William Clayton is best remembered today for his hymns, especially "Come, Come Ye Saints." But as one of the earliest Latter-day Saint scribes, he made intellectual as well as artistic contributions to his church, and his records have been silently incorporated into official Mormon scripture and history. Of equal significance are his personal impressions of day-to-day activities, which describe a social and religious world largely unfamiliar to modern readers. In ministering to the sick, for instance, Clayton anointed with perfumed oil and rum. He performed baptisms to heal the sick. Church services, held irregularly, were referred to as "going to meeting" and seemed to be elective. He testifies of people speaking in tongues and of others "almost speaking in tongues." When introduced to plural marriage, he was reluctant but eventually became one of its most enthusiastic proponents, marrying ten women and fathering forty-two children. Since polygamy was initially secret, Clayton spent much of his time putting out the fires of innuendo and discontent. He caught his first plural wife rendezvousing with her former fiancé; later, when she became pregnant, her mother--his unaware mother-in-law--was so overwrought that she attempted suicide. Joseph Smith reassured him: "Just keep her at home and brook it and if they raise trouble about it and bring you before me I will give you an awful scourging and probably cut you off from the church and then I will set you ahead as good as ever." Clayton was also the object of Emma Smith's attentions, allegedly part of a jealous wife's plan to make a cuckold of her errant husband.
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
The collection of journals kept between 1840 and 1853 by William Clayton, personal secretary to Joseph Smith (founder of the Mormon Church), which was originally published amid some controversy as a limited edition in 1991, is here made available for the first time as a one-volume trade edition. Clayton was a meticulous diarist (probably too meticulous for the taste of most general readers) who was close to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young at the beginning of the polygamy controversy, and he accompanied Young on the westward expedition from Nauvoo, Illinois, that blazed the Mormon trail to Salt Lake City. The journals, along with the editor's excellent historical introduction and extensive notes, will be particularly relevant to readers with a specific interest in Mormon Church history, but they also provide a fascinating glimpse into nineteenth-century frontier life that may merit a broader readership. Steve Schroeder
Review
This is a must read for all students of early Mormonism, nineteenth-century Illinois, or American religious history. This fifth volume in a limited edition series of early Mormon journals and autobiographies is composed of six journals and three appendices. Although most of the journals are in print elsewhere, here they are conveniently collected and abridged into a single volume covering the years from 1840 to 1853, from William Clayton's conversion to Mormonism in England, through the Great Trek west, to his return to England to try to explain polygamy. Since Clayton was a confidant of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, he records as an insider. He was unsophisticated, faithful, and an excellent observer. He was also candid, wrote much that is not recorded elsewhere, told some tales out of school, and was an enthusiastic polygamist--ten wives, forty-seven children. Readers of the Illinois Historical Journal will find his intimate account of the secular and religious life during the Illinois period of Mormonism (from 1842, when Clayton arrived in Nauvoo, to 1846 when he left) compelling reading. He includes polygamy (especially his unique account of its practice before the revelation of 1834 and his own ardor to live it), temple work and other "secret" affairs, the Word of Wisdom, money family troubles, and his warts-and-all-portraits of some Mormon leaders. Furthermore, his journal of the 1846-1847 Mormon Exodus is simply unparalleled, a classic in the field of westering. Of lesser interest will be the journals on "England and Emigration, 1840-42," "Visit to Utah Settlements, 1852," and "Polygamy Mission to England, 1852-53," and the appendixes. The book is enriched with a preface, introduction, a chronology, lists of wives and children, twenty-six photographs, five maps, notes, and an index. As previously noted, these journals have been abridged. Keeping in mind the old adage that one person's trash is another's treasure, some readers may wish to consult the unedited versions, even though Signature Books has an excellent record in careful and thoughtful editing. Readers interested in the trek west are especially advised to read the original. Editor George D. Smith and the publisher are to be commended for their work. Enjoy! --Stanley B. Kimball, Illinois Historical Journal
