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John Corrill, A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1839

Copyright Notice Page 4 Preface Page 5 Chapter 1 Page 7 Chapter 2 Page 10 Chapter 3 Page 11 Chapter 4 Page 11 Chapter 5 Page 13 Chapter 6 Page 14 Chapter 7 Page 15 Chapter 8 Page 16 Chapter 9 Page 16 Chapter 10 Page 17 Chapter 11 Page 18 Chapter 12 Page 21 Chapter 13 Page 24 Chapter 14 Page 26 Chapter 15 Page 27 Chapter 16 Page 29 Chapter 17 Page 30 Chapter 18 Page 32 Chapter 19 Page 33 Chapter 20 Page 35 Chapter 21 Page 37 Chapter 22 Page 38 Chapter 23 Page 40 Chapter 24 Page 42 Chapter 25 Page 43 Chapter 26 Page 45 Chapter 27 Page 46 To the Reader Page 48

Source Note

, A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, (Commonly Called Mormons;) Including an Account of Their Doctrine and Discipline; with the Reasons of the Author for Leaving the Church, St. Louis, MO: “Printed for the Author,” 1839; two preliminary leaves, 7–50 pp.; includes typeset signature marks. The copy used for transcription is held at CHL; includes handwritten underscoring, notes, and other marks, as well as archival stamps.
This booklet was printed in octavo format on three sheets cut and folded into seven gatherings. The interior gatherings were made from half sheets folded into four leaves, and the initial and final gatherings were made from quarter sheets folded into two leaves, making a total of twenty-four leaves in the booklet. The text block measures 8½ x 5½ x ⅛ inches (22 x 14 x 0.3 cm). Examination of the copies at CHL and BYU, as well as images of a third copy, indicate that the booklet was originally side stitched. The binding of the copy at CHL has been altered. It appears to have been in church custody since at least the early 1880s.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    John Corrill, A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints, microfilm (New Haven, CT: Research Publications, 1967).

  2. [2]

    Needle holes along the center folds suggest that the CHL copy of the booklet was once bound with other similar-size works. The first page of the booklet bears the faded and now faint pencil notation “No 2.” on the upper right corner, a possible indication of the booklet’s arrangement in a collection of tracts. The first page of the booklet also bears a handwritten “20” in ink below the title. A photocopy made in 1971 or earlier shows that the CHL copy was not intact at that time. The copy at CHL is currently sewn through a new set of holes in the center folds. (Corrill, Brief History, photocopy, ca. 1971, CHL.)

    Corrill, John. A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints. . . . Photocopy, ca. 1971. CHL.

  3. [3]

    A circa 1881–1884 inventory of printed works at the Church Historian’s Office includes Corrill’s booklet. The copy held at CHL bears the extremely faded inscription “Historian’s Office” and includes purple Historian’s Office stamps, which were in use as early as the late nineteenth century. A circa 1971 photocopy shows a “Historian’s Office Library” adhesive label (since removed) on page 2 of the CHL copy. These archival records and marks indicate continuous church custody since the early 1880s. (“Church Works, Periodicals, and Pamphlets, Alphabetically Arranged,” 22, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; Corrill, Brief History, photocopy, ca. 1971, CHL.)

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

    Corrill, John. A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints. . . . Photocopy, ca. 1971. CHL.

