Documented Visions of Joseph Smith

1. “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 3, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-june-1839-circa-1841-draft-2/3; Karen Lynn Davidson and others, eds., Histories, Volume 1: Joseph Smith Histories, 1832–1844, vol. 1 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2012), 212–14; “History, 1834–1836,” 120–21, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/124. Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 115–16. The account of the vision in “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841” was canonized in Joseph Smith—History 1:1–20. See also Doctrine and Covenants 20:5. For other accounts of this vision prepared under Joseph Smith’s direction, see “History, circa Summer 1832,” 3, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-summer-1832/3; Davidson and ­others, Histories, Volume 1, 12–13; Joseph Smith, “Church History,” Times and Seasons 3 (March 1, 1842): 706–7, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/church-history-1-march-1842/1; Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 492–94; “History, 1838–1856, Volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844],” 1715, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-e-1-1-july-1843-30-april-1844/87; Joseph Smith, “Latter Day Saints,” in An Original History of the Religious Denominations at Present Existing in the United States, comp. I. Daniel Rupp (Philadelphia: James Y. Humphreys, 1844), 404–5, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/latter-day-saints-1844/1. For accounts written by those who claimed to hear Joseph rehearse this vision, see Levi Richards, Journal, June 11, 1843, 15–16, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/levi-richards-journal-11-june-1843-extract/1; David Nye White, “The Prairies, Nauvoo, Joe Smith, the Temple, the Mormons, &c.,” Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, September 15, 1843, 3, photocopy at Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/interview-21-august-1843-extract/1; and Alexander Neibaur, Journal, May 24, 1844, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/alexander-neibaur-journal-24-may-1844-extract/1. For contemporaneous accounts prepared by Joseph Smith’s close associates, see O. Pratt, A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, and The Late Discovery of Ancient American Records (Edinburgh: Ballantyne and Hughes, 1840), 3–5, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-orson-pratt-an-interesting-account-of-several-remarkable-visions-1840/3; Orson Hyde, Ein Ruf aus der Wüste, eine Stimme aus dem Schoose der Erde (A Cry from the Wilderness, a Voice from the Dust of the Earth) (Frankfurt: n.p., 1842), 14–16, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/orson-hyde-ein-ruf-aus-der-wste-1842-extract/1, English translation: http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/orson-hyde-ein-ruf-aus-der-wste-a-cry-out-of-the-wilderness-1842-extract-english-translation/1. See also Dean C. Jessee, “The Early Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” BYU Studies 9, no. 3 (1969): 275–94, reprinted herein as “The Earliest Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision”; and James B. Allen, “Eight Contemporary Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision: What Do We Learn from Them?” Improvement Era 73 (April 1970): 4–13, reprinted herein as James B. Allen and John W. Welch, “Analysis of Joseph Smith’s Accounts of His First Vision.”

Many of the accounts listed in this appendix have been published previously, some of them with minor changes in spelling and punctuation, in Joseph Smith Jr., History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2d ed., rev., 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971) (hereafter cited as History of the Church). Primary source documents, when available, are cited first, followed by reprints in History of the Church and Joseph Smith—History in the Pearl of Great Price. References to History of the Church have been omitted when the same material appears in the Doctrine and Covenants or Pearl of Great Price.

2. “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 4–7; Davidson and ­others, Histories, Volume 1, 220–34; Joseph Smith—History 1:27–53. See also Doctrine and Covenants 2; 20:5–9; 27:5. For other accounts of this vision prepared under Joseph Smith’s direction, “History, circa Summer 1832,” 4–5; Davidson and ­others, Histories, Volume 1, 13–14; “History, 1834–1836,” 125–26; Davidson and ­others, Histories, Volume 1, 116–17; Smith, “Church History,” Times and Seasons 3 (March 1, 1842): 707; Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 494–95; Smith, “Latter Day Saints,” 405; Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 508–9. For contemporary accounts prepared by Joseph Smith’s close associates, Oliver Cowdery to W. W. Phelps, “Letter IV,” Messenger and Advocate 1 (February 1835): 78–80, available on “Mormon Publications: 19th and 20th Centuries,” BYU Harold B. Lee Library Digital Collections, http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/NCMP1820-1846/id/7058; Oliver Cowdery to W. W. Phelps, “Letter VII,” Messenger and Advocate 1 (July 1835): 156–59; Oliver Cowdery to W. W. Phelps, “Letter VIII,” Messenger and Advocate 2 (October 1835): 198–99; Pratt, Interesting Account, 6–8, 10–12; Hyde, Ein Ruf aus der Wüste, 17–26. Context is provided by “Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845,” book 3, p. 10, through book 4, p. 2, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845/40.