William Clayton lived his life on the periphery of early Mormon leadership circles. Welcomed as a scribe, he never played an important role in church decision-making and the occasional pointedness of his exclusion hurt his feelings. How ironic it is then that through his journal writing his significance has eclipsed most of those who exercised greater authority in the early church. Clayton was twenty-three years old and living near Preston, England, when he embraced Mormonism in 1838. In 1840 he ventured with other British converts to Nauvoo, Illinois, where the ten year old church had settled following its forcible expulsion from Missouri. There he became a church clerk and, in 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith's private secretary, serving in that capacity until Smith's murder two years later. When in 1846 the church at last despaired of American society, Clayton joined the main body of the Saints in emigrating to the Great Basin, rather incidentally composing Mormondom's best known hymn, "Come, Come, Ye Saints," en route. Although he subsequently served in a number of minor political offices, Clayton gradually drifted away from those in power. Chosen in 1852 as a member of a Mormon mission to England to justify the church's adoption of polygamy, the trip proved a personal debacle when his license to preach was briefly revoked after his being charged with immorality. Sent back to Utah after a mere three months service, he lived an active but quieter life until his death in 1879. Since most of these journals (covering 1840-1855) have been both previously published and extensively mined by historians, there is little here that will come as news. Still historians of Mormonism will turn perennially to them. Clayton's writing is remarkable neither for its acuity nor for its literary grace, he was no Phillip Hone much less a Samuel Pepys, but he provides a richness of information found nowhere else. His 1845-1846 Nauvoo Temple journal, for example, offers a fascinating theological discussion of the subordination of women to men. Moreover, one can see clearly in Clayton's chronicle of everyday life the turbulence among the rank and file and better appreciate the necessity of Brigham Young's marked sternness in regulating the behavior of his flock. And, as is frequently noted, Clayton's story of Joseph Smith's introduction of polygamy and the trials and tribulations Clayton experienced in adopting the practice is wonderfully vivid. In recent years Signature Books has come to publish some of the most important works on Mormon history. This particular volume is the fifth in a series dedicated to the publication of early Mormon journals and diaries, and follows, among others, a highly useful collection of Joseph Smith journals. Unfortunately, it must be noted that the current Mormon Church continues to suppress those portions of the historical record it deems embarrassing and a significant part of Clayton's writings from the Nauvoo period are consequently missing from the volume. That unhappy fact excepted, this edition is in other ways definitive. The journals are prefaced with a lengthy biographical sketch of Clayton, a life chronology, lists of his wives and children, maps and photographs, and three appendices comprised of some of his personal shorter writings. The method of annotation, however, is quite irregular. One is surprised that generally known places and events in American history are explained in the notes, as is a passing reference to the city of Detroit, while much about Mormon history is left unexplained, as are Clayton's relatively cryptic references to the trial of Joseph Smith's assassins. Still, the comprehensiveness of the volume will make it the standard reference for Clayton's writings. --Kenneth H. Winn, Journal of the Early Republic
The William Clayton Journals elevate Signature Book's series of nineteenth-century Mormon diaries to a high level of primary documentation. Although excellent biographies of Clayton have already been published, George D. Smith has brought six specific journals together in a single volume. The result is an in-depth view of a unique Mormon life between 1840 and 1853, one of Mormonism's most dynamic periods. Clayton's own words take us from his conversion to Mormonism in England, through his transatlantic crossing, to his position as Joseph Smith's private secretary in Nauvoo. George Smith also chronicles Clayton's 1847 migration to Utah, his polygamous activities, and a missionary journey to England in the 1850s. Clayton lived twenty-six years after these journals end, yet Smith's exceptional introduction gives both context and perspective on his entire life in a biographical sketch. The author's history of the edited documents is beneficial as well. Elaborate notations throughout the text, utilizing a vast array of complementary sources, add significantly to an understanding of the journals and the man who wrote them. The book's appendices include a number of notebooks, private books, extracts from writings, and Clayton's written testimony of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and later leaders, are also helpful additions. Clayton's view of the amazing internal workings of Church leadership in Nauvoo is fascinating, as is his lengthy discussion of the building of the Nauvoo Temple. An in-depth reading of these documents adds significantly to an understanding of Mormonism during a number of internal and external crises. Clayton's journals depict the life of a man at the footstool of power who was involved in polygamy at an early stage and who obviously believed in the doctrine, felt he should be an exemplary practitioner, and influenced many others to do likewise. His unabashed pursuit of some young women is rather startling and underscores his fervent belief that a righteous posterity was the key to celestial realms. Ten women married him, and he fathered forty-seven children. Though Clayton never reached the highest level within the Mormon hierarchy, that of General Authority, he did serve on the Council of Fifty, which had hopes of world government. He discussed all of these activities very openly in his journals. George Smith's careful and detailed presentation of these journals sets a new standard for Signature Books' series of journals. His attention to detail, much like George Ellsworth's in The Journals of Addison Pratt, demands elevated standards for editors and publishers. To provide complete historical context, editors of diaries, as Smith has done here, should meticulously research their material, examining and noting contemporary sources. The fascinating details of a life spent in the councils of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and other Church leaders summaries of discussions, off-hand conversations, and reactions to revelatory decisions give readers a great feel for William Clayton and his times. It is unfortunate that the high price of this edition [the original, limited edition, not the paperback] may limit the number of readers who have access to Clayton's universally appealing story. --F. Ross Peterson, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought
William Clayton lived his life on the periphery of early Mormon leadership circles. Welcomed as a scribe, he never played an important role in church decision-making and the occasional pointedness of his exclusion hurt his feelings. How ironic it is then that through his journal writing his significance has eclipsed most of those who exercised greater authority in the early church. Clayton was twenty-three years old and living near Preston, England, when he embraced Mormonism in 1838. In 1840 he ventured with other British converts to Nauvoo, Illinois, where the ten year old church had settled following its forcible expulsion from Missouri. There he became a church clerk and, in 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith's private secretary, serving in that capacity until Smith's murder two years later. When in 1846 the church at last despaired of American society, Clayton joined the main body of the Saints in emigrating to the Great Basin, rather incidentally composing Mormondom's best known hymn, "Come, Come, Ye Saints," en route. Although he subsequently served in a number of minor political offices, Clayton gradually drifted away from those in power. Chosen in 1852 as a member of a Mormon mission to England to justify the church's adoption of polygamy, the trip proved a personal debacle when his license to preach was briefly revoked after his being charged with immorality. Sent back to Utah after a mere three months service, he lived an active but quieter life until his death in 1879. Since most of these journals (covering 1840-1855) have been both previously published and extensively mined by historians, there is little here that will come as news. Still historians of Mormonism will turn perennially to them. Clayton's writing is remarkable neither for its acuity nor for its literary grace, he was no Phillip Hone much less a Samuel Pepys, but he provides a richness of information found nowhere else. His 1845-1846 Nauvoo Temple journal, for example, offers a fascinating theological discussion of the subordination of women to men. Moreover, one can see clearly in Clayton's chronicle of everyday life the turbulence among the rank and file and better appreciate the necessity of Brigham Young's marked sternness in regulating the behavior of his flock. And, as is frequently noted, Clayton's story of Joseph Smith's introduction of polygamy and the trials and tribulations Clayton experienced in adopting the practice is wonderfully vivid. In recent years Signature Books has come to publish some of the most important works on Mormon history. This particular volume is the fifth in a series dedicated to the publication of early Mormon journals and diaries, and follows, among others, a highly useful collection of Joseph Smith journals. Unfortunately, it must be noted that the current Mormon Church continues to suppress those portions of the historical record it deems embarrassing and a significant part of Clayton's writings from the Nauvoo period are consequently missing from the volume. That unhappy fact excepted, this edition is in other ways definitive. The journals are prefaced with a lengthy biographical sketch of Clayton, a life chronology, lists of his wives and children, maps and photographs, and three appendices comprised of some of his personal shorter writings. The method of annotation, however, is quite irregular. One is surprised that generally known places and events in American history are explained in the notes, as is a passing reference to the city of Detroit, while much about Mormon history is left unexplained, as are Clayton's relatively cryptic references to the trial of Joseph Smith's assassins. Still, the comprehensiveness of the volume will make it the standard reference for Clayton's writings. --Kenneth H. Winn, Journal of the Early Republic
The William Clayton Journals elevate Signature Book's series of nineteenth-century Mormon diaries to a high level of primary documentation. Although excellent biographies of Clayton have already been published, George D. Smith has brought six specific journals together in a single volume. The result is an in-depth view of a unique Mormon life between 1840 and 1853, one of Mormonism's most dynamic periods. Clayton's own words take us from his conversion to Mormonism in England, through his transatlantic crossing, to his position as Joseph Smith's private secretary in Nauvoo. George Smith also chronicles Clayton's 1847 migration to Utah, his polygamous activities, and a missionary journey to England in the 1850s. Clayton lived twenty-six years after these journals end, yet Smith's exceptional introduction gives both context and perspective on his entire life in a biographical sketch. The author's history of the edited documents is beneficial as well. Elaborate notations throughout