Beginning in January 1842 the Nauvoo city government issued printed city scrip in lieu of payment to city officers and employees. These one-dollar notes were redeemable as payment for taxes, licenses, or fines to the city. By spring 1843, concerns about the financial security of these notes forced the city to gradually collect and destroy them. Of the 513 notes issued, at least 437 were destroyed between February 1843 and October 1844. In place of these printed notes, the city treasurer began issuing handwritten treasury orders that functioned in a similar manner. It appears that these orders were likewise referred to as “City Scrip.” Young’s motion likely referred to both the remaining printed scrip and outstanding treasury orders. No evidence indicates that this motion was ever carried out, perhaps because the law repealing the Nauvoo charter included a provision for the appointment of a receiver at the May 1845 term of the Hancock County Circuit Court whose duties included collecting and redeeming the debts of the defunct city. (Nauvoo City Treasury Ledger, 6, 8, 14, 17, 20; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 11 Mar. 1843, 170; JS, Journal, 23 Feb. 1843; “Account of City Scrip,” 18 Dec. 1843; “Account of Scrip Destroyed,” 10 Feb. 1844; “Scrip Destroyed,” 17 May 1844; “Scrip Destroyed,” 10 Oct. 1844, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Nauvoo City Council Draft Minutes, 12 Oct. 1844; An Act to Repeal the Act Entitled “An Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo,” Approved December 16, 1840 [29 Jan. 1845], Laws of the State of Illinois [1844–1845], pp. 187–188, sec. 2.)

Nauvoo City Treasury Ledger, 1842–1845. Nauvoo, IL, Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Fourteenth General Assembly, at Their Regular Session, Began and Held at Springfield, December 2nd, 1844. Springfield, IL: Walters and Weber, 1845.