The Brigham Young Journals, Volume 1

From his baptism in 1832 until his death in 1877, Brigham Young observed, participated, and led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His journals provide very little of that information since he kept spotty brief records of his activities. Primary sources are always helpful no matter how brief, and, as a result, several editors have published Young's writings.1 The Brigham Young Center Foundation volume, edited by members of the Joseph Smith Papers research team, is the newest effort to make the Young journals available. With the aid of the Joseph Smith Papers Project, numerous other sources such as the Wilford Woodruff and William Clayton diaries, and Latter-day Saint scholars’ expertise in documentary editing, The Brigham Young Journals: Volume 1 is the most complete effort to date.Volume 1 includes Young's handwritten journals and his first office journal that covers the years from Young's conversion to the Nauvoo exodus. Introductory chapters summarize the church history during the time period and lay out the editors’ methodology. They describe the commercially produced blank notebooks that Young wrote in. They note any marks in the journals and explain what they might mean. A timeline of Young's life over the years, a list of places he visited, and trip itineraries give a concise life summary that puts Young's writings in context.One example shows the care that the editors took to find as much detail as possible. On December 10, 1845, Young wrote that he worked at the temple and “with bro. H.C.K. washed and anointed bro. Richards.” After 8 p.m., Kimball and Young “entered the Celestial room for prayers” (293). The note quotes Willard Richards that Young and Kimball started anointing and washing at 5 p.m. Richards left around 7 p.m. When William Clayton arrived at the temple at 9 a.m., Kimball and Young were leaving for breakfast. They worked until 3:30 a.m. and then stayed at the temple until they were met by Clayton (293). It is amazing how the editors can find other sources that add meaning to a simple statement.This care is shown in all the journal entries. The editors carefully spell out when Young kept a journal. The journals are mostly his missionary travels and not his life at church headquarters or his family life. Since Young did not always record his experiences, the editors explain the events that took place during the times between entries. Interestingly, Young did not fill one journal and move to another. The dated entries are scattered across the three volumes. For ease in reading and engaging in historical research, the editors carefully put the entries into a daily schedule. The illustrations are helpful. The index is extensive. My only concern is that most of the book is in one chapter, making it difficult to find information except by the date. I wish there were chapter breaks or headings.For anyone studying Brigham Young's early years, this book is a good starting point. With the forthcoming volumes, the Brigham Young Journals will provide for Young the same information that the now-completed Joseph Smith Papers give for the church's founder

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