Granger purchased property in lots 1 and 2 of block 13 and lots 2 and 3 of block 14 in Commerce sometime in 1840. He and his wife, Lydia Dibble Granger, deeded this land to JS on 25 April 1840. Granger’s residence may have been on this land. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Book Records, 1817–1917, vol. H, pp. 409–410, 25 Apr. 1840, microfilm 954,598, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

Alexander, who was baptized in August 1836 in Tennessee, had been appointed as clerk of the high council sometime before this meeting. It is unknown exactly when he received this assignment because the minutes of the meeting in which he was appointed were lost. (Woodruff, Journal, 23 July 1836, 20 Aug. 1836; Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 30.)

Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.

Just two days before, JS told the high council in Montrose that “no person ought to be brought to account before the constituted authorities of the Church for any offence whatever” until Congress made a decision on the Saints’ petition for redress. Despite this instruction, JS may have brought forward the charge against Rogers because Rogers’s case had been pending since October 1839, when a general conference of the church referred it to the high council. (Minutes and Discourse, 6 Mar. 1840; Minutes and Discourses, 5–7 Oct. 1839.)

As members of the church presidency in Missouri, Whitmer and William W. Phelps—without consulting the Missouri bishopric or the Missouri high council—had purchased the town plot for Far West using funds donated by church members “for the benefit of Poor bleeding zion.” After being called before the high council, Phelps and Whitmer agreed to transfer the Far West town plot to Partridge in April 1837. However, both Phelps and Whitmer had pledged to pay $1,000 each toward the construction of a temple at Far West, and they planned to use the proceeds of the sale of lots in Far West to fulfill that commitment. With the land now transferred to Partridge, proceeds from sales would not go to Phelps and Whitmer personally, meaning that they would not have the $2,000 necessary to cover the already pledged temple donation. Recognizing this, the high council in Missouri resolved in April 1837 to consider Phelps and Whitmer “exempt from paying” the temple subscription. Nevertheless, the two got Partridge to agree to pay the $2,000 they had pledged for the temple and made the agreement enforceable through a mortgage. Phelps and Whitmer insisted Partridge make this payment for them, and the problems over the $2,000 pledge contributed to their excommunication from the church in 1838. In April 1838, the high council in Missouri instructed Partridge not to pay the mortgage. Phelps assigned his portion of the mortgage to Whitmer in August 1838. (Letter to Wilford Woodruff, ca. 18 June 1838, underlining in original; Minute Book 2, 5–7 Apr. 1837 and 10 Mar. 1838; Minutes, 21 Apr. 1838; see also [John Whitmer], Far West, MO, to Edward Partridge, 20 Mar. 1840, copy, John Whitmer Family Papers, 1837–1912, CHL.)

John Whitmer Family Papers, 1837–1912. CHL.

Partridge communicated this decision to Whitmer, after which Whitmer informed Partridge that he would sue him for the mortgage. ([John Whitmer], Far West, MO, to Edward Partridge, 20 Mar. 1840, copy, John Whitmer Family Papers, 1837–1912, CHL.)

John Whitmer Family Papers, 1837–1912. CHL.