Nauvoo: The City of Joseph
The Founding and Growth of Nauvoo
The city of Nauvoo sits on a wide bend in the Mississippi river. Largely uninhabited because of swampy ground, the Mormons immediately began to clear the land and drain the swamps. By 1845, the city would reach a population of 15,000 rivaling even Chicago at that time and becoming one of the largest cities on the American frontier.
Most of the spring and summer was consumed with work and that summer, the twelve Apostles leave on yet another mission for Mormonism to England where they would baptize thousands of converts to Mormonism. In July of 1839, a severe cholera epidemic caused by the swamp made thousands ill. For two days, July 21 and 22, Joseph Smith went through the camps of Mormon settlers and healed many, though some Mormons did die. Joseph Smith spent the summer in building and in teaching, particularly with the Twelve Apostles whom he trained for their mission to England.
In November of 1839, Joseph Smith and others traveled to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. They took with them the affidavits of the Mormons who had been driven from Missouri and presented them to Congress and to the President of the United States, Martin Van Buren. Joseph Smith remained in Washington until February and met with many members of congress. A heated debate ensued in the legislature, but the Federal authorities determined that the matter is an internal one to Missouri. President Van Buren, unwilling to infringe on sovereign rights of Missouri told Joseph that his cause was just, but that the federal government could not help.
Joseph Smith returned to Nauvoo in March of 1840. That year was filled primarily with work building homes and laying out the city. In the fall of 1840, a charter for the city was passed by the Illinois legislature which formally incorporated the city and provided for courts, civic administration, a city militia to be called the Nauvoo Legion, and even for a university to be named the University of Nauvoo. 1840 was largely peaceful, except for the unfortunate passing of Joseph Smith’s father on September 14. Several revelations were received in the autumn and winter of 1840, particularly with regard to priesthood and its organization. On January 19, 1841, Joseph announced the construction of the Nauvoo Temple, which would become the second Mormon temple completed, and the Nauvoo House, which would serve as a hotel for visitors. Orson Hyde was sent on a mission to Europe and the Holy Land in early 1841 and while in Jerusalem, he dedicated the city for the return of the Jews. Brigham Young, still in England, began organizing ships for converts. Thousands of British Mormons would sail to America over the next few decades becoming a great strength to the Mormon Church.
In February, Joseph was elected to the Nauvoo City Council and subsequently became lieutenant general of the city militia. On April 6, 1841, the cornerstones for the Nauvoo Temple were laid and work continued almost without ceasing until 1846. Also around this time, John C. Bennett, an educated and affable new convert to Mormonism, became the first Mayor of Nauvoo. Because of his education and speaking skills, he quickly became a close friend of Joseph Smith who was looking for educated and capable leaders.
Joseph also preached many things in this time. Though the pace of new revelations slowed, Joseph Smith used the relative peace of the Nauvoo period to teach the Mormons the many things he had learned. In the spring of 1841, the Mormon belief of eternal marriage was taught for the first time. It was also during this time that Joseph Smith began elaborating the use and ceremonies of Mormon temples. He preached the doctrine of baptism for the dead, which permitted living members to be baptized on behalf of deceased relatives. By the fall of 1841, the temple’s basement was completed enough to use its font for these baptisms.
In June, sheriffs from Missouri attempted to arrest Joseph Smith, but he was wary of them and did not trust them to do justice. Joseph fought the arrest in the Nauvoo courts and the warrant was thrown out for lack of evidence.
New Revelations and New Directions
In Nauvoo, the Church began publishing a newspaper called the Times and Seasons. In March of 1842, Joseph finally published the Book of Abraham as serialized book in the newspaper. That spring Joseph Smith also published the Wentworth letter which detailed the history of the Mormonism, beginning with his own life, and concluded with thirteen succinct statements of the basic beliefs of Mormonism now known as the Thirteen Articles of Faith. This was very busy time for Joseph. He opened a general store in Nauvoo called the Red Brick Store and on March 17, 1842, he organized the Relief Society with his wife, Emma, as the first president. The purpose the organization was to relieve suffering through service and through preaching the gospel. Today the Relief Society is among the largest and oldest women’s organization in the world.
