Thomas Bullock papers
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
- Creation: 1808-1991
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1808-1892
Creator
- Bullock, Thomas, 1816-1885 (creator, Person)
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.
Subject
- Bullock family (Family)
- 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
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States