I began researching this book in 2003. Sixteen years later, it has transformed from a graduate class project to a dissertation to its present form. I never imagined it would take so long. Many obstacles and providential delays have, however, improved the finished product. I have had much help along the journey. My wife, Meredith, is most responsible for seeing this story published. From day one until its completion, she has won eight battles with cancer and endured other serious health concerns. Yet throughout she has been supportive, too often the widow of a “Joseph Smith for President”–obsessed husband. She also assisted in research trips to the Church History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help transcribe and count Nauvoo Temple ordinances. Her suggestions during the different stages of this work have been crucial. My sons, Briant, Nathan, and Joshua, encouraged me to continue when I was most discouraged and, during my writing, supplied Diet Coke.

I thank the staffs at the Church History Library, Utah State Historical Society, and special collections departments of Brigham Young University and the University of Utah for assistance. Special thanks go to Meredith Sainsbury, J. B. Haws, Eric Hinderaker, Scott Esplin, Thomas Wayment, Spencer McBride, Johnathan Moyers, Susan Trump, Benjamin Park, Don Brugger, and others who read parts of this manuscript in its various forms. Each gave needed corrections and suggestions that have made the book better. I appreciate the work of personnel at Brigham Young University’s Religious Studies Center; those not already named include production supervisor Brent Nordgren, graphic designer Emily Strong, and student editing interns Julie Newman and Emily Cook. Also, a hearty thank-you to leaders of the Church and the Joseph Smith Papers Project for making available the Council of Fifty minutes that validated and deepened what I had been thinking and writing for years.

I save the biggest nonfamilial thank-you for University of Utah professor Robert “Bob” Goldberg. I went to the University of Utah to work with Latter-day Saint historian Dean May, who tragically died before my first class. Bob took me under his wing, taught me how to be a good historian and how to navigate and balance a doctoral student’s life, and served as my dissertation committee chair. His mentorship, friendship, and advocacy of Latter-day Saint studies are valuable to me. In his office one day, I expressed to him my thanks and, correctly, named him the “Thomas Kane of Mormon studies.” He gave me his trademark smirk and lifted a framed citation, saying, “Yes, I even have the award to prove it.” Indeed, it was a well-deserved award named after Thomas Kane himself. Bob, an eternal thank-you for making me a better historian and a much better writer, and most importantly for inspiring me to be a better, more thoughtful, and more compassionate person.