Archives West Finding Aid

The James Stephen Brown papers (1849-1892) contain transcriptions of five of James Stephens Brown's journals. These journals cover fragments of more than forty-six years of his life, primarily those devoted to missionary work for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was his habit to keep several journals at once; hence, the journals at times overlap, and repeat themselves. Their contents are varied, not chronological, and individual journals often include diary entries, reminiscences, and financial ledgers.

This two volume collection contains five major journals. The first section was written from 1857 to 1863; the second in 1866; the third includes entries dated 1849, 1869, and 1875; the fourth was written between 1875 and 1877; and the fifth in 1872 and 1892.

Section I includes an account of Brown's journeys starting in the fall of 1858. In response to a call from the LDS Church he traveled from Salt Lake to Iowa to do missionary work and visit his aging parents. He preached in Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri until spring, and then returned to Salt Lake as head of an emigration company. In February 1860 he received a call from President Brigham Young to go on a mission in England. Leaving Salt Lake in April 1860, he arrived in New York in July and booked passage for England. He stayed in Great Britain until 1862. Then he returned to Salt Lake with another emigration company in late September. At Brigham Young's request he moved his family from Ogden to Salt Lake City and resumed missionary work throughout the northern settlements. Only sketchy detail is given of his life from 1863 to 1865.

Section II is a weekly ledger of his expenses in 1866, including itemized credits and debits of his team of horses.

Section III includes the blessing given prior to his departure to England, a genealogical history of his father's family made in 1849 and another for his mother's family made in 1869. There is a brief sketch of his mission to the Navajo Indians and a diary of his preparations for that missionary settlement form October 1875 to April 1876.

Section IV begins in September 1975 with a more detailed account of preparations for a missionary settlement south and southeast of the Colorado River, adding detail to the last of Section III and continuing the account through September 1876. The journal then skips to February 1877, giving brief diary entries through August 1877.

Section V is an account of his call to a mission in Tahiti in March 1892, the voyage, and his experiences preaching on the island through November 1892.

The journals preserve the flavor of the life and attitudes of the pioneers. They present an account of the hardships of travel, of making a living, and record the attitudes and impressions of the period, especially the religious devotion which typifies many of the early Mormon missionaries whose personal lives were often set aside in service of their church.