"Building the Kingdom of God in Nauvoo, Illinois"

I think Sunday's discussion will be much better if we each know more information about some of the lesser known historical figures from the Nauvoo era (I will not list the names of people who are already well known to Church members today, e.g., Parley P. Pratt). These are (in alphabetical order):

B
Almon W. Babbitt (9 October 1812 – c. 7 September 1856) was an attorney, politician, and early leader in the Church, an 1847 Mormon pioneer, and the first secretary and treasurer of the Territory of Utah. He was killed in a raid by Cheyenne Indians in the Nebraska Territory while travelling on government business between Utah and Washington, D.C. in 1856. In 1841, Babbitt was appointed as the Stake President of the Kirtland Stake, where he was charged with shepherding the Latter Day Saints who did not have the financial resources to move to Nauvoo. In 1843, Babbitt's tenure ended in Kirtland and he began actively practicing law in Nauvoo; he was frequently employed to defend Latter Day Saints in legal disputes. While in Nauvoo, Babbitt was also selected by Joseph Smith to become a member two select groups: the Anointed Quorum and Council of Fifty. In 1844, Babbitt was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. A colorful figure, Babbitt was disfellowshipped from the Church four separate times, in 1839, 1841, 1843, and 1851, but each time was restored to fellowship shortly thereafter [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almon_W._Babbitt].

John C. Bennett (August 3, 1804 – August 5, 1867) was a politician, physician and a ranking and influential—but short-lived—leader of the Church, who acted as second in command to Joseph Smith for a brief period in the early 1840s. Bennett was essential to the passing of the Nauvoo city charter in the Illinois legislature, the provisions of which he had helped craft. He even garnered praise for his lobbying efforts on behalf of the Mormons from the young Abraham Lincoln. His efforts on behalf of the Church, and the long time he spent living in the Smith mansion in Nauvoo, secured for him the confidence of the Prophet. Bennett became an Assistant President of the Church and Counselor in the First Presidency, the mayor of the city of Nauvoo, General of the Nauvoo Legion, and the chancellor of the University of Nauvoo. Eventually, however, he was excommunicated from the Church and stripped of public office in Nauvoo. Bennett reportedly vowed to "drink the Prophet Joseph's blood" if given the chance [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Bennett].

Seymour Brunson (September 18, 1798 – August 10, 1840) was an early Mormon convert. He is most noted since it was at a speech given at his funeral that Joseph Smith first presented the doctrine of Baptism for the Dead. In 1813, at the age of 14, he enlisted in the United States military as a 16-year-old and served during the War of 1812. Brunson was baptized a member of the Church in early 1831. He served as a missionary in both Ohio and Virginia and then moved to Daviess County, Missouri just south of Far West. After a year he moved into the town. In April 1838 it was Brunson who brought the charges against Oliver Cowdery that led to Cowdery's excommunication. During that fall Brunson served as a major in the Davies County militia. After this he moved to Quincy, Illinois for a short time and then on to Nauvoo, Illinois. At Nauvoo, Brunson served as a member of the High Council and as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Hancock County Militia. He also served as one of Joseph Smith's bodyguards [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Brunson].

C
Alpheus Cutler (February 29, 1784–August 10, 1864) was an early leader in the Church and organizer of the Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite). Cutler was baptised into the early Mormon church in 1833, Cutler was a member of the Nauvoo High Council, the Anointed Quorum, and the Council of Fifty. By late 1847 Cutler had established a settlement along Silver Creek in Mills County, Iowa near present-day Silver City, Iowa. Increasingly dissatisfied with the leadership of Brigham Young, Cutler next led his followers to a new settlement called Manti near modern-day Shenandoah, Iowa where he established his own branch of the Latter-Day Saints before his death on August 10, 1864 [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpheus_Cutler].

F
David Fullmer (July 7, 1803 – October 21, 1879) was an early leader of the Church in Missouri. In 1839, he settled in Nauvoo, Illinois. Elder Fullmer was ordained to the office of high priest in 1839 and appointed to the high council in the Nauvoo Stake. In 1844 Elder Fullmer was appointed to be one of the electioneering missionaries in behalf of Joseph Smith. He was engaged in this labor and in preaching the gospel in the state of Michigan when news was received of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Elder Fullmer immediately returned to his home in Nauvoo and attended the general meeting of the Church at which the claims of Sidney Rigdon to be guardian of the Church were rejected, and the Twelve Apostles, with Brigham Young at the head, were sustained as the rightful leaders of the Church [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Fullmer].

