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The Book of the Law of the Lord, Book B

Source Note

Book of the Law of the Lord, Book B, May 1844–Aug. 1844; handwriting of , , John McEwan, and other unidentified scribes; 61 pages; in “Trustee-in-Trust Tithing and Donation Record,” Record Book, May 1844–Jan. 1846, CHL. Includes redactions and use marks.
Tithing donations for May 1844–January 1846 were inscribed in a large, leather-bound blank book made with thick paper. The paper was printed with forty-seven horizontal blue lines and two vertical red ledger-style lines on each side of the page. The pages measure 16 ¾ × 11 inches (42 × 28 cm). The text block was formed with ninety-five gatherings of four leaves each, with 380 leaves. The text block is bound in a ledger style to the boards. Marbled papers featuring a shell pattern with brown body and veins of pink, blue, and white are glued to the inside covers of the boards and to the blue paper, which was then adhered to the gatherings. The boards and spine are covered in calf-skin leather. The boards have a raised panel in the center and decorative edging. The leather was blind tooled on the outside covers. The spine includes five decorative embossed panels, with one at the top, three in the middle, and one at the bottom of the spine. The spine also includes a red leather nameplate bearing the word “RECORD” in gold with gold edging. “No. 2” is inscribed in ink at the bottom of the spine. The completed volume measures 17 × 11 ½ × 2 7/8 inches (43 × 29 × 7 cm). The book has undergone conservation; the pasteboards have been reinforced with a strip of red tape, and the endpaper has been replaced with blue paper.
Tithing donations were entered in roughly chronological order, though there are a few sections where donations were entered out of chronological order. The first six pages of this volume include tithing donations from British Saints brought to Nauvoo by . These donations were received by the recorder’s office in late April 1844 but were kept until 6 May, when a new volume was started and there was adequate room to copy them. Half of page 25 and page 26 are blank. Most of the volume was used to record tithing donations, but and other clerks also recorded brief journal-style entries about the business of the trustee’s office, the collection of tithing or subscriptions, and the progress of the . Among these was the collection of funds for the by Latter-day Saint women in and Macedonia, Illinois, on pages 42 to 46. On page 48, recorded a deathbed donation by Hannah Tinkham. Pages 543 and 544 contain -era donations that were recorded in 1851. Pages 545–550 and 556–560 are blank. In December 1844, and were asked to give church leaders the money they had collected from their penny subscription fund for the . In connection with this donation, the names of those who had subscribed to the penny fund were recorded in the Book of the Law of the Lord. Clayton used a blank section of pages in Book A, and when there was no longer room in that record book, he copied the remaining names into Book B, from page 551 to 555.
The “Law of the Lord” is listed in inventories of church records made in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the 1850s. One 1858 inventory specified that the “Law of the Lord” consisted of two volumes. These inventories further show that the Law of the Lord volumes were held for a time in the office of church president Brigham Young. In the 1850s, this second volume of the Book of the Law of the Lord was sometimes also referred to by clerks in the Historian’s Office as “Tithing Record No. 2.” The two books were eventually housed with the papers of Joseph Fielding Smith, apparently during his tenure as church historian and recorder (1921–1970), and then became part of the First Presidency’s papers when he became church president in 1970. In 2010, the First Presidency transferred custody of the record books to the Church History Library. This indicates continuous institutional custody and authenticity.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Only the portion of the tithing records donated during JS’s tenure as trustee-in-trust are featured here. After JS’s death on 27 June 1844, it took time to appoint new people to the many offices he held. JS remained the official trustee for the church, with William Clayton acting as an agent and trustee pro tem, until August 1844. On 12 August George Miller and Newel K. Whitney filed their certificate of appointment as the new trustees for the church. Thus, while the record book contains 758 inscribed pages, only the first 61 pages are transcribed and published here, ending on 12 August 1844. (Clayton, Journal, 7 July 1844; Richards, Journal, 9 Aug. 1844; Newel K. Whitney and George Miller, Appointment as Trustees, 12 Aug. 1844, Nauvoo Trustees Papers, 1844–1848, CHL.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

    Nauvoo Trustees Papers, 1844–1848. CHL.

  2. [2]

    Entries on page 208 were continued on page 215, entries on page 214 were continued on page 541, and entries on page 540 were continued on page 561.

  3. [3]

    See Clayton, Journal, 10 December 1844; and Book of the Law of the Lord, Book B, 169.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  4. [4]

    “Historian’s Office Inventory G. S. L. City March 19. 1858,” [1].

