Burgess

THE EARLY HISTORY OF NAUVOO

549
.N37

B87
LOVEJOY LIBRARY
SOUTHERN

ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY

AT EDWARDSVILLE
EDWARDSVILLE, IL 62026-10^3

IL

The

Early History

of

Nauvoo

Together with a Sketch of the People

Who Built This Beautiful City and
Whose Leaders SuflFered Persecution
and Martyrdom for Their
Religion's Sake

S.

A.

BURGESS,

Historian

General Church Headquarters

Independence, Missouri
U. S. A.

B'

11

Elijah P. Lovejoy Memorial Library

Rare

Southern Illinois University

at Edwardsville

The Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter Day Saints in Nauvoo
A

Brief Historical Sketch

The founder of the Church

of Jesus Christ of Lat-

was born at Sharon,

Vermont, the 23d of December, 1805. Ten years

ter

Day

Saints, Joseph Smith,

later the family

moved

to Manchester,

near Pal-

myra, New
During a revival in the early spring of 1820, held
by several different denominations, Joseph Smith
went into the woods to pray, under the advice of
James 1: 15: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him
ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." As a result, this boy of fourteen years received a vision of
his Savior and was informed that his heavenly Father was about to do a great and marvelous work.
York,

Vision

Then, the night of September 21, 1823, while enin prayer, an angel appeared to him and
quoted Malachi 3 and 4, Isaiah 11, Acts 3 22 and 23,
Joel 2 22-32, and many other passages, and in-

gaged

formed him of the plates of the Book

of

Mormon

with a record of the people of this continent. On the

following day he was shown the plates. Each year
thereafter, on the same date, he visited the place
1

where the plates were deposited,

1827,

when he

Breast Plate and Urim and

Book
His

wife,

until

September

2k!,

received the plates together with the

Martin

Thummim.

Mormon

of

Harris,

John Whitmer,

and

Cowdery assisted by transcribing as he transBook of Mormon by the power of inspiraOn

tion and the use of the Urim and Thummim.
the 11th of June, 1829, the copyright was taken out
and in August the book placed in the hands of the
Eleven other witnesses were permitted to
printer.
Oliver

lated the

see and handle the plates, and then the plates were
taken back by the angel. These men always affirmed and reaffirmed their testimony of the authenticity of these plates and of the Book of Mormon.

At Kirtland, Ohio
The first normal organization of the church was
made on the 6th of April, 1830, at Fayette, New
York, at which time Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were ordained as elders.

Six took part in the

organization.

This remained, however, the headquarters of the

church for a very short time. The first missionaries
were sent to the west in October, 1830, and visited
Kirtland en route, where eventually many were baptized.
These missionaries then continued on to the
western boundary of Missouri, which they reached
In January, 1831, President Josin March, 1831.
eph Smith removed to Kirtland, and this place became the headquarters of the church and so continued for several years.
2

-N

JOSEPH SMITH
Prophet cind leader of the Churxh of Jesiis Christ of
Latter Day Saints from its organization in 1830 to his
martyrdorii in 18 If
Ji.'.

Lf^i:ii'.5

n::-

Kirtland Temple

The Kirtland Temple, the only temple completed

age by direct command of God, was there

in this

erected, the corner stone being laid July 23, 1833.

The work was pushed, the temple being completed

and dedicated on March 27, 1836. During this period the High Priests and First Presidency were
called,

the Presiding Bishopric,

Quorum

of Twelve,

and Quorum of Seventy organized, and the High

Council called, chosen, and ordained.

At Independence, Missouri
After the first missionaries reached Independence,
Jackson County, Missouri, in March, 1831, many
others followed, including Joseph Smith on a visit
in July, 1831. Kirtland was made a gathering place,
though Zion, or Independence, was made the central
place.
The Temple Lot in Independence was dedicated, a printing press secured, and the Book of Commandments and Evening and Morning Star published.

But Missouri, and especially western Missouri,

was settled from Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and
North and South Carolina. The people were decidFurthermore,
edly favorable to slave ownership.
Missouri had been kept out of the Union for several
years on this question of slavery, and feeling had
run high until the Missouri Compromise had permitted its admission. Ten years later the Latter

many

Day

Saints,

land,

came and

of

settled,

whom
bought

erected churches.
4

were from

New Eng

land, built

homes, and

This difference on the slavery question doubtless

had much to do with their trouble and finally their

expulsion from the County of Jackson, and from
Missouri, although their religion and belief in revelation was a contributing factor.
July 20, 1833, the printing

office

was destroyed.

