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"Spokes Of The Wheel:" Mormon Settlement Patterns In Illinois Between 1838 And 1846, R Philip Reynolds

Librarian and Staff Publications

Mormon settlement outside of Nauvoo, Illinois is one of the most neglected topics in Mormon history. Almost all discussion concerning Mormons between 1839 and 1846 is limited to Nauvoo although, as one researcher put it: "Mormon contact in Illinois was infinitely larger." Nauvoo's population of about 15,000 in 1845 was only half of the estimated 30,000 Mormons who made their home in Western Illinois. Still when searching for information about Mormons living outside the city, researchers are lucky to find a handful of brief articles and a few asides in discussions of Nauvoo. Upon further investigation these settlements emerge as …