The University of Nauvoo was a short-lived university in

Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and it ...

. After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had been expelled from Missouri, they crossed into Illinois and settled in Nauvoo in 1839. They were granted a

city charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document ('' charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charte ...

from the Illinois state legislature in December 1840, which included authorization to found a university. The school was founded in 1841 as the University of the City of Nauvoo. Several notable leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints acted as officials and staff. The

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

was

John C. Bennett John Cook Bennett (August 4, 1804 – August 5, 1867) was an American physician and briefly a ranking and influential leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, who acted as mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and Major-General of the Nauvoo Legion in the ear ...

, the

registrar A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the se ...

was

William Law William Law (16869 April 1761) was a Church of England priest who lost his position at Emmanuel College, Cambridge when his conscience would not allow him to take the required oath of allegiance to the first Hanoverian monarch, King George I. P ...

, and among the regents were

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, h ...

Sidney Rigdon Sidney Rigdon (February 19, 1793 – July 14, 1876) was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement. Biography Early life Rigdon was born in St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on February 19, 1793. He w ...

Hyrum Smith Hyrum Smith (February 9, 1800 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the older brother of the movement's founder, J ...

, William Marks, Samuel H. Smith,

Daniel H. Wells Daniel Hanmer Wells (October 27, 1814 – March 24, 1891) was an American apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the 3rd mayor of Salt Lake City. Biography Early life Wells was born in Trenton, New Yor ...

Newel K. Whitney Newel Kimball Whitney (February 5, 1795 – September 23, 1850, his first name being sometimes found as Newell) was a prominent member and leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an American businessman. Whitney married Elizabeth Ann Smith in ...

Charles C. Rich Charles Coulson Rich (August 21, 1809 – November 17, 1883) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He led one of the first groups of Mormon pioneers west from Illinois under the leadership of Brigham Young after Joseph Smith's mur ...

, Don Carlos Smith,

John P. Greene John Portineus Greene (September 3, 1793 – September 20, 1844) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. Greene was born in Herkimer, New York. He was a Methodist minister at Mendon, New York. He was friends with Heber C. Kimball a ...

Elias Higbee Elias Higbee (October 23, 1795 – June 8, 1843) was an associate of Joseph Smith, a prominent Danite, and an Church Historian and Recorder, official historian and recorder in the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints), Church of Jesus Christ of Lat ...

, James Adams, Robert B. Thompson, Samuel C. Bennett, and George Miller. On February 15, 1841, James Kelley ( A. M.,

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

) was elected as

university president A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

. The institution "probably was among the first municipal universities in the United States". A building committee was organized, though there was no campus. Many American colleges at that time were "one-building affairs" and "in fact not colleges at all, but glorified

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s or academies that presumed to offer degrees." Shortly after its organization, the Nauvoo

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

delegated oversight of

common schools A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary ...

to the university regents and chancellor. However, the University of Nauvoo was ambitious in its plan to offer languages (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

), mathematics, chemistry, geology, literature, and history. While "the data are too scant" on the quality of the academic instruction, the faculty included

Orson Spencer Orson Spencer (March 14, 1802 – October 15, 1855) was a prolific writer and prominent member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in several highly visible positions within the church and left an extensive legacy of ...

, and most notably,

Orson Pratt Orson Pratt Sr. (September 19, 1811 – October 3, 1881) was an American mathematician and religious leader who was an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints). He became a member of the ...

, and were considered "considerable scholarship … a rather remarkable group to be found in a frontier city".

David P. Gardner David Pierpont Gardner (born March 24, 1933) was the 15th president of the University of California and was also the president of the University of Utah. Biography Gardner was born in Berkeley, California, to Reed S. Gardner and Margaret Pierpont ...

believes "it was probably superior to the average secondary choolsof the time." The ''

Times and Seasons ''Times and Seasons'' was a 19th-century Latter Day Saint newspaper published at Nauvoo, Illinois. It was printed monthly or twice-monthly from November 1839 to February 1846. The motto of the paper was "Truth will prevail," which was printed u ...

'', the church newspaper in Nauvoo, in 1841 announced that "the department of English literature is now in successful operation" and advised that the university was ready to offer a "general course of mathematics, including arithmetic, algebra, geometry, conic sections, plane trigonometry, mensuration, surveying, navigation, analytical, plane and spherical trigonometry, analytical geometry, and the differential and integral calculus." Courses in philosophy, astronomy, and chemistry were also to be taught. Later, a department of music was added.Brigham Young University, the first 100 years, vol. 1, p. 11 https://archive.org/details/brighamyounguniv01wilk After the 1844 murder of Joseph Smith, the interest of many church leaders moved toward

westward migration Westward may refer to: * The cardinal direction West * Westward, Cumbria, a settlement in north-west England * ''Westward'' (series), a series of games video created by Sandlot Games * Westward Islet of Ducie Island * Westward Television, a forme ...

. In January 1845, the legislature abolished the Nauvoo Charter, disincorporating the municipality and placing its assets into receivership.

References

{{Reflist 1845 disestablishments in Illinois Defunct Latter Day Saint organizations Educational institutions established in 1841 Nauvoo, Illinois Education in Hancock County, Illinois Defunct private universities and colleges in Illinois Latter Day Saint universities and colleges Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) 1841 establishments in Illinois Educational institutions disestablished in 1845