Historical Introduction

’s history of early Mormonism grew out of the renewed historical effort undertaken by JS and other church leaders in 1838, following the removal of church historian . Whitmer was excommunicated by the high council 10 March 1838. Shortly thereafter, on 6 April, and John Corrill were appointed “to write and keep the Church history,” apparently taking Whitmer’s place. As historian, Whitmer had kept historical notes and other records, but he refused to surrender them to the church clerk. On 9 April, JS and , his counselor in the church presidency, sent Whitmer a letter asking him to turn over the notes. At the same time, they claimed to have in hand (even without Whitmer’s account) “all the materials” needed for a new history, which they intended to commence writing within the week. By the end of the month, JS and Rigdon, with their scribe , began work on the historical narrative that was later serially published as “The History of Joseph Smith” and eventually became the six-volume History of the Church.
The nature of ’s and ’s work as church historians and the relationship of their work to that of JS, , and are unclear. Perhaps Higbee and Corrill were to gather and compile materials from which JS, Rigdon, and Robinson would compose the narrative history. A year later, in , Higbee did gather affidavits and petitions as part of the Latter-day Saints’ effort to obtain redress for losses, but he did not write a formal history. In contrast, Corrill went on to produce a narrative history of the church, though it was not the institutional chronicle expected. Corrill had distanced himself from the church by fall 1838; he published his history through a publisher the next year, titling it A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, (Commonly Called Mormons;) Including an Account of Their Doctrine and Discipline; with the Reasons of the Author for Leaving the Church. Although Corrill’s history does not mention anything about being assigned to write a history, his appointment as a church historian in April 1838 seems to have prompted him to begin such an undertaking, and in response to the assignment, he likely began collecting documents and, like before him, taking notes on events as they unfolded.
brought several years of church leadership and experience to his history. He converted to Mormonism in within a year of the church’s organization and was quickly appointed as a counselor in the bishopric, which soon moved to to oversee the Mormon migration to their “Zion” in . In this and other duties, Corrill was involved in activities related to church record keeping. In 1832, he was appointed to keep the roster of church members in Jackson County, Missouri, as well as to superintend church schools there. He also served as clerk for several church meetings. When the Saints were expelled from Jackson County, the opponents of the Mormons allowed Corrill and to stay behind to “wind up the business of the society.”
In , Ohio, in September 1835, following the expulsion from , JS gave a blessing in which Corrill was appointed to build the in , apparently in anticipation that the Saints would soon return to Jackson County. JS’s journal entry for 4 October 1835 suggests an amiable relationship between Corrill and JS, recounting a short journey they made together: “When about a mile from home we saw two Dears playing in the field which diverted our minds by giving an impatus to our thoughts upon the subject of the creation of God we conversed upon many topicks and the day passed off in a very agreeable manner and the Lord blessed our souls.” In early 1836, JS appointed Corrill to oversee the completion of the interior finishing of the in Kirtland. After returning to Missouri, Corrill helped to locate and purchase new land and obtain local permissions that led to the creation of as an enclave for Latter-day Saint settlement in Missouri, and he then served as the first state legislator elected from Caldwell County. Corrill was released from the Missouri bishopric in 1837 after being appointed to the related office of “Keeper of the Lords’, store house.”
Long situated near the center of the church hierarchy and then officially appointed as a historian, provided valuable historical details in A Brief History of the Church, particularly concerning the Mormon sojourn in . But the booklet also tells the story of Corrill’s spiritual journey into and then out of the church and was, as its title declares, a public explication of his reasons for leaving. In the introduction to his history, Corrill explained his motives for writing. He recounted frequent conversations with his “friends”—possibly colleagues in the Missouri House of Representatives—in which they asked why he ever associated with the Mormons and how he could have subscribed to their irrational “delusions.” Corrill wrote that he intended to use his history to answer these questions “for the satisfaction” of inquirers. His narrative would reveal the “true character” of the church and explain, as he put it, “the reasons of my own conduct.” He was thus explicit that he was writing history in the service of a personal apologia.
