1. Thomas Bullock to Henrietta Rushton Bullock, 30 July 1857, Thomas Bullock Collection, Library-Archives, Historical Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (hereafter cited as LDS Church Archives). This collection includes personal papers, letters, appointments, journals, documents, and microfilm copies of original documents on file in the LDS Church Archives.

2. Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1901–36), 2:599–60, 4:695.

3. James Turner letter of recommendation, Thomas Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives.

4. Thomas Bullock to Henrietta Rushton Bullock, microfilm of letters for 1839, Thomas Bullock and Henrietta Rushton Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives.

5. This term is used in a letter to the editor of the Salt Lake Daily Herald, 12 February 1885, on the occasion of Bullock’s death. Bullock mentioned in his journal of 27 June 1848 Heber C. Kimball’s calling him “little Tommy.” Howard Clair Searle, “Early Mormon Historiography: Writing the History of the Mormons, 1830–1858” (Ph.D. diss., University of California at Los Angeles, 1979), 96, gives Bullock’s weight as 116 pounds. The coat Bullock wore crossing the plains in 1847 is on display in the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum in Salt Lake City. It appears that it would fit a slight man, approximately 5′2″ to 5′6″ in height, weighing about 110–40 pounds.

6. Thomas Bullock to Henrietta Rushton Bullock, 12 January 1856, Thomas Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives.

7. C. Ward Despain, “Thomas Bullock: Early Mormon Pioneer” (Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1956), 9. Before his baptism, Bullock was in the Anglican church and referred to himself as a High Churchman (see Millennial Star 14 [3 July 1852]: 299–300. For further information about his spiritual development, see Thomas Bullock to Henrietta Rushton Bullock, Thomas Bullock and Henrietta Rushton Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives.

8. History of the Church 5:380, 415.

9. D. Michael Quinn, “Joseph Smith III’s 1844 Blessing and the Mormons of Utah,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 15 (Summer 1982): 69–70. For a more complete study on the Council of Fifty and its individual members, see D. Michael Quinn, “The Council of Fifty and Its Members, 1844 to 1945,” Brigham Young University Studies 20 (Winter 1980): 163–97.

10. Kate B. Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 20 vols. (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1958–77), 8:287–89.

11. In December of 1987, Brigham Young University acquired this journal. See Thomas Bullock, Journal, 1845–46, Thomas Bullock Collection, Archives, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo (hereafter cited as Lee Library).

12. Most of these appointments can be found in the Thomas Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives. See also Despain, “Thomas Bullock,” 61–72, 91–98. Bullock also wrote poetry and particularly enjoyed reading novels. See his 1839 letters to Henrietta Bullock, Thomas Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives.

13. Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage 8:289–94.

14. Family genealogical files in the possession of the author.

15. Salt Lake Daily Herald, 12 February 1885, 8.

16. George H. Callcott, History in the United States, 1800–1860: Its Practice and Purpose (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1970), 7. See also Michael Kraus and Davis D. Joyce, The Writing of American History in the United States, rev. ed. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985); and David D. Van Tassel, Recording America’s Past: America, 1607–1884 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960). For an excellent bibliographic list and insightful article, see David J. Whittaker, “Historians and the Mormon Experience: A Sesquicentennial Perspective,” Sidney B. Sperry Symposium Proceedings, 26 January 1980, Brigham Young University (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1980), 293–327.

17. Calcott, History in the United States, 8.

18. Ibid., 15–16.

19. See Mal. 4:5–6 for the prophecy, and D&C 110:13–16 for the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy. Also see Callcott, History in the United States, 19–53, for a thorough description of the early nineteenth-century historian. Callcott demonstrates that genealogical and historical societies did indeed grow after 1836. The first historical society in America was the Massachusetts Historical Society founded in 1791. By 1800 there were five such societies. In the 1830s there were forty-five societies. By the 1850s over 111 historical societies were established in the United States, and now the number of historical and genealogical societies is in the thousands.

20. Calcott, History in the United States, 8.

21. Ibid., 123–38. The classic example of historical editors making up speeches is found in the works of George Washington compiled by Jared Sparks (see Whittaker, “Historians and the Mormon Experience,” 303).

