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Resolution, 5 March 1844

Source Note

Nauvoo City Council, Resolution, [, Hancock Co., IL], 5 Mar. 1844. Featured version copied [ca. 5 Mar. 1844] in Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, p. 206; handwriting of ; signatures of JS and in the handwriting of . For more complete source information, see the source note for Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 1841–1845.

Historical Introduction

On 5 March 1844, JS and other members of the , Illinois, city council met and resolved to open a new section of Water Street. At the time, the street ran east and west on the south end of the peninsula, with a western terminus near Bain Street, one block to the west of on the southeast corner of Water and Granger streets. City councilor presented a motion to continue Water Street to the west following the shoreline northward along the city’s western edge to the upper steam mill. Although roads had been included on Nauvoo’s earliest city plat, many of them were only built and opened over the ensuing years.
The catalyst for the council’s action to open Water Street was the failure of steamboat captains to pay wharfage when using ’s upper landing (often referred to as “Kimball’s Landing”). As mayor, JS called a special session of the city council on 5 March to discuss the issue. He reported that and —both of whom owned land on the upper end of the peninsula—had informed steamboat captains that the landing belonged to them rather than the city and that the captains were not required to pay fees to the city for use of the landing. During the course of the city council’s discussion, JS stated that the land along the ’s shoreline was a platted street and therefore belonged to the city. Alderman responded by suggesting that the street be developed and opened. The council then voted on the measure, which was unanimously carried.
, one of JS’s scribes, recorded the resolution in the city council minute book, presumably in sometime later that day or shortly thereafter. Bullock copied the text of ’s motion and added a note about the council’s decision. Bullock also included the signatures of JS as mayor and as city recorder. The city council minute book version is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Hills, Map of the City of Nauvoo, 1842.

    Hills, Gustavus. Map of the City of Nauvoo. New York: J. Child, 1842. CHL.

  2. [2]

    Brigham Young to Nauvoo City Council, Motion, Nauvoo, IL, 5 Mar. 1844, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL. Whereas the city council minute book stated that the street would be opened to the upper steam mill, the council’s rough minute book included a graphite insertion “to the North line of the city.” (Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Mar. 1844, 4.)

  3. [3]

    “Wood Wanted,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 4 Sept. 1844, [3].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  4. [4]

    Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Mar. 1844, 3; Book of Assessment, 1843, First Ward, 25–26, 29–30, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

    Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

  5. [5]

    Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Mar. 1844, 3. Nauvoo’s original plat, recorded by the Hancock County, Illinois, clerk’s office on 3 September 1839, included Water Street continuing along the western end of the peninsula. (Hancock Co., IL, Plat Books, 1836–1938, vol. 1, pp. 37–39, Nauvoo Plat, 3 Sept. 1839, microfilm 954,774, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  6. [6]

    Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Mar. 1844, 3–4.

  7. [7]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Resolution, 5 March 1844
Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 1841–1845 Resolution, 5 March 1844, as Published in Nauvoo Neighbor

Page 206

Moved by Councillor “that the City Council instruct the Mayor to order the to open Water Street from Joseph Smith’s to the Upper Steam Mill in the City of .” and it was carried unanimously—
March 5th. 1844
Joseph Smith Mayor
— Recorder [p. 206]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 206

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Resolution, 5 March 1844
ID #
13255
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Bullock

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    James Allred was appointed supervisor of streets in March 1841. He was subsequently elected in the city election of February 1843 to continue in that position. (Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 8 Mar. 1841 and 11 Feb. 1843, 15, 159.)

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