Part 4: 20 January–28 February 1843

After he was discharged from arrest in his extradition case and he returned to , Illinois, from , Illinois, JS felt safe from additional legal threats and poured his energy into grappling with and city business. Some of the matters demanding his attention pertained to members of the highest levels of church leadership. On 20 January, JS attended a meeting of the to discuss the case of , who had been dropped from the and “cut off from the Church” in August 1842. In the 20 January meeting, Pratt “repented in dust & ashes as it were for opposing Joseph & the Twelve” and expressed his desire “to return to the quorum.” JS then announced that the actions cutting off Pratt were invalid because only three of the were present when the action was taken. As a result of the meeting, Pratt and his wife, , were rebaptized and Orson was restored to his former position within the quorum. During this period, JS also attempted to effect a reconciliation with , his estranged counselor in the . In addition to dealing with these matters, JS addressed concerns about the Nauvoo ’s management of resources that church members had donated for the construction of the , the delayed progress on the temple and the , and the recovery of a book of patriarchal blessings that a dissenter from the church had stolen years earlier.

After spending months primarily in hiding, JS was now able to address the Latter-day Saints on a variety of topics in both public and private instruction. He delivered at least six discourses during this period, addressing both doctrinal and practical concerns. On 9 February, he privately instructed apostles and and others regarding the nature of angelic beings and how they could be distinguished from the devil appearing as an angel of light. In addition, JS published in the Times and Seasons a letter regarding the signs of the second coming of Jesus Christ as well as a lengthy poetic adaptation of an earlier vision.

Various city matters likewise occupied JS’s time throughout this period, including struggles related to the cash-poor economy of and the rest of as well as the means by which Nauvoo residents paid fees to the city. The city council, led by JS as mayor, passed a number of significant ordinances aimed at expanding the council’s power over economic and civic matters. On 6 February 1843, Nauvoo held its biennial municipal elections, in which voters cast ballots for mayor, aldermen, and city council members. JS had been serving as mayor since 19 May 1842, when he was appointed by the city council to fill that position following the resignation of . Running unopposed in 1843, JS received all the votes cast in the mayoral election. JS’s new two-year term began on 11 February, when he and the other newly elected city officials were sworn in.

JS remained heavily invested and involved in land transactions in and the surrounding area. For instance, he sought to expand his , located just east of Nauvoo, and he received a gift of land from land agent . JS also sought to procure land for the expansion of Latter-day Saint settlement in western . On 20 February, he purchased thirty-nine town lots in , Illinois, and quickly arranged for to supervise the new settlement.

Part 4 of this volume consists of thirty-three documents. In addition to the documents associated with the land purchases and the church and city business already described, this part includes documents pertaining to the sale and distribution of land in and to offers of land and ferry rights in several miles upriver from Nauvoo. It also features a representative sample of city ordinances passed during these months.