Leaving Jackson County, settlement was made in

Clay County. But on June 29, 1836, protest was
made for fear they would settle there permanently,
so in August, 1836, they moved to the northeast and
settled in part of Ray County. Here they purchased
most of the best land, which was divided off and
This county was
made into Caldwell County.
formed and set aside as a sort of reservation for the
Saints, but they were not allowed to live there.
Settlement was later made in Daviess County in
These settlements were always made by written agreement, so as to avoid difficulties so far as
possible. But despite this agreement, mobs formed,
and they were compelled to leave the State in 1838.
The two great reasons for their expulsion have
1837.

The difference in social culalready been stated:

ture between the New Englanders who favored abolition, and the slave-owning settlers; also the quesMany of these left in the winter
tion of religion.
and 1839, and by the latter year practically
the whole body had moved into Illinois near Quincy.
of 1838

At Nauvoo
1839, the church purchased the

Hugh

White farm outside of Commerce, for $5,000.

farm consisted of one hundred thirty-five

acres.

On May

1,

This

They

also purchased Doctor Isaac Galland's farm

west of the White property.
On May 9 Joseph Smith left Quincy with his family and arrived at Commerce, Illinois, on the 10th,
where he moved into the small log house on the
White farm on the bank of the Mississippi River.
This log house was built in 1823 or 1824 by Captain
White, and had been occupied by the government
agent, for Indians were quite numerous at that time
throughout Illinois, and there were some four hundred or five hundred lodges of Sac and Fox Indians
in the vicinity, according to the History of Hancock
County. Across the river, Iowa was practically unorganized territory. It had been recently a part of
the Territory of Wisconsin, but in 1840 it was the

Territory of Iowa, including the present States of

Iowa, Minnesota, and part of both North and South
Dakota. This log house of Captain White's was the
first

Indian agency established in

Illinois.

Building a City
Theodore
On June 11
Turney built a house of logs,
in block 147 of the White purchase.
Within a year
one hundred and fifty houses had been erected by the

On

Saints.
office

April 21, 1840, the

was changed

to

Nauvoo

(a

name of the post

Hebrew term signi-

fying a beautiful place). By the first of January,

was a population of 3,000. By 1844 the

1841, there

number

of inhabitants has been variously estimated.

Accuracy is not possible, as the settlement was made
between the decennial census of 1840 and that of

1850.

some

Usually the number is stated as 25,000, but

have urged that it was double that.

old settlers

With a church membership

of 200,000 to 250,000

and this the principal place and the headquarters

of the church, either figure would not be surprising.

NAUVOO TEMPLE
Built at great expense

An

imyosing memorial

to

and

sacrifice.

the faith of

the Saints.

Many
many

substantial dwellings of brick and frame and

of rock were erected.

Nauvoo Charter
December 16, 1840, granted
a very liberal charter. The charter made provision
for the Nauvoo Legion and the University of NauThe

state legislature,

Immediately steps were taken to establish the

University of Nauvoo, and by February 15, 1841,
James Kelley, A. M., had been elected as president.
A building- committee was chosen, the work of education pushed energetically, and a faculty chosen. By
fall several new members had been added to the
faculty, including Orson Pratt, Orson Spencer, and
Sidney Rigdon. All matters of education in the city
were transferred to the regents of the University of
Nauvoo.
voo.

On February

4,

1841, the

Nauvoo Legion was

or-

ganized with Joseph Smith as Lieutenant General;

Bennett, Major General; and Wilson Law and
D. C. Smith, Brigadier Generals. Such local organizations were common at that time. Nauvoo was on
the frontier.
Indians resided within the limits of
Chicago and elsewhere in Illinois.

J. C.

The Nauvoo Temple

General Conferences and public meetings were
held in the grove in

Nauvoo these

first

few years,

but the necessity of a meeting place was seen, and

as early as 1841 the erection of a temple was undertaken.
Stone was secured from a quarry on the
north side of the city in a river bed. The building
was completed far enough to be used in the summer
of 1844, though the upper auditorium was not plastered, and the lower auditorium only temporarily arranged for meetings, and only a temporary baptismal font had been placed in the basement.

After the death of Joseph Smith some further

work was done on the temple, but it was never com8

RUINS OF NAUVOO TEMPLE

This once beautiful temple finally was burned and for a
time stood in this manner, a monument to the wrath of
persecuting mobs.