3. “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 6; Davidson and ­others, Histories, Volume 1, 226; Joseph Smith—History 1:42. Joseph Knight said Joseph Smith had a “vision” of the location. Joseph Knight, Reminiscences, 1, MS 3470, Church History Library, available on Church History Library, https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE1276586, image 2; Dean C. Jessee, “Joseph Knight’s Recollection of Early Mormon History,” BYU Studies 17, no. 1 (1976): 30–31.

4. Smith, “Church History,” Times and Seasons 3 (March 1, 1842): 707, 2; Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 495; History of the Church, 4:537.

5. Smith, “Church History,” Times and Seasons 3 (March 1, 1842): 707; History of the Church, 4:537. The Doctrine and Covenants alludes to Joseph Smith’s experience with some of these angels. In 1842, Joseph described hearing the “voice” of “divers angels” from Adam “down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood” (D&C 128:20–21). The voices of Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael were among those Joseph heard (D&C 128:20). Several of the Prophet’s associates later made reference to some of these visits. See John Taylor, in Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–86), 17:374 (April 8, 1875); 18:326 (December 31, 1876); 20:174–75 (April 8, 1879); 21:65 (January 4, 1880); 21:94 (April 13, 1879); 21:161–63 (December 7, 1879); 23:48–49 (April 9, 1882); Orson Pratt, in Journal of Discourses, 13:67 (December 19, 1869); 15:185 (September 22, 1872); George Q. Cannon, in Journal of Discourses, 13:47 (December 5, 1869); 23:362 (October 29, 1882); available on “Journal of Discourses,” BYU Harold B. Lee Library Digital Collections, http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/search/collection/JournalOfDiscourses3.

6. Cowdery to Phelps, “Letter VIII,” Messenger and Advocate 2 (October 1835): 198. See also “Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845,” 87–89, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1845/94. Cowdery’s account began in the October 1834 issue of the Messenger and Advocate as a series of letters projected to give “a full history of the rise of the church of the Latter Day Saints.” O. Cowdery to W. W. Phelps, September 7, 1834 [Letter 1], printed in Messenger and Advocate 1 (October 1834): 13. Joseph offered his assistance at the beginning of the writing stage and later directed copying the letters into his journal. See Dean C. Jessee, ed., The Papers of Joseph Smith, 2 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989–92), 1:16–17.

7. “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 7; Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 234; Joseph Smith—History 1:54. See also “Lucy Mack Smith History, 1844–1845,” book 4, p. 2–3.

8. Knight, Reminiscences, p. 1 [image 2]; Jessee, “Joseph Knight’s Recollection,” 31.

9. “Lucy Mack Smith History, 1845,” 104. Lucy’s account was published in 1853 but dictated in 1845. See Richard Lloyd Anderson, “Circumstantial Confirmation of the First Vision through Reminiscences,” BYU Studies 9, no. 3 (1969): 386–88. According to Lucy, the angel told Joseph that he had “not been engaged enough in the work of the Lord,” and that he “must be up and doing.”

10. “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 8; Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 236; Joseph Smith—History 1:59. See also “Lucy Mack Smith History, 1844–1845,” book 5, pp. 6–12; Knight, Reminiscences, 1 [image 2]; and Jessee, “Joseph Knight’s Recollection,” 32–33.

11. David Whitmer, interview by the St. Louis Republican, July 16, 1884, as cited in Lyndon W. Cook, ed., David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness (Orem, Utah: Grandin Book, 1991), 150.

