[Council of Fifty]
On February 1845, twenty-five members of the council convened from 11:00 a.m. to :30 p.m. in the Seventies Hall for the first meeting of the council since 31 May 1844. Brigham Young stated in his journal, "Had a councel with the fifty righted up & organized we droped a number of the members." According to the minutes, Young called this meeting to "know the brethrens minds whether we shall reorganize according to the rules in the beginning," to "know whether it is the minds of the council to fill up the places of those who are gone," and to learn if the council wished "that I should take the place of brother Joseph as chairman." Members present spoke on these issues in turn by age, though with slight deviation from the order in William Clayton's May 1844 list. Clayton summarized the meeting in his journal: "This is the first time we met since the massacre of President Joseph & Hyrum Smith. The council was reorganized and president B. Young appointed standing chairman as
successor to prest. Joseph Smith by unanimous vote. The vote was then taken in ancient order on each one present & all were received by unanimous vote.." The twenty-five members who were present were sustained as council members, as were fifteen members who were absent. Of these fifteen members, six were in Nauvoo or the surrounding area at the time of this council.4 It is unclear whether this meeting was hastily called, such that word did not reach all the members, or whether pressing business kept some of the men from attending.
Following the sustaining votes, eleven of the original council members were "rejected" and dropped from the council. Those rejected were the three non-Mormon members of the council; Sidney Rigdon and one of his followers; Lyman Wight and James Emmett, both of whom had led companies of church members out of Nauvoo against the instructions of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; and four other men whose loyalties to the Twelve as the leaders of the church were questioned. With the eleven men rejected and the earlier deaths of three council members—JS, Hyrum Smith, and John P. Greene—the council stood at forty members, including Willard Richards, the recorder; and Clayton, the clerk. Clayton wrote, "It was voted to fill up the council at some future time." Young's invitation for nominations to fill the vacancies produced eighteen names, but no new members were admitted at this time. ...
[Joseph Smith Papers: Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844-January 1846]
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