Residents of the various villages living in the surrounding counties and outlying areas were advised to move to Nauvoo for protection, and many, including Ebenezer and Phebe who were in Green Plains, did so. Also new converts were still arriving in Nauvoo, many of whom were penniless. There were thousands of poverty-stricken homeless families crowding into the city.
For several years the leading Brethren had considered the necessity of removing the Saints from Illinois to a place of safety far beyond reach of their enemies. They had appealed to the U.S. Government for assistance, but had received no response. Now, when the bitter strife between the Mormons and their enemies was becoming more hostile and threatening, they knew that now in Nauvoo the Saints were not safe and they would again have to go through the same heart-breaking experience of leaving their homes.
In September of 1845 the Council of the Twelve Apostles met with a committee of non-Mormons, and at this meeting they agreed to leave the state the next spring, and in October the non-Mormons agreed to allow them to leave peacefully.42
So now that the decision to leave was definite, preparations to move got underway. Along with preparing to make the trek west, the Saints increased their work on the Temple, and finally it was finished enough so that by December 10, 1845 it was opened to perform endowments. The Saints, anxious to receive this great blessing in the Temple before leaving, flocked there, and work was performed both day and night, when possible. Some of our Draper people were among those who performed their Temple work. Phebe received her endowments December 24, 1845.
42- The Restored Church, pp. 215-16 - Saints offer to move by spring; mob agrees
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