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Minutes, 27 October 1839

Source Note

Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
high council, Minutes, [
Commerce

Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL], 27 Oct. 1839. Featured version copied [between 29 Mar. 1840 and 10 Oct. 1841] in Nauvoo High Council Minutes, fair copy, pp. 27–28; handwriting of
Henry G. Sherwood

20 Apr. 1785–24 Nov. 1867. Surveyor. Born at Kingsbury, Washington Co., New York. Son of Newcomb Sherwood and a woman whose maiden name was Tolman (first name unidentified). Married first Jane J. McManagal (McMangle) of Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, ca. 1824...

View Full Bio
; CHL.
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843; fair copy; handwriting of
Henry G. Sherwood

20 Apr. 1785–24 Nov. 1867. Surveyor. Born at Kingsbury, Washington Co., New York. Son of Newcomb Sherwood and a woman whose maiden name was Tolman (first name unidentified). Married first Jane J. McManagal (McMangle) of Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, ca. 1824...

View Full Bio
and
Hosea Stout

18 Sept. 1810–2 Mar. 1889. Farmer, teacher, carpenter, sawmill operator, lawyer. Born near Pleasant Hill, Mercer Co., Kentucky. Son of Joseph Stout and Anna Smith. Moved to Union Township, Clinton Co., Ohio, 1819; to Wilmington, Clinton Co., fall 1824; to...

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; 67 pages; CHL.
Medium-size blank book. The paper, which is ruled with light blue lines (now faded) measures 7½ × 6⅛ inches (19 × 16 cm). The book consists of seven gatherings of between eleven and thirteen leaves each. The book has a brown leather binding; the bound volume measures 7¾ × 6¼ × ½ inches (20 × 16 × 1 cm). The outside covers are adorned with shell marbled paper, with a blue and tan body and veins of brown and yellow. The front and back covers of the volume are pasteboard. “Oliver Cowdery’s Sketch Book January 1836” was written across the front cover in black ink (now faded), and “SKETCH BOOK No 1” was written vertically in black ink on the back cover. The volume contains two flyleaves in both the front and back of the volume. The final flyleaf was ruled by hand and includes instructions for a stucco whitewash.
A Church Historian’s Office label containing an early call number and a brief description of the book’s contents is pasted on the inside front cover of the volume. The first three leaves were left blank and are followed by a short title page that reads “Oliver Cowdery’s Sketch Book, January 1, 1836”. Following the title page, the inscribed pages are numbered 1–88.
Cowdery

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

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’s diary entries are found on pages 1–22. On pages 22–30,
Henry G. Sherwood

20 Apr. 1785–24 Nov. 1867. Surveyor. Born at Kingsbury, Washington Co., New York. Son of Newcomb Sherwood and a woman whose maiden name was Tolman (first name unidentified). Married first Jane J. McManagal (McMangle) of Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, ca. 1824...

View Full Bio
recorded fair copies of the Nauvoo high council minutes. Beginning partway down page 30, Hosea Stout took over for Sherwood, continuing to record fair copies of the
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
high council minutes through page 88.
As the original custodian of the book,
Cowdery

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

View Full Bio
used it as a diary between 1 January and 27 March 1836. Although the circumstances are unknown, at some point the volume was transmitted to
Sherwood

20 Apr. 1785–24 Nov. 1867. Surveyor. Born at Kingsbury, Washington Co., New York. Son of Newcomb Sherwood and a woman whose maiden name was Tolman (first name unidentified). Married first Jane J. McManagal (McMangle) of Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, ca. 1824...

View Full Bio
, likely between April 1836 and October 1839. When Sherwood began making copies of high council minutes, he drew upon loose copies of the minutes he had taken while acting as clerk of the
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
high council, a position he held from 20 October 1839 through 19 January 1840. Sherwood may have begun copying the minutes into this book as early as 20 October 1839, the date of the high council’s first meeting. He then recorded the minutes for the high council meetings held between 20 October and 2 November 1839.
1

Nauvoo High Council, Minutes, 27 Mar. 1840.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.

On or before 9 October 1841, Sherwood transferred the volume to the custody of
Stout

18 Sept. 1810–2 Mar. 1889. Farmer, teacher, carpenter, sawmill operator, lawyer. Born near Pleasant Hill, Mercer Co., Kentucky. Son of Joseph Stout and Anna Smith. Moved to Union Township, Clinton Co., Ohio, 1819; to Wilmington, Clinton Co., fall 1824; to...

