MY ONGOING PROJECTS

Biography of Edson Barney
I am gathering material to write the biography of Edson Barney (1806 – 1905), a great-great-grandfather on my father’s side. Edson joined the fledgling Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1831, only one year after it was first organized. He lived in Kirtland, Ohio, was a member of Zion’s Camp, and became a member of the Church’s First Quorum of Seventy. When the Mormons established Nauvoo, Illinois as their headquarters, Edson and his family moved there, and then were part of the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo to Utah Territory, arriving there in 1850. When Edson passed away in 1905 at the age of 98, he was commemorated as having been the oldest member of the Church and having the longest term of membership. Click on Edson’s name above to learn more about this interesting pioneer. Also, if you are a descendant, or otherwise interested in this project, please contact me by clicking on this link and sending me an e-mail.

Biography of William Griffiths Reese
I am also gathering material for a biography of William Griffiths Reese (1857-1938), a maternal great-grandfather. William was born in Wales, immigrated to Utah as a child in 1860, served an LDS mission to Great Britain as a young man, and a mission to Australia when he was 50 years old. Will was a schoolteacher by profession, kept a journal for most of his life, and during his service in Australia was a regular correspondent to Logan Herald Journal. His articles on life in “the Antipodes” appeared regularly in the paper from December 1906 through January 1909. To read more about the William Griffiths Reese project, click on his name above. Also, if you are a descendant of W. G. Reese, or are otherwise interested in this project, please contact me by clicking on this link and sending me an e-mail.

Joseph Smith Papers Project
The goal of the Joseph Smith Papers Project, sponsored by the History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is to create a comprehensive collection of all documents associated with Joseph Smith, founder and first prophet of the Church.

Endorsed by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the project is expected eventually to comprise over twenty volumes, including the journals kept by Joseph Smith and his scribes, as well as all of the known correspondence, revelations, discourses, and the like produced by Smith. Each volume will be extensively annotated to provide historical context for the text of the documents. The volumes also will contain glossaries, newly rendered maps, chronologies and other charts and aids.

The project will include a legal series, presenting the existing legal documents for all of the known cases involving Joseph Smith as a plaintiff, defendant or judge. I am one of the editors of the legal series. My specialty is the Nauvoo period (1839 – 1845). Follow the link above to learn more about the project.

Lectures, Teaching and Articles

I also manage to keep busy with lectures, teaching and writing. Last May I delivered a presentation to the Mormon History Association titled “Joseph Smith’s Most Famous Case: The Boggs Assault and Missouri’s Attempted Extradition.” I’m currently working on a paper for publication covering this fascinating case.

I’m an adjunct professor of law at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, where I’m teaming with the other Joseph Smith Papers legal editors to teach a course on Joseph Smith and the Law. I have greatly enjoyed my interaction with the law students. We appreciate their enthusiasm as well as their research assistance on questions involving Joseph Smith’s legal cases.

Dawn and I also lecture regularly on life story writing. We’ve just finished presenting at BYU Education Week, a week-long program that draws over twenty thousand people from all over the country to hear lectures from a wide variety of scholars. It is great fun to meet so many people who are interested in preserving their life stories for posterity. If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to check out Dawn’s fascinating website by following this link.

Between teaching, lecturing and attending conferences, we manage to make good use of our Park City vacation home. Although we’re not skiers, we love the crisp, clean air and sharp blue skies. Our favorite time to be there is in the spring, after the final snows melt, and in the fall, when the colors are spectacular.