Appendix 7: Council of Fifty, Minutes, 19 January 1846
-
Source Note
Council of Fifty, Minutes, , IL, 19 Jan. 1846; handwriting of ; three pages; Council of Fifty, Papers, 1844–1885, CHL. Includes table, dockets, notations, and archival marking. Bifolium measuring 9⅝ × 7½ inches (24 × 19 cm); inscribed in graphite. William Clayton dockets: “No 1” and “Jany 13. 1846. last on | the Record”.
-
Historical Introduction
As had been appointed in the council meeting on 13 January 1846, the council met in the on 19 January along with captains of the emigrating companies around 10:00 a.m. The deliberations reflected the urgency the Latter-day Saints felt in preparing for the emigration from . During the meeting decided that the captains of hundreds and fifties should create a report on the preparedness of their companies by visiting each family and determining “who shall go and who shall not go.” This may have been a reference to the organization of an all-male advance company—Young referred to it as a “Pioneer Co— 100 ready at a moments warning”—that would leave for the West ahead of most of the Saints. , one of the company captains in attendance at this meeting, recorded in his diary that the council “decided among other things that the Capt of the different emegrating companies should arrainge & prepare as many of their men to start for the West and leave their families as could.” Four days later referenced these plans in his journal, noting that “many are dissatisfied because the Twelve & some others are going West without taking the whole Church. . . . The arrangements are made by which the whole church can go comfortably, but it is necessary that some men should go beforehand to prepare a place for the rest and the Twelve & some others have to go to save their lives for their are plans laid for their destruction.” On 4 February 1846 Latter-day Saints began to leave Nauvoo for the West. Although Young and other church leaders planned for an advance company to travel to the sometime that year, poor weather in and a lack of organization prevented this plan from materializing.kept minutes of this meeting on loose paper that he never copied into the council’s record book. This appears to have been the last formal meeting of the Council of Fifty in . The council next convened on 12 November 1846 at Winter Quarters on the . explained the lengthy gap by noting that “in our hurried & scattered condition it has not been convenient to call the c[ouncil] together.”
Footnotes
-
1
Council of Fifty, “Record,” 13 Jan. 1846; Hosea Stout, Reminiscences and Journal, 19 Jan. 1846; Richards, Journal, 19 Jan. 1846.
Stout, Hosea. Reminiscences and Journals, 1845–1869. Microfilm. CHL. Originals at Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City. Also available as On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea Stout, 1844–1861, edited by Juanita Brooks, 2 vols. (1964. Reprint, Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press; Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1982).
Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.
-
2
Hosea Stout, Reminiscences and Journal, 19 Jan. 1846.
Stout, Hosea. Reminiscences and Journals, 1845–1869. Microfilm. CHL. Originals at Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City. Also available as On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea Stout, 1844–1861, edited by Juanita Brooks, 2 vols. (1964. Reprint, Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press; Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1982).
-
3
Clayton, Journal, 23 Jan. 1846, underlining in original.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
-
4
See Bennett, We’ll Find the Place, 31–40.
Bennett, Richard E. We’ll Find the Place: The Mormon Exodus, 1846–1848. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997.
-
5
Minutes, 12 Nov. 1846, Council of Fifty, Papers, 1844–1885, CHL.
Council of Fifty. Papers, 1844–1885. CHL.
-
1
Document Transcript
| Captain of | 1st. 100. Pres. Co.) | all ready to start tomorrow morning | |||||
| (—) | same as last week | ||||||
| (—) | Do | ||||||
| — | W. Kay—) | about 8 families ready | |||||
| 3rd 100—) | |||||||
| 2nd Co— | 89 Horses | 51 Waggons | 1 Buggy | ||||
| 3 — " | (1— 50 | 57 — " | 38 — " | 5 — " | 40 Yk Oxen | 94 Cows | |
| (2— — | 34 — " | 24 — " | 4 — " | 28 | 64 | ||
| 6 — " | 3 — " | 30 ready to go— | |||||
| 4 — " 1st. 100 — | 42 — | 24 — " | |||||
| 5 — " | Same as before | ||||||
| 6 — " | 50 | 25 — — | 3 — | ||||
| 7 — " — | 60 — | 34 — | 6 — | ||||
| 8 — " — | 81 — | 37 — | 50 go without families 1/2 provided for — — | ||||
| 9 — " — | |||||||
| —— | 10. — " | ||||||
| 11 — " | 30 — | 15 — | 20 men | ||||
| 12 — | 30 " | ||||||
| 13 — | same as before 28 men ready | ||||||
| 14 — | |||||||
| 15 — | 30 15 Teams | mostly horses | |||||
| 16 | 30 — | 15 — | 25 men | ||||
| — Co— | 17 | 20 to 25 men ready to leave families— | |||||
| Coulson — " | 18 | ___________________________________ | |||||
| D. Evans — " | 19 — | 70 & 75 Teams 50 Horse teams | |||||
| 20 — | |||||||
| 21 — | |||||||
| 22 — | |||||||
| 23 — | 22 Horses | 12 Waggons— | |||||
| 24 — | 78 — " | 50 | 4 Buggies | 5 mules | |||
| 25 — | 16 — " | 14 — | |||||
Footnotes
-
1
TEXT: In the upper left corner of the first page of this document, inscribed in unidentified handwriting at an unknown time, are the following notations: “&a man Referred | $200.— ½ Russell’s”.