In 1839, Joseph Smith had told members of his family that he believed he had less than five years to live. As a result, he worked at a feverish pace in Nauvoo. On May 4 of 1842, he introduced the Mormon temple ceremony, known as the endowment, to nine of the most faithful Apostles and their wives. On May 19, he was elected Mayor to replace John C. Bennett who had been abusing his power as mayor and confidant of Joseph Smith to seduce women claiming that he had authority from God to do so. In June, John C. Bennett was excommunicated and went on to write a scathing attack on Joseph Smith.
It was also around this time that Joseph Smith first began teaching polygamy or plural marriage as he called it. When Joseph Smith first received a revelation about polygamy is unknown, although some date it as early as 1831. The Book of Mormon contained passages teaching that God sometimes commands men to practice polygamy (see Jacob 2:27-30). According to his close associates, Joseph Smith was hesitant to teach polygamy and withheld it for a long time. Sometime in Nauvoo, Joseph Smith began teaching polygamy to the Apostles and other close associates. It was the teaching of polygamy that drove Bennett to seduce women claiming that men could sleep with one another’s wives. For that he was excommunicated. Joseph Smith had married his first polygamous wives in the 1830s, but not until the early 1840’s did many others learn about the practice. The Mormon Church did not publicly announce the practice of polygamy until 1852. Joseph continued to teach that no man was authorized to practice polygamy until ordered to do so by God (see Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg 324).
In the summer of 1842, an attempt was made to assassinate Governor Lilburn Boggs of Missouri, whose Extermination Order had expelled the Mormons from Nauvoo. While no evidence was found to suggest who made the attempt, Missouri authorities suspected Joseph Smith, though hundreds of eyewitnesses placed in Nauvoo during the shooting. Nevertheless, Missouri sheriffs made several trips to Nauvoo in order to arrest him, but Joseph Smith, relying on the Nauvoo charter which said that no resident could be extradited without evidence, refused to leave until evidence could be provided. Joseph did this remembering his former illegal imprisonment in Missouri and knowing that if he were to go again to Missouri, it could cost him his life. Missouri officials continued to seek to extradite Joseph Smith for the rest of his life and did for a time jail his good friend Porter Rockwell. Because of these sheriffs, some of whom even attempted to kidnap him outright, Joseph went into hiding until January of 1843. During this period, Joseph wrote many letters which were read to the Mormons in Nauvoo instructing them in things about the temple and specifically Baptism for the Dead. In January 1843, a non-Mormon Illinois Judge rules that because Joseph Smith is a legal resident of Illinois, Missouri cannot arrest him.
Joseph Smith’s teachings and work of 1843 centered on the Mormon Temple. He devoted much of his teachings and energies to instructing the Mormons and especially the leaders such as the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and their wives in how to organize and carry out the Mormon temple ceremonies. In May of 1843, Joseph Smith is “sealed” (as Mormons call marriage) to his own wife, Emma, for time and eternity, which, Joseph taught sometime later, was necessary for a person to obtain the highest degree of salvation. Joseph also devoted much of his time in gathering together histories and diaries of his life and of the history of the Mormon Church and its people. He taught that this was a direct commandment from God and necessary for the Church and its members to help them in the future.
Polygamy, Joseph Smith, and Emma
In Joseph Smith’s private life, the issue of polygamy became a major divisive factor. Emma Smith, the Prophet’s wife, was torn on the issue. In July of 1843, Joseph Smith finally recorded and published the revelation on polygamy, but circulated it only among the leaders of the Church. For every single person, polygamy became a great trial of faith, and many later compared it to God’s commanding Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Emma vacillated on the issue between acceptance and rebellion. Once she even refused to allow Joseph’s other wives to enter the house.
For other men and women, polygamy proved the greatest trial to their faith. Brigham Young, successor to Joseph Smith said that when he first heard the doctrine he wished to die rather than accept it. Some like William Law and the Higbees, could not accept it. Law even begged Joseph not to teach the doctrine, but Joseph replied that an angel of God had ordered him to do so. Other trials beset Joseph and his family at this time. Joseph’s mother, Lucy became seriously ill and one of his brothers, Don Carlos, died of pneumonia. On June 13, several Illinois state officials in collusion with Missouri sheriffs attempted to kidnap Joseph and take him back to Missouri. Joseph Smith avoided capture and refused to go unless an Illinois court of law approved. By July 1, an Illinois judge ruled that Missouri had insufficient evidence to extradite.
