In D&C 124:56-60, we read the following:
And now I say unto
you, as pertaining to my boarding house which I have commanded you to build for
the boarding of strangers, let it be built unto my name, and let my name be
named upon it, and let my servant Joseph and his house have place therein, from
generation to generation. For this anointing have I put upon his head, that his
blessing shall also be put upon the head of his posterity after him. And as I
said unto Abraham concerning the kindreds of the earth, even so I say unto my
servant Joseph: In thee and in thy seed shall the kindred of the earth be
blessed. Therefore, let my servant Joseph and his seed after him have place in
that house, from generation to generation, forever and ever, saith the Lord.
And let the name of that house be called Nauvoo House; and let it be a
delightful habitation for man, and a resting-place for the weary traveler, that
he may contemplate the glory of Zion, and the glory of this, the corner-stone thereof
Some have pointed to this text as a false prophecy.
Answering the question, “Why didn't
the Nauvoo House stand forever as prophesied in Doctrine & Covenants
124:56-60?” Jeff Lindsay noted that:
The original Nauvoo
House still exists. I've been there recently. Some people confuse it with the
Mansion House, which was Joseph Smith's residence, that was reconstructed.
The passage in the
Doctrine and Covenants doesn't look like a prophecy to me, but a request from
the Lord: "let my servant Joseph and his house have place therein, from
generation to generation" (verse 56). Giving this request does not mean
that the house will stand or be occupied forever. But it is still there.
One was reminded of this issue after
reading Andrew Jenson’s October 6, 1888 journal entry and the then- dilapidated nature of
the Mansion House before its later reconstruction:
The Mansion, Joseph’s
old residence, is fast crumbling to pieces. The east wing, facing Water Street,
has not been occupied for years; the west wing, facing Main Street, is
inhabited by a Mr. Madison and family. The property belongs to David Smith,
youngest son of the Prophet, who is still at Elgin, Illinois, being yet
somewhat demented, but entirely harmless. Joseph’s old brick store, on Water
Street, is yet in a pretty good state of preservation, but is not occupied. It
belongs to Joseph Smith’s eldest son (“Young Joseph”), together with the whole
block on which it stands, with other improvements on the east side, including
the house where the Prophet lived previous to his moving into the Mansion. Near
the center on the block, which is situated on the bank of the river, is the
private burial ground of the Smith family, where rest the mortal remains of the
senior Joseph Smith and his wife Lucy Mack, the Prophet’s parents. Here also
rest the late Emma Smith Bidamon, Frederick Smith, one of the Prophet’s sons,
the first wife of “Young Joseph,” and two of his children, and a number of
others. According to the best information we could obtain, Robert B. Thompson,
Samuel H. and Don Carlos Smith, the two latter brothers of the Prophet, were
also interred here. (Reid L. Neilson and R. Mark Melville, eds., A Historian in
Zion: The Autobiography of Andrew Jenson, Assistant Church Historian [rev
ed.; Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake
City: Deseret Book, 2016], 174-75)
Joseph Smith III, in his reminiscences, wrote the following about the Nauvoo Mansion:
The Nauvoo Mansion
Father’s home in Nauvoo was generally
overrun with visitors. There was scarcely a Sunday in ordinary weather that the
house and yard were not crowded—the yard with teas and the house with callers.
This made a great deal of bustle and confusion, and also a heavy burden of
added toil for Mother and unnecessary expense for Father. About 1842, a new and
larger house was built for us. After it was finished and we had moved into it,
some friends suggested that it should be expanded into a hotel, large enough to
accommodate the usual crowds of visitors and an adequate force of domestic
helpers as well.
Deciding to do this, Father proceeded
to build quite an extensive addition running out from the south wing toward the
east. On the ground floor this included a large dining room and a suitable
kitchen, with a basement below in which the cooking range was placed and a
cellar for provisions. Over the dining room and a suitable kitchen, with a
basement below in which the cooking range was placed and a cellar for
provisions. Over the dining room and kitchen was a series of bedrooms, six
single ones ranging along the north side and four double ones with connecting
halls on the south side.
These rooms, with those already
existing, made the house seem a very large one for that period and locality. In
going back to it in after years, however, I found that it really was not large.
The dining room, which was also used as a ballroom in those old days, was
really quite small—barely large enough for four sets of dancers in the
old-fashioned square dances—and the ceiling like those above stairs, was low as
compared to those of more modern buildings.
At any rate, it seemed spacious then,
and a sign was put on giving it the dignified name of “The Nauvoo Mansion,” a
house destined to become quite famous and interesting in its day. Mother was to
be installed as landlady and soon made a trip to Saint Louis for the purpose of
securing such furniture, curtains, bed linen, table napery, dishes, and the
utensils as were needed to properly equip and operate a hostelry of its kind. ("The
Memoirs of President Joseph Smith (1932) Edited by his daughter Mary Audentia
Smith Anderson,” The Saints' Herald 82, no. 4 [January 22, 1935]: 110)
Further Reading