The history of Nauvoo, Illinois, starts with the
Sauk and
Meskwaki
The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, the ...
tribes who frequented the area, on a bend of the Mississippi River in Hancock County, some north of today's
Quincy. They called the area "
Quashquema", named in honor of the Native American chief who headed a Sauk and Fox settlement numbering nearly 500 lodges. Permanent settlement by non-natives was reportedly begun in 1824 by Captain James White. By 1830, the community was called "Venus", and it was the site of the first post office in the county. In 1834 the name Venus was changed to "Commerce" in anticipation that the town would prosper under the westward expansion of the United States.
In late 1839, arriving
Mormons
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...
bought the small town of Commerce, and in April 1840 it was renamed "Nauvoo" (a
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
word meaning "they are beautiful") by
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
, the leader and prophet of the
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
. Nauvoo grew rapidly and for a few years was one of the most populous cities in Illinois. Within two years of Joseph Smith's being killed by a mob in 1844, most of the Mormon population had departed, fleeing armed violence. The majority headed
west
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
with the group led by
Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
.
In 1849
Icarians
The Icarians were a French-based utopian socialist movement, established by the followers of politician, journalist, and author Étienne Cabet. In an attempt to put his economic and social theories into practice, Cabet led his followers to the ...
moved to the Nauvoo area to implement a
utopian socialist
Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
, which continued until 1856. After the departure of most Icarians, Nauvoo became the largest German-speaking community in Illinois and remained so until the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
By that time, the community was religiously diverse, including
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
,
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
,
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
, and
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
congregations.
Today, a plurality of Nauvoo's population is
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
or another Christian faith. Nauvoo is an important tourist destination for
Latter Day Saints
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
(Mormons) and others who come to see its restored historical buildings and visitor centers.
Sauk and Meskwaki village (before 1824)
![Massika and Wakusasse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Massika_and_Wakusasse.jpg)
A large village of
Sauk (or Sac) and
Meskwaki
The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, the ...
(or Fox) was established along the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
, near what is now Nauvoo, in the late 18th century; this village had as many as 1,000 lodges. In 1823 or 1824, Captain James White purchased the village from
Quashquame
Quashquame (alt: "Quawsquawma, Quashquami, Quashquammee, Quash-Qua-Mie, Quash-kaume, Quash-quam-ma", meaning "Jumping Fish") (c. 1764 – c . 1832) was a Sauk chief; he was the principal signer of the 1804 treaty that ceded Sauk land to the Unit ...
, a Sauk leader. White gave Quashquame "a little ''sku-ti-apo''
iquor and two thousand bushels of corn" for the land. Quashquame's village moved to the west side of the river, merging with an existing Sauk village near what is now
Montrose, Iowa
Montrose is a city in Lee County, Iowa, Lee County, Iowa. The population was 738 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town is located on the Mississippi River. It is part of the Fort Madison–Keokuk, IA-IL-MO Micropolitan ...
.
In 1841,
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
, living in Nauvoo, was visited by Sauk and Meskwaki from the Iowa village. "The ferryman brought over a great number on the ferry-boat and two flat boats for the purpose of visiting me. The military band and a detachment of Invincibles (part of the
Legion
Legion may refer to:
Military
* Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army
* Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army
* Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...
) were on shore ready to receive and escort them to the grove, but they refused to come on shore until I went down. I accordingly went down, and met Keokuk, Kis-ku-kosh, Appenoose, and about one hundred chiefs and braves of those tribes, with their families." Smith then discussed the Mormon religion with them, followed by a feast and dancing by the Indians.
Early European settlement: Venus and Commerce (1824-1839)
By 1827 other white settlers had built cabins around the area that Captain James White had purchased from Quashquame. The community came to be called "Venus".
Hancock County had been created in 1825 and organized in 1829. By 1829, this area of Hancock County had grown sufficiently that a post office was needed, and this first post office in Hancock County opened in Venus on March 13, 1830. The first postmaster was George Y. Cutler, a graduate of
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
. In 1832 the town was one of the contenders for the new county seat. However, a location closer to the center of the county was selected, and that place became the nearby city of
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
.
On October 11, 1834, the name Venus was changed to "Commerce" because the settlers felt that the new name better suited their goals.
