Nauvoo Legion Minute Book, [ca. 8 Dec. 1843]–20 Oct. 1844; handwriting of ; 82 pages; Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL. Includes tables, redactions, and archival markings.
Medium-size ledger book measuring 12¾ × 8½ × 1½ inches (32 × 22 × 4 cm). The paper measures 12⅜ × 7¾ inches (31 × 20 cm) and is ruled horizontally with one blue double line and thirty-four single blue lines and vertically with four single red lines and one red double line, demarcating columns. The book contains 180 extant leaves, including one unruled front flyleaf and two unruled back flyleaves. The first eleven ruled leaves compose a tabbed index. The final tabbed leaf was later torn out, along with an unknown number of additional leaves, presumably ten, as the first extant ruled leaf is hand paginated 21. The second front flyleaf was also torn out of the volume. The gatherings were sewn all along. Shell marbled papers, with a blue and black body and red veins, are glued to the inside covers of the boards and to the exterior page of each endpaper. The text block is bound in ledger style to the boards. The boards and spine are covered in brown suede. The front and rear boards are embossed along the edges with vegetal designs. The spine was constructed with four false raised bands demarcating five panels. The second panel, which was painted red, has the word “LEDGER” stamped in gold leaf. The two bands and two panels below the red panel were painted black. Paper labels are glued to the third and fifth panels. The label on the third panel has a handwritten title: “Nauvoo | Legion Min. | 1841–4.” in black ink on lined white paper. There is an archival label glued to the fifth panel that was apparently added later and includes an identification number handwritten in black ink. There is also an archival label affixed to the marbled pastedown on the inside of the front board with archival markings in ink and in graphite.
The first inscription in the book is the headers “Woods” and “Cr.” above two columns on the first extant ruled page following the tabbed index pages, suggesting that the book was originally intended to be an account book. This use was aborted, as evidenced by the removal of the second front flyleaf—which may have contained a title page—as well as the final “XYZ” tabbed index page and the additional ten leaves that would have been paginated 1 through 20. Additionally, none of the extant index pages include any inscription.
began inscribing the Nauvoo Legion minutes on the first leaf following the “Woods” account page, beginning pagination anew with the number 1. He apparently added pagination as he inscribed each page, as both the minutes and pagination terminate on page 82. The remaining 124 ruled leaves in the volume are blank.
Before inscribing the minutes of the ’s meetings—which began on 4 February 1841 and were designated as courts-martial—into the volume, first inscribed in the book section 25 of “An Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo,” which was passed by the legislature in December 1840 and provided the legal authority to create the Nauvoo Legion as an independent body of the state militia, and the City Council’s 3 February 1841 “ordinance organizing the ‘Nauvoo Legion.’” On page 9, following minutes of a court-martial dated 9 March 1841, Stout wrote a note stating that the original drafts of all minutes following 9 March 1841 and prior to 12 March 1842 were missing. Stout speculated that , former major general in the legion and Nauvoo’s first mayor, took the minutes with him when he was cashiered from the legion and left Nauvoo. Stout dated this note 8 December 1843. It is possible that he inscribed all the text in the book previous to this note on or shortly before 8 December 1843. The minutes continue sporadically until 20 October 1844. Changes in ink density suggest that the 1844 minutes were kept roughly contemporaneously.
The volume was likely included in the “Nauvoo Legion papers” listed in an inventory produced by the Church Historian’s Office (now CHL) in 1846, when they were packed up with church records that were taken to the Salt Lake Valley. The archival labels and markings indicate continuous institutional custody.
in any wise appertain or belong to their respective stations.
Sec. 67 That all commissioned staff officers shall be tried agreeably to the provisions of this act, by a Court Martial detailed by their respective superior officers as in other cases.
Sec. 68. That there be three hundred copies of this law printed, under the directions of the Major General and deposited in the hands of the Paymaster General to be sold by the direction of the Major and Lieutenant Generals.
Sec. 69.
That all laws and parts of laws heretofore passed, and not embraced in this act, are hereby repealed.
Sec. 70 This act to be in force from and after its passage
Resolved That Major be and is hereby appointed to prepare the “Revized Laws of the ” for the press.
Resolved That the Resolution apointing Collector for the Legion passed May the 20th and also the Resolutions to build an Arsnal, and apointing Col Agent to Superintend the building the Arsnal, the one authorizing the Collector of fines to take property &c for fines, and also the one organizing the Fifth Regiment 2nd Cohort, <passed June 12th> are not repealed by the passage of the “Revized Laws”
Resolved That the Committee of Revizion be paid for their services out of the first money in the treasurey.
Resolved That the Committee of Revision be continued and that they be authorized to add to the “Revized laws” as they may deem proper untill the printing of the same
Resolved That this Court Martial adjourn untill the next regular law day by the provisions of the “Revized Law” the third Saturday in October (the 21st) next at ten o’clock A. M.
President of the Court Martial.
Attest Secretary of the Court.
July 13th 1843.
I do hereby approve of the above Laws.
Joseph Smith Lieutenant General Nauvoo Legion. [p. 65]