History

Nauvoo -The City Beautiful

When the Smith family and the Latter Day Saints arrived in Commerce, now Nauvoo, in the spring of 1839 most of the land was covered in trees and bushes so wet that a man on foot could barely make it through. Not more than six or seven buildings were standing. The Smith family moved into an existing two room log house on the riverfront now known as the Homestead.

Once the water from the river bluffs was diverted, the city plan for Nauvoo was 4 acre blocks with four one acre lots per block. Each family could buy an acre, build a house and outbuildings, and have room for chickens, a milk cow, a garden and fruit trees. Crops were to be grown on farms out on the prairie east of town.

This plan was overwhelmed by gathering converts, many from the British Isles. The “flats” were soon covered with 1200 log cabins, 300 to 500 timber frame homes, and 200 to 300 brick houses. Nauvoo would grow to over 11,000 at its height in 1844, second in size only to Chicago in 1840s Illinois.

The new city was granted a liberal charter, which made it virtually an autonomous state with power to pass any laws not in direct conflict with state and federal constitutions. The Nauvoo Legion, a unit of the state militia was organized. A newspaper, Times and Seasons began publication. In the spring of 1841 direction was given for a Temple to be built in Nauvoo as well as the Nauvoo House as a place of rest for the weary traveler. Construction began in earnest on both projects.

By 1844 Joseph Smith was running for President of the United States and dissension in the church reached a fever pitch. The Nauvoo Expositor published views contrary to the leadership of the church and the city council declared it a nuisance and the press was destroyed. The publishers reacted by filing a complaint against Joseph and his brother Hyrum and other members of the city council. Joseph and Hyrum voluntarily went to the county seat of Carthage Illinois to answer the charges and while being held at the jail, a mob stormed the building and assassinated the two brothers on June 27, 1844.

After the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum the church split in to many different groups, the largest being those that followed Brigham Young to the West. Emma Smith chose to stay in Nauvoo and raise their family. Emma would live until 1879 in the Smith homes along the banks of the Mississippi river.

At the time of his father’s death, Joseph Smith III, the oldest surviving son was 11 years old. Smith designated his son to be his successor by a prayer of blessing in the spring of 1844. After working the family farm, studying law and being elected Justice of the Peace, Joseph III, guided by the holy spirit, decided to address a gathering of church members in Amboy, IL in 1860. He was ordained president of the church which became known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, today known as “Community of Christ.”