Plans were made for significant redevelopment, and absentee investors A. White and J. B. Teas laid out and plotted the town of Commerce. By 1839, the town had failed to attract settlers, and only a few frame houses had been built. The hopes of commercial success, based on the townsite being beside a necessary portage trail past seasonal rapids, were dashed by the fact that the site and surrounding lands were also most of the time a
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
l
swamp
A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
.
Nauvoo as the home of the Latter Day Saints (1839-1846)
In early 1839,
Latter Day Saint
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
s were forced to flee
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
as a result of the
1838 Mormon War
The 1838 Mormon War, also known as the Missouri Mormon War, was a conflict between Mormons and non-Mormons in Missouri from August to November 1838, the first of the three " Mormon Wars".
Members of the Latter Day Saint movement, founded by Jo ...
and a non-legal proclamation known as
Missouri Executive Order 44
Missouri Executive Order 44, commonly known as the Mormon Extermination Order, was an executive order issued on October 27, 1838, by the then Governor of Missouri, Lilburn Boggs. The order was issued in the aftermath of the Battle of Crooked Riv ...
issued by Governor
Lilburn W. Boggs
Lilburn Williams Boggs (December 14, 1796March 14, 1860) was the sixth Governor of Missouri from 1836 to 1840. He is now most widely remembered for his interactions with Joseph Smith and Porter Rockwell, and Missouri Executive Order 44, known b ...
. They regrouped in Quincy, whose non-Mormon citizens were shocked by the harsh treatment given them in Missouri and opened their homes to the refugees.
Joseph Smith, Jr.
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
, prophet and president of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The chu ...
, remained
imprisoned
Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...
in Missouri, but his chief counselor in the
First Presidency
Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...
,
Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon (February 19, 1793 – July 14, 1876) was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Biography Early life
Rigdon was born in St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on February 19, 1793. He was ...
, had been released and rejoined the main body of the church in Quincy. Church member
Israel Barlow
Israel Barlow (September 13, 1806 – November 1, 1883) was one of the founders of Nauvoo, Illinois and a noted early member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Early life and conversion
Israel Barlow was born in Granville, Massachu ...
fled Missouri and entered Illinois further north than the main group of Latter-day Saints. Learning from
Isaac Galland
Isaac Galland (May 15, 1791 – September 27, 1858) was a merchant, postmaster, land speculator, and doctor. He is best known for selling large tracts of land around Commerce, Illinois, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1839.
...
, a
land agent
Land agent may be used in at least three different contexts.
Traditionally, a land agent was a managerial employee who conducted the business affairs of a large estate (house), landed estate for a member of the landed gentry, supervising the farmi ...
, that a large amount of land was for sale in the Commerce area, he contacted church leaders. Galland approached Rigdon in Quincy and offered church leaders title to land in Hancock County and additional land across the river in the
Iowa Territory
The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Iowa. The remaind ...
's
Lee County. Church leaders purchased this land as well as the mostly vacant Commerce plat in 1839, and Latter Day Saints began to settle the area immediately.
Physically weak from months of imprisonment, Smith and other leaders were permitted to escape from prison in Missouri.
They rejoined the Latter Day Saints in Commerce by May 1839. He renamed the town "Nauvoo", meaning "to be beautiful". Latter Day Saints often referred to Nauvoo as "the city beautiful", or "the city of Joseph".
Despite the name, the site was, at first, an undeveloped swamp. Epidemics of
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
,
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
and
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
took their toll on the struggling Mormons until the swamp was drained. The smaller community of Commerce had few buildings, so construction began promptly to meet the immediate demand for housing. Elements of Joseph Smith's generalized city plan, known as the "
plat of Zion
Within the Latter Day Saint movement, Zion is often used to connote an association of the righteous. This association would practice a form of communitarian economics called the United Order meant to ensure that all members maintained an accepta ...
" (first introduced in 1833) were used in the street layout and lot allotments in Nauvoo. The community was characterized by wood frame homes with outbuildings, gardens, orchards and grazing plots on large lots laid out on an orderly grid system. In general, the buildings were detached single-family dwellings reminiscent of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
construction styles, with commercial and industrial buildings in the same pattern.