-
2
As with the previous two meetings of the Council of Fifty, this meeting was also attended by the company captains who did not belong to the council. (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 13 Jan. 1846; Council of Fifty, Minutes, 18 Jan. 1846.)
-
3
Hymn 16, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 24–25.
A Collection of Sacred Hymns for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Nauvoo, IL: E. Robinson, 1841.
-
4
Benson, a member of the Nauvoo high council, had recently returned from Boston, where he had been serving as the presiding elder. (“Special Conference,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1845, 6:870; “Notice to the Saints in Boston and Vicinity,” Prophet, 1 Feb. 1845, [2].)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
The Prophet. New York City, NY. May 1844–Dec. 1845.
-
5
Hymn 35, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1841], 44–45.
A Collection of Sacred Hymns for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Edited by Emma Smith. Nauvoo, IL: E. Robinson, 1841.
-
6
The first section of the chart indicates the organization of the first company: Parley P. Pratt was the captain of the first hundred; Amasa Lyman was the captain of the second hundred; Winslow Farr was the captain of the first fifty; Elias Smith was the captain of the second fifty; and William Kay was the captain of the fourth fifty. Willard Snow, unlisted on the chart, was the captain of the third fifty. Jedediah M. Grant, also unlisted on the chart, had been appointed to lead the third hundred. (Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 2 and 4 Nov. 1845; “Roll of Compy No 1,” [4], [5], [7], Camp of Israel Schedules and Reports, CHL; Bullock, Journal, 16 Nov. 1845.)
Historian’s Office. General Church Minutes, 1839–1877. CHL
Camp of Israel. Schedules and Reports, 1845–1849. CHL. MS 14290.
Journal, Aug. 1845–July 1846. Typescript. CHL. Original in private possession. Also available as Gregory R. Knight, “Journal of Thomas Bullock,” BYU Studies 31, no. 1 (Winter 1991): 15–76.
-
7
TEXT: “30 ready to go” circled.
-
8
John D. Parker had been assigned to lead the tenth company. (“Captains of Companies,” Circular, to the Whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints [Nauvoo, IL: Oct. 1845], copy at CHL.)
Circular, to the Whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. [Nauvoo, IL]: Oct. 1845. Copy at CHL.
-
9
Jedediah M. Grant had been assigned to lead the fourteenth company, while Erastus Snow had been assigned to lead the fifteenth company. (“Captains of Companies,” Circular [Oct. 1845].)
Circular, to the Whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. [Nauvoo, IL]: Oct. 1845. Copy at CHL.
-
10
The Macedonia Company was to be led by Andrew H. Perkins. (“Captains of Companies,” Circular [Oct. 1845].)
Circular, to the Whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. [Nauvoo, IL]: Oct. 1845. Copy at CHL.
-
11
George Coulson had been assigned to lead the eighteenth company. (“Captains of Companies,” Circular [Oct. 1845].)
Circular, to the Whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. [Nauvoo, IL]: Oct. 1845. Copy at CHL.
-
12
David Evans had been assigned to lead the nineteenth company. (“Captains of Companies,” Circular [Oct. 1845].)
Circular, to the Whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. [Nauvoo, IL]: Oct. 1845. Copy at CHL.
-
13
Possibly “78”.
-
14
Daniel C. Davis had been assigned to lead the twentieth company, while Jonathan H. Hale had been assigned to lead the twenty-first company. (“Captains of Companies,” Circular [Oct. 1845].)
Circular, to the Whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. [Nauvoo, IL]: Oct. 1845. Copy at CHL.
-
15
George P. Dykes had been assigned to lead the twenty-second company of Saints from Ottawa, Illinois. (“Captains of Companies,” Circular [Oct. 1845].)