12. “Lucy Mack Smith History, 1845,” 111–17. Among the places Joseph Smith hid the plates from those intent on seizing them was beneath the floor of the local cooper’s shop. Martin Harris remembered Joseph Smith saying an angel warned him when the plates were no longer safe underneath the floor. See [Joel Tiffany], “Mormonism—No. II,” Tiffany’s Monthly 5 (August 1859): 167.

13. Tiffany, “Mormonism,” 169.

14. Tiffany, “Mormonism,” 164.

15. “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 10; Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 246; History of the Church, 1:21–22. This vision is implied; Joseph said he was required to give the plates up “in consequence of my having wearied the Lord in asking for the privilege of letting Martin Harris take the writings.”

16. “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 10; Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 246; History of the Church, 1:21–22.

17. “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 11; Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 252; History of the Church, 1:23; “Lucy Mack Smith History, 1844–1845,” book 7, p. 9.

18. “Lucy Mack Smith History, 1844–1845,” book 7, p. 9; “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 11; Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 252; History of the Church, 1:23. From July 1828 to June 1829, Joseph Smith received at least nine revelations from the Urim and Thummim (D&C 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17).

19. “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 17–18; Davidson and ­others, Histories, Volume 1, 294; Joseph Smith—History 1:68–73. See also Doctrine and Covenants 13; 27:7–8. All presently known primary source accounts of this event are published in Brian Q. Cannon and BYU Studies Staff, “Priesthood Restoration Documents,” BYU Studies 35, no. 4 (1995–96): 175–96, reprinted herein as “The Earliest Accounts of the Restoration of the Priesthood.”

20. “Journal, December 1841–December 1842,” 200, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-december-1841-december-1842/77; Andrew H. Hedges, Alex D. Smith, and Richard Lloyd Anderson, eds., Journals, Volume 2: December 1841–April 1843, vol. 2 of the Journals series of The Joseph Smith Papers, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011), 149; Doctrine and Covenants 128:20. The date of the vision assumes the contiguity of Satan’s appearance with the appearance of Peter, James, and John, listed in this verse of scripture, and the placement of both events in Pennsylvania. See also note 6. The import of the Melchizedek Priesthood would seem to warrant some resistance from Satan, as was the case with the First Vision.

21. “Doctrine and Covenants, 1835,” section 50, p. 180, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/doctrine-and-covenants-1835/188; Doctrine and Covenants 27:12–13. See also Joseph Smith—History 1:72 and Doctrine and Covenants 128:20. All presently known primary source accounts of this event are published in this volume in Cannon and BYU Studies Staff, “Earliest Accounts of the Restoration of the Priesthood.” For a discussion of the May–June 1829 date, see Larry C. Porter, “The Whitmer Log Home: Cradle of Mormonism,” Religious Educator 12, no. 3 (2011): 177–20; Larry C. Porter, “The Restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods,” Ensign 26 (December 1996): 30–47; and Larry C. Porter, “The Restoration of the Priesthood,” Religious Studies Center Newsletter 9, no. 3 (May 3, 1995): 1–12.

22. David Whitmer, interview by James H. Hart, March 10, 1884, in Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, 123. See also Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, 27, 41, 48–49, 114–15, 191, 213, 215.

23. “Lucy Mack Smith History, 1844–1845,” book 8, p. 10. Although Lucy did not name the angel, David Whitmer identified him as Moroni. See Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, 50, 181–82. David said the translation in Fayette occupied “about one month,” beginning on June 1, 1829, placing Moroni’s appearance around this date. Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, 62.

24. David Whitmer, interview by Edward Stevenson, February 9, 1886, in Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, 180–82. For other Whitmer accounts of this event, see Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, 13, 27, 41–42, 49–50, 213–16.

25. “Lucy Mack Smith History, 1844–1845,” book 8, p. 10.