Building up the city
![Nauvoo Charter](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Nauvoo_Charter.jpg)
In the spring of 1840,
John C. Bennett
John Cook Bennett (August 4, 1804 – August 5, 1867) was an American physician and briefly a ranking and influential leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, who acted as mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and Major-General of the Nauvoo Legion in the ear ...
, the
Quarter Master General
The Quartermaster-General to the Forces (QMG) is a senior general in the British Army. The post has become symbolic: the Ministry of Defence organisation charts since 2011 have not used the term "Quartermaster-General to the Forces"; they simply ...
of the Illinois State Militia, converted to Mormonism and became Joseph Smith's friend and confidant. Bennett's experience with Illinois government allowed him to help Smith craft a city charter for Nauvoo. After passing both houses of the Illinois Legislature, Governor Thomas Carlin signed the Nauvoo City Charter on December 16, 1840. Based closely on the
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
, charter, the document gave the city a number of important powers, including the establishment of the
Municipal Court of Nauvoo
The Municipal Court of Nauvoo was the judicial body of Nauvoo, Illinois from 1840 until 1845.
Establishment
The Nauvoo City Charter was passed by the Illinois Legislature on December 16, 1840. The legislature mandated that "The Municipal Court sh ...
, the
University of Nauvoo
The University of Nauvoo was a short-lived university in Nauvoo, Illinois.
After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had been expelled from Missouri, they crossed into Illinois and settled in Nauvoo in 1839. They were granted a city c ...
, and an independent militia unit. At the time, the Illinois state government was closely balanced between members of the
Democratic party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
and members of the
Whig party. Both hoped to attract Mormon votes, and both were quick to place the charter into effect. After the charter was passed, Bennett was elected Nauvoo's first mayor, and Smith made Bennett a member of the church's
First Presidency
Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...
. A militia unit named the "
Nauvoo Legion
The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States. With growing antagonism from surrounding settlements it came to have as its main function the defense of Nauvoo, and surrounding Latter Day Saint ...
" was established, and Smith and Bennett were made its commanding generals.
The city grew quickly as Mormons gathered. At its height Nauvoo's population was as large as Quincy's or Springfield's, although it remained smaller than contemporary
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, still in its infancy. Many new residents came from the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
, as a result of a successful LDS mission established there. The Latter Day Saints published two newspapers in the city, the religious and church-owned ''
Times and Seasons
''Times and Seasons'' was a 19th-century Latter Day Saint newspaper published at Nauvoo, Illinois. It was printed monthly or twice-monthly from November 1839 to February 1846. The motto of the paper was "Truth will prevail," which was printed u ...
'' and the secular and independently owned ''
Wasp
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...
'' (later replaced by the ''
Nauvoo Neighbor
The ''Nauvoo Neighbor'' was a weekly newspaper edited and published by Latter Day Saint apostle John Taylor in Nauvoo, Illinois, from 1843 to 1845. While it was not an official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the ...
''). Although it mostly existed on paper, the
University of Nauvoo
The University of Nauvoo was a short-lived university in Nauvoo, Illinois.
After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had been expelled from Missouri, they crossed into Illinois and settled in Nauvoo in 1839. They were granted a city c ...
was established, with Bennett as chancellor.
The Nauvoo Legion, a militia with 2,000 men, was headed by Joseph Smith, who was given the commission of
lieutenant-general
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
by Illinois' Governor Carlin. The Nauvoo militia consisted of a corps of riflemen.
On April 6, 1841, the Nauvoo Legion drilled in a great parade to honor the laying of the cornerstone for a new
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
. and
Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon (February 19, 1793 – July 14, 1876) was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Biography Early life
Rigdon was born in St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on February 19, 1793. He was ...
gave the dedicatory speech. The foundation of the
Nauvoo Temple
The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.''Manuscript History of the Church'', LDS Church Archives, book A-1, p. 37; reproduced in Dean C. Jessee (comp.) (1989). ''The Papers of Jose ...
was and, when finished, its steeple rose to a height of over . Church elder
Alpheus Cutler
John Alpheus Cutler (February 29, 1784 – June 10, 1864) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement who founded the Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) in 1853. He had previously served in several church positions under Joseph Smith, fou ...
was put in charge of the construction of the ambitious stone structure. Another church committee began construction of a large hotel on the city's Water Street, to be called the
Nauvoo House
The Nauvoo House in Nauvoo, Illinois, is a boarding house that Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, began constructing in the 1840s. The boarding house was never completed, but the structure was later converted into a re ...
