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Abraham Jonas, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois wrote on October 15, 1841 to authorize for the creation of a Masonic Lodge at Nauvoo and appointed George Miller, Esq. to be the first Master. Appointed first Junior Mason was Lucius N. Scovil and John D. Parker was appointed first Senior Mason.

The Nauvoo Masonic Lodge was founded shortly thereafter. In December 1841, the lodge leadership met to write its by-laws. Lucius N. Scovil, Samuel Rolfe, and Aaron Johnson formed the "Building committee of the Masonic Temple in the City of Nauvoo Hancock County Illinois North America" William Weeks was the principle architect. At the time of the laying of the cornerstone of the lodge, Joseph was in hiding as is apparent from this interesting note on the first page of the extant minutes, "The Governor of Missouri has again demanded Joseph Smith, and a writ has been issued by Gov. Ford to have him taken in consequence of which he is absent from the laying of this cornerstone."

The Nauvoo Lodge would be primarily attended by those of the Mormon religious persuasion. For a time Masonic rites helped shape the direction of Joseph Smith's theology and some scholars note the similarity between the Mormon temple endowment ceremony and Masonic rites. At its height, there were 1,500 Mormons involved in Freemasonry in Illinois.