The contemporaneous sources in this volume’s annotation range from personal writings
to institutional records to published books. Most sources are specific to certain time
periods and therefore appear chiefly in the annotation to a specific journal. For all of JS’s
journals, especially the first three, the texts of his revelations are essential background
sources. The revelations embodied JS’s religious values, conveyed his sense of mission, and
outlined his agenda for building Zion. Major sources for revelation texts are the journals
themselves, other early manuscript sources, early church newspapers, and the church’s published
compilations of revelations and other authoritative material. The first attempt to
publish such a compilation was the Book of Commandments. Church printer had printed most of the projected contents of the Book of Commandments by July
1833 when the in , Missouri, was destroyed by a mob. Several
Latter-day Saints recovered complete sets of the sheets that had been printed up to that
point and had them bound. A second effort was completed on a new church press in
, Ohio, in 1835. The new compilation, titled Doctrine and Covenants, contained
two parts. The first part consisted of seven “Lectures” or essays on the subject of faith. The
second part contained the texts of almost one hundred revelations, official statements on
marriage and government, and other items.
JS’s first journal (1832–1834) records his frequent travels and also church problems in
, hundreds of miles from JS’s headquarters. Both sets of circumstances
required letter writing. Letters that JS wrote to his wife , to Missouri Latter-day
Saint leaders and , and to various friends and acquaintances
illuminate the content of the journal in many instances. Minute Book 1 (created
1832–1837) often supplies valuable information regarding meetings that are mentioned in
the journal. Important contextual material is also found in the church’s first newspaper,
The Evening and the Morning Star, which was edited by Phelps in , Missouri,
from June 1832 to July 1833. Printing resumed in Kirtland in December 1833 under the
editorship of , who produced another ten issues. Beginning in January 1835,
the entire run of twenty-four issues was reprinted with modifications under a shortened
title, Evening and Morning Star.
JS’s second journal (1835–1836) records meetings held in preparation for the completion
of the in and for the Pentecost that Latter-day Saints expected
to experience therein. As with the 1832–1834 journal, Minute Book 1 augments the 1835–1836
journal’s notes of meetings. The contemporaneous diaries of assistant president and bishop clarify some entries in the second half of
the journal. Numerous reminiscent accounts add details of the dedication of the House
of the Lord, the solemn assembly, and surrounding events recorded at the end of the journal.
The King James Version of the Bible is particularly helpful in this journal for identifying
JS’s biblical paraphrasing and allusions. JS’s 1835–1836 journal is also illuminated by a
contemporaneous church history created from 1834 to 1836. In the spring of 1836, and recast the first-person narrative of the journal into a third-person
historical narrative. For the most part the history follows closely the wording of the
journal, but in occasional departures it clarifies the text of the journal. Additional contextual
information can be found in the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, which
replaced The Evening and the Morning Star as the principal church periodical. Edited by
Oliver Cowdery and others, it was published monthly in Kirtland from October 1834 to
September 1837. The same press produced the Northern Times, Kirtland’s Democratic
Party–affiliated community newspaper, which was produced chiefly by Oliver Cowdery.
The first part of JS’s principal Missouri journal (March–September 1838) consists of
copied documents that manifest a central concern: to restore unity and order in the church
by quelling dissent. Much helpful information relating to the perspective of JS and loyal
church leaders is found in the minutes of the disciplinary councils in , Missouri,
recorded in Minute Book 2 (created 1838–circa 1839, 1842, 1844). The correspondence
of the period reveals the contrasting views and concerns of those who felt JS
and his supporters had become despotic. The church’s official periodical at the time, the
Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints, also supplies helpful information for this
period. Two issues were published in , with JS as editor and as
publisher, for the months of October and November 1837. Two more issues bearing a revised
title, Elders’ Journal of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, were published for July
and August 1838 in Far West. The final portion of this JS journal, which covers
the initial phase of Mormon conflict in northern Missouri, is illuminated by several
Missouri newspaper accounts that describe the conflict and by the evidence that was later
presented in the preliminary hearing for JS and other Latter-day Saints charged in connection
with their participation in the conflict.
The record kept by of JS’s comings and goings from his home at (September–October 1838) is so terse that there is hardly any material to be elucidated.
However, the partially overlapping March–September 1838 journal, kept by , augments the first week covered by the journal Mulholland kept, and the history
that JS started the same year sheds some light on the final days covered in the journal.
’s second journal for JS (1839), which he kept in and in
Illinois, is complemented by the diary Mulholland kept for himself during the same time
period. Mulholland’s personal diary helps to distinguish whether he or JS is the protagonist
in certain entries of the journal he kept for JS. The contemporaneous diary of apostle
and the “History of ,” based on contemporaneous Young
diaries, also contextualize a number of the entries recording JS’s endeavors to build the
kingdom of God anew in and to prepare the apostles to take the Mormon gospel
overseas.