.
John D. Lee
John Doyle Lee (September 6, 1812 – March 23, 1877) was an American pioneer and prominent early member of the Latter Day Saint Movement in Utah. Lee was later convicted as a mass murderer for his complicity in the Mountain Meadows massacre, s ...
was put in charge of constructing a meeting hall for the quorums of the
Seventies
File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War i ...
.
In October 1841, a
Masonic lodge
A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...
was established in Nauvoo in the building currently referred to as the Cultural Hall.
George Miller, one of the church's
bishops
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, was made its "
Worshipful Master
In Craft Freemasonry, sometimes known as Blue Lodge Freemasonry, every Masonic lodge elects or appoints Masonic lodge officers to execute the necessary functions of the lodge's life and work. The precise list of such offices may vary between the j ...
" or leader. The lodge admitted far more members than was normal in Masonic practice and quickly elevated church leaders to high roles. This was the most significant time in which the
Latter Day Saints were involved in Freemasonry.
Developments in the church
At the time of Nauvoo's foundation, the church was led by a
First Presidency
Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...
, consisting of a prophet and two counselors. The
presiding high council
In the Latter Day Saint movement, there are two presiding high councils, one said to be "standing," and the other "traveling." The traveling high council is generally known as the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Both councils, at least in theory, presid ...
, known as the Nauvoo High Council, led by Nauvoo
Stake
Stake may refer to:
Entertainment
* '' Stake: Fortune Fighters'', a 2003 video game
* ''The Stake'', a 1915 silent short film
* "The Stake", a 1977 song by The Steve Miller Band from '' Book of Dreams''
* ''Stakes'' (miniseries), a Cartoon Netw ...
President
William Marks, was next in administrative authority, overseeing the church's legislative and judicial affairs. The church's "Traveling High Council" (or
Quorum of the Twelve
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the Council of the Twelve, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Council of the Twelve Apostles, or the Twelve) is one of the governing bodies or ( quorums) of the church hie ...
) led by President
Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
oversaw its missionary activities.
![JosSmith1843interviewNYWklyExpress](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/JosSmith1843interviewNYWklyExpress.jpg)
Joseph Smith, Jr., introduced and expanded a number of distinct practices while the Latter Day Saint church was headquartered in Nauvoo. These included
baptism for the dead
Baptism for the dead, vicarious baptism or proxy baptism today commonly refers to the religious practice of baptizing a person on behalf of one who is dead—a living person receiving the rite on behalf of a deceased person.
Baptism for the dead ...
,
rebaptism Rebaptism in Christianity is the baptism of a person who has previously been baptized, usually in association with a denomination that does not recognize the validity of the previous baptism. When a denomination rebaptizes members of another denomi ...
, the Nauvoo-era
endowment
Endowment most often refers to:
*A term for human penis size
It may also refer to: Finance
*Financial endowment, pertaining to funds or property donated to institutions or individuals (e.g., college endowment)
*Endowment mortgage, a mortgage to b ...
, and the ordinance of the
second anointing
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the second anointing, or second endowment, is the pinnacle ordinance of the temple and an extension of the endowment ceremony. Founder Joseph Smith taught that the function of the ordinance was to ensure salvation ...
. In addition, he created a new inner council of the church — containing both men and women — called the
Anointed Quorum The Anointed Quorum, also known as the Quorum of the Anointed, or the Holy Order, was a select body of men and women who Joseph Smith initiated into Mormon temple ordinances at Nauvoo, Illinois, which gave them special standing in the early Latter ...
.
Although not publicly acknowledged, Smith had been practicing
plural marriage
Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more tha ...
for some time, and in Nauvoo he began to teach other leaders the doctrine. Controversy arose because Smith's counselor in the First Presidency and Mayor,
John C. Bennett
John Cook Bennett (August 4, 1804 – August 5, 1867) was an American physician and briefly a ranking and influential leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, who acted as mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and Major-General of the Nauvoo Legion in the ear ...
, was caught in
adultery
Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...
