Church Officers in Nauvoo, Illinois, September 1842–February 1843
In 1839 a church conference organized a stake 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 between 1 September 1842 and 28
February 1843.
| 1 September 1842–28 February 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 council remained the same for 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
reflected in the chart below.
| 1 September 1842–28 February 1843 |
Bishops
In 1839 a general conference of the church designated three
men—, , and —as , assigning each to be responsible for a specific
ecclesiastical 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 of the Third Ward to replace Vinson Knight, who had died weeks
before. This suggests that the original Upper,
Middle, and Lower wards may have become known as the First, Second, and
Third wards, respectively. At the same meeting, the 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. 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.
| 1 September–4 December 1842 | 4 December 1842–28 February 1843 |
| (Upper Ward) | (First Ward) |
| (Second Ward?) | (Second Ward) |
| (unspecified ward) | (Fourth Ward) |
| (Fourth Ward) | (Fifth Ward) |
| (Fifth Ward) | (Sixth Ward) |
| (Sixth Ward) | (Seventh Ward) |
| (Eighth Ward) | (Eighth Ward) |
| (Ninth Ward) | (Ninth Ward) |
| (Tenth Ward) | (Tenth Ward) |
| David Evans (Eleventh Ward) | David Evans (Eleventh Ward) |
| (southeast district) | (southeast district) |
| (north district) | (north district) |