Jedediah S. Rogers
Â Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith had both millennialÂ and temporal aspirations for the organizationÂ he called the Council of Fifty, named after the numberÂ of men who were intended to comprise it. Organized aÂ few months before Smithâ€™s death in June 1844, it continuedÂ under Brigham Young as a secret shadow governmentÂ until 1851. Minutes from the earliest meetings areÂ closed to researchers but contemporary accounts speakÂ of a deliberative body preparing for Christâ€™s imminentÂ reign. It also helped to sponsor Smithâ€™s U.S. presidentialÂ bid and oversaw the exodus to present-day Utah.,One member downplayedÂ the significance of thisÂ secret legislative body in 1849 as â€œnothing but a debatingÂ School.â€ On the contrary, a typical meeting includedÂ decisions regarding irrigation, fencing, and adobe housing,Â after which the group sang a song written by ParleyÂ P. Pratt: â€œCome ye sons of doubt and wonder; Indian,Â Moslem, Greek or Jew; â€¦ Be to all a friend and brother;Â Peace on Earth, good will to men.â€ Two weeks later, theÂ council called for â€œblood to flowâ€ to enforce its laws.,As the nineteenth century waned and the LDSÂ Church moved toward the American mainstream, endingÂ its emphasis on the imminent End of Days, thereÂ was no longer a need for a Church-managed municipalÂ group destined to become the millennial world government.Â The council became irrelevant but survives todayÂ as a historical artifact available in fragmented documentaryÂ pieces which are presented here for the first time.Â 
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The Council of Fifty: A Documentary History