Figures

Wilford Woodruff included over 9,000 illustrations in his journals. He used 18 symbols repeatedly in predictable contexts to identify recurring events and emotions and these symbols, indicated in the manuscript using Figures 1-18, are drawn almost 8,400 times. The remaining unique images, connected to a single event on a specific day, are indicated in the manuscript by the unnumbered word “Figure.”

ID	Description	Time of Use	Meaning
Figure 1	A hand pointing to the right	February 1838 to March 1897 (3,800+ uses)	February 1838 to 1840: writing/receiving a letter 1840 to 1897: writing a letter
Figure 2	A hand pointing to the left	February 1838 to November 1856 (21 uses)	Letters written/received
Figure 3	A heart	August 1838 to March 1897 (37 uses)	Births, marriages, deaths, "open-hearted"
Figure 4	A crown	April 1839 to November 1896 (400 uses)	Activities requiring executive authority 1839 to 1877: quorum councils or meetings after his ordination as an Apostle 1877 to 1896: temple ordinances and meetings
Figure 5	An arrow piercing a heart	April 1839 to March 1882 (32 uses)	Troubling news, circumstances, or persecution
Figure 6	A single key with teeth to the left	June 1839 to April 1877 (130 uses)	1851 to 1877: recording of sermons or meeting minutes 1839 to 1850: personal moments of priesthood use
Figure 7	A single key with teeth to the right	June 1839 to April 1895 (314 uses)	Performing priesthood ordinances; meetings of the Quorum of the Twelve
Figure 8	A vertical key with teeth pointing upward	July 1839 to April 1845 (9 uses)	Key of knowledge
Figure 9	An arrow	July 1839 to November 1896 (440 uses)	Sickness, distress, aggression, death
Figure 10	A folded letter/box	October 1839 to March 1897 (1,963 uses)	Letters received
Figure 11	A humanoid	February 1840 to November 1892 (49 uses)	Childbirth, important figures, portraits, human bodies
Figure 12	A coffin	June 7, 1840 to January 1897 (200 uses)	Deaths, funeral sermons
Figure 13	A building	July 1841 to June 1885 (25 uses)	Visiting architectural structures
Figure 14	Wheat sheaves	March 1842 to February 1847; May 1857 to June 1858 (39 uses)	Council meetings of the Quorum of the Twelve
Figure 15	A heart with a key inside	January 1844 to March 1894 (24 uses)	Sealing ordinances; eternal unions of family
Figure 16	Keys crossed	March 1844 to December 1896 (877 uses)	Priesthood ordinances
Figure 17	A council table	March to May 1844 (14 uses)	Council meetings
Figure 18	A circle of stars	August 1844 (5 uses)	Meetings of the Quorum of the Twelve

The description of these images above derives from Joshua M. Matson, "Decoding the Self-Tracking Symbols of Wilford Woodruff's Journals," BYU Studies 63:1 (2024): 151-204, used by permission of the author and of BYU Studies.