Nauvoo House Association

A corporation established in February 1841 to oversee the building of the Nauvoo House. A 19 January 1841 JS revelation included a commandment to construct a boardinghouse for visitors to Nauvoo that would also serve as a home for JS and his family. The association’s charter named four men—George Miller, Lyman Wight, John Snider, and Peter Haws—as trustees of the association. William Allred, Henry Miller, the Quorum of the Twelve, and others later assisted the trustees as stock agents. The Nauvoo House Association was responsible for managing construction of the Nauvoo House, selling stock to fund its construction, and employing laborers on the project. A single share of stock was worth fifty dollars, and shares were often used in place of currency in cash-poor Nauvoo. The association, along with the Nauvoo temple building committee, also jointly managed the church’s Wisconsin lumbering operation. In March 1844, JS directed that construction of the Nauvoo House be suspended to concentrate resources on completing the temple. Construction on the Nauvoo House resumed in April 1845 but ceased permanently that September. Although members of the association continued to pay off debts and disburse stock through early 1846, the building was never completed.