Built in 1843, the Mansion House was the second home in Nauvoo of Joseph
Smith Jr. (church founder) and his wife Emma. A hotel wing was added and
opened in late 1843. The hotel was leased to Ebenezer Robinson in January
1844. As part of the lease agreement, the Smith family maintained three rooms
for their private residence.
Politicians, such as Stephan A. Douglas of the Illinois Supreme Court, were
entertained at the Mansion House. In 1844, Joseph Smith Jr. announced his
candidacy for President of the United States for the 1844 election from the
men’s sitting room.
Internal confusion and conflicts with surrounding communities grew as
Nauvoo increased in size. On June 27, 1844, an angry mob broke into the
Carthage, Illinois, jail and killed Joseph and his brother Hyrum who had been
imprisoned there. Their bodies were returned to the Mansion House where they
laid in state until the burial.
Emma and her family continued to live in the Mansion House for a time, and
remained in Nauvoo until her death on April 30, 1879. By the 1890s the hotel
wing had deteriorated to the point that it was torn down. The foundation of
the hotel wing is still located on the east side of the Mansion House.
