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Minutes, 15–16 March 1842

Source Note

Nauvoo Lodge under Dispensation, Minutes, [, Hancock Co., IL], 15–16 Mar. 1842. Featured version copied [ca. 15–16 Mar. 1842] in “Record of Nauvoo Lodge under Dispensation,” pp. [13]–[16]; handwriting of ; Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minutes, CHL.
The minutes appear in “Record of Nauvoo Lodge under Dispensation,” which comprises twenty-three loose leaves that were cut and torn from a bound book of unknown size. The leaves now measure 13⅞ × 9⅜ inches (35 × 24 cm). Lodge Secretary inscribed the record, first copying the temporary dispensation granted on 15 October 1841 to organize a lodge in the and then keeping minutes of the lodge’s meetings, starting with the meeting of 29 December 1841. He appears to have inscribed the minutes roughly contemporaneously, though the cleanliness of the inscription and lack of edits suggest that he copied the minutes from drafts inscribed elsewhere. The last minutes in the record are dated 6 May 1842. The minutes recorded in this book were also copied into a separate lodge minute book that continued the record.
When the leaves were cut from the bound volume, an additional blank leaf was cut from the book and used as a new cover page, listing the names of the Masonic Hall building committee. A note was written at the bottom of the page indicating the record’s placement in the cornerstone of the Hall in . The inscription suggests that this record was cut from the ledger book around 24 June 1843, the day the cornerstone was laid.
The record, which was deposited in a copper box, was removed from the cornerstone in 1954, when Wilford Wood purchased the Masonic Hall from Arline Mulch on behalf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minute Book, 24 June 1843.

    Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minute Book. / “Record of Na[u]voo Lodge Under Dispensation,” 1842–1846. CHL. MS 3436

  2. [2]

    Shortly after making the sale, Mulch threatened legal action and the church returned the hall (retaining the documents), with the proviso that if Mulch ever decided to sell the property the church would have rights of first refusal. The church then repurchased the hall permanently in 1967. (“Settle Suit on Mormon Nauvoo Land,” Des Moines [IA] Register, 17 June 1955, 8; Allen, “Nauvoo’s Masonic Hall,” 45–46, 48–49; Bashore and Barrett, “To Unlock the Secrets of Nauvoo’s Masonic Hall,” 57–58.)

    Des Moines Register. Des Moines, IA. 1860–.

    Allen, James B. “Nauvoo’s Masonic Hall. The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 10 (1990): 39–49.

    Bashore, Melvin L., and Anne Barrett. “To Unlock the Secrets of Nauvoo’s Masonic Hall.” In Historic Sites Division Research Reports, CHL.

Historical Introduction

On 15 March 1842 the Nauvoo Lodge under Dispensation was officially installed. , Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of , granted a dispensation for the creation of a temporary Masonic lodge in , Illinois, the previous year, on 15 October 1841. Masons living in Nauvoo at the time, led by member , had petitioned the state’s Grand Lodge for the creation of a local lodge. Masonic regulations required that those petitioning to create a new lodge be “recommended and vouched” for by members of an existing lodge in the area. In this case members of the (Illinois) Lodge 6 provided the recommendation. JS, not a Mason at the time of the temporary lodge’s creation, was not involved in these earlier events. The featured minutes are for multiple meetings of two lodges—a Grand Lodge and a subordinate lodge—held in Nauvoo on 15 and 16 March 1842. They are presented together here as an account of the creation of the Nauvoo Lodge U.D.
Tuesday, 15 March, was filled with events related to the lodge’s installation. Although JS was not yet a Mason at the beginning of the installation of the permanent lodge that day, he nevertheless served as Grand Chaplain during the proceedings. The day began with a nine o’clock meeting in the upper room (frequently referred to as the “lodge room”) of JS’s on Water Street, during which opened a Grand Lodge for the purpose of installing the lodge. The meeting adjourned until one o’clock, at which time Nauvoo mayor , acting as Grand Marshal, organized a procession to the on the west side of the construction site, where the Nauvoo Lodge U.D. was formally installed. Following a speech by Jonas, those assembled dispersed, with Masons returning to the lodge room, where they read and accepted bylaws drafted on 30 December 1841. Later, at a seven o’clock meeting of the lodge, JS and were initiated as Entered Apprentice Masons (the first degree).
The next morning, 16 March, the lodge held a meeting at nine o’clock in which JS and were passed as Fellow Crafts (the second degree). In the afternoon JS was raised as a Master Mason (the third and final degree). That evening Rigdon was also raised as a Master and the lodge passed four resolutions expressing gratitude for and fellowship with Jonas and the other visiting Masons. Although JS was never as involved with the lodge as other church members—including his brother —attendance rolls indicate that he participated more frequently than most other nonofficers of the lodge until the end of his life. By the end of 1842, the lodge was the largest Masonic lodge in .
The minutes of the lodge featured below were inscribed by the lodge’s first Secretary, , presumably based on rough minutes he took during the meeting.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    A “dispensation” is a written document authorizing the creation of a lodge. Lodges referred to as “under dispensation” are “inchoate” during a probationary period wherein they prove their ability to perform their work in an acceptable manner, after which they become duly constituted.

