The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Notice, circa 19 May 1842

Source Note

John C. Bennett

3 Aug. 1804–5 Aug. 1867. Physician, minister, poultry breeder. Born at Fairhaven, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. Son of John Bennett and Abigail Cook. Moved to Marietta, Washington Co., Ohio, 1808; to Massachusetts, 1812; and back to Marietta, 1822. Married ...

View Full Bio
and JS, Notice,
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
, Hancock Co., IL, [ca. 19 May 1842]; handwriting of
John C. Bennett

3 Aug. 1804–5 Aug. 1867. Physician, minister, poultry breeder. Born at Fairhaven, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. Son of John Bennett and Abigail Cook. Moved to Marietta, Washington Co., Ohio, 1808; to Massachusetts, 1812; and back to Marietta, 1822. Married ...

View Full Bio
and
James Sloan

28 Oct. 1792–24 Oct. 1886. City recorder, notary public, attorney, judge, farmer. Born in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, Ireland. Son of Alexander Sloan and Anne. Married Mary Magill. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder, ...

View Full Bio
; one page; JS Collection (Supplement), CHL.
Single leaf measuring 6¼ × 8 inches (16 × 20 cm). The top and right edges have the square cut of manufactured paper. The bottom and left edges are uneven, suggesting they were cut by hand. The leaf was trifolded and then folded in half, presumably for filing. The portion of the document written by
James Sloan

28 Oct. 1792–24 Oct. 1886. City recorder, notary public, attorney, judge, farmer. Born in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, Ireland. Son of Alexander Sloan and Anne. Married Mary Magill. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder, ...

View Full Bio
is in blue ink. Sloan served as 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
city recorder from February 1841 to July 1843.
1

Minutes, 3 Feb. 1841; JS, Journal, 30 July 1843.


The document was apparently retained by JS and may have been filed with other
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
city records. In 1845, the city of Nauvoo was disincorporated.
2

“An Act to Repeal the Nauvoo Charter,” 14th General Assembly, 1844–1845, Senate Bill no. 35 (House Bill no. 42), Illinois General Assembly, Enrolled Acts of the General Assembly, 1818–2012, Illinois State Archives, Springfield.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Illinois Office of Secretary of State. Enrolled Acts of the General Assembly, 1818–1993. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

Many if not most of the city records were listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office in 1846, when they were packed up with church records that were taken to the Salt Lake Valley.
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.

Sometime between 1973 and 1984 it was added to the JS Collection (Supplement) at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
4

See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection (Supplement), 1833–1844, in the CHL catalog.


It has presumably remained in institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes, 3 Feb. 1841; JS, Journal, 30 July 1843.

  2. [2]

    “An Act to Repeal the Nauvoo Charter,” 14th General Assembly, 1844–1845, Senate Bill no. 35 (House Bill no. 42), Illinois General Assembly, Enrolled Acts of the General Assembly, 1818–2012, Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

    Illinois Office of Secretary of State. Enrolled Acts of the General Assembly, 1818–1993. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

  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]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection (Supplement), 1833–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

Sometime around 19 May 1842,
John C. Bennett

3 Aug. 1804–5 Aug. 1867. Physician, minister, poultry breeder. Born at Fairhaven, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. Son of John Bennett and Abigail Cook. Moved to Marietta, Washington Co., Ohio, 1808; to Massachusetts, 1812; and back to Marietta, 1822. Married ...

View Full Bio
and
James Sloan

28 Oct. 1792–24 Oct. 1886. City recorder, notary public, attorney, judge, farmer. Born in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, Ireland. Son of Alexander Sloan and Anne. Married Mary Magill. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder, ...

View Full Bio
, city recorder of
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
, Illinois, inscribed a document giving notice that Bennett had resigned as mayor of Nauvoo and been replaced by JS. Bennett had been accused of seducing women in Nauvoo and telling them that JS sanctioned such practices.
1

Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842; see also Historical Introduction to Notice, 11 May 1842.


In the fallout from these accusations, Bennett, who had been elected mayor on 1 February 1841, resigned from office on 17 May 1842. On that same day, his name was removed from the records of 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
.
2

Letters from John C. Bennett and James Sloan, 17 May 1842; Letter to James Sloan, 17 May 1842.


Despite the accusations against him, Bennett proclaimed at the 19 May meeting of the Nauvoo City Council that he had “no difficulty with the heads of the church,” that JS never gave him “authority to hold illicit intercourse with women,” and that JS was “strictly virtuous” both in “public and in private.”
3

Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842; see also JS, Journal, 19 May 1842.


Bennett later claimed that he made such statements only because JS had threatened to kill him if he did not, but members of the city council swore in an affidavit that Bennett had never been “threatened menaced or intimidated” to make his statements.
4

John C. Bennett, Carthage, IL, 2 July 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 15 July 1842, [2]; Bennett, History of the Saints, 287–288; “Affidavit of the City Council,” Wasp, Extra, 27 July 1842, [2].


Comprehensive Works Cited

Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.

The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

During the 19 May meeting, the city council voted to accept Bennett’s resignation. The city council then elected JS (who had been vice mayor) as the new mayor, city councilor
Hyrum Smith

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

View Full Bio
as vice mayor, and
William Smith

13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...

View Full Bio
as city councilor, filling the vacancy left by JS.
5

Minutes, 19 May 1842.


Bennett

3 Aug. 1804–5 Aug. 1867. Physician, minister, poultry breeder. Born at Fairhaven, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. Son of John Bennett and Abigail Cook. Moved to Marietta, Washington Co., Ohio, 1808; to Massachusetts, 1812; and back to Marietta, 1822. Married ...

View Full Bio
composed the notice featured here about the election of JS and
Hyrum Smith

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

View Full Bio
to their respective offices.
James Sloan

28 Oct. 1792–24 Oct. 1886. City recorder, notary public, attorney, judge, farmer. Born in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone, Ireland. Son of Alexander Sloan and Anne. Married Mary Magill. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ordained an elder, ...

View Full Bio
, possibly acting under the direction of the new mayor, completed the document by adding a copy of the city council’s resolution of thanks to Bennett for his service. Sloan then signed JS’s name to the document “by his direction.” The notice was published in the 21 May 1842 issue of the Wasp.
6

Notice, Wasp, 21 May 1842, [3].


Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842; see also Historical Introduction to Notice, 11 May 1842.

  2. [2]

    Letters from John C. Bennett and James Sloan, 17 May 1842; Letter to James Sloan, 17 May 1842.

  3. [3]

    Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842; see also JS, Journal, 19 May 1842.

  4. [4]

    John C. Bennett, Carthage, IL, 2 July 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 15 July 1842, [2]; Bennett, History of the Saints, 287–288; “Affidavit of the City Council,” Wasp, Extra, 27 July 1842, [2].

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

    Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

  5. [5]

    Minutes, 19 May 1842.

  6. [6]

    Notice, Wasp, 21 May 1842, [3].

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Notice, circa 19 May 1842 Notice, circa 19 May 1842, as Published in the Wasp

Page [2]

[page [2] blank] [p. [2]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [2]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Notice, circa 19 May 1842
ID #
1990
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:80–82
Handwriting on This Page

    © 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06