Footnotes

1. [1]

   Historical Introduction to Elders’ Journal, Oct. 1837.

2. [2]

   Vilate Murray Kimball, Kirtland, OH, to Heber C. Kimball, Preston, England, 19–24 Jan. 1838, Heber C. Kimball, Collection, CHL; Thomas B. Marsh, Far West, MO, to Wilford Woodruff, [ca. Apr. 1838], in Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 36–38.

   Kimball, Heber C. Collection, 1837–1898. CHL. MS 12476.

3. [3]

   Minutes, Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 17; Minutes, 17 Sept. 1837–A; Minutes, 17 Sept. 1837–B.

4. [4]

   Sidney Rigdon, Terre Haute, IN, to Don Carlos Smith, [Kirtland, OH], 13 Oct. 1837, in Elders’ Journal, Oct. 1837, 7–8; Minutes, 6 Nov. 1837.

5. [5]

   JS’s editorial in the November Elders’ Journal may have included information from more than one meeting in Far West, but it certainly incorporated information from Minutes, 6 Nov. 1837.

6. [6]

   Though JS’s report names the members of the committee and indicates when they began their work, the composition of the committee subsequently changed. In minutes of a 7 December 1837 meeting held in Far West, Cowdery, Wight, and David W. Patten are noted as being members of the committee, while Whitmer and Corrill are not mentioned. Frederick G. Williams was added to the committee on that day. (Minute Book 2, 7 Dec. 1837.)

7. [7]

   Written to convince the public that JS was an imposter and to warn “those who are yet liable . . . to be enclosed within its [Mormonism’s] fetters,” Howe’s book featured a series of affidavits collected by Doctor Philastus Hurlbut from individuals who claimed to have been acquainted with JS and his family when they lived in New York. Following its publication, JS defended his and his family’s reputations, stating that he had never “been guilty of wronging or injuring any man or society of men” and that he was only guilty of having, in his youth, “a light, and too often, vain mind.” Howe’s book received a favorable review in Alexander Campbell’s Millennial Harbinger and was available for purchase throughout Ohio, western New York, and Pennsylvania. (Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, ix; JS to Oliver Cowdery, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1834, 1:40; “Mormonism Unveiled,” Millennial Harbinger, Jan. 1835, 44–45; “Mormonism Unveiled,” Fredonia [NY] Censor, 25 Mar. 1835, [3]; News Item, Naked Truths about Mormonism [Oakland, CA], Apr. 1888, 4.)

   Howe, Eber D. Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators, and a Full Detail of the Manner in Which the Famous Golden Bible Was Brought before the World. To Which Are Added, Inquiries into the Probability That the Historical Part of the Said Bible Was Written by One Solomon Spalding, More Than Twenty Years Ago, and by Him Intended to Have Been Published as a Romance. Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834.

   Millennial Harbinger. Bethany, VA. Jan. 1830–Dec. 1870.

   Fredonia Censor. Fredonia, NY. 1824–1932.

   Naked Truths about Mormonism: Also a Journal for Important, Newly Apprehended Truths, and Miscellany. Oakland, CA. Jan. and Apr. 1888.

8. [8]

   See Questions and Answers, Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 42–44. In late December 1837 or early January 1838, the Geauga County sheriff seized the printing office, along with its contents, in response to a legal judgment rendered against JS. The office was destroyed by fire on 16 January 1838. (“Sheriff Sale,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 5 Jan. 1838, [3]; Hepzibah Richards, Kirtland, OH, to Willard Richards, Bedford, England, 18–19 Jan. 1838, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL; John Smith, Kirtland, OH, to George A. Smith, Shinnston, VA, 15–17 Jan. 1838, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL.)

   Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.

   Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490.

   Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.