26. “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 24–25; Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 316–20; History of the Church, 1:54–55. See also Doctrine and Covenants 20:10; 128:20. Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer testified of the vision in “The Testimony of Three Witnesses,” which appeared in the first edition of the Book of Mormon (1830) and in every edition thereafter. For David Whitmer’s testimony of the vision, see Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, 11, 15, 18–20, 25–26, 40–41, 63, 75–76, 86–87, 127, 166, 175–76, 181, 192–93, 197–98, 213, 229, 250–51. This vision was used by participants as a missionary tool to help convince listeners of the divinity of the Book of Mormon. William McLellin first heard the gospel preached in 1831 near Paris, Illinois, when David Whitmer “bore testimony to having seen an Holy Angel who had made known the truth of this record to him.” Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, eds., The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836 (Provo, Utah: BYU Studies; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994), 29.

27. “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 25; Davidson and ­others, Histories, Volume 1, 320; History of the Church, 1:55. See also Doctrine and Covenants 20:8–10; 128:20; and Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, 21, 64, 76. As one of the Three Witnesses, Martin Harris testified of this vision in “The Testimony of Three Witnesses,” printed in all editions of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith’s exultation immediately after his vision with the Three Witnesses is recorded in “Lucy Mack Smith History, 1844–1845,” book 8, p. 11.

28. “Lucy Mack Smith History, 1844–1845,” book 9, p. 1. Lucy said the site where the Eight Witnesses saw the plates was “a little grove where it was customary for the family to offer up their secret prayers.” Joseph went there because he “had been instructed” that “the plates would be carried there by one of the ancient Nephites.”

29. “Lucy Mack Smith History, 1844–1845,” book 9, p. 2. Lucy placed the timing of this meeting after the Eight Witnesses had handled the plates and had “returned to the house.” More descriptions of this vision can be found in Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 19:38 (June 17, 1877); Wilford Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 1833–1898, Typescript, ed. Scott G. Kenney, 9 vols. (Midvale, Utah: Signature Book, 1983–84), 6:508–9 (December 11, 1869). Heber C. Kimball called Joseph and Oliver’s experience a “vision” in which they “went into a cave in the hill Cumorah.” Heber C. Kimball, in Journal of Discourses, 4:105 (September 28, 1856). Oliver Cowdery’s brother-in-law David Whitmer heard Oliver recount his experience in the cave. P. Wilhelm Poulson asked David in 1878 where the plates were then, and David told him they were “in a cave, where the angel has hidden them up till the time arrives when the plates, which are sealed, shall be translated.” Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, 22. See also Edward Stevenson, Reminiscences of Joseph the Prophet and the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: By the author, 1893), 14–15, available on Internet Archive, https://archive.org/stream/reminiscencesofj00stev#page/n17/mode/2up; and William H. Dame, Journal, January 14, 1855, typescript, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

30. “History, circa June–October 1839 [Draft 1],” 23, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-june-october-1839-draft-1/23; Davidson and others, Histories, Volume 1, 428; History of the Church, 1:106. See also Doctrine and Covenants 27:1–4. Joseph said the “first paragraph” of the reve­lation now canonized as Doctrine and Covenants 27 was received “at this time,” that is, at the time the angel appeared in August 1830, near Harmony, Pennsylvania. The remainder of the revelation was received a month later. See Robert J. Woodford, “The Historical Development of the Doctrine and Cove­nants,” 3 vols. (Ph.D. diss., Brigham Young University, 1974), 1:393–94.

31. Sidney Rigdon, in General Church Minutes, April 6, 1844, Church History Library; “History, 1838–1856, Volume E-1,” 1952; History of the Church, 6:289.

32. O. F. Whitney, “Newel K. Whitney,” Contributor 6 (January 1885): 125, available on Internet Archive, https://archive.org/stream/contributor0604eng#page/124/mode/2up; History of the Church, 1:146n.

33. Levi Hancock, “Diary of Levi W. Hancock,” typescript, 48, Perry Special Collections.

34. Joseph Smith Jr., “To the Elders of the Church of Latter Day Saints,” Messenger and Advocate 1 (September 1835): 179; History of the Church, 2:254. Joseph departed Kirtland for Missouri on June 19, 1831, after receiving a revelation on June 6 commanding him and Sidney Rigdon to “Journey to the land of Missorie” where “the land of your inheritance” should be revealed to them. “Revelation Book 1,” 87, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-book-1/73; Robin Scott Jensen, Robert J. Woodford, and Steven C. Harper, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 1: Manuscript Revelation Books, vol. 1 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011), 113–14; History of the Church, 1:177, 188; Doctrine and Covenants 52:3, 5. Joseph did not indicate whether this June 6 revelation is the same June vision mentioned in his 1835 letter to the elders.