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, who had succeeded Sherwood as clerk of the Nauvoo high council in February 1840. Similarly drawing upon earlier loose minutes, Stout copied into the book minutes for meetings between 1 December 1839 and 20 December 1840. Stout noted a gap existing in the minutes between 2 November and 1 December 1839, stating that the minutes for those meetings had evidently been lost prior to October 1841. Between 9 October 1841 and 14 February 1842, Stout copied minutes through 12 April 1840, providing the date of transcription for each set of minutes. After copying the minutes for 12 April 1840, however, Stout no longer included transcription dates. Evidence suggests that he continued to work on the volume throughout 1842, copying minutes of meetings through probably at least 5–6 September 1840. He likely finished copying the minutes, which run through 20 December 1840, during either 1842 or 1843 and then maintained custody of the book until at least 1845. On 29 January 1845,
David Fullmer

7 July 1803–21 Oct. 1879. Teacher, merchant, farmer. Born in Chillisquaque Township, Northumberland Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Fullmer and Susannah Zerfoss. Moved to Huntington Township, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania, by 1820. Married Rhoda Ann Marvin, 18...

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visited Stout “to learn something about the High Council records” that Stout had arranged, “as they were wanted for
W. Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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in writing the Church History.”
2

Stout, Journal, 29 Jan. 1845.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Stout, Hosea. Journal, Oct. 1844–May 1845. CHL. MS 1910.

It is unclear whether
Stout

18 Sept. 1810–2 Mar. 1889. Farmer, teacher, carpenter, sawmill operator, lawyer. Born near Pleasant Hill, Mercer Co., Kentucky. Son of Joseph Stout and Anna Smith. Moved to Union Township, Clinton Co., Ohio, 1819; to Wilmington, Clinton Co., fall 1824; to...

View Full Bio
transferred the record book to
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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in 1845. Richards’s 1846 inventory of historical materials included the “Records of High Council 1–2, & Rough Book,” but it is unclear whether Stout’s book was included in that listing.
3

“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

Other inventories are similarly vague in their description of the
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
high council records, and none includes
Cowdery

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

View Full Bio
’s diary in its descriptions.
4

“Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th April 1855,” [1]; “Historian’s Office. G. S. L. City April 1. 1857,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Inventory G. S. L. City March 19. 1858,” [1]; “Contents of the Historian and Recorder’s Office. G. S. L. City July 1858,” 8, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

Although Stout likely turned the volume over to Richards in 1845, the first Church Historian’s Office inventory to specify that the volume was in the office’s custody was one made in 1878 that lists “Nauvoo High Council Record 1836.”
5

“Index of Records and Journals in the Historian’s Office 1878,” [9], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Nauvoo High Council, Minutes, 27 Mar. 1840.

    Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.

  2. [2]

    Stout, Journal, 29 Jan. 1845.

    Stout, Hosea. Journal, Oct. 1844–May 1845. CHL. MS 1910.

  3. [3]

    “Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  4. [4]

    “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th April 1855,” [1]; “Historian’s Office. G. S. L. City April 1. 1857,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Inventory G. S. L. City March 19. 1858,” [1]; “Contents of the Historian and Recorder’s Office. G. S. L. City July 1858,” 8, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  5. [5]

    “Index of Records and Journals in the Historian’s Office 1878,” [9], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

Historical Introduction

On 27 October 1839, the
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
high council

A governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...

View Glossary
met to consider several matters of church business.
1

The minutes do not state where the high council met. The week before, however, they met in the shop of Dimick Huntington, whose father, William Huntington, was on the high council. Both seem to have been living in Dimick’s cabin located in Nauvoo block 161, lot 1. (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, draft, 20 and 21 Oct. 1839; Huntington, Reminiscences and Journal, [23]; JS to Dimick Huntington, Bond, 25 Sept. 1839, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; Miller, “Study of Property Ownership: Nauvoo,” 161.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. Draft. CHL.

Huntington, Dimick B. Reminiscences and Journal, 1845–1847. Dimick B. Huntington, Journal, 1845–1859. CHL. MS 1419, fd. 1.

Miller, Rowena J. “Study of Property Ownership: Nauvoo; Original Town of Nauvoo, 1839–1850,” ca. 1965. In Nauvoo Restoration, Inc., Corporate Files, 1839–1992. CHL.

JS attended the meeting as well, asking the council to reconsider the wages of
James Mulholland

1804–3 Nov. 1839. Born in Ireland. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Married Sarah Scott, 8 Feb. 1838/1839, at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Engaged in clerical work for JS, 1838, at Far West. Ordained a seventy, 28 Dec. 1838....

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. On 21 October 1839, Mulholland had been appointed by the high council as a clerk “to attend to the land contracts and other business as may be needed by Joseph Smith Junior.”
2

Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 21 Oct. 1839, 25–26.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. Draft. CHL.

In accordance with a resolution passed at the
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
’s general
conference

A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...

