Footnotes
See the full bibliographic entry for Nauvoo House Association, Agreement and Specifications, 26 Apr. 1841, in the CHL catalog.
Footnotes
“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841, copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, CHL. This was not the first time church members considered the construction of a boardinghouse. A January 1832 letter from Oliver Cowdery revealed that Missouri church leaders had instructed Bishop Edward Partridge “to establish a house of entertainment i[n] the Town of Independence to accommodate the traveling Elders of this Church and other brethren whose circumstance may require.” (Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 28 Jan. 1832.)
“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841. Copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull. CHL. MS 15558.
Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:22–23, 62]. Miller, Wight, Snider, and Haws later became the legal trustees for the Nauvoo House Association. (“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841, copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, CHL.)
“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841. Copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull. CHL. MS 15558.
In the church conference meeting held on 7 April 1841, JS explained the two central building projects in Nauvoo: the temple, as “a suitable place for worshiping the Almighty, and also the building of the Nauvoo Boarding House, that suitable accomodations might be afforded for the strangers who might visit this city.” (Minutes, 7–11 Apr. 1841.)
Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:56].
“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841, copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, CHL. JS’s 19 January 1841 revelation was the basis for the act of incorporation and provided direction on how and by whom the work was to be financed. Much of the language for the incorporation act echoed the text of the revelation. (Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124]. For more on the selling of stock by the Nauvoo House Association, see Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 February 1841; and Revelation, 20 Mar. 1841.)
“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841. Copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull. CHL. MS 15558.
“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841, copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, CHL.
“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841. Copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull. CHL. MS 15558.
“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841, copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, CHL.
“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841. Copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull. CHL. MS 15558.
The act of incorporation stated that this lot was the “south half of lot numbered fifty six.” The act’s designation of Nauvoo block 56 was likely erroneous, however, as the structure was built from the outset on block 156, on the south end of Main Street at the city’s southern wharf. (“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841, copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull, CHL; Smith, “Symbol of Mormonism,” 117.)
“An Act to Incorporate the Nauvoo House Association,” 23 Feb. 1841. Copies certified by Stephen A. Douglas and Lyman Trumbull. CHL. MS 15558.
Smith, Alex D. “Symbol of Mormonism: The Nauvoo Boarding House.” John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 35, no. 2 (Fall/Winter 2015): 109–136.
Written specifications for the dimensions of the structure were as follows: “The River front 120 ft St front 120 ft Width 40 ft five Storys in highth including basement the basement Story stone the 4 remaining storys Brick built after Grecian Doric order,” which is a classical architectural style popular between 750 and 480 BC, featuring a simple column structure, visible in the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. The specifications also called for shops and offices on the ground floor on the riverfront side of the five-story structure, as well as elegant parlors, a dining room, and rooms for visitors to stay on the floors above. The specifications, written in the hand of Lucien Woodworth, the original designer of the structure, were supplied in an enclosure to this agreement. There is no extant draft plan of the Nauvoo House with these specifications. Later architectural plans, drawn by William Weeks in 1845, are extant and drawn to different specifications. (Lucien Woodworth, Description of Nauvoo House, ca. 26 Apr. 1841, in Nauvoo House Association, Agreement and Specifications, 26 Apr. 1841, CHL; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 22 Mar. 1845; Weeks, Nauvoo House Architectural Drawings, 1845; Smith, “Symbol of Mormonism,” 118–120.)
Nauvoo House Association. Agreement and Specifications, 26 Apr. 1841. CHL.
Weeks, William. Nauvoo House Architectural Drawings, 1845. Architect’s Office, Nauvoo House, 1845. CHL.
Smith, Alex D. “Symbol of Mormonism: The Nauvoo Boarding House.” John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 35, no. 2 (Fall/Winter 2015): 109–136.