Rather than reproducing Brigham Young’s journals as four distinct physical artifacts as they exist today, the editors of this volume have disassembled Young’s personal journal entries to present the text in chronological order, as his life and travels unfolded. This was done for purposes of readability and understandability. From 1832 to 1845 he wrote his personal journal in three different physical volumes, shifting from one to another over the years with major sections of journal entries out of chronological order in the physical artifacts. In Part I the various sections of Young’s writings are reassembled and presented in chronological order, with editorial notes to help orient the reader as to which artifact each section came from (that is, where it is found in the extant journal). The fourth physical artifact is Brigham Young’s office journal, which is presented in Part I precisely as it appears in its original form. In this second part of the volume, we introduce and illuminate each of the original journals. Source notes provide detailed descriptions of each artifact to give readers the dimensions and other physical characteristics of each journal. Here we also preserve the miscellaneous writings, notes, statements, and other documents that Brigham Young inscribed into each artifact. These miscellaneous writings are generally undated or otherwise unconnected to the chronological unfolding of Young’s journal entries. These miscellaneous texts are annotated when possible to help elucidate their meaning or context.

Few such miscellaneous writings are found in Brigham Young’s first personal journal. One such writing is the “Art thou a brother” salutation from the instructions regulating the School of the Prophets in Kirtland, Ohio. This important text illustrates the challenge these miscellaneous writings present. Those School of the Prophets instructions were included in a Joseph Smith revelation of 3 January 1833. Thus it would be tempting to date Young’s writing to circa 3 January 1833. However, when that revelation was recorded in Kirtland, Brigham Young was some 250 miles to the northeast in western New York and had started from his home on a mission to Canada. Unless a messenger from Kirtland came with the text of the revelation, Young likely would not have known about and therefore could not have written this salutation in his journal until at least July 1833, when he next visited Kirtland. One might therefore date Young’s writing to circa 11–17 July 1833, the dates he was in Kirtland, but further complications exist. Where Brigham Young inscribed the School of the Prophets salutation in his journal further muddies our understanding of when it was written. Conversely, the placement may also illuminate why he made the inscription. The salutation is written on the leaf following a page that includes entries for 12 November 1833 and 3 September 1835. Following his 12 November 1833 entry, Young turned to the verso of the journal and began writing his entries, beginning on 3 May 1835, from the back toward the middle, ending with the 3 September 1835 entry. Starting from the back of the book, the first leaf is blank; the second contains the School of the Prophets salutation. Given its placement in the journal a page before Young’s 3 May 1835 entry, which begins his first mission as a member of the Twelve Apostles, it is not only possible but seems likely that Young found deep meaning in this passage about fellowship and brotherhood as he set off with his quorum, a new brotherhood that would become “immoveable and unchangeable” in its mission to take the gospel to the world. With all the uncertainty surrounding the dating and intent of Brigham Young’s writing of the School of the Prophets salutation, it is here treated as a miscellaneous text, rather than as part of his journal.

Miscellaneous writings, notations, and other documents likewise appear in Young’s other personal journals and his office journal. In the second holograph journal, Young wrote an assortment of names, addresses, locations, financial transactions, and notations in the front and back pastedowns and flyleaves, also called endpapers, that precede and then follow the text block. Most of these are undated and written in different media, primarily ink and graphite. In addition to these various notations, Brigham Young copied a few significant documents: a letter from Orson Hyde and two revelations directed to members of the Twelve Apostles. These texts are dated according to the date of their creation. Because it is not known when Young copied these into his journal, we include these documents in this second part rather than arbitrarily place them at their creation dates within the chronological journal. Finally, Brigham Young included an undated phrenology chart in his second personal journal. It is included here and not with the dated entries in Part I because it is unclear from whom he received the chart or when that examination took place. Young was examined by a phrenologist on at least two occasions: in Nauvoo sometime before 16 July 1842 and by another phrenologist in Boston on 20 September 1843. These two phrenologists used scales ranging from 1 to 12 and 1 to 7, respectively, while the figures in the chart Young copied into his journal rise to at least 18, suggesting that on some unknown date he may have been examined by yet a third phrenologist.

As with his second journal, the front and back pastedowns and flyleaves of Brigham Young’s third personal journal are littered with names, addresses, locations, and other fragmented writings. There are also undated writings in the pages following the conclusion of journal entries on 1 August 1844. Although they cannot be precisely dated, many miscellaneous writings in Young’s third personal journal appear to be connected to his travels. For example, one notation lists “articuls wanted from home,” including a theological dictionary, an English language dictionary, a concordance of holy scriptures, and a hymnal. Perhaps those materials would aid him as he prepared his sermons or worked in the Liverpool printing office of the Millennial Star. In any event, the list suggests the seriousness with which Young prepared and studied. The miscellaneous writings in Young’s third personal journal also appear to be connected to his missionary experiences. There are questions others asked him, lists of materials needed and obtained, mentions of donations and other financial transactions, and many names and addresses of people. However, without more context or information, many of these miscellaneous writings are difficult to decipher today.

The text of Brigham Young’s office journal, 1844–1846, is presented in this volume in Part I separately from the holograph journals and precisely as it appears in the physical artifact, without any rearranging of texts. Outside the journal entries, the only miscellaneous or undated text in Brigham Young’s office journal appears in a four-page index on pages 380–83 at the back of the physical artifact. That index, along with attendant historical annotation, is included in this part.

While no description of the physical artifact can replace the look and feel of the original, the texts and information presented in Part II, along with the chronological unfolding in Part I, should provide readers what is needed to understand Brigham Young’s earliest, pre-Utah-era journals. Interested readers may wish to view the original artifacts and compare the transcripts with images of the original journals. They may do so at the Brigham Young Center Foundation website, brighamyoungcenter.org. Viewing the images of the original journals and comparing them with this book will help readers better understand how our transcription rules have been applied to create this volume. Viewing the originals also provides other information that cannot be conveyed typographically.