35. Smith, “To the Elders,” 179; History of the Church, 2:254. See also Doctrine and Covenants 52:3–5; 57:1–3.

36. Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, in Karl Ricks Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland: Eyewitness Accounts (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989), 112–13.

37. “Revelation Book 2,” 11, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-book-2/11; Jensen, Woodford, and Harper, Revelations and Translations, Volume 1, 314–26; Doctrine and Covenants 76. Of this vision Joseph later said: “I could explain a hundred fold more than I ever have, of the glories of the Kingdoms manifested to me in the vision, were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive it.” “History, 1838–1856, Volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843],” 1556, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-d-1-1-august-1842-1-july-1843/199; History of the Church, 5:402. Philo Dibble was present when Joseph and Sidney had the vision and later recounted the event in “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor 27 (May 15, 1892): 303–4, available on Internet Archive, https://archive.org/stream/juvenileinstruct2710geor#page/302/mode/2up.

38. “History, 1838–1856, Volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834],” 215, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/221; History of the Church, 1:272.

39. Zebedee Coltrin, in “Salt Lake School of the Prophets Minute Book, 1883,” October 3, 1883, typescript, 56–57, Perry Special Collections. See also Zebedee Coltrin, in Utah Stake Minutes, Spanish Fork High Priest’s Quorum, February 5, 1870, Church History Library; “Minute Book 1” [Kirtland High Council Minutes], 17 (March 18, 1833), Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/minute-book-1/21; Gerrit J. Dirkmaat and others, eds., Documents, Volume 3: February 1833–March 1834, vol. 3 of the Documents series of The Joseph Smith Papers, ed. Ronald K. Esplin and Matthew J. Grow (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2014), 42; “History, 1838–1856, Volume A-1,” 281; and History of the Church, 1:334–35.

40. Truman O. Angell to John Taylor and Council, March 11, 1885, John Taylor Presidential Papers, Church History Library. Angell, who did much of the interior work on the Kirtland Temple, was informed by Frederick G. Williams, a member of the First Presidency and a participant in the vision. The First Presidency was given the vision in accordance with a promise given on June 1, 1833: “Let [the house] be built after the manner which I shall show unto three of you.” “Revelation Book 2,” 60; D&C 95:14; see also D&C 94:1–2. Orson Pratt confirmed that the plan came through a vision. Journal of Discourses, 13:357 (May 5, 1870); 14:273 (April 9, 1871). For more on the design of the Kirtland Temple, see Elwin C. Robison, The First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction, and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1997), 7–25.

41. Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 (1835), 9, Church History Library, available as “Blessing to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith, between circa 15 and 28 September 1835,” on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/blessing-to-joseph-smith-sr-and-lucy-mack-smith-between-circa-15-and-28-september-1835/1; and Joseph Fielding Smith, Life of Joseph F. Smith, Sixth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938), 34–35. The blessing is signed “Oliver Cowdery, Clerk and Recorder.”

42. “Minute Book 1,” 29–30 (February 17, 1834); Dirkmaat and others, Documents, Volume 3, 437. See also “Minute Book 1,” 27–28 (February 12, 1834); Dirkmaat and others, Documents, Volume 3, 429; “Minute Book 2” [Far West Record], 43 (July 3, 1834), Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/minute-book-2/45; Matthew C. Godfrey and others, eds., Documents, Volume 4: April 1834–September 1835, vol. 4 of the Documents series of The Joseph Smith Papers, ed. Ronald K. Esplin, Matthew J. Grow, and Matthew C. Godfrey (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016), 90; History of the Church, 2:25–26, 122–24.

43. Zebedee Coltrin, in Utah Stake Minutes, Spanish Fork High Priest’s Quorum, February 5, 1870, Church History Library. See also History of the Church, 2:50.