Mormon Politics and the Kingdom of God
Despite these trials, Joseph Smith pressed forward with building the temple, day to day supervision was carried on by Brigham Young who as a glazier and carpenter by trade personally made much of the woodwork and windows for the temple. Joseph became more involved in politics believing that through legal means, the Mormons could protect themselves from persecution. Joseph Smith tried to find allies in the major parties who would promise to protect the Mormons. He wrote letters and visited with many national candidates, including Stephen A. Douglas who later ran for President of the United States against Abraham Lincoln. Once again, Mormons testified in Congress and spoke to presidents. However, no political candidate or party would risk their election on the Mormon cause, even though a few prominent writers on the East Coast of the United States defended Mormonism on First Amendment grounds.
Joseph Smith and the Quorum of the Twelve realized by late 1843 that the Mormons could not long remain in Illinois. They began researching the possibilities of going farther west into the Rocky Mountains. They met with traders and explorers to learn the feasibility and best routes to take. In February 1844, the Twelve Apostles organize an exploration party to scout the American West, much of it claimed though unoccupied by Mexico. On February 25, 1844, Joseph Smith prophesied that within five years the Mormons would find a save haven from which they would not be driven again. That came true in 1847 when the first Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.
In January of 1844, Joseph Smith realized that no candidate would help the Mormons and so on January 29, 1844 he announced himself as an independent candidate for President of the United States. He also organized the Council of Fifty, which sought to spread ideas and practices of constitutional government. The Council of Fifty included most Mormon and non-Mormons. His candidacy ran on the principles of religious freedom for all and the ending of slavery through gradual government buyouts. Joseph Smith and the Mormon missionaries used this candidacy to spread their message and their concerns to other American and they reached out to other disaffected groups in the United States. How Joseph would have fared in the election remains unknown, since he would not live to see Election Day.
Joseph Smith’s Last Charges and the Nauvoo Expositor
In 1839, Joseph Smith had told his family that he believed he had only five years to live. Nearly five years to the day of when he had made that remark, Joseph met with the Quorum of the Twelve in March of 1844 and reviewed everything he had taught them and every ordinance God had revealed to him. He told them that now the responsibility was theirs to carry and lead the Mormon Church and that God was going to give him a chance to rest. Over the next few months Joseph taught numerous public sermons which sought to bring together and review his teachings. The most famous of these sermons were the King Follett Discourse, given at the funeral of a Mormon named King Follett, and the Sermon in the Grove. These two sermons discussed Joseph’s teachings about God and man relationship to Him and mankind’s destiny to become like God as the ancient Apostle John had also taught. On May 17, 1844, Joseph candidacy for President was made official by a convention held in Nauvoo.
Opposition to Joseph Smith and the Mormons grew in Illinois. Non-Mormons living in Hancock County, where Nauvoo was located, were fearful of Mormon political and economic dominance and disturbed by the Mormons strange doctrines and practices. Thomas C. Sharp, the editor of the Warsaw Signal, in Warsaw, Illinois, was one of the leaders of this group and used his paper to galvanize public opinion against Joseph Smith. Others used every opportunity to trick Joseph Smith or have him arrested. Some, like William Law, William Marks, and Chauncey and Francis Higbee rejected polygamy and believed that Joseph Smith was a fallen prophet. A few minor fights broke out between supporters and detractors of Joseph Smith, but an uneasy peace prevailed until June, 1844. Some apostates from the Mormon Church met in secret meetings to determine how they could kill Joseph Smith and take over the Mormon Church.
On June 7, 1844, Law, Marks, and the Higbees published the only issue of the Nauvoo Expositor. It vilified Joseph Smith, calling him one of the most evil characters in America and demanded that Joseph Smith be removed and the Nauvoo Charter be repealed. This cry of hatred was echoed by Sharp’s Warsaw Signal which called for Joseph Smith to be murdered. Robert Foster, another apostate Mormon, and Law organized a new church and traveled Hancock County calling for Joseph Smith to be arrested and executed. On June 10, 1844, the Nauvoo city counsel met to consider the Expositor. Many argued that it was a nuisance which fomented mob violence and division. Based on legal understanding of the time, such nuisances could be legally suppressed since they not simply expression an opinion, which would be protected by the U.S. Bill of Rights, but actually urged a dangerous course of action. The council concluded they had legal right and authority to suppress the publication. That afternoon, the Marshall destroyed the press and as many copies of the newspaper as he could. During the chaos and riots that followed, fire broke out and burned the building in which the newspaper had been printed. The Marshall claimed that the mob burned the building, but the newspaper’s publishers claimed that the Marshall burned it.