Estimates of the total cost of building the temple have generally ranged from $500,000 to $1,000,000; contemporaneous visitors estimated the price as around $800,000. The actual cost of the temple may have been much lower. When the church tried to sell the temple in 1846, the asking price was $200,000. Supposing that the asking price was intended to recoup at least a majority of the temple’s cost, JS’s estimate in this interview may have been an accurate assessment of the church’s financial investment in the building. (“Temple at Nauvoo,” Sun [New York City], 12 Sept. 1845, [2]; Pratt, Autobiography, 377; “The Nauvoo Temple,” Historical Record, June 1889, 8:872; McBride, House for the Most High, 338, 395.)

Sun. New York City. 1835–1848.

Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.

The Historical Record, a Monthly Periodical, Devoted Exclusively to Historical, Biographical, Chronological and Statistical Matters. Salt Lake City. 1882–1890.

McBride, Matthew. A House for the Most High: The Story of the Original Nauvoo Temple. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007.

Joseph Fielding listed the temple’s dimensions as being “128 feet in length and 88 in breadth, and . . . 150 feet in height.” Although archeologists have discovered slight variations in the dimensions of the foundation, they suggest that 128 feet by 88 feet is the most accurate measurement. Archaeological estimates suggest that the temple’s height measured approximately 160 feet. Comparatively, most urban buildings in America at the time were confined to four or five stories at their tallest. For example, the Planters’ House Hotel had recently opened in St. Louis and, at approximately 70 feet tall, was one of the tallest buildings in the city; the Old St. Louis Cathedral, completed in 1834, measured 136 feet by 84 feet and stood approximately 95 feet high. (Joseph Fielding, “Joseph Fielding’s Letter,” Millennial Star, Aug. 1842, 3:78; Harrington and Harrington, Rediscovery of the Nauvoo Temple, 3, 17; Roth, American Architecture, 191; Hodes, Rising on the River, 334–335, 459; “The Planter’s House,” Daily Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 30 Mar. 1841, [2]; Whiffen and Koeper, American Architecture, 161, 164; Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, 1:533.)

Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

Harrington, Virginia S., and James Chipman Harrington. Rediscovery of the Nauvoo Temple: Report on the Archaeological Excavations. Salt Lake City: Nauvoo Restoration, Inc., 1971.

Roth, Leland M. American Architecture: A History. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2001.

Hodes, Frederick A. Rising on the River: St. Louis, 1822 to 1850, Explosive Growth from Town to City. Tooele, UT: Patrice Press, 2009.

Daily Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1869.

Whiffen, Marcus, and Frederick Koeper. American Architecture, 1607–1976. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1981.

Conard, Howard L., ed. Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, a Compendium of History and Biography for Ready Reference. 6 vols. New York: Southern History, 1901.

Joseph Fielding reported in January 1842 that the temple walls were “not yet quite up to the floor of the building.” William Clayton similarly stated that by the end of 1841, “the walls on the south side of Temple were built up to the water Table and a part of the water Table was also laid. On the North side the walls were only about two feet high.” (Joseph Fielding, “Joseph Fielding’s Letter,” Millennial Star, Aug. 1842, 3:78; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 4–5, 13–14.)

Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

Throughout 1841 numerous newspaper reports discussed JS’s involvement in military, political, and economic matters in Nauvoo. One paper claimed that JS was using the Nauvoo Legion to prepare to retake the Saints’ Missouri properties. Such rumors led some to conclude that JS wanted “to organize a military church,” while other papers stated that JS would “yet be ahead of Mahomet with his military religion.” Other newspapers declared that JS claimed to have had a revelation dictating how Latter-day Saints were to vote in elections. Still others asserted that JS was a swindler who manipulated converts out of their money and property. (“The Mormons,” Middlebury [VT] People’s Press, 30 Nov. 1841, [2]; “More Mormon Troubles,” New-York Tribune, 5 Oct. 1841, [2]; News Item, Detroit [MI] Free Press, 17 Nov. 1841, [2]; “The Mormons,” Vermont Telegraph [Brandon], 22 Dec. 1841, 55; “Extraordinary Impositions of the ‘Latter Day Saints,’” Saturday Courier [Philadelphia], 10 July 1841, [2].)

