Minutes, 3 February 1841, Copy
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Source Note
Nauvoo City Council, Minutes, , Hancock Co., IL, 3 Feb. 1841. Featured version copied [ca. 3 Feb. 1841] in Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, pp. 1–5; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 1841–1845.
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Historical Introduction
On 3 February 1841, the newly constituted city council of , Illinois, met for the first time and began to establish the organizational foundations of the municipal government. Two days earlier, a municipal election for the city council was held in accordance with the legislature’s 16 December 1840 act establishing the city of Nauvoo, known as the Nauvoo charter. Section 4 of the charter specified that the city council would consist of “a Mayor, four Aldermen, and nine Councillors.” From the ballot, voters selected as mayor; , , , and as aldermen; and JS, , , , , , , , and as councilors.The charter for the city of , which was modeled on other liberal city charters in , granted a large variety of powers to the city council. JS and the commented that the Nauvoo charter contained “the most plenary powers, ever conferred by a legislative assembly on free citizens.” Among the powers vested in the city council was the authority to establish and execute city ordinances—so long as they were “not repugnant to the Constitution of the ” or to the Illinois state constitution. In essence, the municipal government had the power to create any legislation it deemed “necessary for the peace, benefit, good order, regulation, convenience, and cleanliness, of said city; for the protection of property therein from destruction by fire, or otherwise, and for the health, and happiness, thereof.” The charter also authorized the city council to organize a militia and a university and to impose and collect taxes, to license and regulate commerce, to regulate police, and to impose fines and penalties for violating city ordinances. Other enumerated powers included the license to appoint “a Recorder, Treasurer, Assessor, Marshal, Supervisor of Streets, and all such other officers as may be necessary, and to prescribe their duties, and remove them from office at pleasure.”The minutes of this first city council meeting indicate that much of the council’s business related to remarks made by Mayor in his inaugural address. JS played an active role as a city councilor in this opening meeting. He presented two bills: one to organize the and the other to organize the University of the City of . After those ordinances were passed, JS proposed and the council passed a resolution of gratitude to the citizens of , Illinois, and to the state government for the assistance rendered to the Saints upon their arrival in the state. Finally, the city council established five committees, all of which JS was appointed to serve on as a member or chairperson.After this initial meeting of the City Council, , editor of the Times and Seasons, published the mayor’s inaugural address, some of the ordinances passed by the city council, and an editorial that predicted the council would create wise laws and regulations that would lead Nauvoo to “prosper and increase in population to an extent unparallelled by any city.” The editorial further expressed the hope that such governance would help Nauvoo “become the brightest ‘star in the west.’”recorded the meeting’s original minutes in a notebook. Sloan then used those original minutes to record the official minutes in the council’s ledger, titled “A Record of the proceedings of the City Council of the City of .” The official 3 February minutes include the text of city ordinances, which is not found in the original minutes. Because the ledger contains a more comprehensive version of the council’s discussion and decisions and represents the official minutes, that version is featured here.
Footnotes
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2
“Municipal Election,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1841, 2:309.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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5
When the Illinois state legislature passed the Nauvoo charter, it also permitted the creation of the legion and the university, allowing each entity to become a self-governing body after being organized by the city council. (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)
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6
See John C. Bennett, “Inaugural Address,” Times and Seasons, 15 Feb. 1841, 2:316–318.
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7
See also Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841.
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8
“The City Council, and General Bennett’s Inaugural Address,” Times and Seasons, 15 Feb. 1841, 2:319.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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9
See Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 3 Feb. 1841, 1–2.
Each Cohort, a quarter Master Sergeant, Sergeant Major, & chief Musician, with the rank of Captains of light Infantry; & two Musicians, with the rank of Captains of Infantry.
Sec. 6. The Staff of each Brigadier General shall consist of one Aid-de-Camp, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry; provided that the said Brigadiers shall have access to the Staff of the Major General when not otherwise in service.
Sec. 7. No officer shall hereafter be elected by the various Companies of the Legion, except upon the nomination of the Court Martial, & it is hereby made the duty of the Court Martial to nominate at least two Candidates for each vacant office, whenever such vacancies occur
Sec. 8. The Court Martial shall fill & supply all officers ranking between Captains & Brigadiers General by granting brevet Commissions to the most worthy Company officers of the line, who shall thereafter take rank & command according to the date of their Brevets; provided that their Original place in the line shall not thereby be vacated.
Sec. 9. The Court Martial consisting of all the Military Officers, commissioned or entitled to Commissions, within the limits of the City Corporation, shall meet at the of Joseph Smith, on Thursday the 4th. day of February 1841, at 10 o’clock A. M. & then, & there, proceed to elect the general officers of the Legion as contemplated in the 3rd. Section of this ordinance.
Sec. 10. The Court Martial shall adopt for the , as nearly as may be, & so far as applicable, the discipline, drill, Uniform, rules & regulations of the Army.
Sec. 11. This Ordinance shall take effect, & be in force from & after its Passage.
passed Feby 3rd. 1841.—
, Mayor.
, Recorder.
Colr. [p. 3]
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