According to the map of Hibbard’s Second Addition to Nauvoo, lots 3 and 4 of blocks 3 and 4 and all four lots of block 11 were vacant. The city council eventually agreed to a bond with Hibbard to obtain lot 3 in block 4 for “the erection of public buildings” for $500. (Hancock Co., IL, Plat Books, 1836–1938, vol. 1, p. 52, “Hibard’s Second Addition to Nauvoo,” 2 May 1842, microfilm 954,774, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 12 Feb. 1844, 1; Corporation of the City of Nauvoo to Davidson Hibbard, Bond, Nauvoo, IL, Jan. 1844, draft, in Committee Reports, 1841–1844, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
Huntington, the sexton of the city cemetery, requested twenty-nine dollars for the interment of twelve individuals and for a coffin. (William D. Huntington, Claim, Nauvoo, IL, 20 Dec. 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; see also Woods, “Cemetery Record of William D. Huntington, Nauvoo Sexton,” 135–144.)
The Nauvoo Treasury credited Huntington the twenty-nine dollars on 26 December 1843. (Nauvoo City Treasury Ledger, 109.)
On 8 December, JS proposed the idea of petitioning Congress “to take the city under their protecti[o]n.” That day, the Nauvoo City Council created a committee consisting of John Taylor, Orson Spencer, and Orson Pratt to draft a memorial requesting federal assistance and protection. By 16 December, the committee prepared a draft, which was read to the Nauvoo City Council. Councilors suggested amendments, and JS stated: “We wished to ask the privilege of calling on U. S troops to protect us in our privileges, which is not unconstitutional,— but lays in the breast of congress.” JS and the council debated the constitutional merits of the memorial before referring it back to the committee for revision. (Historical Introduction to Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 16 Dec. 1843–12 Feb. 1844, p. 374 herein.)
The council added the following language to the memorial to create section 4: “And be it further ordained, that, for all services rendered in quelling Mobs, and preserving the public peace, the said Nauvoo Legion shall be under the same regulations, rules, and laws of pay as the troops of the United States.” (Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 16 Dec. 1843–12 Feb. 1844, p. 393 herein.)