As he explained it, understood authority in the church as spread among several governing bodies, each acting as “a check upon each other” such that “authority was reserved to the people.” He came to believe, however, that JS had grown increasingly authoritarian over time. Like other early converts to Mormonism, Corrill was intellectually and emotionally attached to America’s political culture of republicanism, a civil religion that circumscribed narrowly the role of religious leaders. An August 1838 entry in JS’s journal, as kept by , summarized the growing dissonance between JS and Corrill. After recounting that “Prest. Joseph spent some considerable time this day in conversation with br. John Corril,” the entry noted Corrill’s independent stance:
s. conduct for some time past, has been verry unbecoming indeed especially a man in whoom so much confidence has been placed, He has been diffculted to keep track and walk step, by step, with the great wheal which is propelled by the arm of the great Jehovah, he says he will not yeald his Judgement, to any thing proposed by the Church, or any individuals of the Church, or even the voice of the great (I am,) given through the appointed organ, as revelation, but will always act upon his Judgement let him believe in whatever religion he may, he says he will always say what he pleases, for he says he is a republican, and as such he will do, say, act, and believe, what he pleases.
In fact, as indicated in his own history, Corrill came to disapprove of the church’s course even before this time. He especially resented the emphasis placed on conformity, the organization of an extralegal military society known as the Danites, and actions taken to intimidate dissenters.
The final straw for was JS’s October 1838 mobilization of Latter-day Saints in for preemptive strikes against the vigilantes who were preparing to drive the Saints from neighboring . As he recounted in the history, Corrill now wished to separate himself from the church, but the militarization of the Mormon community ruled out both defection and conscientious objection: “there was no other chance for me and the other dissenters but to pretend to take hold with the rest,” he wrote. By 4 November 1838, a few days after the Saints surrendered to the state militia, JS learned that Corrill intended to leave the church. A week later Corrill testified against JS and in a court of inquiry. Four months after that, when most of the Saints had relocated from to , he and other dissenters were formally excommunicated in absentia in , Illinois, 17 March 1839.
In spite of the rift with church leaders, maintained a degree of sympathy for the Latter-day Saints and continued his interaction with them. In December 1838 he presented in the state legislature two petitions for redress on behalf of the dispossessed Saints. A month later, however, he presented another bill that manifested his attitude toward JS’s prophetic claims and the Mormon community by that time. The proposed law sought to “punish persons who may attempt to prophesy or speak in the name of the Lord,” stating that it was “the best way to prevent the recurrence of the evils heretofore experienced with the Mormons.” The bill was defeated 44–41.
As noted, apparently began writing his narrative, or at least drafting notes, while still serving as an officially appointed church historian in . This is evident early in his narrative, when he reported the removal of the Zion () presidency in February 1838. Corrill related that they had been replaced by apostle and two assistants, who “served as presidents, pro tempore, until Smith and arrived, and even until now.” That Corrill’s account has Marsh as president “even until now” indicates Corrill wrote this passage before late October 1838, when Marsh left Far West and prepared a statement against JS and the Saints. Corrill clearly finished writing his work after 19 December 1838, the last date covered in his narrative. He concluded by noting that some Saints awaited the results of their petitions to the government and hoped to remain in Missouri, which suggests he finished drafting his work before 26 January, when the Latter-day Saints as a body resolved to evacuate the state. Corrill probably had drafted most or all of his narrative as of 11 February 1839, the day he secured a copyright for his work with the clerk of the Missouri district of the federal copyright office.