the text, utilizing a vast array of complementary sources, add significantly to an understanding of the journals and the man who wrote them. The book's appendices include a number of notebooks, private books, extracts from writings, and Clayton's written testimony of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and later leaders, are also helpful additions. Clayton's view of the amazing internal workings of Church leadership in Nauvoo is fascinating, as is his lengthy discussion of the building of the Nauvoo Temple. An in-depth reading of these documents adds significantly to an understanding of Mormonism during a number of internal and external crises. Clayton's journals depict the life of a man at the footstool of power who was involved in polygamy at an early stage and who obviously believed in the doctrine, felt he should be an exemplary practitioner, and influenced many others to do likewise. His unabashed pursuit of some young women is rather startling and underscores his fervent belief that a righteous posterity was the key to celestial realms. Ten women married him, and he fathered forty-seven children. Though Clayton never reached the highest level within the Mormon hierarchy, that of General Authority, he did serve on the Council of Fifty, which had hopes of world government. He discussed all of these activities very openly in his journals. George Smith's careful and detailed presentation of these journals sets a new standard for Signature Books' series of journals. His attention to detail, much like George Ellsworth's in The Journals of Addison Pratt, demands elevated standards for editors and publishers. To provide complete historical context, editors of diaries, as Smith has done here, should meticulously research their material, examining and noting contemporary sources. The fascinating details of a life spent in the councils of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and other Church leaders summaries of discussions, off-hand conversations, and reactions to revelatory decisions give readers a great feel for William Clayton and his times. It is unfortunate that the high price of this edition [the original, limited edition, not the paperback] may limit the number of readers who have access to Clayton's universally appealing story. --F. Ross Peterson, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A step into the mind of the early church.,
By Active Latter-Day Texan (Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton (Paperback)
Imagine you could go back in time and step into Nauvoo, the trip across the plains, and early settlement of what is now Utah. This is the book. William Clayton was a personal scribe to Joseph Smith. He was converted in England, sailed accross the Atlantic, and almost instantly became an insider, and confidant to Joseph Smith once he arrived in Nauvoo.
He is very detailed in his journal, yet it almost reads like a story. The highlights include: Doing missionary work with some of the early church leaders including Brigham Young in England. His trip to America is tragic, with sickness and disease killing some of the passengers. The mormon voyagers join in "faith" with the belief they can "hold on" to those who are dying if they just can believe strong enough... they end up dissappointed. You get a real sense of the stength of their belief and the conviction of those willing to leave England for Zion. Upon arriving in Nauvoo he describes his conversations with Joseph Smith. He alludes to his early introduction to polygamy, when most in the church did not know it was being practiced. He marries a number of wives, and mentions many of Joseph's plural marraiges. The political issues facing the Saints are discussed, as well as the efforts to go West. He describes the sacrifice in preparing the Nauvoo temple, and has a month or more dedicated to describing the endowment of the Saints before leaving West. He gives a description of the organization of the pioneers when going west, and his own journey accross the plains. What I found very funny was the popularity of the mormon band as they travelled. Cities would pay the Mormon band (of which Clayton was a member) to play for them, and this helped fund the trip. I would recommend the book to anyone who wants to delve into the details of the early church practice and belief. What is so fun about history is seeing the world through someone else's eyes. His life was great and I really enjoyed the book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Valuable information about early Mormon life,
By
This review is from: An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton (Paperback)
Clayton was the Prophet's meticulous secretary and confidant. Reading this book has given me fresh new insight into the ingenious mind of Joseph Smith as well as to the very turbulent times of the Saints during the 1840's in Nauvoo. Furthermore, Clayton documents early missionary work in Lancashire, England and the difficult voyage across to America with newly converted Latter Day saint families. It's very interesting reading and surely an important reference book for any Mormon History scholar.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A well titled book,
By
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This review is from: An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton (Paperback)
This book is exactly what the title says, an intimate chronicle. A great view into the beginnings of plural marriage in Nauvoo and the beginnings of the Council of Fifty. A little dry at times, but an easy read. Very interesting.
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