H
Levi W. Hancock (April 7, 1803 – June 10, 1882) was living in Ohio in 1830, when he heard Parley P. Pratt, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery preaching in Mayfield. Convinced by their words, Hancock was baptized. Hancock was ordained an elder shortly after his baptism and in 1831 he served a mission to Missouri with Zebedee Coltrin. In 1834, Hancock participated in Zion's Camp, traveling from Ohio to Missouri in an effort to assist Latter Day Saints experiencing trouble. On March 1, 1835, Hancock was ordained a seventy in the church and was selected as one of the first seven presidents of the Seventy. He would serve as one of the presidents of the Seventy until his death. Hancock wrote the words to several songs. His "My Peaceful Home, 1837" captures the feelings of Latter-day Saints about their new homes in the communities they had set up. Hancock wrote the words of the twelve verse song sung at the placing of the Far West Temple cornerstones in 1838. Hancock followed the Latter Day Saints as they moved to Missouri, and then to Nauvoo, Illinois. He was a member of the Nauvoo Legion and the Nauvoo police force. In 1843 Hancock was made the chief musician in the Nauvoo Legion. In 1844, Hancock became a member of the Council of Fifty, and in 1846 joined the Mormon Battalion. In 1847, Hancock traveled to the Salt Lake Valley. In Utah Territory, he became a member of the 1st Utah Territorial Legislature. He served a full time mission for the church attempting to grow cotton in southern Utah. Hancock helped settle Washington, Utah, and was ordained a church patriarch in 1872 [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_W._Hancock]

William Huntington (1784 – 19 August 1846) was one of the first investors in the Kirtland Safety Society, in which institution he lost about $500. In 1838 he moved to Missouri and settled in Adam-ondi-Ahman. As the Latter Day Saints were forced to leave Missouri in the winter of 1838–1839 Huntington was appointed by Brigham Young to be one of the men to supervise the removal of the poor. On 8 July 1839, Huntington's wife Zina died in Nauvoo. In October 1840, Huntington was appointed a member of the Nauvoo Stake High Council. While at Nauvoo, he married Lucy Partridge, the widow of Edward Partridge. Huntington left Nauvoo on 9 February 1846. On 21 May 1846, Huntington was made the presiding authority of the church in Mount Pisgah, Iowa. His counselors were Ezra T. Benson and Charles C. Rich, both of whom would later be called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Huntington died on 19 August 1846.
Huntington's daughter Zina D. H. Young would later serve as president of the LDS Church's Relief Society. His son Dimick B. Huntington was a major figure in relations between the Mormon settlers and the Native Americans in Utah Territory [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Huntington_(Mormon)].

K
Sarah S. Granger Kimball (1818–1898) was a 19th-century advocate for women's rights and early leader in the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sarah S. Granger was a daughter of Oliver Granger and Lydia Dibble. She was born in Phelps, New York and joined the Church with the rest of her family in 1833 and then moved to Kirtland, Ohio. The initial meeting in preparation for the organization of the Relief Society was held in her home. Sarah married Hiram Kimball and they moved west with the Mormon pioneers, settling in Salt Lake City in 1851. Hiram died in 1863 after which Sarah taught school to support her family. She served as the general secretary of the Relief Society after it was reorganized under the leadership of Eliza R. Snow. Kimball also served as president of the Utah Women's Sufferage Association [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Granger_Kimball].

L
William Law (8 September 1809 – 5 August 1892) was an important figure in the early history of the Church, holding a position as counselor in the early church's First Presidency under Joseph Smith. After his excommunication from the Church in 1844, he founded the short lived True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They published the Nauvoo Expositor, a newspaper which outlined his contentions with Smith, including the then secret practice of polygamy. The reaction to the newspaper was not what Law expected, and on June 10, 1844 the printing press was ordered destroyed by the city council. That event led to the false imprisonment of the Prophet Joseph in June 1844 [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Law_(Latter_Day_Saints)].

Amasa M. Lyman (March 30, 1813 – February 4, 1877) was an early Church convert and an apostle. He was also a counselor in the First Presidency to Joseph Smith in Nauvoo. In August 1832, Joseph Smith told Lyman that "the Lord requires your labors in the vineyard." Lyman immediately agreed to serve a mission for the Church. On 23 August, Lyman was ordained an Elder by Smith and Frederick G. Williams. On the following day, Lyman and Zerubbabel Snow departed together as missionaries for the Church. Lyman served with Snow and William F. Cahoon in the Eastern States, preaching as far east as Cabell County, Virginia, in present-day West Virginia. During his missionary labors, on 11 December 1833, Lyman was ordained a High Priest by Lyman Johnson and Orson Pratt, the same elders who had taught and baptized him in 1832. Lyman returned to Church headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio in May 1835. At a Conference of the Church in June, Lyman was called by Joseph Smith to be a member of the newly-organized First Quorum of the Seventy; he was ordained a Seventy of the Church by Smith, Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon. Lyman served several additional missions for the Church, preaching in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Tennessee. In 1838, Lyman followed Smith to Far West, Missouri when Smith decided to relocate the headquarters of the Church there. Lyman was a participant in the Battle of Crooked River. In 1839, Lyman again traveled with the Saints to their new headquarters, at Nauvoo, Illinois. In 1841 Lyman was appointed regent of the newly organized University of Nauvoo. On 20 August 1842, Joseph Smith called Lyman to serve as an Apostle of the Church. Lyman filled a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that was created by the excommunication of Apostle Orson Pratt. Just five months later, on 20 January 1843, Pratt was rebaptized and restored to his former position in the Quorum of the Twelve. As the most junior and "thirteenth" Apostle, Lyman was excluded from the Quorum. On 4 February, Joseph Smith called Lyman to serve as an additional Counselor in the First Presidency. Due to the turbulence of the years 1843 and 1844 for the Latter Day Saints, Lyman was never sustained at a Conference of the Church to this position [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amasa_Lyman].

