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Appointment as Trustee, 2 February 1841

Source Note

JS, Appointment as Trustee, , Hancock Co., IL, 2 Feb. 1841; attested by , , and , , IL, [3 Feb. 1841]; certified by , 3 Feb. 1841. Featured version copied 8 Feb. 1841 in Hancock County, Illinois 1840 Record Book of Mortgages, Title Bonds, Leases, Deeds of Trust and Sales of Personal Property, vol. 1, p. 95; handwriting of ; Hancock County Courthouse, Carthage, IL. Includes notations and archival marking.
Hancock County, IL, Clerk and Recorder, “Hancock County Illinois 1840 Record Book of Mortgages, Title Bonds, Leases Deeds of Trust and Sales of Personal Property,” Bonds and Mortgages, vol. 1, 27 Apr. 1840–16 Oct. 1844; handwriting of and unidentified scribes; Hancock County Courthouse, Carthage, IL. Includes notations, redactions, and archival markings.
Bound volume measuring 17½ × 11¾ × 3 inches (44 × 30 × 8 cm) and containing 282 leaves measuring 17 × 10¼ inches (43 × 26 cm). A large, commercially produced book with brown leather binding, the volume is made of either heavy wood or pressed boards, with ledger binding. Each of the inside covers contains two leaves of heavy yellow endpaper that serve as a pastedown and a flyleaf. The first recorded transactions in the book are dated 15 April 1840, and the last are dated 12 March 1844. By 1974, the original brown leather binding was covered with white canvas and red leather corners. The spine of the canvas was stamped with black ink: “BONDS & MORTGAGES | 1 | HANCOCK COUNTY”. The volume has been in the continuous custody of the Hancock County Clerk and Recorder since its creation.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Hancock Co., IL, Bonds and Mortgages, 1840–1904, vol. 1, microfilm 954,776, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

Historical Introduction

law required any religious society conducting business and land transactions to do so through legally appointed trustees. The following document from 2 February 1841 represents JS’s appointment as trustee-in-trust of the to meet the requirements of this law and thus officially incorporate the church.
At a special held in January 1841 in , Illinois, JS was elected the sole trustee-in-trust for the church. Acting as justice of the peace, certified the appointment on 3 February, and , , and attested it. With the official appointment recorded on 8 February 1841 in volume 1 of the Bonds and Mortgages record book in , Illinois, JS had complete legal authority to oversee all of the church’s land and business dealings.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Efforts to legally incorporate the church in Illinois began in late 1840 and accompanied the incorporation of the city with the Nauvoo charter. As of 1835 charters were no longer required to incorporate religious societies in Illinois—incorporation occurred instead through the election and appointment of a trustee-in-trust. (Bill to Incorporate the Church, 14 Dec. 1840; Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)

  2. [2]

    JS History, vol. C-1, 1159.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Appointment as Trustee, 2 February 1841
Appointment as Trustee, 2 February 1841, as Published in Warsaw Signal History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 95

87
J Smith Appointment Trustee
Recorded 8th February 1841
City of Hancock Co. Ills
February 2nd A D 1841
To the County Recorder of the County of
Dear Sir
At a meeting of the “” at this place on Saturday the 30th day of January A D 1841 I was elected Sole Trustee for said Church to hold my office during life (my successors to be the of said Church) and vested with Plenary Powers as sole Trustee in Trust for the Church of Latter Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints to receive acquire manage or convey property real personal or mixed for the sole use and benefit of said church agreeably to the provisions of <​an Act entitled​> “an act concerning religious Societies” approved February 6th 1835
Joseph Smith
State of Illinois) Ss
)
This day personally appeared before me a Justice of the Peace within and for the [and ] aforesaid, , and who being duly sworn depose and say that [the foregoing] Certificate of Joseph Smith is true
Sworn to and subscribed this Third day of February [in the] year of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and forty [one] before me
Justice of the P[eace] [p. 95]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 95

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Appointment as Trustee, 2 February 1841
ID #
4117
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D8:4–6
Handwriting on This Page
  • Chauncey Robison

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    TEXT: The first three lines were written in the margin of the document.

  2. [2]

    According to the multivolume manuscript history of the church, on 26 January 1841 a special conference was held in Nauvoo, during which JS was unanimously elected sole trustee-in-trust for the church. However, the date given in the featured document corresponds with a different conference held in Walnut Grove, Illinois; it is not clear whether JS attended the Walnut Grove meeting, and no mention is made of his election during the 30–31 January meetings in Walnut Grove. (JS History, vol. C-1, 1159.)

  3. [3]

    The inclusion of “plenary powers” deviated from the language in the Illinois General Assembly’s “Act to Amend ‘an Act in Relation to Religious Societies’” but ensured the absolute and exclusive terms of JS’s authority as trustee. (An Act to Amend “an Act in Relation to Religious Societies” [2 Mar. 1839], Laws of the State of Illinois [1838–1839], p. 267, secs. 1–2.)

    Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835. Vandalia, IL: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835.

  4. [4]

    An “Act to Amend ‘an Act in Relation to Religious Societies,’” passed by the Illinois General Assembly on 2 March 1839, amended the earlier “Act concerning Religious Societies,” passed on 6 February 1835. The 1839 law changed some of the language of the 1835 act but maintained the provision requiring a religious society to appoint a trustee or trustees to hold, purchase, or receive real estate for and in behalf of the religious society. (An Act to Amend “an Act in Relation to Religious Societies” [2 Mar. 1839], Laws of the State of Illinois [1838–1839], p. 267, secs. 1–2; An Act concerning Religious Societies [6 Feb. 1835], Laws of the State of Illinois [1834–1835], pp. 147–149.)

    Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835. Vandalia, IL: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835.

  5. [5]

    TEXT: Page torn. All text in brackets has been supplied from other copies. (See JS, Appointment as Trustee, Nauvoo, IL, 2 Feb. 1841, copy, JS Collection, CHL.)

    Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.

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