Church Officers in Nauvoo, Illinois, March–July 1843
In 1839 a
general conference of the church organized a in
(later ), Illinois, and
appointed a president, a high council, and three bishops. A January 1841 revelation designated the Nauvoo stake as a “corner stone of
Zion.”
Presidency
In 1839 a
general conference of the church appointed as president of the stake in
(later ). On 30 March 1841, Marks informed the
Nauvoo high council that he had chosen and as
his counselors. Cowles and Rich were ordained the same day and served in
those roles throughout the period covered in this volume.
| March–July 1843 |
| , president |
| , first counselor |
| , second counselor |
High Council
In 1839 a
general conference of the church appointed twelve men to serve as
members of the in
(later ). Though council
members changed over the years, the membership remained the same
throughout the period covered by this volume. When individual
members could not attend, alternates (or members pro tempore) were
appointed to participate in council meetings. These temporary appointments are
not represented in this chart.
| March–July 1843 |
Bishops
In 1839, a
general conference of the church designated three men—, , and —as , assigning each to be responsible for a specific
jurisdiction, or ward, in (later ). Partridge died in May 1840, and in
January 1841 replaced him as bishop. During the next month, JS appointed as bishop of an
unspecified ward. On 20 August 1842, the Nauvoo high council
appointed as bishop to replace
Vinson Knight, who had died weeks before. At the same meeting, the Nauvoo high
council divided Nauvoo into ten ecclesiastical wards and the immediate
surrounding area into three districts (one of which was also called a
ward). Furthermore, it appointed nine new bishops, in addition to Samuel
Smith, and assigned them to specific wards or districts. Seven of the
newly appointed bishops were ordained the following day. Although Samuel
Smith, , and were appointed, it is unclear whether they
were ordained. Extant records do
not indicate whether or when the high council called bishops for the
remaining wards. Evidently the geographic boundaries of the various
wards were vague. In November 1842, the Nauvoo stake high council
appointed to “ascertain the boundrys of the
ten different ward[s],” and on 4 December 1842 Stout reported on the
boundaries.
During that meeting, Whitney was assigned to be bishop of the Seventh
Ward.
| March–July 1843 |
| (First Ward) |
| (Second Ward) |
| (Fourth Ward) |
| (Fifth Ward) |
| (Sixth Ward) |
| (Seventh Ward) |
| (Eighth Ward) |
| (Ninth Ward) |
| (Tenth Ward) |
| David Evans (Eleventh Ward) |
| (southeast district) |