History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844]
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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.
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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 24 -[T. &. S.]- Next morning the prisoners voluntarily surrendered themselves to the constable, , who held the writ against them. The was at Head Quarters in person, and had pledged his own faith, and the faith of the State of , that the Smiths, and the other prisoners should be protected from personal violence, and should have a fair and impartial trial, if they would surrender themselves to be dealt with according to law. During the ’s stay in he repeatedly expressed to the legal counselors of the Smiths his determination to protect the prisoners, and to see that they should have a fair and impartial examination.
25 Tuesday 25. At 8 A. M. President Smith had an interview with Wiliam G. Flood of , Receiver of Public Moneys; while in conversation with him Constable arrested Joseph for Treason against the State of , with the following writ, which had been granted on the oath of :
| “State of Illinois) | SS |
| ) |
“The people of the State of , to all Sheriffs, Coroners and Constables of said , Greeting:
“Whereas complaint has been made before me, one of the Justices of [HC 6:561] the Peace in and for said aforesaid, upon the oath of , that Joseph Smith, late of the aforesaid, did, on or about the nineteenth day of June A. D. 1844, at the and aforesaid commit the crime of Treason against the Government and people of the State of aforesaid:
“These are therefore to command you to take the said Joseph Smith if he be found in your County, or if he shall have fled, that you pursue after the said Joseph Smith into any other County within this , and take and safely keep the said Joseph Smith so that you have his body forthwith before me to answer the said complaint and be further dealt with according to law.
“Given under my hand and seal this 24th day of June A. D. 1844.
Seal
Robert F. Smith J. P.”
was also arrested at the same time for treason, on the following writ, granted on the affidavit of :
| “State of Illinois) | SS |
| ) |
“The people of the State of to all Sheriffs, Coroners and Constables, Greeting:
“Whereas complaint has been made before me, one of the Justices of the Peace in and for the County of , upon the oath of one , that one , late of the County of and State of , did, on the 19th day of June 1844 commit the crime of treason against the Government and people of the State of aforesaid:
These are therefore to command you to take the body of the said if he be found in your County, or if he shall have fled, that you pursue after the said into any County within this , and take and safely keep the said , so that you have his body forthwith [p. 155]
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