Middlebury People’s Press. Middlebury, VT. 1841–1843.

New-York Tribune. New York City. 1841–1842.

Detroit Free Press. Detroit. 1837–1841.

Vermont Telegraph. Brandon. 1828–1843.

Saturday Courier. Philadelphia. 1841–1848.

See Ecclesiastes 7:7.

JS frequently deflected questions regarding his personal piety in this way, maintaining that he “was nothing but a man” and that the Saints must “not expect him to be perfect.” He explained that “many think a propht must be a gre[a]t deal better than any body else,” but he urged the Saints not to think this way. (JS, Journal, 6 Nov. 1835; JS, Journal, 29 Oct. 1842; see also JS, Journal, 21 May 1843.)

By 1840, JS had acquired at least 667 acres of land. (Introduction to Part 4: 24 Apr.–12 Aug. 1839.)

In discussing the immigration of British Saints, some eastern United States newspapers wrote that the converts believed they were “coming over to this country, to live, as they suppose, very comfortably on JOE SMITH’S large farm,” suggesting that at least some may have believed land would be provided for them when they arrived in Nauvoo. Perhaps operating under this belief, one family returned to England disillusioned and reported that JS and other church leaders had tried to persuade emigrants to purchase “large plots of land” from them. When Nauvoo was established, most of the church’s lands had been purchased in JS’s name and then gradually sold to members of the church. JS and other leaders spent much of 1841 attempting to obtain funds to make the required payments on these lands. Because of the misconception that the church had promised to give lands to immigrating Saints, some interpreted the efforts to sell lands as a fraudulent scheme to get money from the Saints gathering to Nauvoo. (News Item, Sunbury [PA] American and Shamokin Journal, 11 Sept. 1841, [2]; “Mormonism,” New-York Spectator, 8 Sept. 1841, [1]; Historical Introduction to Agreement with George W. Robinson, 30 Apr. 1839; Historical Introduction to Bond from Horace Hotchkiss, 12 Aug. 1839–A; Letter from John M. Bernhisel, 12 July 1841; Authorization for Hyrum Smith and Isaac Galland, 15 Feb. 1841; Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 24 July 1841; Letter from Smith Tuttle, ca. 15 Sept. 1841; “The ‘Latter-day Saint’ Swindle,” Preston [England] Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser, 18 Sept. 1841, [4].)

Sunbury American and Shamokin Journal. Sunbury, PA. 1840–1848.

New-York Spectator. New York City. 1804–1867.

Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser. Preston, England. 1831–1893.

JS was elected a councilor in the Nauvoo City Council in February 1841. Shortly thereafter, Thomas Carlin commissioned JS as lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion. (“Municipal Election,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1841, 2:309; Commission from Thomas Carlin, 10 Mar. 1841.)

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

In April 1841 the Quincy Whig estimated that the Nauvoo Legion consisted of approximately 650 men. At the end of December 1841, the Times and Seasons reported that the Legion comprised “1490 . . . pretty well disciplined troops.” (“Proceedings at Nauvoo,” Quincy [IL] Whig, 24 Apr. 1841, [2]; “Nauvoo Legion,” Times and Seasons, 1 Jan. 1842, 3:654.)

Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

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

The Nauvoo charter made the Nauvoo Legion available to the governor “for the public defence, and the execution of the laws of the State or of the United States.” (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)

The early minutes of the Nauvoo Legion suggest that some members of the militia were reluctant to attend the legion’s courts-martial. In March 1841, in an effort to resolve the problem, JS “ordered that no one be permitted to leave the company . . . without notifying his Captain and receiving his permission.” Later that month, JS “ordered that a fine of 25 dollars, and imprisonment if necessary, be assessed against all persons refusing to obey orders.” (“Record of the ‘Nauvoo Legion,’” 4–5, Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL.)