22. Ibid., 134; see also 129–34.

23. Whitmer’s history was not published until the twentieth century. see John Whimer, An Early Latter Day Saint History: The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment, ed. F. Mark McKiernan and Roger D. Launius (Independence, Mo.: Herald Publishing House, 1980); and Whittaker, “Historians and the Mormon Experience,” 318 n. 18.

24. History of the Church 2:198–99.

25. Ibid. 6:409.

26. Many of Thomas Bullock’s sentences run from fifty to a hundred words. Sometimes he wrote nearly half a page before ending with a period.

27. Bullock, Journal, 15 March 1845, LDS Church Archives. See also Dean C. Jesse, “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971):466–69.

28. Bullock, Journal, 22 March 1845, Thomas Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives.

29. Willard Richards, Journal, 22 February–30 April 1845, LDS Church Archives. Richards’s and Bullock’s relationship was so intimate that when the law of adoption was revealed, Bullock and his family were sealed to Willard. For further information concerning the law of adoption, see Gordon Irving, “The Law of Adoption: One Phase in the Development of the Mormon Concept of Salvation, 1830–1900,” BYU Studies 14 (Spring 1974): 291–314.

30. Jessee, “Joseph Smith’s History,” 468. By nineteenth-century standards, Bullock’s spelling, vocabulary, and penmanship were superb. If he had a fault in his writing, it was in the punctuation and capitalization of hastily penned items. Finished copies, certificates or final drafts of reworked shorthand notes were excellent.

31. Ibid., 470.

32. George A. Smith to Wilford Woodruff, 21 April 1856, Historian’s Office Letter Book, 1 (16 September 1854–5 December 1861), LDS Church Archives. Smith described the process of compilation in the following terms: “The greatest care has been taken to convey the ideas in the prophet’s style as near as possible; and in no case has the sentiment been varied that I know of; as I heard the most of his discourses myself, was on the most intimate terms with him, have retained a most vivid recollection of his teachings, and was well acquainted with his principles and motives. . . . The plan of compiling the history of Joseph Smith from the Journals kept by his clerks, Willard Richards, William Clayton, Wilford Woodruff, and Thomas Bullock, was commenced by himself, extracting items of necessary information in regard to genre and particular movements from the Times and Season, Millennial Star, Wasp, Neighbor, and other publications, extracts from city councils, Municipal courts, and Mayor’s dockets and Legion Records, which were all kept under his direction; also the movements of the Church as found in Conference Minutes and High Council records, and the records of the several quorums. Together with letters and copies preserved and compiled them under date of transaction, according to the above plan which he while in prison just previous to his murder requested Elder Willard Richards to continue. . . . A large amount of testimony has also been written from the verbal statements of individuals, which was afterwards embodied in the manuscript of the History; also affidavits taken for the same purpose.”

33. Ibid.

34. Dean C. Jessee, ed., The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1984), xiv.

35. Jessee, “Joseph Smith’s History,” 473.

36. Bullock, Journal, 17 December 1846, Thomas Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives.

37. Richards, Journal, 17 December 1846, Willard Richards Collection, LDS Church Archives

38. Bullock’s contribution to the “Manuscript History” of the Church spans almost the last three hundred pages of volume 3 and most of volumes 4 through 7 in the currently published seven-volume set. Of the first 2,407 manuscript pages, Bullock wrote 2,013. George A. Smith did labor for approximately seventy days in Nauvoo with Willard Richards, so he was somewhat acquainted with Richards’s system for writing the history.

39. Donald L. Enders, “The Steamboat Maid of Iowa: Mormon Mistress of the Mississippi,” BYU Studies 19 (Spring 1979): 321–35.

40. History of the Church 6:377.

41. Joseph Smith Presidential Pamphlets, 1844 papers, particularly 7 February 1844, reel 4 of F312, Joseph Smith Collection, LDS Church Archives.

