The legal charter for the Nauvoo House Association stated that its members were to “obtain by stock subscription . . . the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which shall be divided into shares of fifty dollars each.” (An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association [23 Feb. 1841], Laws of the State of Illinois [1840–1841], p. 131, sec. 3.)

Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Twelfth General Assembly, at Their Session, Began and Held at Springfield, on the Seventh of December, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty. Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1841.

JS’s 19 January 1841 revelation stated that the committee charged with building the Nauvoo House “shall not receive less than fifty dollars for a share of stock in that house, and they shall be permitted to receive fifteen thousand dollars from any one man for stock in that house; but they shall not be permitted to receive over fifteen thousand dollars stock, from any one man.” (Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841, in Doctrine and Covenants [103]:19, 1844 ed. [D&C 124:64–65].)

Both the rough and fair copies of the report list how many certificates were lost according to their date. The majority of missing certificates, including those that were stolen from Wight, were dated 10 February 1841. (“Report of the Committee,” draft; “Report of a Committee,” Nauvoo House Association, Records, CHL.)

Nauvoo House Association. Records, 1841–1846. CHL. MS 2375.