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Minutes and Discourse, 4 April 1844

Source Note

Council of Fifty, Minutes, and JS, Discourse, [, Hancock Co., IL, 4 Apr. 1844]. Featured version inscribed [between ca. Aug. 1844 and ca. Feb. 1845] in Council of Fifty, “Record,” pp. [74]–[82]; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Council of Fifty, Minutes, 1844–1846.

Historical Introduction

On 4 April 1844, JS attended two meetings of the , one in the morning and one in the afternoon, in , Illinois, to discuss the drafting of a constitution for the council and other matters. The council was founded in mid-March 1844 by JS and other leading men in Nauvoo in part to explore possible settlement sites for the outside of the territorial boundaries of the . The council also saw itself as the beginnings of the political kingdom of God on earth and aspired to create a new constitution that would improve upon the Constitution. In an 11 March meeting, the council tasked a committee made up of , , , and with drafting a constitution, “which should be perfect, and embrace those principles which the constitution of the United States lacked.”
In the morning meeting on 4 April, held from nine o’clock to noon, the council accepted two new members, and ; discussed public reaction to JS’s presidential campaign platform; and reviewed a letter from representative . While was addressing various topics, a delegation of Potawatomi Indians arrived at the meeting. Potawatomi delegations had sought an audience with JS in on at least three occasions during spring and summer 1843. On 18 April 1843, Potawatomi chief Paicouchaiby, along with two other chiefs, met with JS in Nauvoo. They told JS that they were “dissatisfied with the white people bordering on their lands,” complained that they had suffered from the theft of cattle and horses, and stated that they wanted JS’s advice because they had heard that he could talk to the “G[reat] Spirit.” Another small Potawatomi delegation—reportedly including Paicouchaiby and the same chiefs who had visited in April, as well as a half-white, half-Indian interpreter from their tribe—met with JS on 2 July 1843. The chiefs told him that they “as a people have long been distressed and oppressd— we have been driven from our lands many times . . . the white man has hated us & shed our blood untill it has appeared as though their would be no Indian Left.” Later that summer, an additional Potawatomi delegation arrived in Nauvoo with a letter for JS.
In their brief meeting with the council on 4 April, the Potawatomi shared their friendly intentions with the Latter-day Saints and stated that they did not want to be coerced into selling any more of their land to a government that was oppressing them. JS told the Potawatomi that the Saints were doing all that they could in the tribe’s behalf and that peace among Native American peoples would be pleasing to God. After the Potawatomi left, the council discussed politics relating to and before adjourning until the afternoon. During the afternoon meeting, held from one o’clock to four o’clock, members of the committee assigned to draft the constitution reported their lack of progress. After several council members remarked on the need for a constitution during the afternoon meeting, JS gave a discourse that clerk summarized in the meeting minutes on why organizations struggle to produce governing rules.
recorded notes at these meetings and later copied them into a small bound volume that he titled “Record of the Council of Fifty or Kingdom of God.” These minutes are included in this volume as a representative sample of JS’s involvement with the .

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Council of Fifty, “Record,” 10–11 and 19 Mar. 1844.

  2. [2]

    Henry King, Keokuk, Iowa Territory, to John Chambers, Burlington, Iowa Territory, 14 July 1843, in Territorial Papers of the United States, the Territory of Iowa, reel 56; “Interview between Joseph Smith & the Pottowatomie Chiefs,” ca. 1856, in Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, July 1843; Dunham, Journal, 14 July–26 Aug. 1843; JS, Journal, 26 Aug. 1843; Clayton, Journal, 28 Aug. 1843; Letter to Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, 28 Aug. 1843.

    Carter, Clarence Edward, and John Porter Bloom, comps. Territorial Papers of the United States. 28 vols. Washington DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1934–1975.

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Draft Notes, ca. 1839–1856. CHL. CR 100 92.

    Dunham, Jonathan. Journals, 1837–1846. Jonathan Dunham, Papers, 1825–1846. CHL. MS 1387, fds. 1–4.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  3. [3]

    Letter from Paicouchaiby and Other Potawatomi, ca. 14 Aug. 1843.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 4 Apr. 1844.

  5. [5]

    Clayton, Journal, 4 Apr. 1844; 3 July 1844; 18 Aug. 1844. Clayton likely made some adjustments to the text when he wrote the fair copy of the minutes and discourse from this meeting, as he had done with other portions of the council records from the Nauvoo era. (Historical Introduction to Council of Fifty, “Record.”)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  6. [6]

    For a full record of the Council of Fifty under JS, see “Part 1: March–June 1844.”

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Minutes and Discourse, 4 April 1844 *Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846; Volume 1, 10 March 1844–1 March 1845

Page [77]

truth in the nations of Indians
motioned to adjourn 2 hours which was over-ruled by J. Smith. He was opposed to adjourning more than one hour. He would rather continue together, and wanted to see men take an interest in what they do.
He then again referred to the magnitude and importance of this work, He also referred to a document relating to the , in which she had petitioned Congress to protect her from destruction by foreign marauders.
referred to the designs and purposes of God in the last days, of restoring righteous principles for the government of his people, and rejoiced that we have the honor to be called to [p. [77]]
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Source Note

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Page [77]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes and Discourse, 4 April 1844
ID #
13218
Total Pages
9
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

Footnotes

  1. [10]

    From the church’s founding, JS made repeated efforts to convert indigenous people. He sent four missionaries to American Indians in September 1830 and additional missionaries to Indian nations in the early 1840s. Statements in the Book of Mormon and in JS’s revelations demonstrated a Latter-day Saint belief that their proselytizing efforts would bring Native Americans “to the knowledge of their Fathers & that they may know the Promises of the Lord that they may believe the Gospel.” (Walker, “Native American during the Joseph Smith Period,” 23–29; Revelation, July 1828 [D&C 3:20]; Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28:8]; Title Page of Book of Mormon, ca. Early June 1829.)

    Walker, Ronald W. “Seeking the ‘Remnant’: The Native American during the Joseph Smith Period.” Journal of Mormon History 19 (Spring 1993): 1–33.

  2. [11]

    It is unclear to what document JS was referring, as no record of such a request exists in United States congressional records. However, the idea that Texas needed protection from United States forces was presented in a February 1844 letter to the New York Sun that was reprinted in the 10 April 1844 edition of the Nauvoo Neighbor. The author opined that Texas was “unable to maintain her position among the independent powers of the earth from inherent weakness. She has not wealth enough within her borders to sustain a separate Government, and therefore an imperative necessity compels her to submit her independance to some wealthier power in consideration of protection to be furnished.” (“Annexation of Texas,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 10 Apr. 1844, [1].)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

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