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Introduction to the Trustee Land Records

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In January 1841, as part of the effort to legally incorporate the in , JS was elected “sole Trustee in Trust for the Church.” As trustee, JS was responsible for the church’s finances, including assets such as property purchased by or for the church or donated to the church, as well as and donations for the .
When the Latter-day Saints began to settle in and in 1839, JS, the , and several designated agents purchased and then privately held land for the . These properties were purchased to provide homes for the Saints after they had been driven out of . After becoming trustee, JS sought to consolidate the land purchased on behalf of the church, ensuring the property was transferred to him as trustee-in-trust. The deeds for these transfers are represented here. This consolidation of church lands led to the creation of several deeds in which JS was both the grantor and the grantee, as land held by the First Presidency or land held privately by JS and was transferred and deeded to JS as trustee for the church.
JS’s desire to consolidate land and thus ensure it would be held and controlled for the church by him as trustee was understandable, however, this consolidation exceeded the limits established by laws for church trustees. It is not clear if JS was aware of these limitations, which restricted the amount of land a church trustee could hold to forty-five acres. The transfer of land purchased in 1839 along with land acquired through other transactions led to JS holding thousands of acres as church trustee. The land JS held as trustee and was responsible for also included land that was given to the church as tithing. These church-owned lands were available for purchase, and by 1842, JS had assigned the work of managing the property of the church, including selling land, to his scribe and financial clerk . After JS’s death in June 1844, Clayton served as a temporary trustee for the church, until new trustees, and , were elected in August 1844.
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Editorial Title
Introduction to the Trustee Land Records
ID #
21239
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
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    Footnotes

    1. [1]

      Appointment as Trustee, 2 Feb. 1841; Introduction to the Trustee Records.

    2. [2]

      Introduction to Illinois Land Transactions; Introduction to Iowa Land Transactions.

    3. [3]

      See, for example, Historical Introduction to Bond from First Presidency, 4 Jan. 1842; and Historical Introduction to Deed to Emma Smith, 13 June 1842.

    4. [4]

      An Act concerning Religious Societies [6 Feb. 1835], Laws of the State of Illinois (1834–1835), pp. 147–149.; An Act to Amend “An Act in relation to Religious Societies” [2 Mar. 1839], Laws of the State of Illinois (1838–1839), p. 267, secs. 1–2.. The prescribed powers and responsibilities included in the 1835 law and its amendments were designed for the needs of an average Protestant congregation and thus allowed religious organizations to hold five acres for a meetinghouse and forty acres for outdoor camp-meeting grounds. This model did not fit well with JS’s plans for centralized growth and development, in which church leaders held the properties and assets of the church. (Oman, “‘Established Agreeable to the Laws of our Country,’” 202–229.)

      Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835. Vandalia, IL: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835.

      Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Eleventh General Assembly at Their Session Began and Held at Vandalia, on the Third of December, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1839.

      Oman, Nathan B. “‘Established Agreeable to the Laws of Our Country’: Mormonism, Church Corporations, and the Long Legacy of America’s First Disestablishment.” Journal of Law and Religion 36, no. 2 (August 2021): 202–229.

    5. [5]

      Historical Introduction to Trustees Land Book B, 4 Aug. 1842–8 Dec. 1845; Clayton, Journal, 17–18 Mar. 1843.

      Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    6. [6]

      Clayton, Journal, 7 July 1844; Newel K. Whitney and George Miller, Appointment as Trustees, 12 Aug. 1844, Nauvoo Trustees Papers, 1844–1848, CHL; Richards, Journal, 9 Aug. 1844.

      Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

      Nauvoo Trustees Papers, 1844–1848. CHL.

      Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

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