On the day before this council meeting, George A. Smith recorded, “We received a letter from Governor Thos. Ford on the subject of our charter. He give his opinion the Act of Repeal is constitutional and if we appeal to the Supreme Court it will be sustained.” (George A. Smith, Autobiography, 17 Mar. 1845, 49.)

Smith, George Albert, Autobiography / “History of George Albert Smith by Himself,” ca. 1857–1875. Draft. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL.

Noah Rogers, Benjamin F. Grouard, and Addison Pratt were appointed by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in May 1843 to preach in the Pacific Islands. Two letters from Rogers and another from Grouard were printed in the 15 March 1845 issue of the Times and Seasons. Grouard’s letter reported on an ongoing conflict between the French settlers and the native Tahitians, Pratt’s successful missionary labors, and his own limited success in baptizing “only four white persons.” Nevertheless, Grouard predicted that once the hostilities calmed down, “we shall not be able to answer one of twenty calls on this Island, let alone the surrounding ones.” At least one of Rogers’s letters was read in the previous council meeting. (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 23 May 1843; “From the Society Islands,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1845, 6:835–838; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 11 Mar. 1845.)

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.

Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

No additional missionaries were sent to the Pacific in 1845.