Joseph Smith Papers Documents Volume 8 February -November 1841-

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THE JOSEPH SMITH PAPERS

Review of Volume 8 DOCUMENTS February 1841 – November 1841

This is the 20th Volume in the series produced by the General Editors of The Joseph Smith Papers and is Volume 8 of the Documents section of that series. This book covers a crucial 10 month period in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in the life of its Prophet-President Joseph Smith Jr: February 1841 – November 1841.

The 99 documents in this volume are representative of the more than 450 known documents that Joseph dealt with during this busy period of his life. They illustrate the growth and the mounting tensions of the time. They also highlight related topics, such as city building and urban planning, land and financial transactions, the gathering of the Saints , and important doctrinal developments including the introduction of baptism for the dead. From these documents we find out that these baptisms were done originally in the Mississippi River, but were moved to the wooden baptismal font in the basement of the temple as soon as the font was completed. A helpful Chronology will be found starting on page 397.

The Volume editors: Brent M. Rogers, Mason K. Allred, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat and Brett D. Dowdle have produced a large and meaningful book. The documents will be found in strict chronological order, starting with Joseph Smith’s February 2nd letter to the Hancock County Recorder detailing his being elected Sole Trustee for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints on January 30th, 1841. The last item, starting on page 381, details the Report of a Nauvoo Legion General Court-Martial dated 30 November, 1841. The documents are divided into four sections of about 25 pages each.

Some of the entries are very touching. I cried when learning that just eight days after the death on August 7th of Don Carlos Smith, the 25 year old younger brother of the prophet, his namesake, the 14 month old son of Joseph and Emma Smith, also died. But I found informative the almost complete transcriptions of fifteen of Joseph Smith’s discourses and was surprised that he recorded only three revelations during this busy period. The many entries from national newspapers, visiting guests and touring politicians were also very interesting.

I believe it is important that I explain that this Volume, as with the others in the Joseph Smith Papers,
does not present a unified narrative...it is not a novel or a work of fiction but an academic work meant for the use of scholars and students of early Mormon history and American religious history generally. After a lengthy Introduction, a description is given of the Editorial Method. Then follows 386 pages of documents and 157 pages of Reference Material, which includes Source Notes for Multiple Entry Documents, a Chronology from February 1 to November 30th 1841, a Geographical Directory including Maps, a Pedigree Chart of the Smith family, a Biographical Directory, information as to the General Church Officers during the time period, along with a list of Church Officers in Nauvoo, Illinois and in the Iowa Territory and Nauvoo City Officers. There is a thorough listing of the Nauvoo Legion Officers with a description of how the legion was organized. The Chancellor, Registrar and the Regents of the newly created University of the City Nauvoo are given as well as the members of the Temple Building Committee and the Nauvoo House Association. An Essay on Sources, a list of Works Cited and an Index complete this large resource book.

Release of JS Papers Volume 8 Documents is scheduled for later this month. It will also be printed electronically on the project worksite: josephsmithpapers.com.

Review written by Andre J Mostert, amateur church history student who in 7th and 8th Grades studied early Illinois history utilizing former Governor Thomas Ford’s “A History of Illinois 1818 to 1847.” Between 1967 and 2013 he lived in Quincy, Champaign and Springfield, Illinois and spent many days in Nauvoo, both for religious and personal reasons. Review written May 4th, 2019.