On 14 March 1845 the Nauvoo “New Police” adopted an organizational structure similar to that proposed by Phelps. According to Hosea Stout, “It was concluded to organize the whole community of Saints in this County in to Quorums of 12 deacons and have a Bishop at their head and they could thus administer in the lesser offices of the Church and preserve order without a charter.” According to Willard Richards, who was in attendance at this 14 March meeting, Brigham Young proposed this new organization. On Sunday, 16 March, Young announced from the stand that he wanted all the bishops in the community to assemble so they could “organize them according to our notion of things,” since “we have no police.” Furthermore, Young stated, “I intend to get up a whistling school, & whistle the poor men away.” Heeding Young’s instructions, a group of bishops, seventies, and high priests assembled the next day, 17 March, and “agreed to appoint Bishops and Deacons to watch the movements of mauraders.” Oliver Huntington, a member of this “Whittling Society,” stated that when unwanted individuals came to Nauvoo, these men “would soon run them out of town without touching them, for no one liked the sight of ½ a dozen large knives whittling carelessly about their ears and not a word said.” (Stout, Journal, 14 Mar. 1845; Richards, Journal, 14 Mar. 1845; Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 16 Mar. 1845; George A. Smith, Autobiography, 17 Mar. 1845, 50; Huntington, History, 105.)
Stout, Hosea. Journal, Oct. 1844–May 1845. CHL. MS 1910.
Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.
Historian’s Office. General Church Minutes, 1839–1877. CHL
Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.
Huntington, Oliver B. History, 1845–1846. Oliver Boardman Huntington, Papers, 1843– 1932. BYU.
Young further endorsed this plan on 18 March. The repeal of the Nauvoo charter by the Illinois legislature had deprived city officials of the authority to perform marriages. (See Council of Fifty, “Record,” 18 Mar. 1845.)
Probably Charles Wesley Wandell, a clerk employed by Willard Richards. (See Historian’s Office, Journal, 9 Apr.–26 July 1845.)
Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.