Record of the Nauvoo Legion. Nauvoo Legion, Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430.

While military dress was apparently common apparel in Nauvoo in 1841, the uniforms were generally mismatching, with members of the legion wearing whatever uniforms they could afford. In a September 1843 description of the legion, Nauvoo resident Charlotte Haven wrote that “every officer and private consulted his own individual taste” so that “no two [uniforms] were alike.” (“The Mormons,” Jeffersonian Republican [Stroudsburg, PA], 11 Aug. 1841, [1]; Charlotte Haven, Nauvoo, IL, to “Dear Friends at Home,” 8 Sept. 1843, in “A Girl’s Letters from Nauvoo,” 636; see also Allaman, “Uniforms and Equipment of the Black Hawk War and the Mormon War,” 5–18; and Leonard, “Picturing the Nauvoo Legion,” 95–135.)

Jeffersonian Republican. Jefferson City, MO. 1831–1844.

Haven, Charlotte. “A Girl’s Letters from Nauvoo.” Overland Monthly 16, no. 96 (Dec. 1890): 616–638.

Allaman, John Lee. “Uniforms and Equipment of the Black Hawk War and the Mormon War.” Western Illinois Regional Studies 13, no. 1 (Spring 1990): 5–18.

Leonard, Glen M. “Picturing the Nauvoo Legion.” BYU Studies 35, no. 2 (1995): 95–135.

Among the first ordinances passed by the Nauvoo City Council was an act intended to limit the operation of taverns by prohibiting the sale of liquor in small quantities. On 23 October 1841, JS introduced a resolution to the Nauvoo City Council that “a certain House near the Temple & other Old Houses on Kimbles Ground, be deemed Nuisances.” Nauvoo mayor John C. Bennett charged that the house in question was “infringing upon the Laws, by Selling Spirituous Liquors,” and the council adopted a resolution to remove the house by 25 October, with “other Houses” to be removed a week later. On 30 October 1841, Bennett ordered two companies of the Nauvoo Legion to remove a grog shop owned by Pulaski Cahoon. (Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 15 Feb. 1841, 5; 23 and 30 Oct. 1841, 25, 26–27, 30; JS History, vol. C-1, 1242.)

Extant records do not reveal that JS was involved in any physical altercations surrounding the destruction of Pulaski Cahoon’s grog shop. However, Cahoon did file a complaint regarding the incident with the Nauvoo City Council two days after his shop was destroyed. In his petition, Cahoon requested that the city reimburse him $125 for the loss of his establishment. JS and others opposed any such payment on the grounds that the shop had constituted a public nuisance. (Pulaski Cahoon, Petition, Hancock Co., IL, to the Nauvoo City Council, 1 Nov. 1841, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 1 Nov. 1841, 30–31, 33–34.)

See Isaiah 52:8.

It is possible the interviewer misunderstood or misquoted JS’s response to the interviewer’s statements about prophecy. JS had made earlier statements that largely accorded with the view of prophecy expressed by the interviewer. While JS frequently used the term to speak of coming events, his definition of prophecy was not limited to the idea of foretelling. When asked in 1838 whether Latter-day Saints believed JS to be a prophet, JS responded, “Yes, and every other man who has the testimony of Jesus. ‘For the testimony of Jesus, is the spirit of prophecy.’— Rev. 19: 10.” A year later, JS further explained his expansive view of the term, stating, “No man is a minister of Jesus Christ. without being a Prophet. No man can be the minister of Jesus Christ, except he has the testimony of Jesus & this is the Spirit of Prophesy. Whenever Sa[l]vation has been administered it has been by Testimony.” (Questions and Answers, 8 May 1838; Discourse, between ca. 26 June and ca. 4 Aug. 1839–A.)

This statement was likely inserted by the editor of the Daily Missouri Republican rather than the letter writer.