Andrew H. Hedges (ed.) - May 1843–June 1844

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Art direction: Richard Erickson.
Cover design: Scott Eggers. Interior design: Richard Erickson and Scott M. Mooy.
Typography: Alison Palmer.
E-book: Ben Ellis Godfrey.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Smith, Joseph, 18051844.
Journals series / Dean C. Jessee, Mark Ashurst-McGee, Richard L. Jensen, volume editors. p. cm. (The Joseph Smith papers)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-57008-849-0 (hardbound: alk. paper; v. 1)
ISBN 978-1-60908-737-1 (hardbound: alk. paper; v. 2)
ISBN 978-1-62972-147-7 (hardbound: alk. paper; v. 3)
1. Smith, Joseph, 18051844Diaries. 2. Mormon ChurchPresidentsBiography.
3. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsPresidentsBiography. 4. Mormon Church HistorySources. 5. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsHistorySources.
I. Jessee, Dean C. II. Ashurst-McGee, Mark. III. Jensen, Richard L. IV. Title. V. Series.
BX8695.S6A3 2008 289.3092dc22 [B] 2008037101

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Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The Joseph Smith Papers

E DITORIAL B OARD

Steven E. SnowMarcus B. NashRichard E. Turley Jr.Reid L. NeilsonMatthew J. GrowRonald K. EsplinJeffrey N. Walker

N ATIONAL A DVISORY B OARD

Richard Lyman BushmanTerryl L. GivensDean C. JesseeLaurie Maffly-KippSusan Holbrook PerdueStephen J. SteinHarry S. Stout

M ANAGING H ISTORIAN

Matthew C. Godfrey

A SSOCIATE M ANAGING H ISTORIAN

Robin Scott Jensen

E DITORIAL M ANAGER

R. Eric Smith

A SSOCIATE E DITORIAL M ANAGERS

Nathan N. WaiteRiley M. Lorimer

S ENIOR R ESEARCH AND R EVIEW E DITOR

Richard L. Jensen

C ONTRIBUTORS TO T HIS V OLUME

E DITORIAL S TAFF

Constance Palmer Lewis, Lead EditorAlison PalmerShannon KellyLeslie Sherman

D OCUMENT S PECIALIST

Dean C. Jessee

R ESEARCH AND R EVIEW E DITORS

Joseph JohnstunRichard Llyod Anderson

Contents

Journals, May 1843June 1844

Reference Material

Organizational Charts

Illustrations and Maps

Textual Illustrations

Contextual Illustrations

Maps

Other Visuals

View high resolution image here: http://bit.ly/1w6ymnn

Joseph Smiths residences. Joseph Smiths major places of residence and the general direction of his migrations. (Design by John Hamer.) View high resolution image here: http://bit.ly/1tjtZRB

VOLUME 3 INTRODUCTION

Nauvoo Journals, May 1843June 1844

The final fourteen months of Joseph Smiths life were marked by important developments in the growth of Nauvoo, Illinois, and in the doctrine and practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These months were some of the busiest and most complex of Joseph Smiths life, as he functioned in his roles of president and trustee-in-trust of the church, mayor of Nauvoo, lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion, and candidate for the United States presidency. During this time, threats and violence against Joseph Smith and other members of the church increased, culminating in the murder of Joseph and his brother Hyrum in Carthage, Illinois, on 27 June 1844. The journals of Joseph Smith presented in this volume are an essential source for understanding this critical period of Mormon history as well as the life and thought of the churchs founding leader in the time leading up to his death.

Joseph Smiths journals during this period were kept exclusively by his private secretary, Willard Richards. Richards had been one of the principal writers for Smiths earlier Nauvoo journals, and by September 1843 he was also serving as the church historian, church recorder, Nauvoo city recorder, and clerk of the municipal court. Until late in the journal, many entries document relatively few eventsoften only onefor each day rather than provide a comprehensive account of Joseph Smiths activities. Most entries in Richardss own journal for this period are even shorter, suggesting that the brevity of the entries in Joseph Smiths journal resulted more from Richardss journal-keeping style than from a lack of familiarity with Smiths activities. Because of Richardss terse style, we often know more about Smiths activities through other individuals journals and other sources than we do through his own journal. Longer, more detailed entries toward the end of the journal probably resulted from Richardss own interest in the growing number and seriousness of the threats against Joseph Smith beginning in January 1844. Unless otherwise noted, the first-person pronouns that occur in the journal refer to Joseph Smith and probably reflect Richardss conscious effort to make this document Smiths personal journal.

Though Richards appears to have either participated in or witnessed most of the events he documented, at times he wrote retrospectively or from secondhand information.

The trip to Dixon was ill timed. That same month, a special term of the circuit court in Daviess County, Missouri, indicted Joseph Smith for treason committed during the Mormon War in 1838. Based on the indictment, Missouri governor Thomas Reynolds issued a requisition to Illinois governor Thomas Ford calling for Smiths extradition to Missouri for trialthe third such call to return Joseph Smith to Missouri in as many years. The requisition resulted in his arrest on 23 June 1843, news of which began a massive rescue effort in Nauvoo that ended with Smiths release at a habeas corpus hearing before the Nauvoo Municipal Court on 1 July.

Because of Richardss physical separation from Joseph Smith during much of the third extradition attempt, little of this drama appears in the journal. Later entries and sources, however, indicate Smiths continued concern about enemies in Missouri. Referencing the three extradition attempts, for example, the Nauvoo City Council passed an ordinance on 8 December 1843 stating that anyone found guilty of attempting to arrest Joseph Smith or others for alleged activities in Missouri in the 1830s would be incarcerated for life in the city prison.

Former and current difficulties with Missouri lay behind several other petitions issued from Nauvoo during this period. Between December 1843 and the end of February 1844, Joseph Smith and others petitioned several statesVermont, New York, Maine, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Tennesseeto use their influence to help force Missouri to recompense the Mormons for the losses they suffered there in the 1830s. Like earlier appeals to Congress, none of these efforts resulted in any tangible aid for the Saints.

In a separate action, Joseph Smith instructed the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in February 1844 to send a small exploring party to the western reaches of the continent to find a location where the Saints could move, build a city, and have a governme[n]t of [their] own. Within six weeks, some twenty-nine men either volunteered for the expedition or were assigned to go.

The Council of Fifty met on sixteen occasions between March and the end of May 1844, often for the better part of an entire day. In most cases, Willard Richards recorded very little about the councils proceedings in Joseph Smiths journal, even though both men attended the meetings. Extensive minutes kept by William Clayton, however, provide details about the councils discussions and plans. According to Sidney Rigdon, a member of the council as well as a counselor in the churchs governing First Presidency, the groups ultimate goal was to form a theocracy according to the will of Heaven, planted without any intention to interfere with any government of the world.... We will hunt a spot somewhere on the earth where no other government has jurisdiction and cannot interfere with us and there plant our standard.

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