| 273 "There came no 'Thus saith the Lord,' upon which to make Nauvoo a rallying place. The site was not an advantageous one for poor people dependent upon daily labor or agriculture for subsistence. The few of the saints who came in there with their means, bought property cheap; but the same property cheapened still and still more upon their hands; their substance wasted, and out of necessity first one, then another left. The Olive branch, once flourishing, was plucked off. The Fall Conference of 1865 required me to remove to Plano, Kendall County, Illinois, to take active charge of the Herald, the church paper, first published in Cincinnati, Ohio, in January, 1860, by Elder Isaac Sheen, who removed to Plano, in 1863, with his family, to still continue as editor in the office purchased and established there by the church. I therefore made the necessary preparation, resigned my office of Justice of the Peace, and also School Director, each of which I had held for seven and a half years, having been reëlected Justice in 1862 by a majority over my competitor of two to one, and in January, 1866, I removed with my wife and children, three in number, to Plano. I arrived January 3, and was within a week located in a house purchased for my use by the Bishop of the Church, Israel L. Rogers."-Life of Joseph the Prophet, pp. 772-783.
Reports from the elders in the field during the summer of 1860 were very encouraging, and the universal testimony was that the Spirit of God attended the preaching; while the gifts of the gospel were richly enjoyed by the reviving saints.
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