The temple was described by Charles Lan-

pleted.

1846 as Roman in style, intermixed with

Grecian and Egyptian. This building- was destroyed
by fire in 1848. Its ruins were used as a stone
quarry, and many buildings were erected from its
remains.

man

in

THE MANSION HOUSE

For mani/ years

the

residence of the
Prophet and the scene
of viany notable events
official

in

Among

Nauvoo.

other buildings, the Nauvoo House was

started in 1841, and finished to the top of the win-

dows of the second story, A Masonic Lodge was

organized in Nauvoo, and on January 24, 1843, the
corner stone of a Masonic Temple was laid. This
building was completed April 5, 1844.
The lower
two

stories

still

stand.

Cause of

The rapid growth

jealousy in

Difficulties

Nauvoo caused considerable

the neighboring cities and towns. The
of

Saints were welcomed in 1839 and 1840, but in a

few years the critical situation, not only in Hancock
County but in the congressional district, became apparent.
At first both parties flattered the church
oflficers

and the people of the

10

city.

This was one rea-

son for the liberal charter, including provision not

only for the University of Nauvoo and the legion,
but also for a municipal court to which was granted
the powers of habeas corpus. This last grant of
power was by no means unique. About the same
time the city of Alton was granted a municipal court
with similar powers, and later the city of Chicago.
Still in a short time this fact was made a cause for
additional offense against Nauvoo.
Political Troubles

In the election of 1843, Mr. Walker, the

candidate, had a plurality outside of

Nauvoo

of

Whig
some

Nauvoo, however, cast a vote of

over 3,000 in favor of Mr. Hoge; this despite the
fact that Joseph Smith had voted for Mr. Walker.
From that time on the Whig press knew no limit to
2,200 or 2,400.

THE HOMESTEAD
The first home of the
Smiths in Nauvoo a
house built in 1823 and

still

standing

tvell 'pre-

served.

rage and persistently attacked the city of Nauvoo and the church. When in 1844 Joseph Smith
reluctantly permitted his name to be proposed as a
candidate for president of the United States, the
Democrats, finding they had nothing to gain, also
its

11

turned against the people of Nauvoo. The primary

basis of the trouble was undoubtedly political, according to Governor Ford's History of Illinois. Also
these New Englanders of the church were abolitionists.
Shortly before the Nauvoo trouble, Elijah J.
Lovejoy, an abolitionist, was killed in 1837 in Alton,
He was regarded as a martyr to that cause.
Illinois.

As

often happens in the case of a large city,

many times retreated towards
the city, and Nauvoo was unjustly blamed for things
with which her citizens were not connected. Govthieves in the vicinity

ernor Ford made a personal investigation and states

that the reports were greatly exaggerated, and if
the conditions of the community were compared to
Saint Louis or many other large cities, the number
found guilty would not be so great as in other large
cities.
It was in this connection that the use of the
writ of habeas corpus had given some basis for the.
spread of false reports.

Masonic Lodge

The rapid growth

people of one belief,

of the city, the large

number

of

again illustrated by the fact

that the Nauvoo Masonic lodges were much larger
than any other in the State and appeared to menace
the control of the grand lodge of Illinois. Protests
were therefore made, not only from near-by towns
but as far away as the lodge of Quincy. The principal basis, however, of the trouble, was political and
the spread of false rumors because of prejudice
against their religion and belief in revelation, and
because of the growing size and power of the city.
is

J2

The favorable reports of state officials, of minisand travelers who visited Nauvoo in the 40's,
cause us to believe that there was no just basis for
ters

these rumors, and the messages and history of Governor Ford definitely state that the rumors were the
result of gross exaggeration.

Death of Joseph Smith

The assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith at

Carthage on June 27, 1844, followed by the repeal of
the charter of the city of Nauvoo on January 13,
1845, led to the decline of the city. For a few years
every effort was made to continue to erect substantial edifices, but the continued unrest in the city led
to the agreement of many to withdraw from Nauvoo.
A large part of these scattered throughout the
neighboring States. A few thousand, however, under the leadership of Brigham Young and other
members of the Twelve, proceeded in 1846 across
Iowa to Kanesville or Council Bluffs, and thence to
Utah.

Brigham Young and Utah

This faction led by Brigham Young was only

small percentage of the original church, perhaps five

or ten per cent at the most.
Salt

Lake

City, all

who went

After their arrival at

there were rebaptized.

