Recent and upcoming

New publications, programs, and additions to this guide.

Nov 2026More families identified. Twelve more people on the roll now link to FamilySearch Family Tree, among them William W. Davies, later the prophet of the Walla Walla community, and his wife, and the Moss family of Lancashire, who went on to Nevada. Notes now point to the pioneer histories held by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers where their index lists one.
Nov 2026The men held at the fort. The roll now marks the two members probably identified with the men the Morrisites held in a log-house jail in the spring of 1862, whose detention brought the posse: William J. Jones and Lars Christian Geertsen (Lars Gurtsen). The third, John Jensen, is not on the roll. See the cabin in Images.
Nov 2026Pages on people of the roll. Thirteen members of the 1861–62 roll now have pages of their own, with what the sources say, their later paths and full citations, beginning with Erik Eliasson, John Parson and John Banks; look for the page tag on the roll. The Questions for research are updated with three new questions of record.
Nov 2026Two early revelations of Morris. Two revelations to the First Presidency and the Twelve, dated January 14 and 16, 1860, were found by Kirk Watson among anonymous letters in Brigham Young’s office files, where a clerk docketed them “Balderdash.” They are early forms of revelations later printed in The Spirit Prevails. See Documents.
Nov 2026The men taken at Kington Fort. The Deseret News of June 25, 1862, printed the names of the ninety-eight men brought before Judge Kinney after the siege; the list is now on the Documents page, checked against the roll. The posse lost two men, not one as most histories say: besides Jared Smith, Peter Wahler was killed on June 15. See Questions.
Nov 2026Documents. A new page gathers the primary documents that can be read online, from The Spirit Prevails to the 1862 order calling out the posse, with transcriptions of two militia records. See the page.
Nov 2026The order that sent the posse. Acting Governor Frank Fuller’s order of June 11, 1862, calling out the militia to arrest Joseph Morris, found in the territorial militia records, is now in the Chronology and the Bibliography.
Nov 2026Who they were. A new page counts the people on the roll of membership: women and men, Scandinavian and English-language names, and, for the members identified in FamilySearch, their ages in 1862, birthplaces, families, arrival in Utah, and where they died. It also reads 91 of them in the 1860 census: where they lived, their occupations, and what their households owned. See the page.
Nov 2026Families on the roll. More than 100 names on the roll of membership now link to FamilySearch Family Tree, and a new list groups the people on the roll who were related by birth or marriage, such as the Christoffersen, Hanson and Anderson families of Soda Springs and Deer Lodge and the Park, McCue, Cowan and Bull families of the Carson Valley. A work in progress; corrections welcome.
Nov 2026Added to this guide. Twenty photographs of the Racetrack church, inside and out, taken September 5, 1989: the earliest views in the condition record. Courtesy of Barbara B. Walden, Community of Christ Historic Sites Foundation. See Images.
Nov 2026Person notes on the roll. Names on the roll of membership now have a notes button summarizing what Anderson, The Spirit Prevails, Gems of Inspiration, Watson and Forscutt’s manuscript say about them, with page references. More to come.
Nov 2026Roll of membership checked against the printed pamphlet: one name restored (David Thomas) and fourteen spellings corrected. The roll now has 430 names. See Roll of membership.
Nov 2026Added to this guide. The 1861–62 roll of membership, printed by George S. Dove & Co. in 1886: 429 names, searchable. Draft transcription, to be checked against the pamphlet. See Roll of membership.
14 Nov 2026Podcast. “Episode 113: Kirk Watson on Reincarnation in Early Mormonism,” Scriptural Mormonism podcast, hosted by Robert Boylan. The conversation includes the Morrisites. Premieres live on YouTube November 14, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Mountain. Watch on YouTube
Oct 2026New book. Kirk Watson, ed., The Morrisites: Writings and Revelations (2026), collects writings of Joseph Morris, George Williams, William W. Davies, George S. Dove, and James Dove. See Bibliography.
Nov 2026Added to this guide. A dated photographic record of the Racetrack church, from before 2004 to 2018, along with views of South Weber, cannonballs from the siege, and an entry on the Morrisite scepters. See Images and Repositories.