On 20 June 1840, the met to consider a petition from JS requesting that the council relieve him from the responsibility of handling some of the ’s temporal affairs, especially those related to land sales in Nauvoo, Illinois. Although the high council met in JS’s office, it does not appear that JS attended; scribe presented the petition, apparently acting under JS’s direction. The high council considered JS’s request and appointed to act as clerk of Nauvoo land sales. The high council then addressed two other matters relating to land in Nauvoo. They disciplined , who had apparently committed fraud while purchasing a Nauvoo lot in January 1840. The council also appointed a committee to investigate the acquisition of nearly sixty acres of land in the Nauvoo area purchased on behalf of the church by from in spring 1839. What exactly Black did and why the high council wanted to investigate the Galland purchase are unclear, but the subject matter of the meeting indicates that the continued development of Nauvoo raised pressing issues for the high council.

served as clerk pro tempore of the meeting and kept its minutes. At some point after 14 February 1842 and likely before the end of that year, Stout recorded the minutes into the record book.