Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846; Volume 2, 1 March–6 May 1845

Source Note

See source note under Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846; Volume 1, 10 March 1844–1 March 1845.
Historical Introduction

See historical introduction under Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846; Volume 1, 10 March 1844–1 March 1845.

Hide editing marks

upon us for he was going to rest;

but there is no such feeling here. The twelve dont feel that there work is done. He is determined not to have an assylum for murderers in this place. He has heard the Fosters and Higbees swear in the streets of they would kill Joseph and myself himself and others, and the[y] had places of rendezvous all through the . We have broke up the general places of resort for mobocrats and murders in the viz. the “” and the “” for was colleagued with the mob all the while.

242

The kingdom is rent from the gentiles, and has been ever since this council was organised, and we will soon be where we can make our own laws and publish them to the world,

Coun. said he felt that the [p. [162]]

upon us for he was going to rest;

240

but there is no such feeling here. The twelve dont feel that there work is done. He is determined not to have an assylum for murderers in this place. He has heard the Fosters and Higbees swear in the streets of they would kill Joseph and himself and others, and they had places of rendezvous all through the . We have broke up the general places of resort for mobocrats and murders in the viz. the “” and the “” for was colleagued with the mob all the while.

242

The kingdom is rent from the gentiles, and has been ever since this council was organised, and we will soon be where we can make our own laws and publish them to the world,

Coun. said he felt that the [p. [162]]

View entire transcript |

Cite this page

Document Information
Editorial Title
Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846; Volume 2, 1 March–6 May 1845
ID #
11602
Total Pages
385
Handwriting on This Page
- William Clayton
Footnotes
1. 240
  Several members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recalled similar statements JS made during the final months of his life. On 7 August 1844, for instance, in opposing the leadership claim of Sidney Rigdon, Brigham Young stated, “How often has Joseph said to the Twelve, I have laid the foundation; and you must build thereon, for upon your shoulders the kingdom rests.” On 25 March 1845 Orson Hyde presented a document to the council that quoted JS as saying to the Twelve in a Council of Fifty meeting in March 1844, “I roll the burthen and responsibility of leading this church off from my shoulders on to yours. Now, round up your shoulders and stand under it like men; for the Lord is going to let me rest a while.” (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 7 Aug. 1844; Orson Hyde, Statement about the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, ca. 25 Mar. 1845, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 25 Mar. 1845.)
  
  Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.
2. 241
  In the spring and early summer of 1844, JS’s journal and other accounts record a number of instances in which Robert D. Foster, Francis M. Higbee, and other men were reported to be conspiring against JS’s life. (See JS, Journal, 24 Mar. 1844; 13 Apr. 1844; 21 June 1844; Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 18 Apr. 1844; and Joseph Jackson, Affidavit, 21 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)
  
  Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.
3. 242
  At times during Rigdon’s tenure as postmaster in Nauvoo, JS harbored suspicions that Rigdon used his position to aid JS’s enemies. In May 1844 the Council of Fifty decided that Rigdon should resign as postmaster and that JS should take his place. Following JS’s death, George W. Robinson, Rigdon’s son-in-law and the original postmaster of Nauvoo, was reappointed on 2 September 1844. He was replaced on 16 December 1844 by council member Elias Smith. Following JS’s death, Emma Smith leased the Nauvoo Mansion to William Marks, an early supporter of Rigdon as successor to JS. Oliver B. Huntington later recorded that Marks boarded “a kind of gang” of “suspicious character[s]” at the home. In early March 1845, with the encouragement of Brigham Young and the Council of Fifty and with funding from the church’s trustees-in-trust, John Pack replaced Marks as the lessee of the Nauvoo Mansion. (JS, Nauvoo, IL, to James Arlington Bennet, 8 Sept. 1842; JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Horace Hotchkiss, 26 Nov. 1842, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 241–242; JS, Journal, 8 Nov. 1842; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 25 May 1844; U.S. Post Office Department, Record of Appointment of Postmasters, reel 28, vol. 12B, p. 514; Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigma, 210; “October Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:692; Huntington, History, 96, underlining in original.)
  
  U.S. Post Office Department. Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832–September 30, 1971. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M841. 145 microfilm reels. Washington DC: National Archives, 1977.
  Newell, Linda King and Valeen Tippetts Avery. Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet’s Wife, “Elect Lady,” Polygamy’s Foe, 1804–1879. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984.
  Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
  Huntington, Oliver B. History, 1845–1846. Oliver Boardman Huntington, Papers, 1843– 1932. BYU.

Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846; Volume 2, 1 March–6 May 1845

Cite this page

Request for Documents