Illinois, LDS Communities in
From The Encyclopedia of Mormonism
See this page in the original 1992 publication.
[The Church was centered in western Illinois from 1839 to 1846. After their expulsion from Missouri in 1838 -1839, Mormon refugees fled to Quincy, Springfield, and other locations in Illinois, where local residents gave them assistance. Church leaders purchased the village of Commerce and land in its vicinity, along with a large tract across the Mississippi River in Iowa. Commerce was renamed Nauvooand became the principal LDS community of its time and one of the largest cities in Illinois.
Numerous small settlements in the vicinity of Nauvoo fell within the city's sphere of influence (see Donald Q. Cannon, "Spokes on the Wheel: Early Latter-day Saints Settlements in Hancock County, Illinois," Ensign 16 [Feb. 1986]:62 -68). The LDS town of Ramus (later Macedonia and now Webster), about twenty miles southeast of Nauvoo, became a Church stake, as did Lima, twenty-five miles south of Nauvoo. La Harpe, a few miles north of Ramus, also had a considerable LDS population. Warren, twenty miles southwest of Nauvoo, was a short-lived LDS community adjacent to Warsaw. Anti-Mormon violence focused on these outlying LDS communities and caused their evacuation in 1845.
In addition to several entries under NauvooCarthage Jail; Historical Sites; and Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.Two articles include information on the Illinois period: Smith, Joseph, and History of the Church: c 1831-1844, Ohio, Missouri, and Nauvoo Periodsand History of the Church: c 1844-1877, Exodus and Early Utah Periods.
For LDS immigration to Illinois and subsequent departure for the Rocky Mountains, see Immigration and Emigrationand Westward Migration: Planning and Prophecy.]
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