A research guide · Church of the Firstborn, 1861 –

The Morrisites and their records

An open guide to the sources, archives, places, and scholarship on the movement Joseph Morris organized at Kington Fort on the Weber River in 1861, and on the congregations that carried it from Utah to Idaho, Nevada, California, Nebraska, Iowa, and Montana.

This is an independent scholarly resource. It is not affiliated with any church, descendant organization, or repository. Entries are being added and checked; corrections are welcome.

Where to begin

Four ways in

History
A dated chronology from 1857 to the present, and the places of the movement from South Weber to Racetrack.
Sources
Documents to read online, a bibliography, and the archives that hold Morrisite records.
People
The 430 names on the 1861–62 roll of membership, with FamilySearch links, notes, and pages on individual members.
Questions
What the record has not settled yet, for students, family historians, and researchers.

What’s new

Latest additions

14 Nov 2026Kirk Watson, editor of the new The Morrisites: Writings and Revelations, on the Scriptural Mormonism podcast; and his find of two Morris revelations of 1860. More
FamiliesHow a descendant filled in the Eliason story, and how your family can help. More
3 Nov 2026The Eliasons and the Christoffersens. A family group sheet and a 1989 Powell County history add Erik Eliasson’s brother Elias, the family’s move to the Deer Lodge Valley, and the Christoffersens’ road north to Montana. See Erik Eliasson.
3 Nov 2026The prisoners and the trials. The Deseret News named the ninety-eight men brought before Judge Kinney after the siege in June 1862, and the seven convicted of murder in March 1863, with their sentences. The posse lost two men, not one. See Documents and Questions.
3 Nov 2026Paths into the movement. Who they were now asks what brought Latter-day Saints to Morris: those who reached Utah in 1859–60 joined at about twice the rate of earlier emigrants. The roll now has 150 names linked to FamilySearch, 30 family groups, and notes on 92 people.

All updates and upcoming programs →

Start here

Essential works

The movement's own scripture, a later compilation from within the movement, and the only book-length history of it.

Primary text · 1886

The Spirit Prevails

Joseph Morris's revelations, articles, and letters, recorded from 1857 to 1862 and published after his death by his follower George S. Dove. It holds more than 300 revelations, making Morris one of the most prolific revelators in Mormon history. For his followers it was scripture.

Read online: Internet Archive · Google Books. Both are free scans of the University of California copy (684 pages).

Primary text · 1899

Gems of Inspiration

A Collection of Sublime Thoughts by Modern Prophets, compiled by John R. Eardley, a leader of the Montana church after Williams’s death, and printed in San Francisco by Joseph A. Dove in 1899. It shows how the movement kept and passed on its prophetic writings a generation after Morris.

Read online: Internet Archive.

The standard history · three editions

C. LeRoy Anderson's history of the Morrisites

1981 For Christ Will Come Tomorrow: The Saga of the Morrisites
1988 Joseph Morris and the Saga of the Morrisites, 2nd ed.
2010 Joseph Morris and the Saga of the Morrisites (Revisited), the final edition. Buy from the publisher · Digital edition (member libraries)

Anderson, a sociologist at the University of Montana, built the book on Morrisite papers found in a Deer Lodge attic and on the records of Andrew Hendrikson, who presided over the Montana church from 1886 to 1921, kept by his family. His research files are the core of the Morrisite collection at USU.

The 2010 edition is in print in paperback and as an ebook. Please buy it from Utah State University Press, an imprint of the University Press of Colorado; buying from the publisher supports keeping the book in print.

Forthcoming edition

Mark H. Forscutt on Joseph Morris

Forscutt (1834–1903) was clerk of the Morrisite First Council and an apostle in Morris's church, and later a minister in the Reorganized Church. He wrote about the movement at least twice.

“Sketch of Joseph Morris,” undated

CHL MS 702 · edition in preparation

Original: Church History Library, Salt Lake City, MS 702. Manuscript, 54 leaves, in Forscutt’s hand. Catalog record and images
Copy: Morrisite collection, Utah State University, USU CAINE COLL MSS 10, box 3, folder 1
Date: Written some years after Forscutt joined the RLDS Church
Contents: An insider’s history of the movement: the setting in Utah after Joseph Smith’s death, Morris’s call and claims, the organization of the church in April 1861, its theology and revelations, its relations with the Reorganized Church, the mounting conflict with the territorial authorities, and the opening of the siege of Kington Fort on June 13, 1862, which Forscutt witnessed. The narrative ends with the first cannon shot. Utah State University’s description says the last page refers to an earlier history Forscutt wrote; this is being checked against the original.
Edition: A documentary edition, with an introductory essay and annotation, is in preparation by Eric Paul Rogers. The text is not published here in the meantime; short passages are quoted and cited elsewhere in this guide.

Partial history of the Morrisite church, ca. 1862

U of U MS 0261

Held by: J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections, University of Utah (photostat copy, 1 folder)
Contents: A contemporary account focused on events, with Forscutt's view of the LDS leadership. Possibly the earlier history the “Sketch” is said to refer to.
Access: Finding aid

Further reading: Eric Paul Rogers, “Mark Hill Forscutt: Mormon Missionary, Morrisite Apostle, RLDS Minister,” John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 21 (2001): 69–100. Author’s copy (Zenodo)