Footnotes
Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839. John Smith characterized the meeting as a “council of 24 High Priests” who were “try[ing] a case before the first Presidency.” (John Smith, Journal, 1840–1841, 17 Aug. 1840.)
Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1.
Iowa Stake Record, 21 Feb. 1840, 87.
Iowa Stake, Record. / Iowa Stake. “Church Record,” 1840–1841. CHL. LR 7817 21.
David W. Rogers lived in Montrose close to Fordham and Patten. Charges were leveled against him at the October 1839 general conference, at the April 1840 general conference, and in Nauvoo high council meetings in 1840, but he was exonerated. (1840 U.S. Census, Township 66, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, 199; Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839; Minutes and Discourse, 6–8 Apr. 1840; Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 8, 15, and 29 Mar. 1840, 49–50, 52–53.)
Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.
Iowa Stake Record, 1 Aug. 1840, 92.
Iowa Stake, Record. / Iowa Stake. “Church Record,” 1840–1841. CHL. LR 7817 21.
Stout indicated that he had recorded minutes of earlier meetings on 14 February 1842. He misdated these minutes as 17 August 1842, suggesting that he was recording the minutes sometime in 1842. A rough draft of the minutes has the correct date of 17 August 1840. (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 19 Apr. 1840, 56; Nauvoo High Council Minutes, draft, 17 Aug. 1840, 14.)
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. Draft. CHL.
In December 1839, Lyman Wight—a counselor to John Smith, president of the Iowa stake—advocated that church members in Montrose relieve the distress of the poor by living the law of consecration, a law outlined in an 1831 revelation whereby individuals would consecrate their property to the church and receive an inheritance, or a plot of land, back in return. Bishops would then use surplus property to provide for the poor. After Wight made his statement, the Iowa high council voted to live the law in Montrose. At the time, Hyrum Smith was the only member of the First Presidency in Nauvoo because JS and Sidney Rigdon were in Washington DC. Smith and Oliver Granger objected to this course of action, stating that it was not necessary to live the law because of the general poverty of the Saints, but the Iowa high council refused to rescind its resolution. Finally, in March 1840, JS told the Iowa high council “that it was the will of the Lord” that those in Montrose “should desist from trying to keep” the law and that if they persisted “it would produce a perfect abortion.” (Iowa Stake Record, 6 Dec. 1839, 10; Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:30–36]; Iowa Stake Record, 4 Jan. 1840, 15–16; John Smith, Journal, 1836–1840, 6 and 14–15 Dec. 1839; 3 and 7 Jan. 1840, [48]–[51], [54]–[55]; Minutes and Discourse, 6 Mar. 1840.)
Iowa Stake, Record. / Iowa Stake. “Church Record,” 1840–1841. CHL. LR 7817 21.
Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1.
Likely Polly Angerona Patten, who was twenty-two years old at this time. John Patten also had two other daughters: Deborah, who was ten, and Edith, who was eight. (“John Pattens Sen Familey Record,” [1].)
“John Pattens Sen Familey Reccord Copeyed from the Orriginal by John Patten Jr,” 16 Feb. 1869. John Patten Sr. and John Patten Jr., Papers, 1827–1900. BYU.
An October 1839 general conference appointed John Smith to preside over the church in Montrose and William Marks to serve as president of the Nauvoo stake. (Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839.)