44. Nathan Tanner, “Reminiscences,” in George S. Tanner, John Tanner and His Family (Salt Lake City: Publishers Press, 1974), 382.

45. Woodruff, Journal, 1:10 (June 1834). See also “History, 1838–1856, Volume A-1,” 482–83; History of the Church, 2:79–80. This vision came after the Prophet and the other members of Zion’s Camp, including Woodruff, marching to Missouri, unearthed human remains from a burial mound located in Pike County, Ohio. For additional accounts of the vision, see Kenneth W. Godfrey, “The Zelph Story,” BYU Studies 29, no. 2 (1989): 31–56.

46. “History, 1838–1856, volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838],” 564, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-b-1-1-september-1834-2-november-1838/18; History of the Church, 2:181–82. See also Doctrine and Covenants 107:93–97. Joseph Young recalled hearing Joseph Smith discuss this vision on February 8, 1835. “I have seen those men who died of the cholera in our camp,” Joseph Smith told Young and his brother, Brigham. “At this relation he [Joseph Smith] wept, and for some time could not speak,” said Joseph Young. When the Prophet regained his composure, Joseph Young believed the Prophet picked up where he left off, again relaying information he had received in vision. Addressing himself to Brigham, Joseph Smith continued: “I wish you to notify all the brethren living in the branches, within a reasonable distance from this place, to meet at a general conference on Saturday next.” The Prophet then told Brigham Young that he would be one of twelve special witnesses—the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—who would be called at the conference to “open the door of the Gospel to foreign nations.” To Joseph Young the Prophet said, “The Lord has made you President of the Seventies.” History of the Church, 2:181n. See also Parley P. Pratt Jr., ed., The Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, 4th ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985), 97.

47. Stevenson, Reminiscences of Joseph, 6.

48. “Journal, 1835–1836,” 136–39, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/137; Dean C. Jessee, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Richard L. Jensen, eds., Journals, Volume 1: 1832–1839, vol. 1 of the Journals series of The Joseph Smith Papers, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2008), 167–70; History of the Church, 2:380–82. Heber C. Kimball said Joseph saw “Father Adam” admit people one by one through the “gate of the Celestial City” and thereafter “conduct them to the throne” where “they were crowned Kings and Priests of God.” Heber C. Kimball, in Journal of Discourses, 9:41 (March 17, 1861). See also Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, an Apostle (Salt Lake City: Kimball Family, 1888), 106, available on Internet Archive, https://archive.org/stream/lifeofheberckimb00whitrich#page/106/mode/2up. According to Joseph’s journal for this period, others were present when Joseph had his vision, and some of them also had visions of the Savior and others. “Journal, 1835–1836,” 138–39; Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and Jensen, Journals, Volume 1, 170; see also Oliver Cowdery, Diary, January–March 1836, MS 3429, Church History Library, available on Church History Library, https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE4802683, image 11, published in Leonard J. Arrington, “Oliver Cowdery’s Kirtland, Ohio, ‘Sketch Book,’” BYU Studies 12, no. 4 (1972): 419.

49. “Journal, 1835–1836,” 141; Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and Jensen, Journals, Volume 1, 172; History of the Church, 2:383.

50. “Journal, 1835–1836,” 144; Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and Jensen, Journals, Volume 1, 174–75; History of the Church, 2:387. Immediately before Joseph’s vision, Zebedee Coltrin, one of the Seven Presidents of Seventy, saw the Savior “extended before him as upon the cross.” See also Harrison Burgess, “Sketch of a Well-Spent Life,” in Labors in the Vineyard: Twelfth Book of the Faith-Promoting Series (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1884), 67, available on Internet Archive, https://archive.org/stream/laborsinvineyard00salt#page/66/mode/2up. Burgess, writing years later, dated this vision to 1835. But the events Burgess described happened on January 28, 1836, according to Joseph Smith’s journal.

51. “Journal, 1835–1836,” 144; Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and Jensen, Journals, Volume 1, 175; History of the Church, 2:387.

52. “Journal, 1835–1836,” 184; Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and Jensen, Journals, Volume 1, 210, “History, 1838–1856, Volume B-1,” 3 [addenda], note J; History of the Church, 2:428. See also Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 103.

53. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 104. See also “Journal, 1835–1836,” 189; Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and Jensen, Journals, Volume 1, 215–16; History of the Church, 2:432.

54. “Journal, 1835–1836,” 191–93; Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and Jensen, Journals, Volume 1, 219–222; History of the Church, 2:435.

55. Caroline Barnes Crosby, Memoirs, as cited in Kenneth W. Godfrey, Audrey M. Godfrey, and Jill Mulvay Derr, eds., Women’s Voices: An Untold History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830–1900 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1982), 51.

56. Woodruff, Journal, 1:134 (April 6, 1837).

57. Mary Fielding to Mercy Thompson, July 1837, as cited in Dean C. Jessee, “The Spirituality of Joseph Smith,” Ensign 8 (September 1978): 20, available as “Mary Fielding Smith Letters to Mercy F. Thompson, 1833–1848,” Church History Library, https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE3867933, images 9–10.

58. Mary Fielding to Mercy Thompson and Robert Thompson, October 7, 1837, as cited in Godfrey, Godfrey, and Derr, Women’s Voices, 67–68, available in “Mary Fielding Smith Letters to Mercy F. Thompson,” images 24–27. In the letter, Fielding dated Joseph’s vision to “soon before” his departure from Kirtland. He departed on September 27, 1836. “History, 1838–1856, Volume B-1,” 228; History of the Church, 2:518.

59. “Journal, March–September 1838,” 25–26, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-march-september-1838/11; Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and Jensen, Journals, Volume 1, 247; History of the Church, 3:10–12. Joseph described the vision in a letter dated March 29, 1838, written from Far West, to Marks and his counselors in the stake presidency at Kirtland. In the letter, Joseph reported events from January 12, 1836, when he departed from Kirtland, through his arrival in Far West on March 14, to the end of that month. Joseph’s statement that the vision took place “while on the road” apparently means during the eight weeks he was traveling from Ohio to Missouri. For dates of Joseph’s journey, see “History, 1838–1856, Volume B-1,” 780, 784; History of the Church, 3:1, 8.

60. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 269–70. Heber C. Kimball died June 22, 1868.

61. Thomas B. Marsh to Wilford Woodruff, April 30, 1838, Wilford Woodruff Papers, Church History Library; see also Doctrine and Covenants 115:13–16.

62. “History, 1838–1856, Volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842],” 918–19, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-c-1-2-november-1838-31-july-1842/100; History of the Church, 3:316. By the time Joseph Smith was martyred, Willard Richards had written Joseph’s history, under the Prophet’s direction, through August 5, 1838. From that point, Thomas Bullock resumed the writing of the history in February 1845, and within two months he had completed through the year 1839. See Dean C. Jessee, “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” BYU Studies 11, no. 4 (1971): 466–67. Bullock, who was not present with Joseph Smith at Liberty Jail or at the trial that immediately followed, relied on the testimonies of those who were—including Stephen Markham, the Prophet’s bodyguard. Markham, present with the Prophet the first few days of the trial, April 9–12, 1839, informs Bullock’s writing of Joseph’s history for this time period. For evidence of this, see “History, 1838–1856, Volume C-1,” 914–21; History of the Church, 3:309–19.

63. “History, 1838–1856, Volume C-1,” 13 [addenda]; History of the Church, 3:391. Joseph mentioned the vision in a discourse dated July 2, 1839. The account in Joseph’s history was written by Thomas Bullock in 1845. See Jessee, “Joseph Smith’s History,” 467. Wilford Woodruff’s account of this discourse was not, apparently, the only source Bullock used in his compilation. Compare the account in “History, 1838–1856, Volume C-1,” 9–14 [addenda], with Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, comps. and eds., The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph (Orem, Utah: Grandin Book, 1991), 6–8.

64. “History, 1838–1856, Volume C-1,” 1023; History of the Church, 4:89. On March 4, 1840, Joseph returned to Nauvoo from Washington, D.C., after seeking unsuccessfully to obtain redress from President Martin Van Buren for losses the Saints suffered in Missouri. Thomas Bullock wrote this portion of the history in 1845. See Jessee, “Joseph Smith’s History,” 467.

