Welcome to another episode of LDS Discussions! We are joined again by Bryan Buchanan to discuss the William Clayton Diaries.
The William Clayton Diaries are among the most important firsthand records from Joseph Smith’s final years in Nauvoo. Few individuals stood closer to Joseph Smith than William Clayton, who served as clerk, confidant, and participant in many of the most controversial events of Mormon history.
In this episode, we dive directly into the diaries themselves. We examine what Clayton recorded, what historians can learn from his daily entries, and why these journals have become central to discussions about Joseph Smith’s plural marriages, the Council of Fifty, the Quorum of the Anointed, the Kinderhook Plates, Nauvoo politics, and the final months leading up to Joseph Smith’s death.
Along the way, we explore the lives of Joseph and Emma Smith, Margaret Moon, Sarah Whitney, Lucy Walker, Flora Woodworth, Eliza R. Snow, and many of the other figures who appear throughout these remarkable journals.
We also address modern claims that the diaries were altered, fabricated, or created after the fact, and compare those claims to the evidence available to historians who have studied the original manuscript.
Topics include William Clayton’s relationship with Joseph Smith, evidence for Joseph Smith’s polygamy, Emma’s reactions and resistance to the “P” or “priesthood,” the Moon sister’s involvement in polygamy, the strengths and limitations of Clayton as a source and why historians consider these diaries indispensable.
The William Clayton journals offer an unparalleled window into the inner workings of Nauvoo Mormonism. Whether you are a believer, skeptic, historian, or simply curious about early Mormon history, these records provide some of the most revealing evidence available from the period.
