History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844]
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844]
Source Note
Source Note
JS, History, 1838–1856, vol. E-1, created 20 Aug. 1855–5 Apr. 1856; handwriting of Robert L. Campbell, , and Jonathan Grimshaw; 392 pages, plus 11 pages of addenda; CHL. This is the fifth volume of a six-volume manuscript history of the church. This fifth volume covers the period from 1 July 1843 to 30 Apr. 1844; the remaining five volumes, labeled A-1, B-1, C-1, D-1, and F-1, continue through 8 Aug. 1844.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1, constitutes the fifth 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 July 1843 to 30 April 1844, and it was compiled in Utah Territory in the mid-1850s.
The material recorded in volume E-1 was initially compiled under the direction of church historian , who was JS’s cousin. Smith collaborated with in collecting material for the history and creating a set of draft notes that Smith dictated to Bullock and other clerks.
Robert L. Campbell, a recently returned missionary and member of the Historian’s Office staff, transcribed ’s notes into the volume along with the text of designated documents (such as letters and meeting minutes). The Church Historian’s Office journal entry for 2 May 1855 pinpoints the beginning of his work: “R. L. C. on Book D forenoon, afternoon began book E.” Campbell’s work on the volume apparently concluded on 5 April 1856; entries in the Historian’s Office journal indicate that he then moved on to other assignments while another clerk, Jonathan Grimshaw, began work on volume F-1, the last manuscript in the series. (Historian’s Office, Journal, 2 May 1855; 5 and 9 Apr. 1856.)
Volume E-1 contains 391 pages of primary text and 11 pages of addenda. The initial entry on page 1637 is a continuation of the 1 July 1843 entry that closed volume D-1. The final entry in volume E-1 is for 30 April 1844.
The 391 pages of volume E-1 document a crucial period of JS’s life and the history of the church. Important events recorded here include
• An account of JS’s 2 July 1843 meeting with several Pottawatamie chiefs.
• JS’s 4 July 1843 address regarding his recent arrest, the Legion, and Mormon voting practices.
• JS’s 12 July 1843 dictation of a revelation regarding eternal marriage, including the plurality of wives, in the presence of and .
• The 13 August 1843 disfellowshipment of and revocation of his priesthood license.
• Dispatch of the first missionaries to the Pacific Islands on 20 September 1843, led by .
• JS’s 1 October 1843 announcement of ’s appointment to a mission to Russia.
• Minutes of a 6–9 October 1843 general conference inserted under the date of 9 October at which pled his case in regard to his 13 August 1843 disfellowshipment and was permitted to continue as counselor in the First Presidency.
• Text of JS’s appeal to the Green Mountain Boys of , inserted under the date of 29 November 1843.
• A 20 January 1844 entry that includes a poem by commemorating the presentation of two copies of the Book of Mormon to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert by .
• JS’s nomination on 29 January 1844 as an independent candidate for the presidency of the .
• An account of JS’s sermon, 7 April 1844.
<November 2> patronized by the saints and branches, in the various sections of the Country where we passed, while the common news papers of the day received a liberal support bythose who pretend ‘to hunger and thirst after righteousness.’ They <We> feel justified therefore, in reprobating such a course, as detrimental to the general good of the whole church, that shows a lack of charity in the Elders.
‘Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?’
, at present, is the seat of the First Presidency: the place of the [HC 6:63] gathering for all saints, and the great centre of the world for pure religion, revelation, truth, virtue, knowledge and every thing else preparatory to the coming of the son of man: the best news, the best people, and the best plan of salvation must be there, Wherefore,
Resolved, unanimously, that the travelling elders are hereby instructed to use due diligence in obtaining subscribers for the Times and Seasons, and Nauvoo Neighbor and forward the pay, by safe hands, to the publishers at , that the Saints and the world may receive ‘line upon line, and precept upon precept; here a little and there a little,’ together with such extracts of translations and Revalations, as the Presidency of the church may direct, for the edification of the whole body of the church, in righteousness.
Done in Council, at . November 1843.
Cl’k. President of the Twelve”
<3> Friday 3. I continued in Council all day.
Died at Sea, Knowlton F. Hanks. I copy the following letter from one of the Pacific Island Missionaries.
“Ship Timoleon, North Atlantic Ocean Nov 4. 1843. Lat. 20o 15', Lon. 25o 19' West from Greenwich.
I expect ’ere this reaches you, brother will deliver you the letter and articles I sent you by him, with the $8.00 in cash, I expect he has told you the state of Bro. Hanks’ health when he left us, the reason I never wrote you the particulars of his health was, because he did not wish to have his friends know the worst. I did not see him from the time I left them at Evansville till he comes to me at Winchester. At first sight of him there I saw he had failed materially, and I was bed-fellow with him; my heart often ached to hear the deep rooted cough as it racked his whole frame. I kept a bed vessel with some fresh water in it and what he raised from his lungs would sink in it like lumps of clay; this indicated to me that short of the immediate interposition of Divine Providence, nothing would save him from a premature grave. On his passage from to he seemed to recruit [illegible], but from to New Bedford he, with , took passage in a packet: the weather was rough and they were both sea sick; by being exposed to the sea air together with his sea sickness his disease took a regular downward course, from which I had but little hopes of his recovering recovery. When I met him at Winchester, the kind attention and anxious solicitude which sister Abigail and the rest of the family took in his welfare, seemed to recruit him [illegible] a little.
When we took stage for , our friends in Winchester, with myself [p. 1761]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
- [397]
See 3 Nov. 1843 entry in History Draft.
- [398]
Clayton, Journal, 3 Nov. 1843.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
- [399]
Pratt, Journal, 3 Nov. 1843.
Pratt, Addison. Journals, 1843–1852. Addison Pratt, Autobiography and Journals, 1843–1852. CHL. MS 8226, fds. 4–11.Pratt, Addison. Autobiography and Journals, 1843–1852. CHL.
- [400]
Addison Pratt, Ship Timoleon, North Atlantic Ocean, 4–10 Nov. 1843, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 1 Aug. 1844, 5:602–605.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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