This volume is made possible by the help and generosity of numerous individuals and institutions. We are particularly grateful to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, which sponsors the project. We also express sincere appreciation to the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation for its continued support of the project. The foundation’s generosity and encouragement have enabled us to meet an ambitious production schedule while adhering to the highest scholarly standards. We express profound gratitude to Gail Miller in particular—her continued devotion to this project has made this and all other volumes of The Joseph Smith Papers possible.
The Joseph Smith Papers Project relies on the skills and dedication of employees and volunteers in the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The commitment and talents of these individuals were especially evident during a prolonged period of isolation—brought about by the rapid spread of the virus causing COVID-19—that directly impacted the latter stages of drafting and editing this volume. Colleagues who have diligently assisted us from the beginning to the end of this process include Brett W. Dowdle, Melissa Garrison, Lorin Groesbeck, David W. Grua, Shannon Kelly Jorgensen, Elizabeth A. Kuehn, Jessica M. Nelson, Catherine Reese Newton, Sharon E. Nielsen, Jay A. Parry, Adam H. Petty, Jenny Rollins, and Alex D. Smith. We especially thank Darcee Barnes, Jordan Celay, Nathan Jones, Doug Murdock, Ryan Poulson, Megan Sanderson, and Sheridan Sylvester for their research contributions to the volume. We express our gratitude to Bryon Andreasen and Chad Foulger for providing research or advice related to legal matters and the Nauvoo Legion. We are grateful to Christy L. Best, who helped identify and catalog documents; Tyler Thorsted, who assisted with multispectral imaging of some manuscripts; Brandon Metcalf, for his diligent assistance with helping us access and verify documents; and the staff of the Preservation Division, Church History Department, who, among other things, facilitated digitization of the textual images.
We wish to thank the volunteer team headed by Patricia L. Spilsbury and consisting of Loretta Evans, Brenda Homer, Shirley Romney, Kathy Williams, and JoAnne Wright for the research they provided for the Biographical Directory. We also thank Brian P. Barton, Noel R. Barton, Wayne T. Morris, and Steven Motteshard, who provided professional genealogical research services in support of the Biographical Directory. We are grateful to Kate Mertes, who created the index for this volume; Carolyn Call Ashton of the Joseph Smith Papers, who skillfully typeset the volume; and Margaret A. Hogan, who carefully proofread the volume. Thanks to Benson Y. Parkinson of the Publishing Services Department for assisting with publishing the book simultaneously in print and digital channels. We express our thanks to Deborah Gayle Gates for administrative assistance, and Debra Xavier Abercrombie and Benjamin Wood for their efforts in marketing the project and the volume. We are grateful to Jay R. and Naoma W. Eastley, volunteers at the Church History Library, who assisted with research and preliminary drafts for much of the Geographical Directory; and Eleanor Brainard and Lee Ann Clanton, also volunteers, who helped with document transcription.
The staffs of several institutions also rendered essential assistance to editors as they conducted research about and verified the transcripts of the documents featured in this volume. We sincerely thank the management and staff of the Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, where the majority of Joseph Smith’s papers are located; the Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City; and the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. We express special thanks to Carl Redd and Bree L. Johnson at the Clemson University Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives, Clemson, South Carolina; Tatyana Shinn at the State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia; Tamara Gaydos, Hannah Swan, and the reference team at the Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts; Christopher Schnell at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, Illinois; and John Neally at the Hancock County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Carthage, Illinois, for their cordial assistance. We likewise thank scholars Matthew J. Grey, Thomas A. Wayment, Joshua Sears, and Christopher C. Smith for assistance with various research and translation queries.
The maps in this volume were developed by Geographic Information Services, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, under the direction of David Peart, with cartography by Jonathan West, Blake Baker, Keith A. Kato, and John Martineau. Several of these maps were based on work done by Brandon Plewe and his team of researchers from Brigham Young University for earlier volumes of The Joseph Smith Papers. We thank those who were involved in the cartography and research for these maps. Their names are listed alongside the maps in this volume.
We also thank the management and staff at Deseret Book for the professional help and advice they provided regarding the printing and distribution of this volume. We especially appreciate the contributions of Sheri L. Dew, Laurel Christensen Day, Celia Barnes, Richard Erickson, David Kimball, and Derk Koldewyn.
Finally, we express sincere gratitude to our families for their love, support, and encouragement during the protracted research, development, and production of this volume.