Tag Archives: Nauvoo
Wednesday’s Book Review: “The Nauvoo City and High Council Minutes”
The Nauvoo City and High Council Minutes. Edited by John S. Dinger. Foreword by Morris A. Thurston. Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2011. Preface, introduction, city and stake councilmen, appendices, index. Hardcover with dustjacket. ISBN: 978-1-56085-214-8. $49.95. Nauvoo, Illinois, in … Continue reading
An Iowa Sheriff Comments on the Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois
In 1995 I published with John E. Hallwas a documentary history about the Mormon experience in Illinois in the 1840s. The book, Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois (Utah State University Press). In this book … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “More Wives Than One: Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 1840-1910″
More Wives Than One: Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 1840-1910. By Kathryn M. Daynes. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001). 305 pp. $34.95. Plural marriage was by far Joseph Smith’s most controversial doctrine. The Mormon founder began the practice … Continue reading
Mormon Nauvoo and the Problem of Theft of Non-Mormon Property
Shortly after the Mormons arrived in Illinois in 1839 and founded the city of Nauvoo, and before much political antagonism had developed residents in some townships noted a significant increase in theft. Livestock, food, clothes, and other items were taken, … Continue reading
What Were the Origins of Mormon/Non-Mormon Conflict in 1840s Nauvoo?
The non-Mormons of Hancock County, Illinois, in the early 1840s probably disliked the Mormons from the first, in the same way that most Americans have generally disliked what they have viewed as religious fanaticism, but they were initially disposed toward toleration … Continue reading
Fawn Brodie and Interpretations of the Origins of Mormon Polyamy?
The place of plural marriage in the early history of the Mormon church has been an important topic of analysis for historians since it first appeared in Nauvoo, Illinois, in the 1840s. It has also been one of the most contentious … Continue reading
Joseph Smith Jr., Mormonism, and Baptism for the Dead
With all of the discussion of late of Mitt Romney’s Mormonism and the revelation that his church had performed for Anne Frank and others postuous baptisms in Mormonism, I thought it appropriate to comment on its origins. This rite is practiced … Continue reading
Notes on an Important Book: “The Nauvoo Legion in Illinois”
The Nauvoo Legion in Illinois: A History of the Mormon Militia, 1841-1846. By Richard E. Bennett, Susan Easton Black, and Donald Q. Cannon. Norman, OK: The Arthur H. Clark Company, An imprint of the University of Oklahoma Press, 2010. 436 … Continue reading
Notes on an Important Book: “Nauvoo Polygamy: ‘but we called it celestial marriage’”
Nauvoo Polygamy: “but we called it celestial marriage.” By George D. Smith. Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2008. Introduction, photographs, appendices, footnotes, bibliography, index. ix + 705 pp. ISBN: 978-1-56085-201-8. Hardcover with dustjacket. $39.95. Plural marriage, or polygamy, among … Continue reading
Mormon Nauvoo in the Context of Post-Colonial Studies
To an extent underappreciated by historians, the Mormon experience in Nauvoo between 1839 and 1846 represents an expression of colonialism and its antithesis. The field of post-colonial studies has been gaining prominence since the 1970s. While historians and others debate the … Continue reading
