Documents, Volume 7, Part 6 Introduction: 3 October 1840–30 January 1841
Part 6: 3 October 1840–30 January 1841
By fall 1840, the in western and southeastern had grown
large and stable enough for church leaders to focus on incorporating
the city of , Illinois, and
solidifying the church’s administrative structure. JS and —the quartermaster
general of the Illinois militia, who moved to Nauvoo in early September
1840—led the efforts to compose a bill to obtain a city
charter, which was submitted to the Illinois legislature on 27 November 1840. Bennett
successfully lobbied members of the legislature from both the
Democratic and Whig parties, and the bill
was signed into law on 16 December. In addition to granting extensive legal
powers and protections to Nauvoo’s citizens, the act provided
charters for a militia body designated as the and for a university to be established in
Nauvoo. It officially incorporated the city, creating Nauvoo’s
governing bodies and offices and delineating the requirements for
serving in those positions and for voting in city elections.
As Saints migrated to the area, church
leaders continued to promote the development of necessary city
infrastructure. By fall 1840, Nauvoo’s population
was approximately three thousand.
JS outlined his ideas for
successfully integrating church members emigrating from —many of whom had
little money—into the Nauvoo community. He informed members of the
that
more prosperous church members should emigrate before poorer
members, thereby infusing Nauvoo’s economy with resources that
could be used to help the poor. JS also called for church members to
come to Nauvoo and establish manufacturing enterprises such as
“Cotton Factories, Founderies, Potteries &c &c,” which could
be used to generate jobs for poor British converts from urban
centers who were “not accustomed to the farming business.”
Efforts to sell land to recently gathered Saints also continued, although
most who bought land did so on credit, which did not help generate
the income church leaders needed to pay off the debts they had
contracted when purchasing the land in 1839. A report likely produced in January 1841 noted that although
church leaders had made various debt payments, a $6,000 payment was
due immediately “or the Church may suffer loss.” During this period,
JS renegotiated terms of at least
one contract with land speculator
to help alleviate some of the financial distress.
A January 1841
revelation highlighted efforts to build up the city of
. It declared
that the church was responsible for building a in the
area and also directed church leaders to construct a
boardinghouse—called the —to serve as “a resting place for the weary
traveller” and as a “delightful habitation for man.” The revelation
also organized the leadership structures of various church , including the and in Nauvoo. Since the Saints’ forced exodus from
in winter 1838–1839,
JS and other church leaders had
found few opportunities to consider the administrative structure of
the church. In addition, some leaders—including , to the church; , ; ,
; and , Nauvoo member—had died in previous months. The revelation filled these vacant
offices and listed those already serving in leadership positions,
including members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Nauvoo
high council, and the presidency of the . The revelation designated as patriarch and gave him “the and blessing and glory, and honor and
priesthood and gifts of the priesthood, that once were put upon him
that was my servant .” was designated as a bishop to replace
Partridge, and was appointed as a counselor in the in Hyrum Smith’s stead.
The revelation also emphasized that a needed
to be constructed in
so that the Saints could perform for the dead
there.
JS first taught the doctrine of
baptism for the dead—whereby church members could be baptized on
behalf of deceased family members—at the funeral of in August 1840, and he expounded on it at
the October 1840 general . Church members almost
immediately began performing baptisms in the for their late
relatives. The January 1841 revelation stated that
the members could continue to be baptized in the river only until
the completion of the temple, where such baptisms would then be
performed. JS delivered other discourses—some during weekly lyceum
meetings held in Nauvoo—focusing on the and the eternal nature of spirits and
matter.
Concerns about church members in , Ohio, continued during this time. The October 1840 general conference
appointed , who had been
cleared of charges of speaking ill about JS and other church leaders by the
high council
in September, to preside over the church
in Kirtland. That same month, JS and wrote a letter to the Kirtland Saints, expressing their hope that
church members there would “hold up the hands of our beloved brother
[Babbitt] and unite with him in endeavoring to promote the interest
of the kingdom.” Because was still functioning
as the presiding authority in Kirtland, JS wrote him a letter in January 1841 to explain Babbitt’s
leadership appointment as well as to express appreciation for
Granger’s efforts to clear debts JS owed merchants, including a mortgage that existed on the
Kirtland .
This part contains nineteen documents, including the minutes of the October 1840 general conference, the
act granting the
charter, the January 1841
revelation, and a report
from agents regarding Nauvoo land sales. It also contains
several pieces of correspondence either to or from JS, an aborted bill to incorporate the church in , accounts of meetings in which JS gave
discourses, and a proclamation the First Presidency made to
the church. Nearly all of these documents were produced in Nauvoo or
the surrounding area.