2022 News and Updates
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New Content on the Joseph Smith Papers Website
November 1, 2022
The Joseph Smith Papers is pleased to announce its latest web publication. This release features the first daybook for Joseph Smith’s store in Nauvoo, Illinois; introductions and documents for six legal cases from Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa; the final transcript for the drafts of Joseph Smith’s multivolume history; dozens of new chronology entries through summer 1844; and fifteen new biographical entries.
In the Financial Records series, the first of two daybooks for Joseph Smith’s store in Nauvoo consists of chronological entries for transactions at the store from 12 January 1842 to 13 July 1842. Together with introductions to the store and this record, this volume gives researchers a window into the daily lives of citizens of Nauvoo and what goods were in demand.
In the Legal Records series, new content includes introductions and documents for a civil case involving Joseph Smith in Missouri and several cases in Illinois and Iowa dealing with his estate. JS v. Brotherton, a recently discovered case found by archivists at the Missouri State Archives, St. Louis, was a civil suit brought against St. Louis County sheriff Marshall Brotherton. The suit centered on goods seized from Joseph Smith’s agent George Miller by a deputy sheriff to collect on unpaid debts. The estate cases include Joseph Smith’s appointment as guardian for the children of the deceased Edward Lawrence and two civil cases that arose from the guardianship after Smith’s death. Two other cases following Smith’s death document Levi Moffet’s attempts to recover the Maid of Iowa steamboat while acting as administrator of Smith’s estate in Iowa.
In the Histories series, we have added the transcript for the rough draft notes of Joseph Smith’s multivolume history for March–December 1843. This completes the transcripts to the draft material of this history.
New Content on the Joseph Smith Papers Website
August 12, 2022
The Joseph Smith Papers is pleased to announce its latest web publication. This release features the entirety of Documents, Volume 10: May–August 1842, including all annotation and introductions; a finding aid about Joseph Smith in his role as judge in Nauvoo, Illinois; introductions and documents for four legal cases from Illinois and Ohio; transcripts for Joseph Smith’s office papers; and about forty-five new biographical entries.
Documents, Volume 10 includes documents related to the many roles Joseph Smith filled during the spring and summer of 1842. He continued to direct the affairs of a growing church, introduced new religious rituals, oversaw missionary work, encouraged the construction of a temple, served as editor of the church newspaper Times and Seasons, and welcomed hundreds of converts to Nauvoo. Along with attending to his church responsibilities, Joseph Smith was elected mayor of Nauvoo, dealt with financial concerns, and navigated opposition from John C. Bennett. He also spent time hiding from authorities who were trying to extradite him to Missouri for allegedly ordering an assassination attempt on former Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs. The documents in this volume include correspondence, editorials, reports of discourses, minutes of meetings, municipal and legal documents, military records, financial records and notices, and a revelation on conducting a plural marriage sealing.
In the Legal Records series, new content includes “Joseph Smith as a Judge,” a finding aid about Joseph Smith in his role as judge in the Nauvoo mayor’s court and municipal court; and introductions and documents for three Illinois civil cases and an Ohio civil case that was not litigated. One of the Illinois cases in this release, W. Schwartz et al. v. JS, was meant to determine legal title to some disputed land that Joseph Smith had apparently made an informal arrangement to obtain. Another Illinois case, Phelps Assignee for JS v. Wilson Law, was an attempt to recover payment for two promissory notes Law had given Joseph Smith in exchange for land in Nauvoo. The third Illinois case, Gray v. Allen, was a suit by James Gray against Adolphus Allen over land that Allen had bought from Gray but never fully paid for. The Ohio case, Bailey, Keeler & Remsen v. JS and O. Cowdery, was an attempt to recover payment for a promissory note given to the merchants Bailey, Keeler & Remsen by the firm Rigdon, Smith & Cowdery for the purchase of approximately $1,800 of dry goods.
In the Administrative Records series, more transcripts have been added for Joseph Smith’s office papers, such as memorials and affidavits. This completes the transcripts for the office papers.
This release also includes about forty-five new biographical entries. These entries do not have biographical sketches of the people, but they do have links to the documents the people are mentioned in. We post them so that family historians can see the connections these individuals may have had with Joseph Smith.
Register Now to Attend the 2022 Joseph Smith Papers Conference
July 25, 2022
The Church Historian’s Press invites you to attend the 2022 Joseph Smith Papers Conference, which will be held at the Conference Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah, on September 9, 2022.
