Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources: Isaac Galland, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2021)
Isaac Galland, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2021)
Isaac Galland
(1791–1858)
Isaac Galland, prior to 1858, photograph, Church History Library, PH 1700 2639.
Isaac Galland was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. He married Nancy Harris in 1811 but was remarried to Margaret Knight by 1816, then to Hannah Kinney in 1826, and later to Elizabeth Wilcox in 1833. In 1837 he platted the original town of Keokuk, Wisconsin Territory (later in Iowa Territory). During the winter of 1838–1839, he moved to Commerce, Illinois, which was later renamed Nauvoo. While living there, he purchased land in the Half-Breed Tract in Lee County, Iowa Territory. In 1839, he sold some nineteen thousand acres of this property to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also sold properties in Commerce to the Church. Galland was baptized into the Church and ordained an elder by Joseph Smith in July 1839. In January 1841, a revelation instructed Galland to buy stock to support the construction of the Nauvoo House (Doctrine and Covenants 124:78–79). In about 1842, Galland, acting as an authorized agent for the Church, helped settle certain land transactions to benefit Latter-day Saints moving to Nauvoo from the eastern United States. He withdrew from Church activity in about 1842.
References in the Doctrine and Covenants