The Manuscript Mission Histories are, in fact, mainly collections of chronologically arranged newspaper clippings, with some typescript entries, concerning the work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Pacific Islands. The histories cover the following territories and periods: French Polynesia (1849-1959), Hawaii (1850-1959), Samoa (1871-1959), Tonga (1891-1959).

Captain Fowler went to the Pacific in 1868 as captain of the London Missionary Society vessel JOHN WILLIAMS III. He was dismissed in 1871 because of his treatment of Pacific Islanders. The logbook begins on 12 November 1868 when Captain Fowler left London. It continues to 25 February 1869 when the JOHN WILLIAMS III passed Jervis Bay, NSW. It resumes on 30 March 1869 when the JOHN WILLIAMS III left Sydney for a cruise to the Pacific Islands, which extended to Tahiti, back to the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) and then to Raiatea before returning to Sydney on 31 December 1869. The cruise took in Raiatea, Tahaa, Huahine, Tahiti, Mangaia, Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Niue, Pago Pago, Apia, Aneityum, Mare, Lifu, Uvea, Tubuai and Savai'i. The logbook resumes again on 4 April 1870 when the JOHN WILLIAMS III was at Huahine. Subsequent calls were made at Raiatea, Tahiti, Mangaia, Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Manihiki, Rakahanga, Pukapuka, Mitiaro, Mauke, Atiu, Tutuila, Niue, the Tokelau, Ellice (Tuvalu) and Gilbert Islands (Kiribati), the southern New Hebrides and the Loyalty Islands. The JOHN WILLIAMS III returned to Sydney on 20 December 1870. Captain Fowler returned to England in 1871 in the ship BUCKLEY CASTLE.

Times and Seasons, which was published at Nauvoo, Illinois, was a publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints before the split that resulted in the establishment of the Reorganized Church in Lamoni and later, Independence, Missouri, and the Church at Salt Lake City, Utah.

The letters were written by Addison Pratt, Benjamin Grouard and Noah Rogers, the first missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to serve in the South Pacific. They were mainly on the island of Tubuai, Austral Islands. For other publications of the Reorganized Church see also PMB 92, 93 and 100 for The Saints Herald; PMB 94 and 109 for Autumn Leaves; PMB 104 for Zion's Ensign; and PMB 105 for Journal of History.

Letters from missionaries in French Polynesia. The last three letters, dated August 1884, are from Joseph Smith III, President of the Reorganized Church, to (1) the French Consul in San Francisco, (2) the US Consul in Tahiti, and (3) the Church Mission in Tahiti.

Zion's Ensign is a weekly publication of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Independence, Missouri. Letters and articles on the Pacific Islands.

Letters and articles on the Pacific Islands. In the period covered the church was active largely in French Polynesia, including Tahiti, Tuamotu Islands, Tuba, as well as the Hawaiian Islands, Samoa, and Tonga. For other publications by the Reorganized Church see also PMB 92, 93 and 100 for The Saints Herald; PMB 94 and 109 for Autumn Leaves; PMB 105 for Journal of History; and PMB 106 for Times and Seasons.