42. Jessee, Personal Writings, 386–87, 507–9, 568–70, 589, 689, 711. See also History of the Church 6:523–24.

43. Despain, “Thomas Bullock,” 14–16, 19–22; History of the Church 6:363, 494.

44. Donald Q. Cannon, “The King Follett Discourse: Joseph Smith’s Greatest Sermon in Historical Perspective,” BYU Studies 18 (Winter 1978): 179–92. See also Searle, “Early Mormon Historiography,” 277.

45. Searle, “Early Mormon Historiography,” 277.

46. Stan Larson, “The King Follett Discourse: A Newly Amalgamated Text,” BYU Studies 18 (Winter 1978): 209–25.

47. Larson, “King Follett Discourse,” 193

48. Bullock, Journal, 7 April 1844, Thomas Bullock Collection, LDS Archives.

49. Ronald K. Esplin, in a personal conversation with the author in March 1987, made these comments when comparing the notes of Bullock as secretary of the Twelve from 1846–56, and the printed works of George D. Watt in the Journal of Discourses. Esplin said the flavor and color of the speakers were found in Bullock’s records. He called Watt’s wording “polished phrases” and Bullock’s “precise phrases.” George D. Watt was also a British convert who introduced phonography to the Church. He was president of the Phonographic Society of Nauvoo and also an adopted son of Willard Richards. For more information on Watt and phonography, see Ronald G. Watt, “Sailing ‘The Old Ship Zion’: The Life of George D. Watt,” BYU Studies 18 (Fall 1977): 48–56.

50. Bullock, Journal, 25 September 1846, Thomas Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives.

51. Journal History, 7 July 1846, 6.

52. Bullock, Journal, 1845–46, Thomas Bullock Collection, Lee Library. [See Gregory R. Knight, “Journal of Thomas Bullock (1816–1885): 31 August 1845 to 5 July 1846,” BYU Studies 31 (Winter 1991): 15–75.]

53. Millennial Star 10 (15 January 1848): 28.

54. Bullock, Journal, 25 September 1846, Thomas Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives.

55. William Clayton, William Clayton’s Journal (Salt Lake City: Clayton Family Association, 1921), 114.

56. Ibid., 176, 343 (23 May and 10 August 1847). It is evident in the Journal History that the history for the 1846–48 treks was compiled after 1915, when Egan’s journal was printed, but before 1921, when Clayton’s was typeset. Egan was quoted every day, Clayton hardly ever, and Bullock’s official records were used to some extent. It appears that Egan copied from Clayton for the duration of the vanguard trek.

57. Bullock, Journal, 27 April 1847, Thomas Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives.

58. Ibid., 5, 9 October 1847.

59. Ibid., 23 April 1847.

60. Callcott, History in the United States, 136.

61. Bullock, Journal, 1 May 1849, Thomas Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives.

62. Peter Crawley, “The Constitution of the State of Deseret,” BYU Studies 29 (Fall 1989): 7–22.

63. Ibid., 20; see also 9, 19.

64. Thomas Bullock’s handwritten materials are found not only in collection pertaining to his various clerical assignments, but also in the following personal collections in the LDS Church Archives: Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Willard Richards, Thomas Bullock, and Henrietta Rushton Bullock.

65. See the letters in the Henrietta Rushton Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives. Bullock wrote so small a hand that often a single page of his handwritten material requires one or two single-space typewritten pages. Often in his letters he would squeeze notes above his salutation or add lengthy postscripts when he had room left on the paper.

66. Thomas Bullock to Henrietta Rushton Bullock, 25 November 1857, Thomas Bullock Collection, LDS Church Archives. Most of Bullock’s letters to Henrietta during 1857–58 can be found in the Henrietta Rushton Bullock Collection.

67. Searle claims that Bullock was released in 1865 because of illness (see Searle, “Early Mormon Histeriography,” 101). Wilford Woodruff suggested that Bullock was released because Joseph Young complained to his father, Brigham Young, that Bullock was getting too possessive of the materials in the historian’s office, and Brigham thought Bullock would take items from the office that were not his. Woodruff felt Bullock was a man of integrity (see Wilford Woodruff, Journal, 26 March 1862, 22 January 1865, Wilford Woodruff Collection, LDS Church Archives).

Jerald F. Simon

BYU Studies Publications