At the previous council meeting, Orson Pratt and Orson Spencer were assigned to prepare materials to send to the Mormon missionaries in the Society Islands. (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 22 Mar. 1845.)

At the previous meeting of the council, Brigham Young indicated that Pratt and John E. Page were supervising attempts to organize a town in Nauvoo. (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 22 Mar. 1845.)

Lewis had previously been associated with the Society Island missionaries. At a September 1843 church conference in Boston, Brigham Young discussed the needs of the missionaries who were soon to embark to the South Pacific and appointed Lewis to “fit them out” for their journey. (Minutes, Boston, MA, 9–11 Sept. 1843, 15, Historian’s Office, Minutes and Reports, 1840–1886, CHL.)

Historian’s Office. Minutes and Reports, 1840–1886. CHL.

This committee was appointed on 22 March 1845. (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 22 Mar. 1845.)