The conference theme is “Text and Context in Nauvoo.” The event will commemorate the publication of volumes 12, 13, and 14 of the Documents series, which feature Joseph Smith documents produced between March 1, 1843, and May 15, 1844. Presentations will explore themes such as politics, theology, religious practice, gender, race, law, and finance in Nauvoo.
This event is free to attend, but space is limited. The conference program and registration are available on the Joseph Smith Papers website.
The Joseph Smith Papers: Documents, Volume 13 Released
June 23, 2022
The Church Historian’s Press today announced the release of the latest volume of The Joseph Smith Papers. Documents, Volume 13 includes documents from August through December 1843 and details Joseph Smith’s ongoing efforts to lead, teach, and minister to the growing number of Latter-day Saints in the United States and abroad.
During the months covered in this volume, Nauvoo, Illinois, was humming with activity as migrants continued to pour into the city and surrounding towns from the eastern United States and Great Britain. Civic and church leaders worked to develop Nauvoo’s infrastructure, and the city grew closer to becoming the “corner-stone of Zion.” As the Latter-day Saints constructed the Nauvoo temple on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, Smith elucidated key religious principles associated with the temple, such as priesthood, election, and the sealing power, in public discourses and private meetings.
This volume features ninety-eight documents, including Joseph Smith’s correspondence, accounts of his discourses, and petitions seeking redress from the federal government. Key documents include a petition, approved by the city council of Nauvoo on 21 December 1843, asking the United States Congress to grant Nauvoo the rights and powers of a federal territory. Also in December, Joseph Smith and other city leaders took action to protect Nauvoo and its citizens from increased violence by passing a city ordinance that suspended legal processes originating outside the city. Leaders also created a full-time police force, mobilized the local militia, and asked Congress to empower the mayor to, if necessary, “call to his aid a sufficient number of United States forces.” The texts presented in this volume, with their detailed historical annotation, chronicle a tumultuous period in church history and provide necessary context for understanding the explosive events that unfolded during the final six months of Joseph Smith’s life.
Documents, Volume 13 was edited by Christian K. Heimburger, Jeffrey D. Mahas, Brent M. Rogers, J. Chase Kirkham, Matthew S. McBride, and Mason K. Allred.
New Content on the Joseph Smith Papers Website
May 3, 2022
The Joseph Smith Papers is pleased to announce its latest web release. This release features an 1838 land survey documenting Latter-day Saint land claims in Daviess County, Missouri; introductions and documents for five legal cases from Illinois, including cases against Joseph Smith for treason and riot; Nauvoo City treasurer documents; transcripts for Joseph Smith’s office papers; updated images for the Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book; and hundreds of new entries for the calendar of documents.
In the Financial Records series, this release includes a short record titled Land Survey, May–July 1838, which contains a survey George W. Robinson made of Latter-day Saint land claims in Daviess County, Missouri, in the spring and summer of 1838. This record, along with an accompanying introduction and annotation, offers important insights into church leaders’ plans for settlement in Missouri. An updated map depicting the land claims recorded by Robinson is also available. Additional financial documents have also been added to the Ohio Agent Papers.
In the Legal Records series, new content includes five introductions and documents that cover several Illinois legal cases. Introduction to State of Illinois v. JS et al. for Riot–A, State of Illinois v. JS for Riot on Habeas Corpus, State of Illinois v. H. Smith et al. on Habeas Corpus, and State of Illinois v. JS et al. for Riot–B describes four riot cases stemming from the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor press, which was ordered by the Nauvoo City Council and Nauvoo’s mayor, Joseph Smith. State of Illinois v. JS and H. Smith for Treason most likely resulted from Joseph Smith’s decision to call out the Nauvoo Legion and declare martial law in Nauvoo amid rising tensions with other citizens of Hancock County, Illinois. There are also introductions and documents for State of Illinois v. JS for Adultery and Fornication, State of Illinois v. JS for Assault and Battery, City of Nauvoo v. Bostwick, Bostwick v. JS and Greene, and Bostwick v. JS.
In the Administrative Records series, more content has been added from the Nauvoo City records. This includes pay orders sent to the city treasurer requesting payment for services rendered to the city. Transcripts for more of Joseph Smith’s office papers, including land records, legal records, city records, and miscellaneous records are also included. Updated images for the Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book have been added; all images, including blank pages, for the complete record book are now available.
This release also includes hundreds of new entries for the calendar of documents for August through December 1843.