M
William Marks (November 15, 1792 – May 22, 1872) was a leader in the early days of the Church in Nauvoo, and was later a member of the First Presidency in the RLDS Church. When the Saints arrived in Commerce, Illinois in 1839, Marks was appointed as Stake President of Commerce (later Stake President of the Nauvoo Stake of Zion). He served in that position until 1844. He was also elected as a Nauvoo municipal alderman and as one of the regents of the University of the City of Nauvoo in February 1841, and was a founder of the Nauvoo Agricultural and Manufacturing Association. He was appointed by revelation (D&C 124) to contribute to and be on the Nauvoo House committee, and served as landlord of the Mansion House. As Stake President, he assisted in the laying of the corner stones of the Nauvoo Temple in April, 1841, and was a member of the Council of Fifty [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Marks_(Latter_Day_Saints)].

George Miller (November 25, 1794 – 1856) was a prominent convert of the Nauvoo era and was the third ordained bishop in the Church. On January 19, 1841, Joseph Smith received a revelation that stated that Miller should be made a member of the committee charged with organizing the construction of the Nauvoo House and be made bishop of Nauvoo. In 1843, Miller served a mission to Mississippi and Alabama with Peter Haws. He became a member of the Council of Fifty on 11 March 1844, and later that year was sent to Kentucky to campaign for the election of Joseph Smith to the office of President of the United States. [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Miller_(Latter_Day_Saints)].

P
John E. Page (February 25, 1799 – October 14, 1867) was called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in July 1838. Shortly thereafter, he moved his family to Missouri, settling in Far West in Caldwell County in October 1838. Life was difficult for the new Missouri settlers. Page left personal accounts of attacks by mobs of Missouri residents, both while with the wagon train and while residing in Far West. He noted that he ...buried one wife and two children's as martyrs to our holy religion, since they died through extreme suffering for the want of the common comforts of life [Roberts, History of the Church 3:241]. Page and fellow apostle Orson Hyde were called to travel and preach in the Holy Land and dedicate the land for the return of the Jews. He and Hyde started on their mission, but Page had a change of heart and never left the United States. In June, 1841 in Philadelphia, apostle George A. Smith sought him out and encouraged him to complete his preparations and sail with Hyde in two days time. Page refused to go. While in Philadelphia, Page became involved in a controversy with some of the Pennsylvanian saints which led to a directive from Hyrum Smith instructing him to return to Nauvoo, Illinois. After the death of Joseph Smith, Page made a claim to the leadership of the Church. The Church under the direction of Brigham Young rejected his claim, but retained him in his position with the Twelve. Page was then called to serve in the Council of Fifty to help plan and facilitate the Church's move to the Rocky Mountains. After urging the saints to follow James J. Strang as leader of the Church, Page was excommunicated on June 27, 1846. Ezra T. Benson was called by Young to replace him [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._Page].

Edward Partridge (August 27, 1793 – May 27, 1840) was an early Church leader in both Kirtland and Missouri (see previous blog postings), and the first person to hold the prominent position of Bishop and Presiding Bishop. Partridge died in 1840 at Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith commented that his death could be attributed to the stresses and persecutions accosted on him and other Mormon settlers in western Missouri in the 1830s. Patridge was the de facto Presiding Bishop of the Church from 1831 until his death. However, the term and formal position of Presiding Bishop of the Church did not come into common usage until after Partridge's death. Nevertheless, it is evident that Partridge was acknowledged (then and now) as a Churchwide authority [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Partridge].