View Glossary
earlier in October,
3

Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839.


the high council also voted to have JS’s wife
Emma Smith

10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...

View Full Bio
select hymns to be published in a new hymnal for the church, replacing an 1835 hymnbook that was published in
Kirtland

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...

More Info
, Ohio.
4

The 1835 hymnbook was also compiled by Emma Smith and published as A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835).


The high council resolved to help finance the publication of the new hymnal. The council also discussed the need to supply
Vinson Knight

14 Mar. 1804–31 July 1842. Farmer, druggist, school warden. Born at Norwich, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Rudolphus Knight and Rispah (Rizpah) Lee. Married Martha McBride, July 1826. Moved to Perrysburg, Cattaraugus Co., New York, by 1830. Owned farm...

View Full Bio
with money for a ferry the church was planning to operate between
Montrose

Located in southern part of county on western shore of Mississippi River. Area settled by Captain James White, 1832, following Black Hawk War. Federal government purchased land from White to create Fort Des Moines, 1834. Fort abandoned; remaining settlement...

More Info
, Iowa Territory, and the
Commerce

Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...

More Info
, Illinois, area.
5

See Agreement with Daniel C. Davis, 21 Oct. 1839.


It is unclear who took the original minutes of the meeting.
Henry G. Sherwood

20 Apr. 1785–24 Nov. 1867. Surveyor. Born at Kingsbury, Washington Co., New York. Son of Newcomb Sherwood and a woman whose maiden name was Tolman (first name unidentified). Married first Jane J. McManagal (McMangle) of Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, ca. 1824...

View Full Bio
copied the minutes into the
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
high council minute book sometime between 29 March 1840 and 10 October 1841.
6

On 29 March 1840, the high council assigned Sherwood to compile the minutes of the meetings held prior to that date. Sherwood continued as the recorder until 10 October 1841, when Hosea Stout began recording minutes. (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 30–31, 53–54.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. Draft. CHL.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    The minutes do not state where the high council met. The week before, however, they met in the shop of Dimick Huntington, whose father, William Huntington, was on the high council. Both seem to have been living in Dimick’s cabin located in Nauvoo block 161, lot 1. (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, draft, 20 and 21 Oct. 1839; Huntington, Reminiscences and Journal, [23]; JS to Dimick Huntington, Bond, 25 Sept. 1839, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU; Miller, “Study of Property Ownership: Nauvoo,” 161.)

    Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. Draft. CHL.

    Huntington, Dimick B. Reminiscences and Journal, 1845–1847. Dimick B. Huntington, Journal, 1845–1859. CHL. MS 1419, fd. 1.

    Miller, Rowena J. “Study of Property Ownership: Nauvoo; Original Town of Nauvoo, 1839–1850,” ca. 1965. In Nauvoo Restoration, Inc., Corporate Files, 1839–1992. CHL.

  2. [2]

    Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 21 Oct. 1839, 25–26.

    Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. Draft. CHL.

  3. [3]

    Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839.

  4. [4]

    The 1835 hymnbook was also compiled by Emma Smith and published as A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835).

  5. [5]

    See Agreement with Daniel C. Davis, 21 Oct. 1839.

  6. [6]

    On 29 March 1840, the high council assigned Sherwood to compile the minutes of the meetings held prior to that date. Sherwood continued as the recorder until 10 October 1841, when Hosea Stout began recording minutes. (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 30–31, 53–54.)

    Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. Draft. CHL.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. Minutes, 27 October 1839, Draft *Minutes, 27 October 1839 History Draft [6 August 1838–30 December 1839] History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 28

Voted that this Council assist in the Expence of publishing a humnbook as also the times & seasons—
6

The Times and Seasons was the church’s newspaper. In its first issue, editors Don Carlos Smith and Ebenezer Robinson stated that they needed money from subscriptions in advance so they could publish the newspaper. (Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith, “A Word to the Saints,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:11–12.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

Copied by
H[enry] G Sherwood

20 Apr. 1785–24 Nov. 1867. Surveyor. Born at Kingsbury, Washington Co., New York. Son of Newcomb Sherwood and a woman whose maiden name was Tolman (first name unidentified). Married first Jane J. McManagal (McMangle) of Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, ca. 1824...

View Full Bio
[p. 28]
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Source Note

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Page 28

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 27 October 1839
ID #
8834
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:27–29
Handwriting on This Page
  • Henry G. Sherwood

Footnotes

  1. [6]

    The Times and Seasons was the church’s newspaper. In its first issue, editors Don Carlos Smith and Ebenezer Robinson stated that they needed money from subscriptions in advance so they could publish the newspaper. (Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith, “A Word to the Saints,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:11–12.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

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