arranged for Thomas Watson & Son of to print his work. The manuscript that was apparently used to print the history is extant but incomplete. It includes the title page, copyright notice, and preface but is missing twenty-one pages, including the nineteen manuscript pages that constitute chapters 1–6. The manuscript is almost entirely in Corrill’s handwriting, although some of the chapter summaries (added after Corrill drafted the narrative) were written in a different hand, possibly that of the printer. In a 21 April 1839 letter addressed to Thomas Watson & Son, Corrill requested help in correcting his punctuation and capitalization. It is uncertain whether the printer or the author made the more substantive changes evident in the printed version. Corrill may have approved all significant changes, but it appears he did not have the opportunity to proofread the text after typesettting, as he would have presumably corrected obvious misspellings, such as “Uorley” to “Morley.” Corrill’s 21 April letter requested that the publisher include a sample he sent them of JS’s “new translation” or inspired revision of the Bible. Printing had apparently already begun by this time, since the addition seems to have caused misnumbering of pages.
’s history opens with three chapters describing his introduction to the church. Through study of the Bible, he satisfied himself as to the need for a restoration of original Christianity, and he eventually came to accept as valid JS’s prophetic role in carrying out that restoration. Chapters 4–8 summarize the origin and contents of the Book of Mormon and then outline important and sometimes distinctive Mormon doctrines such as the restoration of priesthood, baptism by immersion, spiritual gifts, and the “gathering.” Corrill presented this early Latter-day Saint doctrine in a thoughtful way that justified his original conclusion that Mormonism was biblical and rational. In chapter 9, Corrill begins recounting church history to which he had been an eyewitness. He related the eagerness of the Saints to gather in and the dilemma their rapidly growing presence posed for their neighbors. He also described the growth of the church in , the organization of the 1834 expedition to Missouri, the interior detail of the , the preparation of church officers to receive a special “endowment” of heavenly power, and the downward spiral of the church’s financial situation in Kirtland.
’s “brief history of the church” focuses particularly on the events of summer and fall 1838. In chapter 16, following his discussion of the “Salt Sermon” delivered by on 17 June 1838, Corrill sounded his first note of alarm. A “mob spirit,” he noted, arose among some church members who threatened violence against dissenters. Subsequent chapters narrate the expulsion of dissenters, the organization of the Danite society, the fray between Latter-day Saints and other Missourians at the election, the beginning of anti-Mormon activity in Daviess County, the expulsion of the Saints from , the preemptive strike against opponents in Daviess County, the massacre of Saints living at , Governor ’s order to exterminate the Mormons, the militia siege of , and the arrest and imprisonment of JS and other church leaders. Corrill concluded his final chapter with “a few remarks to the church,” explaining his disillusionment with the church’s claim to revelatory leadership and calling on the Latter-day Saints to exercise “common sense” and, as he puts it, “that sound reason with which God has endowed you.” Whereas the beginning of Corrill’s narrative explained to his new friends how he came to associate with the Saints and believe their doctrines, the conclusion of his narrative explained to his former coreligionists his reasons for leaving them.
Following ’s concluding remarks is a final section headed “To the Reader,” which presents the text of Matthew 24 from JS’s “new translation” of the Bible. Corrill sent a handwritten copy of this text in his 21 April 1839 letter requesting that the publisher add it. The copy Corrill sent was taken from a broadside that was apparently published in the mid-1830s. Having mentioned JS’s revision of the Bible early in his history, Corrill decided to “indulge the reader with a small specimen or sample of the new translation.” In his letter to the printer, Corrill explained that adding the passage would “make the book more saleable especially among the Mormormoms [Mormons], for many are greedy after that Chapter.”
The 5 July 1839 issue of the St. Louis Missouri Argus, on whose press ’s history was printed, included a notification that the booklet would “be ready for delivery in a few weeks.” Thus it probably went on sale in July or August 1839. Corrill’s 21 April 1839 letter to the printer also indicated his intention to purchase “1/4 or 1/2” of the print run. Corrill had approximately three hundred copies of the history in his possession at the time he died; if this figure represents a fourth to a half of the print run, then the entire print run must have included at least six to twelve hundred copies. It was apparently his intention to personally market the book to the Mormons. Leaving , Corrill moved to and then , Illinois, where he maintained contact with the Latter-day Saints located about fifty miles upriver in (soon Nauvoo). Despite Corrill’s departure from the church, the Saints apparently saw his history as useful, and some no doubt purchased copies. Even after Corrill’s death on 26 September 1842, The Prophet, a Latter-day Saint newspaper published in , repeatedly advertised that it had copies of his history available for purchase.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minute Book 2, 10 Mar. and 6 Apr. 1838.

