Footnotes
John Smith and Clarissa Lyman Smith, Kirtland, OH, to George A. Smith, Shinnston, VA, 1 Jan. 1838, George Albert Smith, Papers, CHL; Hepzibah Richards, Kirtland, OH, to Willard Richards, Bedford, England, 18–19 Jan. 1838, Willard Richards, Papers, CHL.
Smith, George Albert. Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322.
Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL.
The letter references the enclosure of the motto, stating that the motto was transcribed in the Scriptory Book. This indicates that the Scriptory Book, which begins in and is almost entirely in Robinson’s handwriting, was started sometime between Robinson’s arrival in Far West on 28 March and JS’s composition of the letter on 29 March. Although Robinson began the book at this time, with an account of JS’s arrival in Far West and a copy of the motto, he apparently did not add anything further to the book until the middle of April, at the time of the excommunications of Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer. The title page of the Scriptory Book is dated 12 April 1838, the date of Cowdery’s church trial, and editorial notes between the various documents that Robinson transcribed into the book explain how the events documented in the various transcripts led up to the excommunications of Cowdery and Whitmer. (JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, pp. 15–32.)
These men from Far West met JS’s party in Caldwell County at John Barnard’s home, where the party had stopped for the night. (JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, p. 16.)
In 1831, JS dictated revelations that designated Missouri as the “land of your [the Saints’] inheritance.” (Revelation, 6 June 1831 [D&C 52:42]; Revelation, 14 June 1831 [D&C 55:5]; see also Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57].)
See Psalm 110:2.
JS moved to Kirtland in February 1831.a Several of JS’s revelations referred to Kirtland Township or the Kirtland area as the “Land of Kirtland.”b
(aJS History, vol. A-1, 92; [Matthew S. Clapp], “Mormonism,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 15 Feb. 1831, [1]–[2]. bSee, for example, Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:21]; see also Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, 191.)Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.
Bushman, Richard Lyman. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. With the assistance of Jed Woodworth. New York: Knopf, 2005.
En route to Missouri, JS, Rigdon, and their families endured severe cold and several difficult river crossings. (JS History, vol. B-1, 780; JS, Journal, 29 Dec. 1842; Historian’s Office, Brigham Young History Drafts, 16–17.)
Historian’s Office. Brigham Young History Drafts, 1856–1858. CHL. CR 100 475, box 1, fd. 5.
Warren Parrish had served as JS’s personal scribe from fall 1835 to spring 1837 and was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. He had also served as the clerk of the Kirtland Safety Society and later as its cashier.a After questioning JS’s leadership and decisions as president of the church, Parrish renounced church leaders and led a group of dissenters in an effort to establish a new church.b
(aNotice, ca. Late Aug. 1837; Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 465–466, 480, 600. bIntroduction to Part 6: 20 Apr.–14 Sept. 1837; Backman, Heavens Resound, 327–329; Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 535, 600.)Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.
Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.
Within the prior two weeks, JS had composed a church motto, which denounced “tyrants, Mobs, Aristocracy, Anarchy and Toryism.” (Motto, ca. 16 or 17 Mar. 1838.)
JS’s Scriptory Book notes that upon arriving in Far West, his family was “immediately received under the hospitable roof of George W. Harris who treated us with all kindness possible.” (JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, p. 16.)