(which Bennett considered and referred to as "
spiritual wifery
Spiritual wifery is a term first used in America by the Immortalists in and near the Blackstone Valley of Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the 1740s. The term describes the idea that certain people are divinely destined to meet and share their l ...
" or having multiple "spiritual" wives), claiming that Joseph Smith endorsed it and practiced it himself. Bennett was subsequently expelled from Nauvoo in the summer of 1842, and Smith himself became the city's second mayor. Bennett's fall led to Brigham Young's becoming more prominent among Smith's confidants. Young proved more loyal than Bennett, helping Smith promote the teachings of the Church and the practice of plural marriage with greater discretion.
Another key development was Smith's 1844 establishment of the
Council of Fifty
"The Council of Fifty" (also known as "the Living Constitution", "the Kingdom of God", or its name by revelation, "The Kingdom of God and His Laws with the Keys and Power thereof, and Judgment in the Hands of His Servants, Ahman Christ") was a Lat ...
based upon his political theory of
theodemocracy
Theodemocracy is a theocratic political system proposed by Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. According to Smith, a theodemocracy is a fusion of traditional republican democratic principles—under the Unit ...
. An extension of the Mormon belief of an imminent
millennium
A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...
, this council was meant to be a political organization which could immediately fill the roles of purely secular governments which would be destroyed at Christ's
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messi ...
. The organization was meant to be fully functional only in the absence of secular government, and its governing principles were to be based on the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
. Reports of the organization, which met in secret, helped fuel rumors of an aggressive
theocracy
Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deity, deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs.
Etymology
The word theocracy origina ...
with Joseph Smith as its king. The council remained in existence long after the Nauvoo period.
Nevertheless, Joseph Smith ran for
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
in 1844 advocating for a "
theodemocracy
Theodemocracy is a theocratic political system proposed by Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. According to Smith, a theodemocracy is a fusion of traditional republican democratic principles—under the Unit ...
". He wrote, "I go emphatically, virtuously, and humanely, for a Theodemocracy, where God and the people hold the power to conduct the affairs of men in righteousness."
Growing hostility towards Mormons
As the Mormon population grew, non-Mormons in Hancock County, especially in the towns of
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
and
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
, felt threatened by the political power of the growing Mormon
voting bloc A voting bloc is a group of voters that are strongly motivated by a specific common concern or group of concerns to the point that such specific concerns tend to dominate their voting patterns, causing them to vote together in elections. For example ...
. In Nauvoo, Joseph Smith was not only president of the church, he was mayor, head of the municipal court, and general of the militia. This power base, plus the fact that Mormons benefited from collective group efforts as opposed to the more isolated and independent non-Mormon farmer, caused many non-LDS in the nearby areas to become suspicious and jealous.
Throughout much of the Nauvoo period, officials from Missouri attempted to arrest Smith and
extradite
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...
him on charges relating to the
Mormon War. When he was apprehended, Smith would appeal to the Nauvoo Municipal Court, which would issue writs of ''
habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
'' and force his release. The court occasionally did the same when non-Mormons tried to arrest Latter Day Saints on other charges. Although the local court exceeded their authority in some of these cases, in at least one instance Governor Ford honored the Nauvoo court's decision to deny extradition. Illinoisans, generally unaware of the Church's and Smith's legal history in Missouri, began to consider this a serious subversion of the judiciary which weakened the legal position of Nauvoo and the Latter Day Saint leadership.
Dissatisfaction with the perceived theocracy also arose from within. In 1844, First Presidency member
William Law
William Law (16869 April 1761) was a Church of England priest who lost his position at Emmanuel College, Cambridge when his conscience would not allow him to take the required oath of allegiance to the first Hanoverian monarch, King George I. P ...
— an important merchant and counselor to Smith — broke with the church president over both the issue of
plural marriage
Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more tha ...
and the legal issues in Nauvoo. Law was
excommunicated
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
and founded a reformed church called the
True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or True Mormon Church was a denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement. It was founded in the spring of 1844 in Nauvoo, Illinois, by leaders dissenting from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latt ...
. He also established a newspaper named the ''
Nauvoo Expositor
The ''Nauvoo Expositor'' was a newspaper in Nauvoo, Illinois, that published only one issue, on June 7, 1844. Its publication, the destruction of the printed copies (which, according to the Nauvoo Charter, was the legal consequence of a ne ...
