men in the church he thinks more of. edited one of the best papers he ever saw in Cananda[i]gua, and he knows he is a good editor. As to he is perfectly capable of being an editor, and if he has fault to find it is because he dont attend to his business. He has no fault to find with the brethren he knows the multitude of business hanging on them continually.
Coun. made some remarks denying his saying any thing concerning brothers or in . has his mind divided; he has the business, and the internal improvement business to attend to, and an editor ought to have his mind on the one thing only. [p. [237]]
John Taylor was a proponent of local manufacturing in Nauvoo. Beginning in October 1844 he often chaired meetings of an informal group—known by various names, including the trades committee, trades meeting, trades association, and trades institute—that encouraged the organization of particular trades to “produce all the dry goods, hardware, cutlery, crockery, or any other commodity, that a community needs for comfort or convenience.” This group sponsored meetings that discussed the building of a diversion dam along the Mississippi River near Nauvoo to create a better harbor as well as to provide water power for manufacturing. In January 1845 Taylor’s informal organization merged with the legally established Nauvoo Agricultural and Manufacturing Association, and Taylor was chosen to select a governing body of “twelve men to be appointed, forming a living constitution, with President, Secretary.” Accordingly, on 17 February 1845, at a meeting to “organise the temporal affairs of the Church,” the twelve men chosen by Taylor were announced, and Taylor, George A. Smith, and Amasa Lyman were appointed “to preside over the temporal affairs of all the church.” (Leonard, Nauvoo, 482–492; Taylor, Journal, 9 Oct. 1844 and 28 Jan. 1845, 36, 40–41; Huntington, Reminiscences and Journal, 17 Feb. 1845; Form of Constitution for Trades Associations, ca. 1845, CHL.)
Leonard, Glen M. Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002.
Taylor, John. Journal, Dec. 1844–Sept. 1845. CHL.
Huntington, William. Reminiscences and Journal, Apr. 1841–Aug. 1846. CHL.
Form of Constitution for Trades Associations, ca. 1845. CHL.