Early histories were a 'prequel'
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Fourth in a series
Note: Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy, Church Historian and Recorder, has called the Joseph Smith Papers Project "the single most significant historical project of our generation." This article, part of an ongoing series, pertains to the "History" volumes in the project.
On the day the Church was organized, the Lord gave a revelation, the very first words of which command, "Behold, there shall be a record kept among you" (Doctrine and Covenants 21:1).
"But it did not spell out the details, just that a record should be kept," said David Whittaker, a co-editor of Volume 1 in the "History" series of the Joseph Smith Papers Project.
As is often the case, the Lord left it to His servants to figure out on their own how best to follow His directive.
"So they attempted several times starting in 1832 to write histories of various kinds," said Karen L. Davidson, another volume co-editor. "Finally, in 1838, they got an organized, successful effort under way." It was completed about a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith. In the early 20th century, Elder B.H. Roberts of the Seventy organized and published it as the now familiar six-volume History of the Church.
The manuscript documents for that classic reference work will be reproduced in later volumes of the History series in the project. But this time, it will have explanatory material that heretofore has not been available to the average reader.
"By the time Elder Roberts edited the series at the turn of the century, the methodology used in compiling it had been lost," Brother Whittaker explained. Standards for history compiling were different in the 19th century: Writing in first person on behalf of someone else was acceptable then; it isn't now, he said.
"So on the title page it said the history was by Joseph Smith himself, when, in fact, the bulk of it, while drawing on documents by Joseph Smith, was compiled by other people. "
He added, "There's a potential for misunderstanding, because you don't always know who's who; sometimes, the scribes wrote in first person when, in fact, they were actually taking material out of, say, Wilford Woodruff's journal."
The coming edition will have explanatory material identifying the actual sources of the content.
What Brother Whittaker describes as a "prequel" to the project's revised edition of History of the Church will be Volume 1 in the History series.
"The documents in this first volume were written as histories," said Sister Davidson, distinguishing them from journals, letters, legal papers or other content in the Joseph Smith Papers Project. "Someone sat down with the intent to write a history of the Church or of some incident or time period in the Church. Their efforts were set aside in some cases. But these are the ones we've collected, and they are some of our most important sources for early Church history."
Added Nathan N. Waite, a production editor for the History series, "There were a lot of people who were writing about the Church. The reason these specific documents are in this volume is because they are an institutional record. They were in response to a direction from the Prophet to keep a record for the Church."
Connie Lewis, another production editor for the History series, said the project has allowed her to see Church history from various points of view. A convert to the Church, she said, "Reading the early histories is wonderfully testimony-building. It lets me see what these events meant to the people who saw them firsthand."
Planned for publication in 2009, the first volume will contain nine such histories:
-- The Book of John Whitmer, who was called to keep a history of the Church (see Doctrine and Covenants 47). "Our volume includes the most complete annotated edition of this book," Brother Whittaker said. The original is in the possession of the Community of Christ (formerly RLDS Church), headquartered in Independence, Mo. He said he carefully examined the original in preparation for this publication.
"John Whitmer eventually became disaffected and was excommunicated," Sister Davidson said. "It's a little startling to read the last chapters of this history, because he's very bitter and tells why he is bitter. But it's all here."
-- Joseph Smith's 1832 history, the first historical account that includes his own handwriting, telling of the First Vision.
-- Joseph Smith's letter to Oliver Cowdery of December 1834.
-- Joseph Smith's history of 1834-46. Part is taken from his journals and part from a series of letters written by Oliver Cowdery. None of its four sections are finished. "It was hard for them to sustain an effort, with all the upheaval going on at this time," Sister Davidson said.
-- John Corrill's Brief History of The Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints, written in 1839. "It's largely an explanation of why he joined the Church and why he left," Sister Davidson said. "But it has a very moderate tone and a lot of good information."
While confined in the jail at Liberty, Mo., in 1839, the Prophet wrote a letter in which he directed the Latter-day Saints to compile "a knowledge of all the facts, and sufferings and abuses put upon them by the people of this state" (Doctrine and Covenants 123).
"So all of a sudden, everybody was supposed to write Church history," Sister Davidson observed. "We chose two examples out of hundreds":
-- "Extract from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith" first printed in the Times and Seasons in July 1839.
-- "A History of the Persecution," published in the Times and Seasons from December 1839 to October 1840.
Capping volume 1 of the History series will be two documents that have foundational significance in Church history.
-- One is the famous Wentworth letter, containing what are known today as the Articles of Faith.
It was written in 1842 to answer a request to the Prophet from John Wentworth, editor of a Chicago newspaper. The request was in behalf of his friend George Barstow, who was writing a book. Barstow never published the letter, though the Church printed it in the Times and Seasons in Nauvoo.
-- However, a nearly identical version of the Wentworth letter would be published to a nationwide readership some two years later.
German-American author and translator Israel Daniel Rupp of Philadelphia, Pa., compiled a volume titled An Original History of the Religious Denominations at Present Existing in the United States. He invited representatives of the various religious groups, including Joseph Smith, to contribute to the volume.
Since the Wentworth letter was suitable for this purpose, Church leaders merely updated and revised it for inclusion in the Rupp book.
A copy of the published book was sent to the Prophet; his acknowledgement of having received it is recorded in History of the Church 6:428.
"I feel very thankful for so valuable a treasure," Joseph wrote to Daniel Rupp. "The design, the propriety, the wisdom of letting every sect tell its own story, and the elegant manner in which the work appears, have filled my breast with encomiums upon it, wishing you God speed.
". . . Your work will be suitably noticed in our papers for your benefit."
Displaying her own rare copy of the Rupp book, Sister Davidson noted that the Prophet's endorsement of the book was printed in the Nauvoo Neighbor just one day before he was killed.
She said he probably had a premonition he would be slain and that his receiving the book was as if the Lord was acknowledging that the work he began would go on and that it would be known far and wide.
"I'll stand in a long line in the next life to shake the hand of Israel Daniel Rupp," she said.
e-mail: rscott@desnews.com
