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History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844]
Source Note
Source Note
JS, History, 1838–1856, vol. F-1, created 9 Apr.–7 June 1856 and 20 Aug. 1856–6 Nov. 1856; handwriting of and Jonathan Grimshaw; 304 pages, plus 10 pages of addenda; CHL. This is the final volume of a six-volume manuscript history of the church. This sixth volume covers the period from 1 May to 8 Aug. 1844; the remaining five volumes, labeled A-1 through E-1, go through 30 Apr. 1844.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
History, 1838-1856, volume F-1, constitutes the last 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 May 1844 to the events following his 27 June 1844 death, and it was compiled in Utah Territory in 1856.
The material recorded in volume F-1 was initially compiled under the direction of church historian , who was JS’s cousin, and also assistant church historian . Smith collaborated with in collecting material for the volume and creating a set of draft notes, which Smith dictated to Bullock and other clerks. Woodruff gathered additional material concerning the death of Joseph Smith as a supplement to George A. Smith’s work recording that event. Jonathan Grimshaw and , members of the Historian’s Office staff, transcribed the draft notes into the volume along with the text of designated documents.
According to the Historian’s Office journal, Jonathan Grimshaw initiated work on the text of volume F-1 on 9 April 1856, soon after Robert L. Campbell had completed work on volume E-1. (Historian’s Office, Journal, 5 and 9 Apr. 1856.) Grimshaw’s scribal work begins with an entry for 1 May 1844. Unlike previous volumes in which the numbering had run consecutively to page 2028, Grimshaw began anew with page 1. He transcribed 150 pages by June 1856, and his last entry was for 23 June 1844. Though more of his writing does not appear in the volume, he continued to work in the office until 2 August, before leaving for the East that same month. (Historian’s Office, Journal, 2 and 10 Aug. 1856.)
assumed the role of scribe on 20 August 1856. (Historian’s Office, Journal, 20 Aug. 1856.) He incorporated ’s draft notes for the period 24–29 June 1844 on pages 151–189, providing an account of JS’s death and its immediate aftermath. He next transcribed a related extract from ’s 1854 History of Illinois on pages 190–204. Pages 205–227 were left blank.
provided the notes for the final portion of the text. This account begins with an entry for 22 June 1844 and continues the record through 8 August 1844, ending on page 304. (The volume also included ten pages of addenda.) The last specific entry in the Historian’s Office journal that captures at work on the history is for 6 November 1856. A 2 February 1857 Wilford Woodruff letter to indicates that on 30 January 1857, the “presidency sat and heard the history read up to the organization of the church in , 8th. day of August 1844.” (Historian’s Office, Journal, 6 Nov. 1856; Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 2 Feb. 1857, Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 410; see also Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to Amasa Lyman and Charles C. Rich, 28 Feb. 1857, Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, pp. 430–431.)
The pages of volume F-1 contain a record of the final weeks of JS’s life and the events of the ensuing days. The narrative commences with and arriving at , Illinois, on 1 May 1844 from their lumber-harvesting mission in the “” of Wisconsin Territory. As the late spring and summer of 1844 unfold, events intensify, especially those surrounding the suppression of the Nauvoo Expositor in mid-June. Legal action over the Expositor leads to a charge of riot, and subsequently JS is charged with treason and is incarcerated at the jail in , Illinois. The narrative of volume F-1 concludes with an account of the special church conference convened on 8 August 1844 to consider who should assume the leadership of the church.
<June 22> as “you lie like hell” from a crown of persons present; these facts shew conclusively that he is under the influence of the mob spirit, and is designedly intending to place us in the hands of murderous assassins, and is conniving at our destruction; or else that he is to ignorant and stupid, that he does not understand the corrupt and diabolical spirits that are around him. [HC 6:542]
Elder gave the following account of his interview with the :—
“After waiting the ’s pleasure for some time we had an audience; but such an audience! He was surrounded by some of the vilest and most unprincipled men in creation; some of them had an appearance of respectability, but many of them lacked even that. and I believe were there, , and , , a lawyer from ; a mobocratic merchant from , , a number of his associates, and the ’s secretary, in all some fifteen or twenty persons, most of whom were recreant to virtue, honor integrity and everything that is considered honorable among men. I can well remember the feelings of disgust that I had in seeing the surrounded by such an infamous group, and on being introduced to men of so questionable a character; and had I been on private business, I should have turned to depart, and told the that, if he thought proper to associate with such questionable characters, I should beg leave to be excused, but coming, as we did, on public business, we could not of course consult our private feelings.
“We then stated to the , that in accordance with his request, General Joseph Smith had in response to his call, sent us to him as a committee of conference; that we were acquainted with most of the circumstances that had transpired in and about lately, and were prepared to give him the information; that moreover we had in our possession testimony and affidavits confirmatory of what we should say, which had been forwarded to him by General Joseph Smith; that communications had been forwarded to his by Merssrs , and others, some of which had not reached their destination; but of which we had duplicates with us. We then in brief related an outline of the diffiulties, and the course we had pursued from the commencement of the troubles, up to the present, and handing him the documents, respectfully submitted the whole. During our conversation and explanations with the , we were frequently rudely and impudently contradicted by the fellows he had around him, and of whom he seemed to take no notice.
“He opened and read a number of the documents himself, and as he proceeded, he was frequently interrupted by: ‘That’s a lie’— ‘That’s a God damned lie.’ ‘That’s an infernal falsehood’. ‘That’s a blasted lie’ &c. [HC 6:543]
“These men evidently winced on an exposure of their acts, and thus vulgarly, impudently and falsely repudiated them. One of their number, , addressed himself several times to me, while in conversation with the . I did not notice him until after a frequent repetition of his insolence, when I informed him, that my business at that time was with ; whereupon I continued
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Footnotes
Footnotes
Jonathan Grimshaw handwriting ends; Leo Hawkins begins.