R
Charles C. Rich (August 21, 1809 – November 17, 1883) was a leader in Caldwell County, Missouri and fought in the Battle of Crooked River. His log house is the only structure from the Mormon period in 1836–38 in Caldwell County, Missouri to have survived. After the expulsion of the Latter Day Saints from Missouri, Rich settled in Nauvoo, Illinois where he was made an original member of the Council of Fifty. He also served as a brigadier and major general in the Nauvoo Legion. After the death of Joseph Smith, Rich followed the leadership of Brigham Young and the surviving Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He and his family migrated to what became Utah with the main body of the church in 1847, leading a pioneer company that arrived October of that year. When Young and the other apostles returned that winter to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, Charles served as a counselor to John Smith, who presided over the early pioneers in the Great Salt Lake Valley. In October 1848 Rich was made the president of the Salt Lake Stake.
Brigham Young appointed Rich a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on 12 February 1849. Rich helped form a Latter-day Saint settlement in San Bernardino, California. In the early 1860s, Rich served as president of the British Mission of the church [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_C._Rich].

S
James Sloan (October 28, 1792 – October 24, 1886) was an official historian and recorder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a secretary to Joseph Smith, and one of the first settlers in Nauvoo, Illinois. In May 1843 Sloan traveled to Ireland as a missionary [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Sloan_(Latter_Day_Saints)].

Don Carlos Smith (March 25, 1816–August 7, 1841) was the youngest brother of Joseph Smith, and a leader, missionary, and periodical editor in the early days of the Church. Smith was the first editor of the Nauvoo, Illinois-based Latter Day Saint newspaper Times and Seasons. He was also active as an early missionary of the Latter Day Saint church. Smith participated in the ceremony of the laying of the cornerstones of the Kirtland Temple, and he was a member of the temple's construction crew. As a printer and editor, Smith was involved in the printing of the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, several editions of the Book of Mormon, and also served as the publisher and editor for the short-lived periodical Elders' Journal. On January 15, 1836, Smith was selected as the first president of the high priests quorum of the church, a position that is today referred to as a stake president. He represented the high priests of the church when the cornerstones were laid to the Nauvoo Temple in early 1841. Smith died in Nauvoo, Illinois of tuberculosis at the age of 25 [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Carlos_Smith].

Eliza R. Snow Young (January 21, 1804 – December 5, 1887) was one of the most celebrated Latter-day Saint women of the nineteenth century. A renowned poet, she chronicled history, celebrated nature and relationships, and expounded scripture and doctrine. While the Nauvoo Temple was under construction, Sarah Granger Kimball, wife of Hiram Kimball, one of the city’s wealthiest citizens, hired a seamstress named Margaret A. Cooke. Desiring to further the Lord’s work, Sarah donated cloth to make shirts for the men working on the temple, and Margaret agreed to do the sewing. Shortly thereafter, some of Sarah’s neighbors also desired to participate in the shirt making. The sisters met in the Kimball parlor and decided to formally organize. Eliza R. Snow was asked to write a constitution and bylaws for the new society. Eliza presented the completed document to the Prophet Joseph Smith, who declared it was the best constitution he had seen. But he felt impressed to enlarge the vision of the women concerning what they could accomplish. He asked the women to attend another meeting, where he organized them into the Nauvoo Female Relief Society. Emma Smith, the Prophet’s wife, became the society’s first president. Following the Nauvoo era, Eliza married Brigham Young, and was the second general president of the Relief Society of the Church from 1866 until her death in 1887 [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_R._Snow].

James J. Strang (March 21, 1813–July 9, 1856) was one of three major contenders for leadership of the Saints following the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1844. Rejected by the principal body of Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois, he became the founder and prophet of his own Church, claiming it to be the sole legitimate continuation of the Church of Christ founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith. In this capacity, he served as the crowned "king" of an ecclesiastical monarchy that existed for six years within the U.S. state of Michigan. Building an organization that eventually gained nearly 12,000 adherents prior to his murder in 1856, which brought down his Beaver Island kingdom and all but extinguished his sect [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Strang].

T
Robert B. Thompson (October 1, 1811 – August 27, 1841) was an associate of Joseph Smith, a Danite and Church leader in the Nauvoo era, and an official historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Thompson was a colonel and an aide-de-camp in the Nauvoo Legion. On May 1, 1841, he became an associate editor of the Times and Seasons newspaper. Due to the unhealthy conditions Thompson and chief editor Don Carlos Smith worked under in the offices of the Times and Seasons, both men died from tuberculosis in August 1841 [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_B._Thompson].

W
Lyman Wight (May 9, 1796 – March 31, 1858) was an early leader in the Church. He was the leader of the Latter Day Saints in Daviess County, Missouri in 1838. In 1841, he was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (see D&C 124). After the death of Joseph Smith, Wight led his own group of Latter Day Saints to Texas, where they created a settlement. While in Texas, Wight broke with Brigham Young. Wight was ordained president of his own church even constructing a temple and performing ordinances there such as an "endownment," but he later sided with the claims of William Smith and eventually of Joseph Smith III. After his death, most of the "Wightites" (as members of this church were called) joined with the RLDS [see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyman_Wight].