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

  5. [5]

    Historian’s Office, “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th April 1855,” [1]; Historian’s Office, “Inventory. Historians Office. G. S. L. City April 1.1857,” [1]; Historian’s Office, “Historian’s Office Inventory G. S. L. City March 19. 1858,” [1]; Historian’s Office, “Historian’s Office Catalogue Book March 1858,” [11], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

  6. [6]

    Historian’s Office Journal, 24 Mar. 1858, “List of Books from Brigham Young’s Office.”

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

  7. [7]

    “Inventory of President Joseph Fielding Smith’s Safe,” 23 May 1970, First Presidency, General Administration Files, CHL.

    “Inventory of President Joseph Fielding Smith’s Safe,” 23 May 1970. First Presidency, General Administration Files, 1921–1972. CHL.

  8. [8]

    Letter of transfer, Salt Lake City, UT, 8 Jan. 2010, CHL.

    “Inventory of President Joseph Fielding Smith’s Safe,” 23 May 1970. First Presidency, General Administration Files, 1921–1972. CHL.

Historical Introduction

In 1841, JS instructed his scribe, , to begin keeping a record book that would eventually be titled “Book of the Law of the Lord.” This book included JS revelations, JS’s journal from December 1841 to December 1842, and tithing and donations made by members of the church for the construction of the and . In early May 1844, scribes in the temple recorder’s office, likely acting under , recorded donations on the last page of the Book of the Law of the Lord. They then began the book featured here, a second tithing record, which was identified as “Record B” by Clayton and at some point had “Record No. 2” inscribed on the spine.” This second book is a seamless continuation of the initial Book of the Law of the Lord. Church presidents and Joseph F. Smith considered this book and subsequent record books to collectively be the Book of the Law of the Lord. In light of this collective understanding and title and the direct continuation of tithing and donation entries, the Joseph Smith Papers Project has titled this second volume “Book of the Law of the Lord, Book B” and the previous volume “Book A.”
Book of the Law of the Lord, Book B contains records of tithing and donations from 6 May 1844 to 28 January 1846 as well as a few journal entries related to the trustee’s office. However, only a portion of the record book will be published on the Joseph Smith Papers website. Although JS was killed on 27 June 1844, it took time to reorganize and appoint new people to the many offices he held. JS remained the official trustee for the church, with acting as an agent and trustee pro tem, until August 1844. On 12 August and filed their certificate of appointment as the new trustees for the church. Thus, while the record book contains 758 inscribed pages, only the first 61 pages are transcribed and published here, ending on 12 August 1844.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    A notation on the bottom of page 231 reads: “Carried to Record B. Page 551.” (Book of the Law of the Lord, Book A, 231.)

  2. [2]

    The last entry on page 477 of Book of the Law of the Lord, Book A is dated 6 May 1844. Hiram Clark had returned to Nauvoo from Great Britain in late April and brought with him tithing and donations from the British Saints. It appears that recording these donations would have required more space than was available in Book of the Law of the Lord, Book A, so they were saved until they started a second record book, referred to here as Book of the Law of the Lord, Book B. The donations were recorded on the first five and a half pages of that new book. After these donations, tithing entries from 6 May 1844 as found in Tithing Day Book B were then recorded in Book of the Law of the Lord, Book B. (See “Tithing Day Book B,” 276, Trustee-in-Trust, Tithing Daybooks, CHL.)

    Tithing and Donation Record, 1844–1846. CHL.

  3. [3]

    Brigham Young, Discourse, 16 Sept. 1860, George D. Watt, Papers, CHL, as transcribed by LaJean Purcell Carruth; Joseph F. Smith, 7 Apr. 1901, Conference Reports. . ., 1901, 70.

    Watt, George D. Papers, ca. 1846–1865. CHL.

    Conference Reports of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1901. (Salt Lake City: Hawkes Publishing, n.d.)

  4. [4]

    Clayton, Journal, 7 July 1844.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  5. [5]

    Whitney and Miller had been elected trustees by church leaders on 9 August. (Richards, Journal, 9 Aug. 1844; Newel K. Whitney and George Miller, Appointment as Trustees, 12 Aug. 1844, Nauvoo Trustees Papers, 1844–1848, CHL.)

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

    Nauvoo Trustees Papers, 1844–1848. CHL.

  6. [6]

    The entire record book is digitized and available through the Church History Library catalog.

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
The Book of the Law of the Lord, Book B
ID #
18201
Total Pages
66
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page

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