Even if it is the case that notebook 2
is not a daily record and that Clayton wrote it in batches based on earlier
notes, it is speculation to assume it was written later to support a Brigham
Young-centric narrative. Clayton would be far from the only nineteenth-century
diarist to construct his journal from rough draft notes and other daily
records. Internal textual evidence also favors notebook 2 being contemporary.
Clayton’s journal expresses a great deal of uncertainty about future events,
such as the outcome of his marriage to Margaret Moon. The journal likewise does
not anticipate the death of Joseph Smith or the accession of Brigham Young to
the presidency of the church. Ironically, this entry from notebook 2 is one of
the only contemporary records of Smith having any criticism of Brigham Young. “Also
B.Y. had transgressed his covenant & he pled with the Lord to spare him
this end & he did so, other wise he would have died. B. denied having
transgressed.” (Clayton, Intimate Chronicle, June 23, 1843) Another
entry in notebook 2 quotes Smith as saying his brother Samuel ought to be his
successor should he and Hyrum die.” (Clayton, Intimate Chronicle, July
12, 1844) Such entries do not support a Utah era narrative and tend to show
that it was written contemporaneously by a man who simply wanted to record what
he saw and felt. Also, Clayton traced one of the Kinderhook plates in his
journal under his entry for May 1, 1843, the same date and entry that Clayton
recorded the sealing ceremony of Smith and Lucy Walker. Stanley Kimball
compared one of the Kinderhook plates to Clayton’s tracing and found it was a
perfect match. This would mean Clayton was using this notebook during that week
as the Kinderhook plates were only in Nauvoo for a few days. While it would be
possible for Clayton to have copied this outline from an earlier tracing, its
presence in notebook 2 tends to make it more likely to be contemporary. (Mark Tensmeyer, “’Old Wom[en]n’s Tales’
Versus the Historical Verification of Joseph Smith’s Polygamy,” in Secret
Covenants: New Insights on Early Mormon Polygamy, ed. Charyl L. Bruno [Salt
Lake City: Signature Books, 2024], 71-72)