The Nauvoo Neighbor was a weekly published in Nauvoo, Ill. between 1843 and 1845. It was a "secular" paper which fleshed out news coverage in the city in tandem with the religious oriented Times and Seasons (published on the same press). The Neighbor replaced The Wasp, the rather racous political counterpoint to newsprint like the Warsaw Signal, a rag critical of the Mormons, mostly because of the political leanings of the rapidly growing Mormon population in the Nauvoo area.
The Wasp was edited by Joseph Smith's brother and Mormon Apostle William Smith for its first five issues (the most fun if you like a little piquant wit) or so, when it probably began to be edited by another apostle, John Taylor (no doubt assisted by copublisher Wilford Woodruff). Smith formally left The Wasp in November 1842. The following year in April the paper carried a prospectus for a tamer weekly, the Neighbor. The Neighbor ran until October 1845 when it ceased publication with the imminent departure of the Saints from the city. Three libraries hold copies of the Neighbor: Yale University, Brigham Young University, and the Church History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Neighbor is a rich source of hints and examples of everyday Nauvoo life. It reported on local news (including marriages and deaths) and through contacts and exchange papers, on national and international happenings.
There are two indices for the paper supplied here, a general index and a topically organized index. The indices are certainly not exhaustive, but will probably be useful to many researchers and the curious in general. Our thanks to student intern Braden Johnson who executed the scanning and indexing process.
Each issue is a PDF file (approximate 6MB in length) and listed below. Also included (and listed separately) are broadside Extras, Circulars and Notices printed during the period. These are quite interesting, and illustrate certain points in the leadership cycle of Mormonism and notice important events in the Nauvoo period of Mormonism.
Another fun bit about the paper is the ads. These are always good for some fun in period papers and the Neighbor is no exception.
Since the files are pdf images, you should set your browser to load them in line if that option is available (on Macs running OSX, the files should load into the Safari window automatically). The scans have enough resolution that they will stand a fair amount of zoom to read the various type faces, some of which is rather small (something like 6pt in modern terms I believe). There are some images which are somewhat distorted. This particular run was collected by Church Historian and Recorder Willard Richards and his name is found penciled on each issue I believe. Printer's take marks exist on several issues which adds to the interest of this particular instance of the paper. Happy reading.
1843
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1843 Extra |
1844
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1844 Extras
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1845
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1845 ExtrasJanuary 22, 1845 Times and Seasons - Circular of the Twelve September 24, 1845 Broadside Declaration
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