coe, and Martin Harris as “the Leaders” of the dissenting party. Smith also named Cyrus Smalling as a leader. (John Smith and Clarissa Lyman Smith, Kirtland, OH, to George A. Smith, Shinnston, VA, 1 Jan. 1838, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; Vilate Murray Kimball, Kirtland, OH, to Heber C. Kimball, Preston, England, 19–29 Jan. 1838, Heber C. Kimball, Collection, CHL.)
Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.
Kimball, Heber C. Collection, 1837–1898. CHL. MS 12476.
TEXT: Marsh apparently inserted “Prest.” before “Wm. Smith”, inserted “Mr.” before “Parish”, and changed “for the overthrow” to “refuting the procedings” after the retained copy was made. Most of the other substantive revisions to the letter are reflected in the version of the letter published in the Elders’ Journal.
Marsh apparently meant that this group intended to overturn the results of the September 1837 reorganization conference in which JS and members loyal to him were retained in their church offices. (See Minutes, 3 Sept. 1837.)
In the Book of Mormon, Gadianton was the founder of the “Gadianton robbers”—a secret society of political and religious dissenters who sought to obtain wealth and power through intrigue, murder, and war. (See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 411, 423, 427–428 [Helaman 2:8; 6:17–19; 7:21].)