'', which threatened to expose the practice of plural marriage; only one issue was published.
On June 10, 1844, Smith held a meeting of the city council which, after two full days of meeting, condemned the ''Expositor'' as "a public nuisance" and empowered him to order the press destroyed. A portion of the
Nauvoo Legion
The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States. With growing antagonism from surrounding settlements it came to have as its main function the defense of Nauvoo, and surrounding Latter Day Saint ...
, Smith's militia, marched into the office, wrecked the press and burned every copy of the ''Nauvoo Expositor'' that could be found.
The destruction of the press was seen as an opportunity by critics such as Thomas Sharp, whose paper in nearby Warsaw had been openly calling for destruction of the church. Fanned by Sharp and others, public sentiment held that the action was illegal and unconstitutional. Some non-Mormons and disaffected church members in and around Hancock County began to call for Smith's arrest. Smith, his brother
Hyrum, and several other church leaders submitted to arrest. While awaiting trial in Carthage, the county seat, under assurance of safety from Illinois governor Ford, Joseph and Hyrum Smith were assassinated when a vigilante mob attacked the jail. (''See
Death of Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith, the founder and leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother, Hyrum Smith, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, United States, on June 27, 1844, while awaiting trial in the town jail.
As mayor of the city of N ...
.'')
The "Mormon War in Illinois" and the Mormon Exodus
After Smith's assassination, the agitation against Mormons continued. The conflict escalated into what has sometimes been called the "Mormon War in Illinois". Opponents of the Mormons in Warsaw and Carthage began to agitate for the expulsion from Illinois of the Latter Day Saints. In October 1844, a great gathering was announced in Warsaw. Although it was purported to be a "wolf hunt", it was known that the "wolves" to be hunted were the Mormons. When Governor
Thomas Ford became aware of it, he sent militia troops to disperse the gathering. However, as he later recalled:
Vigilante
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority.
A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...
bands continued to roam the county, forcing Latter Day Saints in outlying areas to abandon their homes and gather in Nauvoo for protection.
When the Illinois state legislature met in December 1844, there was great support for the repeal of the Nauvoo Charter. Governor Ford conceded that the charter's privileges had been "much abused" by the Mormons, but he urged that the legislature merely amend the document, saying, "I do not see how ten or twelve thousand people can do well in a city without some chartered privileges." However, on January 29, 1845, the repeal was overwhelmingly passed by a vote of 25–14 in the Senate and 75–31 in the House.
After its legal disincorporation, Nauvoo government and civil institutions were legally dissolved and the church administrative structure operated as a default government. This more theocratic organization was known informally by its residents as the "City of Joseph" while disincorporated. After a
succession crisis A succession crisis is a crisis that arises when an order of succession fails, for example when a king dies without an indisputable heir. It may result in a war of succession.
Examples include (see List of wars of succession):
*Multiple periods dur ...
, Brigham Young gained support from the majority of church members and so controlled Nauvoo. Informal security procedures were established, including what were known as "whittling and whistling brigades". These were made up of Mormon men and boys who "whistled" while "
whittling
Whittling may refer either to the art of carving shapes out of raw wood using a knife or a time-occupying, non-artistic (contrast wood carving for artistic process) process of repeatedly shaving slivers from a piece of wood. It is used by many as ...
" with large knives held close to any suspicious strangers who entered Nauvoo. According to one witness:
![TEMPLE DE NAUVOO](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/TEMPLE_DE_NAUVOO.jpg)
Nauvoo's population peaked at about this time in 1845; it may have had as many as 12,000 inhabitants (and several nearly as large suburbs) — rivaling
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, whose 1845 population was about 15,000.
By the end of 1845 it became clear that no peace was possible between LDS church members and antagonized locals. Mormon leaders negotiated a truce so that the Latter Day Saints could prepare to abandon the city. The winter of 1845-46 saw the enormous preparations for the
Mormon Exodus
The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...
via the
Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail is the long route from Illinois to Utah that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled for 3 months. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails System, known as the Mormon ...