  2. [2]

    Dispensation, 15 Oct. 1841, Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minutes, 1841–1842, CHL.

    Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minutes, 1841–1842. CHL. MS 9115.

  3. [3]

    Dispensation, 15 Oct. 1841, Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minutes, 1841–1842, CHL; see also Hogan, “Freemasons and the Mormons at Nauvoo,” 68–69.

    Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minutes, 1841–1842. CHL. MS 9115.

    Hogan, Mervin B. “Freemasons and the Mormons at Nauvoo.” Philalethes 22, no. 4 (Aug. 1969): 68–69.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 15 Mar. 1842; Aut horization from Abraham Jonas, 15 Mar. 1842.

  5. [5]

    Woodruff, Journal, 15 Mar. 1842.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  6. [6]

    “An Observer” from Adams County, Illinois, wrote on 22 March 1842 to the Columbus (Illinois) Advocate of having witnessed the event. The author wrote that attendance estimates ranged from five to ten thousand and that “never in my life did I witness a better dressed or a more orderly and well behaved assemblage.” (“Nauvoo and the Mormons,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1842, 3:750.)

  7. [7]

    Minutes, 30 Dec. 1841, Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minutes, 1841–1842, CHL.

    Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minutes, 1841–1842. CHL. MS 9115.

  8. [8]

    Hogan, Vital Statistics of Nauvoo Lodge, 4, 11.

    Hogan, Mervin B. Vital Statistics of Nauvoo Lodge. Salt Lake City: By the author, 1976.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Authorization from Abraham Jonas, 15 March 1842

Page [14]

requested a copy of the address of the for publication— carried unanimously, and a copy promised. The Lodge then closed to meet again at early candle lighting.
7 o’clock, P. M.
Lodge met pursuant to adjournment, and opened in the 1st degree of masonry. Present as before. A special dispensation from the was then presented in the words following; to wit:
City of , March 15— 5842.
Know all ye brethren to whom come these presents— That I, , Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of — in virtue of the power and authority in me vested as Grand Master aforesaid do hereby, by these letters of Dispensation, authorize the Brethren of Nauvoo Lodge under dispensation, to receive the petitions of Joseph Smith, and — and act on the same — and should the ballot be unanimous in favor of said Smith and at a full meeting of said Nauvoo Lodge— then in that case— the said Lodge is authorized to confer the three several degrees of Ancient York Masonry on the said Joseph Smith and — as speedily as the nature of the case will admit— Provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be deemed as authority by the said Nauvoo Lodge for violating any of the ancient landmarks of the order, or of acting contrary to the provisions of their By-Laws— except in the cases herein authorized—
Given under my hand— as Grand Master, the day and date above named—
, G. M. G. L. .
Petitions were then presented from Joseph Smith, and , the persons above named, and on motion the Lodge proceeded to the ballot in each case separately, in order of record— the ballot was found clear, and they were duly initiated— Entered Apprentice Masons. The Lodge was then [p. [14]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 15–16 March 1842
ID #
8481
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D9:271–276
Handwriting on This Page
  • John C. Bennett

Footnotes

  1. [7]

    To attend any degree of lodge, a Mason had to have received the corresponding degree. In 1825 Illinois Masons had adopted a rule that “ordinary business” was to be transacted in a first-degree, or Entered Apprentice’s, lodge. Thus, conducting regular business in a first-degree lodge allowed as many men as possible to participate. (Reynolds, History of the M. W. Grand Lodge of Illinois, 86.)

    Reynolds, John C. History of the M. W. Grand Lodge of Illinois, Ancient, Free, and Accepted Masons, From the Organization of the First Lodge Within the Present Limits of the State, Up to and Including 1850. Springfield, IL: H. G. Reynolds, 1869.

  2. [8]

    Jonas’s original letter of authorization, copied here, is featured separately herein. (Authorization from Abraham Jonas, 15 Mar. 1842.)

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