Officers of Church-Affiliated Organizations in Nauvoo, Illinois, March–July 1843
Temple Building Committee
In October
1840, a general conference of the church resolved to “build a house for
the worship of God” in , Illinois, and
appointed , , and as a committee to oversee
its construction. These men
continued to act as the until 8
June 1843, when Elias Higbee passed away. He was not replaced on the committee
during the period covered by this volume. Nevertheless, Reynolds Cahoon
and Alpheus Cutler continued to oversee temple construction during this
time.
| March–July 1843 |
| (served until death, 8 June 1843) |
Temple Recorder
In December
1841, JS appointed to serve as “Recorder. for the Temple” in
, Illinois. Later that month, JS explained that as a
part of that office, Richards would “receive all property devoted to the
building of the and enter
the same, at the in the lower room of the new .” Richards entered donations into the Book of the
Law of the Lord, making those entries on Saturdays. Because of
the large number of contributions needing to be entered into the Book of
the Law of the Lord, began assisting Richards
with the duties of the recorder’s office on 14 February 1842. In June 1842, JS called
Richards “to go to the East to fetch his family.” On 29 June, three days
before his departure, Richards transferred custody of the Book of the
Law of the Lord “and books belonging to the Temple” to Clayton. While in
hiding at the home of on 3 September, JS
requested that Clayton take on the role of temple recorder and “take
care of the records and papers.” In connection with Clayton’s
appointment, JS assigned him to record any revelations JS had following
that time. Clayton continued to
serve as the temple recorder throughout the period covered by this
volume.
| March–July 1843 |
Nauvoo House Association
In January
1841, JS dictated a revelation that commanded the Latter-day Saints to build a
boardinghouse for visitors to ,
Illinois. The future boardinghouse came to be known as the . On
5 February 1841, in a meeting of the Nauvoo House’s stockholders, was appointed president of the association and
was appointed
clerk. A few weeks later, on 23 February, the
state legislature approved the incorporation of the
, which
was responsible for managing construction of the building, selling stock
to fund its construction, and employing laborers on the project. The association’s charter named four
men—Miller, Snider, , and —as trustees of the association. In March 1841, JS dictated a revelation appointing and
as agents to assist the trustees by selling
Nauvoo House stock. Although it is unclear
when was appointed to be the
architect of the Nauvoo House, records indicate that he was likely
acting in that position by April 1841. These
individuals continued to act in these roles during the period covered by
this volume. In addition, in spring 1843, the and a few other individuals
were authorized to act as agents in collecting donations for the Nauvoo
House.
| March–July 1843 | |
| Trustees | , president |
| , clerk | |
| Agents | |
| (apostle) | |
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| (apostle) | |
| (apostle) | |
| (apostle) | |
| (apostle) | |
| (apostle) | |
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| (apostle) | |
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| (apostle) | |
| (apostle) | |
| Architect | |
Female Relief Society of Nauvoo
The was organized on 17 March 1842. The twenty women in
attendance at that meeting elected as the
organization’s first president. Smith then chose and as her counselors. The society selected and Phebe Bartholomew Wheeler
as secretary and assistant secretary, respectively, and as
treasurer. These
individuals continued to fill these roles throughout the period covered
by this volume.
| March–July 1843 |
| , president |
| , counselor |
| , counselor |
| , secretary |
| Phebe Bartholomew Wheeler, assistant secretary |
| , treasurer |