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Thomas Bullock papers

 Collection
Identifier: Vault MSS 772

Scope and Contents

Contains materials pertaining to the life and family members of Thomas Bullock. Includes personal and professional materials of journals, letters of correspondence, financial records, certificates, genealogical data, recorded blessings, and poems. His original and copied journal excerpts document day to day life, spiritual experiences, and recorded historical moments while living in Nauvoo, Illinois, on the Mormon Trail in 1858, and living in Utah. Letters of correspondence are penned by Bullock and occasionally other family members containing information of both a personal and professional nature. A majority of the financial records concern Bullock's family members. Genealogical data surrounds the Bullock family tree. Blessings given to Bullock and family members are written down for preservation. Dated approximately 1808-1991.

Dates

  • 1808-1991
  • Majority of material found within 1808-1892

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Thomas Bullock papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Coordinating Committee.

Biographical History

Thomas Bullock (1816-1885) was a Mormon pioneer who worked as a clerk for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo, Illinois and Utah.

Thomas Bullock was born on December 23, 1816 as the youngest of nine children to Thomas and Mary Bullock in Leek, Staffordshire, England. At age thirteen, he began apprenticing as a clerk at a law office. In 1838, he began working in the government's excise department and married Henrietta Rushton. They were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in November of 1841. By 1843, Bullock and his family traveled to the United States to join the other Saints in Nauvoo, Illinois.

Thomas's clerkship skills enabled him to serve as Joseph Smith's personal clerk up through Joseph's martyrdom. He later stayed behind to record the saints' final days in Nauvoo before their mass exodus to Salt Lake City, Utah and then recorded their consequent pioneer trek west to Utah. He held numerous clerkship positions in Utah for the duration of his life, including clerking for Brigham Young and various projects for the Church.

Bullock practiced plural marriage. In addition to Henrietta, he married Lucy Clayton in 1846 and Betsy Prudence Howard in 1852. Thomas Bullock died in Coalville, Utah on February 10, 1885 leaving behind twenty-three children and a legacy laced with multiple influential clerical undertakings.

Extent

10 folders (0.5 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Arranged in six series: 1. Bullock family financial papers, 1808-1833. 2. Thomas Bullock journals, 1845-1991. 3. Thomas Bullock family blessings, 1845-1879. 4. Thomas Bullock genealogical papers, approximately 1830-1893. 5. Eliza R. Snow poetry, 1852, 1856. 6. Thomas Bullock letters and other materials, 1848-1892.

Other Finding Aids

Item-level inventory available online. http://files.lib.byu.edu/ead/XML/VMSS772.xml

Custodial History

In 1974 Mrs. Edna Beard Taylor donated Bullock blessings, certificates, an Eliza R. Snow poem, a Robert L. Campbell letter, and a Moses C. Taylor appointment certificate and a scrapbook for the Thomas Bullock Collection. Then in 1988, Wayne Bullock donated 2 boxes of Thomas Bullock papers (1845-1852) to the collection.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated; Edna Beard Taylor; 1974.

Donated; Wayne Bullock; 1988.

Appraisal

Utah and Western American cultural, family, social, intellectual, and religious history (19th Century Mormon and Western Manuscripts Collection Development Policy, IV. A. i. 4, November 14, 2013).

Processing Information

Processed; David J. Whittaker, Erin Parker, and Chris McClellan; approximately 1974.

Processed; Megan Schille; 2017.

Title
Register of Thomas Bullock papers
Status
Completed
Author
Leslie Evens
Date
2011 November 30
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States