65. Anson Call, Statement [c. 1854], Church History Library, available on Church History Library, https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE6112345; Anson Call, Autobiography and Journal, 22, Church History Library. See also History of the Church, 5:85n–86n; Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 3:257–58 (March 16, 1856).

66. “Journal, December 1841–December 1842,” 174; Hedges, Smith, and Anderson, Journals, Volume 2, 108; History of the Church, 5:104. In a letter he wrote to Emma Smith while in exile from his enemies, Joseph mentioned the dream and vision. The “Pine country” was probably Joseph’s term for the region along the Black River of Wisconsin where the Saints obtained lumber for the Nauvoo Temple. See Dennis Rowley, “The Mormon Experience in the Wisconsin Pineries, 1841–1845,” BYU Studies 32, nos. 1–2 (1992): 119–48.

67. Joseph B. Noble [1869] and Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner [1905], as cited in Danel W. Bachman, “A Study of the Mormon Practice of Plural Marriage before the Death of Joseph Smith” (master’s thesis, Purdue University, 1975), 74. See also Eliza R. Snow Smith, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1884), 69–70; Benjamin F. Johnson to George F. Gibbs, April–October 1903, in E. Dale LeBaron, Benjamin F. Johnson: Friend to the Prophets (Provo, Utah: Grandin Book, 1997), 227.

68. “Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 1, 21 December 1842–10 March 1843,” 141–43, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-december-1842-june-1844-book-1-21-december-1842-10-march-1843/149; Hedges, Smith, and Anderson, Journals, Volume 2, 247; History of the Church, 5:254–55. Willard Richards and Thomas Bullock compiled this portion of the history during the winter months of 1845–46. Jessee, “Joseph Smith’s History,” 468.

69. Woodruff, Journal, 2:226–27 (April 16, 1843); “Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 2, 10 March 1843–14 July 1843,” 143–45, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-december-1842-june-1844-book-2-10-march-1843-14-july-1843/153; Hedges, Smith, and Anderson, Journals, Volume 2, 360; History of the Church, 5:361–62.

70. “History, 1838–18856, Volume D-1,” 1553; History of the Church, 5:394. That portion of the history where Joseph’s dream is recorded was completed under the direction of George A. Smith, who began his work on April 10, 1854, and finished in August 1856. Jessee, “Joseph Smith’s History,” 469–72.

71. Woodruff, Journal, 2:346–47 (February 3, 1844); “History, 1838–1856, Volume E-1,” 1874–75; History of the Church, 6:194–95.

72. “History, 1838–1856, Volume E-1,” 1876; History of the Church, 6:196–97. Joseph Smith mentions this vision under the date of February 5, 1844, in a conversation with William Weeks, an architect of the Nauvoo Temple. Weeks, who lived in Utah Territory during the time George A. Smith compiled this portion of the history, could have easily supplied Smith with the 1844 conversation. See J. Earl Arrington, “William Weeks, Architect of the Nauvoo Temple,” BYU Studies 19, no. 3 (1979): 337–59. George A. Smith and Wilford Woodruff said that the clerks and historians who did this work were “eye and ear witnesses of nearly all the transactions recorded,” and in cases where they were not, “had access to those who were.” Jessee, “Joseph Smith’s History,” 473. The pretext to Weeks’s recollection is a revelation, dated January 19, 1841, in which the Lord promised, “I will show unto my servant Joseph all things pertaining to this house” (D&C 124:42).

73. George Laub, Journal, in Eugene England, ed., “George Laub’s Nauvoo Journal,” BYU Studies 18, no. 2 (1978): 160.

74. “History, 1838–1856, Volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844],” 94, Church History Library, available on Church Historian’s Press, The Joseph Smith Papers, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-f-1-1-may-1844-8-august-1844/100; History of the Church, 6:461–62.

75. “History, 1838–1856, Volume F-1,” 177–78; History of the Church, 6:609–10.

76. Heber C. Kimball, in Journal of Discourses, 5:215–16 (September 6, 1856).