New doctrines were introduced, such as Adam God

and blood atonement, and in 1852 a purported revelation was presented to the church by Brigham
Young, favoring plural marriage. These doctrines
of Adam God, blood atonement, and polygamy, were
never tenets of the original church during the life13

time of Joseph Smith but were a departure from

the early faith and doctrine.
Shortly after the departure of the members of the
church, Etienne Cabot came to Nauvoo in the spring

Community. They found a

ready-made town with houses and tilled fields. They
utilized buildings which were left and used stone
from the temple to erect others, but a few years
of 1849 with his Icarian

later this colony dissolved.

Reorganization of the Church

In the meantime, of the very many who followed
no faction, a few gathered in Wisconsin in 1852 and
started a reorganization of the church. The widow
of Joseph Smith, Emma Smith, had remained in
Nauvoo and left for only a short time during the
winter of 1846-47. A few months after her return,
Mrs. Smith was married to Major Lewis Bidamon,
December 27, 1847. Major Bidamon completed the
southwest corner of the Nauvoo House and erected
an office in the northwest corner, removing the
bricks from the other portions to complete the house,
and selling the bricks from the north wing.

Joseph Smith, the eldest son of Joseph Smith, continued to reside in Nauvoo, where he secured his
schooling. He was elected justice of the peace and
served for seven and one half years; he also served
for seven and one half years as school director.
In 1860 he affiliated himself with the Reorganizaand at the Amboy Conference was chosen Presi-

tion,

He continued to reside in
dent of the church.
Nauvoo, however, until 1865 or 1866, nearly twenty14

seven years, but then removed to Piano,

which became headquarters of the church.

Illinois,

Lamoni, Iowa
In October, 1881, the headquarters of the church

and Herald Publishing House were removed to

Lamoni, Iowa. Here Joseph Smith made his home
for over twenty-six years, until he removed to Independence, Missouri, in 1906, where the other principal officers of the church shortly after were removed,
and where he passed away in December, 1914.
Independence, Missouri
Frederick M. Smith was chosen as President by
the church in April, 1915, and under his direction
Independence, Missouri, was formally made the

headquarters of the church by the conference of

1920, recognizing what was already an accomplished
The headquarters of the church are now fully
fact.
established in Independence, Missouri, where all of
the principal offices of the church are located.
Lamoni, Iowa, continues as the place second in
importance, with Graceland College and an Old
Folks'

Home.

the first, the Reorganized Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter Day Saints has denounced polygamy
and the other doctrines added by the church of
Utah. They have also emphasized, and still do, that

From

the original church never accepted nor had anything

The Reorganized Church

was held the lawful successor or the continuation of
the original church by Judge L. S. Sherman in the
Kirtland Temple Suit, in the Court of Common Pleas,
Lake County, Ohio, in 1880.

to do with these doctrines.

15

Court Decision

Then Judge John F. Philips, of the United States

Circuit Court for Western Division of the Western
District of Missouri, in 1894, in a thoroughly con-

tested action, also held that the Reorganized

Church

church
of
doctrines
Also
these
founded in 1830.
that
added
original
the
polygamy and the like did not belong to
church. This was requisite in a suit to determine the
title to the Temple Lot in Independence, Missouri.
(See decision of John F. Philips, Judge, pp. 33-45.)
The United States Circuit Court of Appeal modi-

was the lawful successor

fied

of the

this decision, so far as

of the
laches.

it

original

affected possession

on the grounds of adverse possession and

The important questions of succession and

lot,

responsibility for these objectionable doctrines were

not considered or modified.

Today

in

Nauvoo

During the summer over two thousand visitors,

many of whom are tourists, some from various parts
of the United States including Maine and California, visit Nauvoo. The pastor of the local congregation is the caretaker of the church property and conducts visitors to the points of historical interest.

The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter

Saints still owns several of the old landmarks,
including the Old Homestead, the Mansion House,
and the Nauvoo House. They have a fine brick

Day

church and a growing congregation. A reunion is

held here each year which is largely attended, not
only by those in the city but by those of the church

who come from

It is still

distant parts.

a place they love, though its glory

of the past.

16

is

now

Printed in .U.

S.

A.

^j^^^^y^^

LOVEJOY LIBRARY
SOUTHERN

ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
AT EDWARDSVILLE
EDWARDSVILLE, fL 62026 -t63

JUL

6 1999

811 01131 1704