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

  2. [2]

    JS and Sidney Rigdon, Far West, MO, to John Whitmer, 9 Apr. 1838.

    JSP, J1 / Jessee, Dean C., Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Richard L. Jensen, eds. Journals, Volume 1: 1832–1839. Vol. 1 of the Journals series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2008.

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 27 Apr. and 30 Apr.–4 May 1838. The “History of Joseph Smith,” was published serially in the Times and Seasons from 15 March 1842 to 15 February 1846. (See “Joseph Smith’s Historical Enterprise;” and Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 449–450, 462.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

  4. [4]

    Minute Book 2, 3 June 1831.

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

  5. [5]

    Oliver Cowdery, Independence, MO, to JS, Kirtland, OH, 28 Jan. 1832, JS Collection, CHL.

    Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.

  6. [6]

    See Minute Book 2, 2 Aug. 1831; 13 July 1832; 15 Nov. 1836; 7 Apr., 11 June, and 1 Aug. 1837; and 24 Feb. 1838.

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

  7. [7]

    Whitmer, History, 44.

    Whitmer, History / Whitmer, John. “The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment,” ca. 1838–1847. CHL. Available at josephsmithpapers.org.

  8. [8]

    JS to John Corrill, Blessing, 22 Sept. 1835, in Patriarchal Blessings, 1:14.

    Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.

  9. [9]

    JS, Journal, 4 Oct. 1835.

  10. [10]

    JS, Journal, 15 Jan. 1836. Little is known about Corrill’s involvement in architecture or construction, but Truman Angell called Corrill the “leading mechanic” for the Kirtland temple. The inventory of his personal property at the time of Corrill’s death listed tools, instruments, and architectural books that could have been useful to him in such endeavors. (Angell, Autobiography, 15; “A Bill of the Widows Dowery of John Corrill Dec’d,” 10 Mar. 1843, Adams Co., IL, Estate Records, ca. 1832–1938, box 287, microfilm 933,951, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    Angell, Truman O. Autobiography, 1884. CHL. MS 12334. Also available in Archie Leon Brown and Charlene L. Hathaway, 141 Years of Mormon Heritage: Rawsons, Browns, Angells—Pioneers (Oakland, CA: By the authors, 1973), 119–135.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  11. [11]

    Reed Peck, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, p. 11, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA; Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri [1838–1839], 2.

    Peck, Reed. Letter, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

    Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri, at the First Session of the Tenth General Assembly, Begun and Held at the City of Jefferson, on Monday, the Nineteenth Day of November, in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. Jefferson City, MO: Calvin Gunn, 1839.

  12. [12]

    Minute Book 2, 1 Aug. and 22 May 1837. JS’s revelations assigned supervision of the communal storehouse to the bishop and his counselors. (See Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 13:10, 1835 ed. [D&C 42:34]; and Revelation, 20 May 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 23:4, 1835 ed. [D&C 51:13].)

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

    Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).

  13. [13]

    Corrill, Brief History, 25.

  14. [14]

    JS, Journal, 31 Aug. 1838; compare Oliver Cowdery’s statements in connection with Cowdery’s own 12 April 1838 excommunication, as recorded in Minute Book 2, 12 Apr. 1838; see also JS, Journal, 12 Apr. 1838.

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

  15. [15]

    Corrill, Brief History, 37.

  16. [16]

    JS, Independence, MO, to Emma Smith, Far West, MO, 4 Nov. 1838, JS Materials, CCLA.

    Smith, Joseph. Materials, 1832–1844, 1883. CCLA.

  17. [17]

    John Corrill, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes [Mo. 5th Cir. Ct. 1838], in State of Missouri, “Evidence.”

    Missouri, State of. “Evidence.” Hearing Record, Richmond, MO, 12–29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. Joseph Smith et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Cir. Ct. 1838). Eugene Morrow Violette Collection, 1806–1921, Western Historical Manuscript Collection. University of Missouri and State Historical Society of Missouri, Ellis Library, University of Missouri, Columbia.

  18. [18]

    “Extracts of the Minutes of Conferences,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1839, 1:15.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  19. [19]

    Corrill, Brief History, 44; see also “Letter from the Editor,” Missouri Republican (St. Louis), 24 Dec. 1838, [2]; Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri 19 Dec. 1838, 128; Edward Partridge et al., “Copy of a Memorial to the Legislature of Missouri,” in Greene, Facts Relative to the Expulsion, 10–16.)

    Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1919.

    Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri, at the First Session of the Tenth General Assembly, Begun and Held at the City of Jefferson, on Monday, the Nineteenth Day of November, in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. Jefferson City, MO: Calvin Gunn, 1839.

    Greene, John P. Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, from the State of Missouri, under the “Exterminating Order.” By John P. Greene, an Authorized Representative of the Mormons. Cincinnati: R. P. Brooks, 1839.

  20. [20]

    “Letter from the Editor,” Missouri Republican (St. Louis), 25 Jan. 1839, [2]; see also Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri, 19 Jan. 1839, 254–255.

    Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1919.

    Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri, at the First Session of the Tenth General Assembly, Begun and Held at the City of Jefferson, on Monday, the Nineteenth Day of November, in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. Jefferson City, MO: Calvin Gunn, 1839.

  21. [21]

    Corrill, Brief History, 28.

  22. [22]

    Marsh abandoned his office by 24 October, the date of a statement he swore in Richmond, Missouri, against JS and the Mormons. Marsh may have left Far West by 20 October. Corrill later covered Marsh’s departure in chapter 22 of his history. (Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde, Affidavit, Richmond, MO, 24 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA; Rockwood, Journal, 21 Oct. 1838; Corrill, Brief History, 39.)

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

    Rockwood, Albert Perry. Journal Entries, Oct. 1838–Jan. 1839. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2606.

  23. [23]

    “Proceedings of Meeting No 1 Jany 26th 1839,” Far West Committee, Minutes, CHL. However, since it appears Corrill did not return to Far West after traveling to Jefferson City for the legislative session, word of the Saints’ decision to evacuate may not have reached him until later. By mid-February the Saints were packing and leaving en masse, and by the end of April they had resettled in Illinois. (See Gentry, “Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri,” chap. 14, esp. pp. 422–425.)

    Far West Committee. Minutes, Jan.–Apr. 1839. CHL. MS 2564.

    Gentry, Leland Homer. “A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri from 1836 to 1839.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1965. Also available as A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri from 1836 to 1839, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).

  24. [24]

    The copyright application included a printed copy of the preliminary title page. Although some formatting changes were made to the title page before final printing, the title itself remained the same, indicating that by the time Corrill applied for copyright, his manuscript had progressed to the point that he could provide a title that described in detail the structure of the book. (See Corrill, Brief History, [4].)

  25. [25]

    The title page of the printed work does not list the printer, but a letter dated 21 April 1839, which discusses details of printing the work, is addressed to Thomas Watson & Son. Thomas Watson and his son John H. Watson owned the Missouri Argus newspaper in St. Louis from September 1837 to November 1839. (John Corrill, Springfield, IL, to Thomas and [John H.] Watson, St. Louis, MO, 21 Apr. 1839, John Fletcher Darby, Papers, Missouri History Museum, St. Louis; Abel Rathbone Corbin, “To the Patrons of the Missouri Argus,” Missouri Argus [St. Louis], 27 Sept. 1837, [1]; Thomas and John H. Watson, “To the Patrons of the Missouri Argus,” Missouri Argus, 22 Nov. 1839, [2].)

    Corrill, John. Letter, Springfield, IL, to Thomas Watson and [John H.] Watson, St. Louis, MO, 21 Apr. 1839. John Fletcher Darby, Papers, Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, MO.

    Missouri Argus. St. Louis. 1835–1841.

  26. [26]

    The manuscript came into the possession of John Fletcher Darby, who served during the same term as Corrill in the Missouri legislature. Darby was mayor of St. Louis for four terms and later represented Missouri as a member of Congress. (Journal, of the Senate, of the State of Missouri, 3; Darby, Personal Recollections, 181, 202, 277, 450.)