. In early 1846, the majority of the Latter Day Saints left the city. On September 10, 1846, a mob of about 1,000 anti-Mormons besieged Nauvoo. Three of the fewer than 150 Mormon defenders were killed, and skirmishing left wounded on both sides. About a week later, on September 16,
Daniel H. Wells
Daniel Hanmer Wells (October 27, 1814 – March 24, 1891) was an American apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the 3rd mayor of Salt Lake City.
Biography
Early life
Wells was born in Trenton, New Yor ...
and the Mormon leadership of Nauvoo surrendered to the mob and arranged for their people's evacuation from the town and expulsion across the Mississippi River into the Iowa Territory. After the departure of the Mormons, the temple stood until destroyed by
arson
Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
ists on November 19, 1848. On April 3, 1999, plans were announced to rebuild the temple on the historic site where it once stood. LDS church leaders broke ground for the new temple on October 24, 1999. After construction was completed, the new temple was dedicated for use by members of the LDS church on June 27, 2002.
159 years later, on April 1, 2004, the Illinois House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution of regret for the forced expulsion of the Mormons from Nauvoo in 1846.
Smith family members in Nauvoo after 1846
Emma Hale Smith
Emma Hale Smith Bidamon (July 10, 1804 – April 30, 1879) was an American homesteader, the official wife of Joseph Smith, and a prominent leader in the early days of the Latter Day Saint movement, both during Smith's lifetime and afterward as a ...
, Joseph's widow, continued to live in Nauvoo with her family after the departure of the majority of the Latter Day Saints. In 1860, their son,
Joseph Smith III
Joseph Smith III (November 6, 1832 – December 10, 1914) was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith (founder of the Latter Day Saint movement) and Emma Hale Smith. Joseph Smith III was the Prophet-President of what became the Reorganized Chu ...
, claimed to receive a revelation to take his place as Prophet/President of a group known as the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". He continued to live in Nauvoo, which functioned as headquarters of this church (now known as the
Community of Christ
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...
) until 1865. In 1866, Smith moved from Nauvoo to
Plano, Illinois
Plano is a city near Aurora in Kendall County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 11,847 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, being about 55 miles (90 km) from Chicago. The city was home to the Plano Har ...
, where the church's printing house had been established. He personally took over the editorship of the ''Saint's Herald'', and Plano became the headquarters of the church. In his final years, members of the church began to move to
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro ...
, which Smith's father had designated as the "center place" of the "City of Zion". Latter Day Saints had wanted to return to this theologically important ground since their expulsion in 1833.
Icarian period (1849-1856)
In 1849,
Icarians
The Icarians were a French-based utopian socialist movement, established by the followers of politician, journalist, and author Étienne Cabet. In an attempt to put his economic and social theories into practice, Cabet led his followers to the ...
moved to the Nauvoo area to implement a
utopian socialist
Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
based on the ideals of French philosopher
Étienne Cabet
Étienne Cabet (; January 1, 1788 – November 9, 1856) was a French philosophy, French philosopher and utopian socialist who founded the Icarians, Icarian movement. Cabet became the most popular socialist advocate of his day, with a special appe ...
. At its peak, the colony numbered about 500 members, amounting to nearly half the 1850 census population of 1,130. Dissension over legal matters and the death of Cabet in 1856 caused some members to leave this parent colony and move on to other Icarian locations in
East St. Louis, Illinois
East St. Louis is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois. It is directly across the Mississippi River from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri and the Gateway Arch National Park. East St. Louis is in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. Once a b ...
, and Iowa and
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Descendants of this Icarian colony still live in Hancock and
McDonough
McDonough is an Irish surname.
Origins and variants
The surname is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "Mac Donnchadha", which means son of Donnchadh or son of Donough. The name itself consists of elements meaning "brown (donn)" or Donn “t ...
counties. The Icarian historical collection is located at the
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College.
History
Western Illin ...
library in
Macomb.
In 1851,
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
passed through the area, resulting in the rapid death of more than 50 residents of Nauvoo.
The disease apparently came to Nauvoo and western Illinois with French Icarian settlers, who had passed through New Orleans.
Germanic period (1856-World War I)
After the departure of most French Icarians in 1856, the remaining members of the community were German, Swiss, English, Irish, and Scottish, with Germans composing the largest group.
German was spoken around the town more commonly than English,
and several churches conducted services in German. During this era, Nauvoo was the largest German-speaking community in Illinois, and it remained so until the First World War.
