The Rise and Fall of Old Nauvoo

On the first Wednesday of each month, Toronto Congregation hosts a series of lectures and discussions on church history, theology, philosophy, scripture study and the like. Join us Wednesday, October 2, at 7:30 pm, when John Hamer’s visual history of the Restoration will continue with Part 3: The Rise and Fall of Old Nauvoo (1839–44). Combining dozens of original maps and diagrams with historic images, this visual history brings the old story into new perspective. Everyone is welcome to attend. Please bring your friends along. Simple refreshments will be provided.

Painting of Old Nauvoo by David Hyrum Smith, son of Joseph and Emma Smith.

“A Visual History of the Restoration, Part 3: 1839–44”

After the failures of Independence, Kirtland, and Far West, Nauvoo was the final attempt by early church members to gather together and build Zion. While the city grew rapidly, Nauvoo was divided by controversial, secret practices, which led to internal rifts that prefigured the schism in the Restoration. Rumors of polygamy, alongside the practices of block-voting and abuses of the city’s charter antagonized Nauvoo’s neighbors, leading ultimately to the assassination of church founder, Joseph Smith Jr. and the abandonment of Nauvoo.