    Journal, of the Senate, of the State of Missouri, at the First Session of the Tenth General Assembly, Begun and Held at the City of Jefferson, On Monday, the Nineteenth Day of November, in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. Jefferson City, MO: Calvin Gunn, 1839.

    Darby, John Fletcher Personal Recollections of Many Prominent People Whom I Have Known, and of Events—Especially of those Relating to the History of St. Louis—During the First Half of the Present Century. St. Louis: G. I. Jones and Company, 1880.

  27. [27]

    Of the ninety-two pages of Corrill’s manuscript, pages 1–19, 24, and 36 are missing. Corrill wrote only on the recto side of each leaf, leaving the versos blank.

  28. [28]

    Up through chapter 14, the existing manuscript was written with chapter headings and space for chapter summaries, while chapters 15–27 (with the exception of chapter 26) were written without chapter breaks or space for summaries. In this later part of the manuscript, the pages were cut at the point where a new chapter was to begin, and a chapter heading and summary were pasted to the manuscript on a separate slip of paper. Text lost in the cutting was recopied on the slip of paper. Because the earlier portion of the text was created in anticipation of chapter headings, it is possible that the earlier portion of the manuscript is a later copy made after chapter breaks were introduced in the later portion of the manuscript.

  29. [29]

    J. Corrill to T. and [J. H.] Watson, 21 Apr. 1839.

    Corrill, John. Letter, Springfield, IL, to Thomas Watson and [John H.] Watson, St. Louis, MO, 21 Apr. 1839. John Fletcher Darby, Papers, Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, MO.

  30. [30]

    The printers planned Corrill’s history to be a forty-eight-page booklet, printed on three sheets. Leaving the front matter to be printed last, they began numbering chapter 1 with page 7, presumably reserving an eight-page gathering for front matter, two pages of which would contain an unnumbered advertisement or half title. Appending Matthew 24 added text the publishers had not planned space for, a situation which would normally have forced them to add an extra gathering at the back of the book. Rather than doing so, they shortened the front matter from eight pages to four. As a result, page 7 at the start of chapter 1 became a misnumbering. In the end, the body of the history ran three and a half pages beyond its allotted forty pages.

  31. [31]

    The broadside, which is undated and carries no indication of the publisher, is believed to have been printed and circulated in Kirtland. (Extract from the New Translation of the Bible [Kirtland, OH]: [ca. 1835?]; see also Durham, “History of Joseph Smith’s Revision of the Bible,” 85–96; and Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:60–61.)

    Durham, Reed C. “A History of Joseph Smith’s Revision of the Bible.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1965.

    Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

  32. [32]

    J. Corrill to T. and [J. H.] Watson, 21 Apr. 1839.

    Corrill, John. Letter, Springfield, IL, to Thomas Watson and [John H.] Watson, St. Louis, MO, 21 Apr. 1839. John Fletcher Darby, Papers, Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, MO.

  33. [33]

    “A New Verdict,” Missouri Argus, (St. Louis), 5 July 1839, [2].

    Missouri Argus. St. Louis. 1835–1841.

  34. [34]

    J. Corrill to T. and [J. H.] Watson, 21 Apr. 1839.

    Corrill, John. Letter, Springfield, IL, to Thomas Watson and [John H.] Watson, St. Louis, MO, 21 Apr. 1839. John Fletcher Darby, Papers, Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, MO.

  35. [35]

    “A Bill of the Widows Dowery of John Corrill Dec’d,” 10 Mar. 1843, Adams Co., IL, Estate Records, ca. 1832–1938, box 287, microfilm 933,951, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  36. [36]