New Content on the Joseph Smith Papers Website
February 8, 2022
The Joseph Smith Papers is pleased to announce its latest web release. This release features the entirety of Documents, Volume 9: December 1841–April 1842, including all annotations and introductions. The release also features an introduction and documents relating to Joseph Smith’s financial agents in Ohio; Trustees Land Book B; introductions and documents to twelve legal cases from Illinois; the first of two deed record books for Nauvoo, Illinois; and transcripts from several letters in Joseph Smith’s office papers.
Documents, Volume 9 includes documents concerning the growth and development of the church and the city of Nauvoo from December 1841 through April 1842. These documents include those reporting the establishment of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo and a Freemasonry lodge in Nauvoo, as well as letters, revelations, land transactions, newspaper editorials, and discourses.
In the Financial Records series, we have published images and transcripts for Trustees Land Book B which, like its predecessor Trustees Land Book A, was used to track and record Joseph Smith’s land transactions as trustee-in-trust in Nauvoo and Hancock County, Illinois. This release also includes the records created by two of Joseph Smith’s financial agents in Ohio: William Marks and Oliver Granger. The extant records for Granger are the most extensive existing for any of Joseph Smith’s agents and consist of both the records Granger created and had in his possession as a church agent and the documents detailing the financial confusion caused by his death. With this release, all extant financial content pertaining to Joseph Smith in Ohio has now been published.
In the Legal Records series, we have added introductions and documents for a number of Illinois legal cases. City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A on Habeas Corpus, and F. M. Higbee v. JS–B detail ongoing conflicts between Joseph Smith and Francis M. Higbee concerning slander and disparaging remarks allegedly made on both sides. State of Illinois v. Sympson, Sympson v. JS, and State of Illinois v. JS for Perjury cover a civil case and a criminal case brought against Joseph Smith for identifying Alexander Sympson as a suspect in the burglary and assault of Richard and Hannah Nott Badham. JS et al. v. C. B. Street and M. B. Street is a civil suit involving an unpaid promissory note given to Smith and others by the Streets for majority interest in the steamboat Nauvoo. Also included in this release are a series of cases related to Amos Davis, a longtime opponent of Joseph Smith, and R. D. Foster v. Hawn, at which Smith testified.
In the Administrative Records series, we have added the first of two deed record books with deeds dating 20 April 1840–28 August 1843. These books record land transactions in Nauvoo, Illinois, and the surrounding area. We have also added transcripts for the correspondence kept in Joseph Smith’s office in Nauvoo.
The Church Historian’s Press Releases Landmark Volume on Book of Mormon Manuscript
January 25, 2022
The Church Historian’s Press recently released The Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations and Translations, Volume 5: Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, which gives readers unprecedented access to the earliest Book of Mormon manuscript through full-color photographs, a color-coded transcript, introductions, and reference material.
One of the most significant documents in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the original manuscript was penned by Oliver Cowdery and other scribes as Joseph Smith dictated the text of the Book of Mormon between April and June 1829. The Book of Mormon was first published in 1830 and remains a central volume in the Latter-day Saint scriptural canon.
The manuscript sustained major water damage in the nineteenth century, and many of the original pages were destroyed entirely. Of the manuscript’s nearly 500 pages, portions of 232 pages survive, amounting to roughly 28 percent of the text. Some of what remains is badly faded, obscured, or otherwise damaged. This volume presents photographic and typographic facsimiles of each identifiable manuscript fragment. High-resolution photos of the fragments have been pieced back together as they would have appeared in the original manuscript. The photographs included in the volume—the first complete photographic record of what remains of the original manuscript ever published—allow comparison with the transcript and provide detail that can never be fully captured in transcription.
The transcripts and annotation in this volume rely upon years of work by volume editor Royal Skousen as part of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project. This volume reproduces the original text based on analysis of the manuscript in its present state, as well as of multispectral images and historical photographs. The transcript preserves corrections and revisions of any kind, line and page breaks, and the locations of interlinear insertions. Since several scribes penned revisions in this manuscript, the handwriting of each is rendered in a different color to facilitate analysis. The comprehensive and careful presentation gives researchers unparalleled access to this essential text.
The Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations and Translations, Volume 5: Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon was edited by Royal Skousen, linguist and editor of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, and Robin Scott Jensen, historian for the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Robin Jensen, a Joseph Smith Papers historian, examines a leaf of the original Book of Mormon manuscript.