On 1 March 1841 the , Illinois, city council met for the fifth time since the council was created. As with previous meetings, the council met at ’s house. In all city council meetings to date, JS had played an active role as a city councilor. This 1 March meeting was no different, and these minutes are presented to provide an example of JS’s participation on the council. JS offered one resolution, made two motions respecting city appointments, and presented six city ordinances, all of which passed. Two of the ordinances JS introduced placed particular emphasis on protecting liberties and constitutional rights for people in Nauvoo, something JS and his coreligionists found lacking in . The passage of these ordinances highlights the commitment of the city council to guarantee civil, political, and religious liberty to all in Nauvoo.
recorded the minutes of the 1 March 1841 city council meeting in a notebook. Those original minutes were then used by Sloan to record the official minutes in the city council’s ledger. The official minutes are featured here.
Colr. J. Smith moved an ordinance in relation to religious Societies, read first time, rules dispensed with, read second and third times, and passed, as follows:
An Ordinance in relation to religious Societies.
Sec. 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of , That the Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Latter-Day-Saints, Quakers, Episcopalians Universalits Unitarians, Mahommedans, and all other religious sects and denominations whatever, shall have free toleration and equal Privilieges in this , and should any person be guilty of ridiculing abusing, or otherwise depreciating another in consequence of his religion or of disturbing, or interrupting any religious meeting, within the Limits of this , he shall on conviction thereof, before the Mayor or Municipal Court be considered a disturber of the public peace, and fined in any Sum not exceeding five hundred Dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding six months, or both at the discretion of said Mayor, or Court.
Sec. 2. It is hereby made the duty of all municipal officers to notice, and report to the Mayor any breach or violation of this or any other ordinance of this that may come within their Knowledge, or of which they may be advised; and any officer aforesaid is hereby fully authorized to arrest all such violators of rule, law, and order, either with or .
Sec. 3. This ordinance to take effect, and be in force from and after its Passage.
Passed March 1st. 1841.
, Mayor.
Recorder.
Colr. J. Smith moved and it was seconded and carried, that ’s petition and map, (which was laid on the Table.) be taken up. It was then adopted that the Petr. be at liberty to withdraw his Petition, which was complied with, and the petition and Map were handed to .
Colr. J. Smith presented an ordinance relative to additional City [p. 13]
Illinois state law protected the incorporation rights of all religious societies and denominations but did not extend the same legal protection of freedom of religious exercise as is found in this ordinance. In reference to incorporation privileges, an 1835 Illinois law stated that “all religious societies, of every denomination, should receive equal protection and encouragement from the legislature.” (An Act concerning Religious Societies [6 Feb. 1835], Laws of the State of Illinois [1834–1835], p. 147.)
Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835. Vandalia, IL: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835.
In an 1839 letter, JS referenced Muslims to argue that all religious sects equally deserved the freedom of religion guaranteed by the United States Constitution. In describing the persecution against Latter-day Saints for their religious beliefs, JS wrote, “Now if they had been Mahomedans, Hottentots, or Pagans; or in fine sir, if their religion was as false as hell, what right would men have to drive them from their homes, and their country, or to exterminate them, so long as their religion did not interfere with the civil rights of men, according to the laws of our country? None at all.” (Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.)
Detaining someone “without process” would have been outside of the city council’s legal authority. Such detentions were contrary to the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article VIII of the 1818 Illinois Constitution. According to the Nauvoo charter, section 11: “The City Council shall have power and authority to make, ordain, establish, and execute, all such ordinances, not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States, or of this State.” (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)
The petition, originally written on 12 February 1841 by thirty-two residents of the Kimball addition to the city of Nauvoo, was introduced at the 22 February 1841 meeting of the Nauvoo City Council. The petition requested that Kimball’s addition, a substantial tract of land immediately east of the city, “be surveyed According to the city plat.” In essence, the thirty-two petitioners wanted to see the Kimball addition laid out, surveyed, and included in the official Nauvoo city plat. (See Charles C. Rich et al., Petition, Nauvoo, IL, to the Mayor, Aldermen, and City Council of Nauvoo, 12 Feb. 1841, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; and Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 22 Feb. 1841, 8; see also Hancock Co., IL, Plat Books, 1836–1938, vol. 1, pp. 10–11, 26–27, 37–39, microfilm 954,774, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)