Circular, to the Whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. [Nauvoo, IL]: Oct. 1845. Copy at CHL.
-
16
Mephibosheth Sirrine had been assigned to lead the company of Saints from Michigan. (“Captains of Companies,” Circular [Oct. 1845].)
Circular, to the Whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. [Nauvoo, IL]: Oct. 1845. Copy at CHL.
-
17
Hosea Stout had been assigned to lead the twenty-fourth company. (“Captains of Companies,” Circular [Oct. 1845].)
Circular, to the Whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. [Nauvoo, IL]: Oct. 1845. Copy at CHL.
-
18
William Huntington had been assigned to lead the twenty-fifth company. (“Captains of Companies,” Circular [Oct. 1845].)
Circular, to the Whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. [Nauvoo, IL]: Oct. 1845. Copy at CHL.
-
19
The Indiana Democrat had occasionally commented on the situation of the Latter-day Saints and their imminent removal west. In early January the newspaper reprinted a lengthy account of the indictment of several Latter-day Saints for counterfeiting but declared that “the tale is too strong for implicit belief. While some of the Mormons have doubtless committed criminal acts, and their brethren have protected and secreted them, they have also been persecuted with a malignity disgraceful to the age and to the people who participated in burning their houses and destroying their property.” (Editorial, Indiana Democrat [Indianapolis], 2 Jan. 1846, [3].)
Indiana Democrat. Indianapolis. 1845–1846.
-
20
On 9 January 1846 the St. Louis People’s Organ published an article condemning the treatment of the Latter-day Saints, noting that “however bad the Mormons are, there has still been much exaggeration as to their misdeeds; and further, that their most violent opponents have ever been of a cast of character as questionable as any thing they would represent the Mormons to be. It is notorious that the great ‘Mormon Eaters’ of Upper Missouri, were the greatest scamps in the country, and we have very good reason to believe that the same remark would apply to the tribe who are now persecuting them in Illinois.” The paper condemned the murders of JS and Hyrum Smith as “an act of atrocity unparalleled in the history of the age” and thought that the anti-Mormons’ “prime object in driving them [the Saints] forth is the spoils they may leave behind.” The article argued that because “the Saints . . . are now willing to emigrate; then, in the name of Peace, let them go, and end this disgraceful turmoil and strife” and warned that “the time will come, when the fanaticism and immorality of the Mormons will be lost in the recollection of the great barbarism of their persecutors.” (“Mormon Affairs,” People’s Organ [St. Louis], 9 Jan. 1846, [2].)
People’s Organ. St. Louis. 1842–1846.
-
21
In September 1845 Markham, an officer in the Nauvoo Legion, directed a portion of the Mormon military response to the anti-Mormon forces. (See Hosea Stout, Reminiscences and Journal, 17 and 21 Sept. 1845.)
Stout, Hosea. Reminiscences and Journals, 1845–1869. Microfilm. CHL. Originals at Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City. Also available as On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea Stout, 1844–1861, edited by Juanita Brooks, 2 vols. (1964. Reprint, Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press; Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1982).
-
22
Thomas Grover was a member of the Nauvoo high council. (Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841, in Doctrine and Covenants [103]:41, 1844 ed. [D&C 124:132].)
-
23
Foutz served as bishop of the Nauvoo Eighth Ward. (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 20 Aug. 1842.)
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.
-
24
Probably either James S. Holman or Joshua S. Holman. (Kimball, Journal, 20 Dec. 1845 and 1 Jan. 1846.)
Kimball, Heber C. Journals, 1837–1848. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL.
-
25
Perkins, a member of the Macedonia branch, served as a liaison between church leaders and members of the branch during the September outbreaks of violence and was appointed part of the committee to settle the affairs of church members in Macedonia at the October 1845 conference of the church. (Macedonia Branch, Record, 66; Clayton, Journal, 19 Sept. 1845; Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 8 Oct. 1845.)
Macedonia Branch, Record / “A Record of the Chur[c]h of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Macedonia (Also Called Ramus),” 1839–1850. CHL. LR 11808 21.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
Historian’s Office. General Church Minutes, 1839–1877. CHL
-
26
At the October 1845 conference of the church, Farr was appointed part of the committee to settle the affairs of church members in Nauvoo. (Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 8 Oct. 1845.)
Historian’s Office. General Church Minutes, 1839–1877. CHL
-
27
William Clayton recorded in his journal that on the afternoon of Sunday, 25 January, he “met Captains of Companies in the Temple to receive their reports.” (Clayton, Journal, 25 Jan. 1846.)
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.