History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843]
History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843]
Source Note
Source Note
JS, History, 1838–1856, vol. D-1, created 4 July 1845–4 Feb. 1846 and 1 July 1854–2 May 1855; handwriting of , Robert L. Campbell, and ; 275 pages, plus 6 pages of addenda; CHL. This is the fourth volume of a six-volume manuscript history of the church. This fourth volume covers the period from 1 Aug. 1842 to 1 July 1843; the remaining five volumes, labeled A-1, B-1, C-1, E-1 and F-1, continue through 8 Aug. 1844.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
History, 1838–1856, volume D-1, constitutes the fourth of six volumes documenting the life of Joseph Smith and the early years of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The series is also known as the Manuscript History of the Church and was originally published serially from 1842 to 1846 and 1851 to 1858 as the “History of Joseph Smith” in the Times and Seasons and Deseret News. This volume contains JS’s history from 1 August 1842 to 1 July 1843, and it was compiled after JS’s death.
The material recorded in volume D-1 was initially compiled under the direction of church historian , with the assistance of . After Richards’s death in 1854, continued work on the volume as the new church historian with Bullock’s continued help. The process adopted by Richards and Bullock involved Richards creating a set of rough draft notes and Bullock transcribing the notes into the volume along with the text of designated documents (such as letters and meeting minutes). George A. Smith followed a similar pattern, though he dictated the draft notes to Bullock and other scribes.
According to the Church Historian’s Office journal, finished the third volume of the series, volume C-1, on Thursday, 3 July 1845, in , Illinois. He began work on the fourth volume, D-1, the next day, beginning on page 1362 with the entry for 1 August 1842. (The pages in volumes A-1–E-1 were numbered consecutively.) Bullock continued work on the record, drawing upon ’s draft notes, until 3 February 1846—the day before D-1 and the other volumes were packed up in preparation for the Latter-day Saints’ exodus from Nauvoo. At that point he had reached page 1485 with the entry for 28 February 1843. Subsequently, apparently after the collection had arrived in Utah, Bullock added a brief comment beneath that entry: “end of W. Richard’s compiling[.] the books packed Feby. 4— 1846 in Nauvoo[.] Miles Romney— present. The records carried by T Bullock from Winter Quarters to G S L [Great Salt Lake] City in 1848.”
A notation at the top of page 1486 reports that “the books were unpacked in G. S. L. City by and . June 7. 1853. J[onathan] Grimshaw & Miles Romney present.” Vertically, in the margin, is a poignant epitaph: “Decr. 1 1853 Dr. Willard Richards wrote one line of History—being sick at the time—and was never able to do any more.” With Richards’s death on 11 March 1854, JS’s cousin was called to the office of church historian. The notation on the top of page 1486 acknowledges this change in officers, noting, “commencement of George A. Smith’s compiling as Historian. April 13. 1854[.] [C]ommenced copying July 1. 1854.” From mid-April to the end of June 1854, George A. Smith, in collaboration with Thomas Bullock, worked on the draft notes for the history before a new scribe, , resumed writing in D-1 on 1 July 1854, beginning with the entry for 1 March 1843.
continued transcribing intermittently into the late fall of 1854, when he was assigned other duties in the Historian’s Office. He had reached page 1546 with the entry for 5 May 1843. Work resumed in February 1855 in the hand of Robert L. Campbell, recently returned from a mission. He concluded volume D-1 on the morning of 2 May 1855 and began writing in E-1 that afternoon.
The 274 pages of volume D-1 contain a record of much that is significant in the life of JS and the development of the church he founded. Among these events are
• JS’s 6 August 1842 prophecy that the Saints would become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains.
•JS’s 8 August 1842 arrest on a warrant for being “an accessory before the fact” to an attack on former governor .
• ’s 17 August 1842 letter to governor , pleading for the humane treatment of her husband and family.
•JS’s 1 and 6 September 1842 instructions regarding the proper procedures for performing baptisms for the dead.
• JS’s 15 November 1842 “Valedictory” as he stepped down as editor of the Times and Seasons.
• The 26 December 1842 arrest of JS on a “proclamation” by former governor , and subsequent hearing in , Illinois.
• The 7 February 1843 recovery of a volume of patriarchal blessings given by , which had been stolen in , Missouri.
