Skip to main content

Agreement with William Law, 26 April 1841

  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Agreement with William Law, 26 April 1841

Source Note

Trustees, Agreement, with , , Hancock Co., IL, 26 Apr. 1841; handwriting of ; signatures of , , , and ; witnessed by JS, , and ; two pages; CHL. Includes docket.
Bifolium measuring 12⅝ × 7¾ inches (32 × 20 cm). The document contains some discoloration and three vertical filing folds, approximately 3½ inches (9 cm) apart. Includes enclosure containing the dimensions and building specifications for the .
The agreement and enclosure have presumably been in institutional custody since they were created. They were originally included with other Nauvoo House Association records maintained by the Church Historian’s Office, but in 1998, Church Historical Department employees cataloged the agreement separately because it contained JS’s signature.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Nauvoo House Association, Agreement and Specifications, 26 Apr. 1841, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 26 April 1841, JS witnessed and signed an agreement between the trustees and , a member of the ’s . The agreement required Law to superintend the construction of “a public house of entertainment to be called the ‘’” near the on the south end of Main Street in , Illinois. The Saints were called to build the Nauvoo House in a 19 January 1841 JS revelation, which explained that the structure was to be “a house for boarding; a house that strangers may come from afar to lodge therein.” That revelation gave further instruction about generating finances for the Nauvoo House and appointed , , , and as the committee responsible for overseeing its construction. Shortly after that revelation, the Nauvoo House became a central building project for the Saints.
JS provided the land on which the would be built, and according to the 19 January revelation, he was intended to reside there. JS also chaired the first meeting of stockholders of the Nauvoo Boarding House Association, later known simply as the Nauvoo House Association, on 5 February 1841. By the end of the month, the legislature approved an act to incorporate the Nauvoo House Association, which allowed the association to sell stock to fund the building’s construction. The act of incorporation named , , , and as the association’s trustees, with the responsibility to “take the general care and supervision in procuring materials for said house and constructing and erecting the same, and further to superintend its general management.”
By 26 April the Nauvoo House Association trustees determined that would manage the day-to-day work on the construction of the edifice and made the agreement featured here to formalize the arrangement. The agreement, which was outlined in section six of the Nauvoo House Association act of incorporation, may have been a legal measure to protect one or both parties against being sued. It is not known, however, if a copy of the agreement was registered with the , , or , which would have made it legally binding, or if it was created solely for internal church purposes.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841, copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, CHL. This was not the first time church members considered the construction of a boardinghouse. A January 1832 letter from Oliver Cowdery revealed that Missouri church leaders had instructed Bishop Edward Partridge “to establish a house of entertainment i[n] the Town of Independence to accommodate the traveling Elders of this Church and other brethren whose circumstance may require.” (Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 28 Jan. 1832.)

    “An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841. Copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull. CHL. MS 15558.

  2. [2]

    Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:22–23, 62]. Miller, Wight, Snider, and Haws later became the legal trustees for the Nauvoo House Association. (“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841, copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, CHL.)

    “An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841. Copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull. CHL. MS 15558.

  3. [3]

    In the church conference meeting held on 7 April 1841, JS explained the two central building projects in Nauvoo: the temple, as “a suitable place for worshiping the Almighty, and also the building of the Nauvoo Boarding House, that suitable accomodations might be afforded for the strangers who might visit this city.” (Minutes, 7–11 Apr. 1841.)

  4. [4]

    Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:56].

  5. [5]

    Nauvoo House Association, Minutes, 5 Feb. 1841, CHL.

  6. [6]

    “An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841, copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, CHL. JS’s 19 January 1841 revelation was the basis for the act of incorporation and provided direction on how and by whom the work was to be financed. Much of the language for the incorporation act echoed the text of the revelation. (Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124]. For more on the selling of stock by the Nauvoo House Association, see Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 February 1841; and Revelation, 20 Mar. 1841.)

    “An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841. Copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull. CHL. MS 15558.

  7. [7]

    “An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841, copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, CHL.

    “An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841. Copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull. CHL. MS 15558.

  8. [8]

    “An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841, copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, CHL.

    “An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841. Copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull. CHL. MS 15558.

Page [1]

Go to next page 2
Article of Agreement made and entered into at the City of , Illinois, this twenty sixth day of April in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred and forty one, by and Between of the City of Illinois of the first part, and , , and , building Committee of The , of the second part, Witnesseth that the party of the first part, for and in considerations of the sums and amounts herein after mentioned, agreeth to build or cause to be built, a house to be Called the , near the foot of Main Street in the City of , aforesaid, <​on the Lot where the said is now commenced​> which said is to be built after the manner, size, order, and finish; expressed in the specification hereunto for affixed, and to be build as fast as the above named Committee shall furnish means,
And the party of the second part agreeth to pay to the party of the first part the sum of ninety-thousand dollars, to be paid in the following manner, from three thousand to five thousand dollars per month one fourth of which to be in Cash and three fourths in Merchandise and provisions; or any other trade which the party of the first part can dispose of, it is further agreed that the party of the second part shall furnish the Lumber, nails, Tin, glass and Door trimmings [p. [1]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [1]

Go to next page 2

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Agreement with William Law, 26 April 1841
ID #
1631
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:126–130
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Law

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    The act of incorporation stated that this lot was the “south half of lot numbered fifty six.” The act’s designation of Nauvoo block 56 was likely erroneous, however, as the structure was built from the outset on block 156, on the south end of Main Street at the city’s southern wharf. (“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841, copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, CHL; Smith, “Symbol of Mormonism,” 117.)

    “An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841. Copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull. CHL. MS 15558.

    Smith, Alex D. “Symbol of Mormonism: The Nauvoo Boarding House.” John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 35, no. 2 (Fall/Winter 2015): 109–136.

  2. [2]

    Written specifications for the dimensions of the structure were as follows: “The River front 120 ft St front 120 ft Width 40 ft five Storys in highth including basement the basement Story stone the 4 remaining storys Brick built after Grecian Doric order,” which is a classical architectural style popular between 750 and 480 BC, featuring a simple column structure, visible in the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. The specifications also called for shops and offices on the ground floor on the riverfront side of the five-story structure, as well as elegant parlors, a dining room, and rooms for visitors to stay on the floors above. The specifications, written in the hand of Lucien Woodworth, the original designer of the structure, were supplied in an enclosure to this agreement. There is no extant draft plan of the Nauvoo House with these specifications. Later architectural plans, drawn by William Weeks in 1845, are extant and drawn to different specifications. (Lucien Woodworth, Description of Nauvoo House, ca. 26 Apr. 1841, in Nauvoo House Association, Agreement and Specifications, 26 Apr. 1841, CHL; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 22 Mar. 1845; Weeks, Nauvoo House Architectural Drawings, 1845; Smith, “Symbol of Mormonism,” 118–120.)

    Nauvoo House Association. Agreement and Specifications, 26 Apr. 1841. CHL.

    Weeks, William. Nauvoo House Architectural Drawings, 1845. Architect’s Office, Nauvoo House, 1845. CHL.

    Smith, Alex D. “Symbol of Mormonism: The Nauvoo Boarding House.” John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 35, no. 2 (Fall/Winter 2015): 109–136.

Go to page