JOSEPH SMITH'S WHEREABOUTS FOR THE 260 DAYS OF HIS EDITORSHIP OF THE TIMES AND SEASONS

Certain Great Lakes Advocates have made un-researched and unfounded claims about Joseph being out of the general area of Nauvoo during the publication of the September 15, 1842, and the October 1, 1842, editions of the Times and Seasons newspaper. These were the editions that identified the narrow neck of land being in Central America and Zarahemla being in the boundaries of the Guatemala of 1842. Obviously those who want Zarahemla to be somewhere other than where Joseph declared it to be in Guatemala don't want to be in opposition to the Prophet. They want to find some way to discredit the fact that Joseph authored the articles that contradict their own favored location for Zarahemla. Claiming that Joseph was out of town and therefore unavailable to write the editorials in question, was one way to do it. Their logic is flawed. Even if Joseph were out of town did not mean he could not have written the editorials and sent them by messenger to be published. However a complete and comprehensive search ofJoseph's whereabouts demonstrated that he was never more than a few miles away from Nauvoo during the publication of the Times and Seasons while he served as editor-in-chief.

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Following are some selections of Joseph's daily whereabouts showing his proximity to Nauvoo and his involvement with the Times and Seasons newspaper. I have especially included a brief period of time from August 11, 1842, to August 19, 1842, when Joseph was not at his house, but was in the environs of Nauvoo. Joseph Smith states," I had been in Nauvoo all the while, and outwitted Bennett's associates, and attended to my own business in the city all the time." I have also included some random day to day examples to show what daily life was like for Joseph Smith:

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The summum bonum of the whole matter is that Joseph Smith was a responsible editor and was in Nauvoo for the publication of the editorials in the September 15th and October 1st 1842, Times and Seasons. These were the editions that identified Zarahemla and the narrow neck of land being in Central America. Joseph did not leave the immediate vicinity of Nauvoo until after the publication of the controversial editorials. Joseph also authored the June 15, 1842, and the July 15, 1842 editorials which also identified Mexico, Guatemala, and Central America as the lands of the Book of Mormon.