• JS’s 21 February 1843 remarks regarding the and .
• JS’s 2 April 1843 instruction at , Illinois, on the nature of God and other subjects.
• JS’s 16 May 1843 remarks at , Illinois, on the everlasting covenant and eternal marriage.
• The account of JS’s 23 June 1843 arrest and his hearing the following week at .
Footnotes
Historian’s Office, Journal, 3 and 4 July 1845.
Historian’s Office, Journal, 1 July 1854.
Historian’s Office, Journal, 2 May 1855.
See 7 Aug. 1842 entry in History Draft.
<August 7> Sunday 7. At home through the day.
See 8 Aug. 1842 entry in History Draft.
<8> Monday 8. This forenoon I was arrested by the Deputy Sheriff of and two Assistants, on a warrant issued by , founded on a requisition from of , upon the Affidavit of , complaining of the said Smith, as “being an accessory before the fact, to an assault with an intent to kill, made by one on ” on the night of the sixth of May A.D. 1842. was arrested at the same time as principal. [HC 5:86] There was no evasion of the officers, tho’ the Municipal Court issued a writ of according to the Constitution of the , article 8 and section 13. This writ demanded the bodies of Messrs. Smith and to be brought before the aforesaid Court, but these officers refused to do so, and finally without complying, they left them in care of the Marshal, without the original writ by which they were arrested, and by which only they could be retained, and returned back to for further instruction<s>. and Messrs. Smith and went about their business. I have yet to learn by what rule of right I was arrested to be transported to for a trial of the kind stated. “An accessory to an Assault with an intent to kill”— does not come under the purview of the fugitive act, when, the person charged has not been out of &c An accessory before the fact to manslaughter is something of an anomaly. The isolated affidavit of is no more than any other man’s, and the constitution says “that no person shall be liable to be transported out of the , for an offence committed within the same”. The whole [3 words illegible] <is> another farce. In fact, implied power, and constructive guilt, as a dernier resort, may answer the purpose of despotic governments, but are beneath the dignity of the sons of liberty, and would be a blot on our judicial escutcheon.
I received a letter from the post office, which had been broken open, and I was grieved at the meanness of its contents.
The City Council passed the following “Ordinances regulating the mode of proceeding in cases of before the Municipal Court”
Sec 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of , that in all cases where any person or persons, shall at any time hereafter, be arrested or under arrest in this , under any writ, or process, and [HC 5:87] shall be brought before the Municipal Court of this , by virtue of a writ of Habeas Corpus, the Court shall in every such case have power and authority, and are hereby required to examine into the origin, validity and legality of the Writ or Process, under which such arrest was made, and if it shall appear to the Court, upon sufficient testimony, that said Writ or process was illegal, or not legally issued, or did not proceed from proper authority, then the Court shall discharge the Prisoner from under said arrest, but if it shall appear to the Court that said Writ or Process had issued from proper authority, and was a legal process, the court shall then proceed and fully hear the merits of the case, upon which said arrest was made, upon such evidence as may be produced and sworn before said Court, and shall have power to adjourn the hearing, and also issue process from time to time, in their discretion, in order to procure the attendance of witnesses, so that a fair and impartial trial, and—— decision may be obtained, in every such case.
Sec. 2. And be it further ordained, that if upon investigation it shall be proven before the Municipal Court, that the Writ or Process has been issued, either through private pique, malicious intent, or religious or other Persecution, falsehood, or misrepresentation, contrary to the constitution of this , or the Constitution of the , the said Writ or Process shall be quashed and considered [p. 1363]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
See 7 Aug. 1842 entry in History Draft.
JS, Journal, 7 Aug. 1842; “The Arrest,” The Wasp, 13 Aug. 1842, [3].
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
See 8 Aug. 1842 entry in History Draft.
Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 8 Aug. 1842, 98–99; “An Ordinance regulating the mode of proceeding in Cases of Habeas Corpus,” The Wasp, 13 Aug. 1842, [2].
Nauvoo City Council Minute Book / Nauvoo City Council. “A Record of the Proceedings of the City Council of the City of Nauvoo Handcock County, State of Illinois, Commencing A.D. 1841,” ca. 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3435.
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
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