    Corrill moved to Quincy by January 1840. There he submitted a petition to the United States Senate and House of Representatives similar to those written by hundreds of Latter-day Saints at that time, seeking redress from the federal government for the losses and hardships to which they had been subjected in Missouri. On his own behalf and that of the Saints with whom he was no longer numbered, he requested a congressional investigation and asked that Congress “restore . . . all their rights of Citizenship, remunerate their losses and properly chastise the guilty.” Corrill visited Nauvoo in March 1841 representing some of the Saints’ creditors. He met with JS and attempted to collect on outstanding debts but later counseled those he represented that the dispossessed Saints were still poor and that JS was hostile toward attempts to collect debts incurred in Missouri. (John Corrill, Affidavit, Quincy, IL, 9 Jan. 1840, photocopy, Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, CHL; John Corrill, Quincy, IL, to Edward M. Samuel and Michael Arthur, Liberty, MO, 21 Mar. 1841, enclosed in Edward M. Samuel and Michael Arthur, Liberty, MO, to Thomas Reynolds, Jefferson City, MO, 5 Apr. 1841, Thomas Reynolds, Office of the Governor, MSA.)

    Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2145.

    Thomas Reynolds. Records, 1840–1841. Office of the Governor. MSA.

  37. [37]

    Adams Co., IL, Probate Letters of Administration, 1826–1849, vol. C, 162, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. The weekly paper advertised the book in all but one issue from 15 June 1844 until its final issue, 24 May 1845.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    The Prophet. New York City, NY. May 1844–Dec. 1845.

Page 11

Thus I reasoned, and became satisfied that it was just as consistent to look for prophets in this age as in any other. As to the person of Joseph Smith, jun’r., might as well be a prophet as any one else, but it was said of him that he was a money hunter, and a bad man before he was called to be a prophet. So it was said of Moses, that he murdered a man, hid him in the sand, and ran away from justice, and while in this state God called him to be a prophet.—(Exod. ii. 11–25 & xii. 1–18.) As to the gift of prophecy and revelation, it is well known to every man who is acquainted with his Bible, that God always endowed his prophets with the gift of prophecy, and through them revealed his will. As, however, God never called a servant without having something for him to do, the question was what did he want with Smith? What great work had he to perform? This leads me to my second proposition.
Chapter 3
CHAPTER III.
 
Book of Mormon, the production of Smith—Witnesses—Bible, the production of many generations.
 
The Book of Mormon and its origin.
This was the first production of Smith after his call to the prophetic office. As to the origin of the Book, I made very diligent inquiry, and from all I could learn, I became satisfied that Smith was the author, and I never have been able to trace it to any other source. As to its being a Revelation from God, eleven persons besides Smith bore positive testimony of its truth. After getting acquainted with them, I was unable to impeach their testimony, and consequently thought that it was as consistent to give credit to them as to credit the writings of the New Testament, when I had never seen the authors nor the original copy. As the Bible, (although we see it bound in one volume) was made up of many detached parts of Revelation given from time to time, as God saw proper, through the space of four thousand years, for the special benefit of those to whom it was given, I thought it was no more than reasonable that we should also receive additional Revelation for our special benefit; for this was according to his promise, to give line upon line, precept upon precept here a little and there a little.—(Isa. xxviii. 9, 10.)
Chapter 4
CHAPTER IV.
 
Account of the Golden Plates, and the finding of them—Smith chastened by an Angel—his wickedness—Plates obtained and translated—the Language——Characters shown—Urim and Thummim—Translation published—Plates shown to witnesses—Church organized—Reflections—Scriptures not complete—Word of God sealed and hid—Ezekiel’s two Records.
 
The singularity of the hiding up, preservation, and coming forth of the Book. [p. 11]
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Editorial Title
John Corrill, A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1839
ID #
6552
Total Pages
48
Print Volume Location
JSP, H2:120–201
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Footnotes

  1. [5]

    Eleven men signed two separate statements published with the Book of Mormon, attesting to its authenticity: Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris signed the first; Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Peter Whitmer Jr., John Whitmer, Hiram Page, Joseph Smith Sr., Hyrum Smith, and Samuel Smith signed the second. (“Testimony of Three Witnesses” and “Testimony of Eight Witnesses,” in Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., [589]–[590].)

    The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. Palmyra, NY: E. B. Grandin, 1830.

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