On 18 March 1845 Brigham Young directed Turley to “go to work and make fifteen shooters and Bowie Knives.” (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 18 Mar. 1845.)

Phelps wrote this hymn for the capstone ceremony of the Nauvoo temple, which took place two weeks later on 24 May 1845. The hymn briefly reviewed the persecutions of church members in Missouri and Illinois, as well as the actions of several dissenters, particularly Sidney Rigdon. The lyrics pledged that despite these difficulties church members would “uphold the Twelve apostles, / With authority from God” and that by finishing the Nauvoo temple they would “make Nauvoo as Eden, / Where the saints can meet the Lord.” The chorus read: “We are a band of brethren, / And we’ve rear’d the Lord a temple, / And the cap stone now is finish’d, / And we’ll sound the news abroad.” (“The Capstone of the Temple,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 28 May 1845, [2]; William W. Phelps, “The Cap Stone,” Times and Seasons, 1 Aug. 1845, 6:991.)

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

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