During the Germanic era, grape production and wine-making thrived in Nauvoo. In January 1866, Nauvoo had 250 vineyards and 23 stone-arched wine cellars. Wine shipments often went to St. Louis, Missouri and St. Paul, Minnesota, in 50 barrel lots. Grape shipments from Nauvoo began in the 1870's, being transported by steam boat, ferry, and rail. The German and Swiss residents of Nauvoo often had three gardens planted around their homes, one for flowers, one for vegetables, and one for fruits and berries.
Notable residents from this era include the Swiss memoirist
Heinrich Lienhard
Johann Heinrich Lienhard (January 19, 1822, Bilten, Canton Glarus – December 19, 1903, Nauvoo, Illinois) was a Swiss immigrant to the United States. He left Switzerland at the age of 21. His memoirsLienhard, Heinrich, 1822-1903. ''Memoirs ...
, who lived for many years in the former home of the Mormon leader
Heber C. Kimball
Heber Chase Kimball (June 14, 1801 – June 22, 1868) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement. He served as one of the original twelve apostles in the early Church of the Latter Day Saints, and as first counselor to Brigham Young ...
.
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
changed the community, and most of Nauvoo's native-German speaking residents stopped using German in public. The Lutheran Church introduced English language ceremonies in 1915 and stopped German language ceremonies entirely in 1918.
The use of German faded away by the Second World War.
Catholic presence in Nauvoo
The early Catholic history of Nauvoo traces to missionary priests traveling the Mississippi River, who stopped in this area in 1820. The early missionaries included Rev. J. C. Alleman and Rev. P. St. Cyr, who visited annually, and Rev. P. Lefevre, who came between 1835 and 1840. From Sept. 1848 to May 1849, the Rev. Fr. Griffith was the first resident pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Church. The church was originally called St. Patrick Church and was located in a storefront at the southeast corner of Wells and Young St. The permanent church edifice was begun in 1867 and dedicated in 1873.
St. Mary's Academy and Convent
On October 15, 1874, Sister Ottilia Hoeveler and four other sisters came from
St. Scholastica Convent in Chicago to start a girls school. Originally named St. Scholastica Academy, it opened on November 2, 1874. Seven girls from Nauvoo and the vicinity were enrolled. In 1875, Hoeveler purchased the Baum Estate. and built a convent.
In 1879 the community became an independent congregation. The name of the school was changed to St. Mary's Academy, and the convent became St. Mary's Convent. The convent was expanded in 1892 and a new school building built in 1897. In 1907 a boys school, Spalding Institute, was built. Spalding did not last long and closed in 1920. In 1925 it was reopened as a new boys school named St. Edmund's Hall. This school closed in 1940, and the building was used as the new convent, named Benet Hall.
In the 1950s and 1960s many new buildings were built: a monastery (1954), high school (1957), and dormitory (1967). Enrollment fluctuated after the 1960s. Due to declining enrollment St. Mary's Academy closed in June 1997. In 2001 the Sisters of St. Benedict, after having built a new monastery in
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Rock Island Arsenal, Arsenal Island. The popul ...
, departed Nauvoo. St. Mary's was sold and used as the
Joseph Smith Academy The Joseph Smith Academy ("JSA") was an educational complex run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo, Illinois, less than from the Nauvoo Temple. Until recently, the Academy was home to a BYU distance study program focusing ...
until the winter semester of 2006 and began to be torn down in September 2007.
Sts. Peter and Paul Elementary continues to provide education for grades PK-6.
See also
*
Missouri Executive Order 44
Missouri Executive Order 44, commonly known as the Mormon Extermination Order, was an executive order issued on October 27, 1838, by the then Governor of Missouri, Lilburn Boggs. The order was issued in the aftermath of the Battle of Crooked Riv ...
(1838 Missouri)
*
Nauvoo Brass Band
The Nauvoo Brass Band was an official musical organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when the church's headquarters were located in Nauvoo, Illinois. It was later revived by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint ...
*
Nauvoo Historic District
Notes
References
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External links
Nauvoo Historyfrom the Nauvoo Tourism Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Nauvoo, Illinois
History of Illinois
History of the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement in Illinois
Wars involving Illinois