Part 1: May 1842

In May 1842, JS assumed the duties of mayor of , Illinois, and navigated various financial and ecclesiastical responsibilities. He faced challenges resulting from an attempted assassination of former governor and from the actions of , a prominent and civic leader and former friend of JS. Such developments set the stage for the turbulent summer that followed.

Some of JS’s papers reflect an uneventful day-to-day routine. He continued as editor of the church newspaper Times and Seasons, for example, ostensibly overseeing the publication of its two issues during the month. He also received reports from missionaries proselytizing throughout the , including in New Hampshire and , in , and in . In addition, JS received letters informing him about donations of land and money for the construction of the .

Such donations were especially needed at this time when debts hung over JS and the church. These debts stemmed both from the church’s , Ohio, years and from the large land purchases made in 1839 in and to resettle the Saints expelled from . The extent of JS’s debts, particularly those from Kirtland, had led him to apply for bankruptcy in April 1842 under a recently enacted federal bankruptcy law. This action generated concern among JS’s creditors, especially and his partners, from whom JS, , and had purchased approximately four hundred acres of land in the , Illinois, area (which became ) for $110,000 in August 1839. Hotchkiss sent two letters to JS in May, both expressing apprehension about JS’s financial situation. The second letter addressed JS’s decision to petition for bankruptcy; in his reply, JS explained to Hotchkiss that he had no other recourse. JS also received information from about additional land that the church could purchase southeast of Nauvoo. Although JS made tentative arrangements to purchase the land, the sale never went through.

Of particular concern to JS in May was the conduct of , the mayor of and a member of the church’s governing . Although rumors had circulated for months that Bennett had been engaging in illicit affairs with women in Nauvoo, JS had allowed him to retain his church membership and his leadership position because he had expressed contrition and promised to reform. By May, as additional evidence of Bennett’s actions came to light, JS’s patience ran out, and he, along with other members of the First Presidency, the three in Nauvoo, and members of the , signed a notice withdrawing fellowship from Bennett. On 17 May, Bennett resigned his membership from the church and his position as mayor of Nauvoo. Two days later, JS was elected mayor in Bennett’s place. In a discourse to the given the following week, JS counseled members of the society to show mercy to those who had sinned and to work with them to reform. Such counsel was apparently intended to apply to the women seduced by Bennett and perhaps also to other men and women in Nauvoo who were charged with immoral conduct.

At the same time, JS faced rumors that he had ordered the 6 May assassination attempt on in , Missouri. The Quincy Whig, for example, ran an article in its 21 May issue declaring that JS had prophesied Boggs’s violent death, which, to the editor of the Whig, strongly suggested that JS had a hand in the shooting. JS vehemently denied these allegations, and at a 26 May meeting, citizens publicly denounced the Whig’s claims. Concerns that the rumors might revive efforts to extradite JS to apparently led Nauvoo’s city council to establish a night watch in Nauvoo to protect him and the city’s other citizens. The allegations of the Whig may have also prompted JS to declare in the 26 May meeting in Nauvoo that he did not intend “to co-operate or vote with either the Whig or Democratic parties as such.” That same day, Nauvoo’s citizenry put up their own ticket for the upcoming August election—a move that, in turn, led the Anti-Mormon Party to hold a political convention in , Illinois, on 29 May.

The documents in this part of the volume include correspondence, reports of JS discourses, documents pertaining to JS’s election as mayor, minutes of civic and ecclesiastical meetings, a report of a court-martial, and selections from two Times and Seasons issues.