Coun. moved that be dropped from this council and his name be stricken off the list.
The motion was seconded by and carried unanimously.
The then stated that the object of this meeting was to take into consideration our present situation and removal and what is best to be done in regard to our property. In regard to our going away his feelings are to appoint certain men to tarry here who can stay with safety, and make them our agents and they will take care of our property which we shall be obliged to leave. We can leave a number of men—who are new comers and not known here to take care of our [p. [86]]
This was the first meeting of the council following William Smith’s 19 October 1845 excommunication. Before his excommunication, Smith wrote a pamphlet critical of the Twelve Apostles that contained information about Council of Fifty plans such as the earlier Western Mission. The pamphlet may have fueled fears that Smith was going to further reveal council proceedings. Ten days later William Clayton reported a rumor that “Wm. Smith and others are trying to get up an influence with the president of the United States to prevent our going West and has already wrote to him on the subject, revealing the acts of the council of Fifty &c and representing the council as guilty of treason &c.” (“Part 3: September–October 1845”; Clayton, Journal, 19 and 29 Oct. 1845; William Smith, “A Proclamation,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, 29 Oct. 1845, [1], [4].)