On 18 October 1842, and members of the Union of the in and around , Illinois, petitioned JS and other church leaders in , Illinois, to reorganize the boundaries of the branch. The Union branch had been established at a at Golden’s Point on 4 September 1842 with L. W. Brandon as president. It is unclear what the boundaries of the branch were at that time, but Golden’s Point appears to have been the meeting point near the branch’s geographic center.

The petitioners requested the change in boundaries presumably so the branch included more church members. The petition proposed boundaries in relation to the and to the locations of several church members’ property in , Illinois. However, extant county records do not include information on most of the properties mentioned. According to an April 1844 census conducted by the church, the revised boundaries included sections 15 and 16 of present-day Sonora Township in Hancock County. The main body of the petition, apparently written by , a counselor to David Evans of the Eleventh Ward, is dated 18 October 1842, and the initial signatories probably signed the petition the same day. Some of the later signatures may have been collected in subsequent days. There are few original signatures, as some signatories signed for others, including entire families.

was approximately seven miles south of , so the petition could have easily been delivered to Nauvoo within a day. It is unclear when JS, who was in hiding for much of October, first received the petition. The high council received this petition by 29 October, when the council considered it and resolved that it “be laid over untill Prest. return home” from a mission to the eastern . The council considered the petition again on 19 November; council member reported “that Presidents Joseph & Hyrum Smith wished the council to grant the petition of a part of the Union Branch of Oct the 18th inst inasmuch as it was their desire.” The high council subsequently resolved that the petition be granted and the boundaries adjusted.

The petition was copied into the minutes of the 29 October high council meeting, although the signatures of branch members were excluded in that version. The original version is featured here.