Nauvoo, City Beautiful

 

 

 My trip to Nauvoo, Illinois was August 23-26, 2012.

 Nauvoo was nearing a population of 12,000 people when the exodus to the West, led by Brigham Young, began. It was the 2nd largest city in Illinois, near Chicago at the time in population.  

Nauvoo was first settled in 1840. 

On the horse drawn wagon taking a tour through historic Nauvoo

Woman's Garden, full of lovely statues of women!

Browning Gun shop! Here I learned how rifling (spiral) is made in a gun barrel, and that technique is to make a shot more accurate.

"Holiness to the Lord, Our Preservation"

Browning was making semi-automatics 20 years before the Civil War.

I just love that woman- Lucy Mack Smith! She never doubted her son's testimony and prophetic call.

 “We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another, and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.”  Lucy Mack Smith

The original was began construction in 1841. Most of the Saints left Nauvoo in February 1846, but a small crew remained to finish the temple's first floor, so that it could be dedicated. Wikipedia states- "Once the first floor was finished with pulpits and benches, the building was finally dedicated in private services on 30 April 1846, and in public services on 1 May. In September 1846 the remaining Mormons were driven from the city  and vigilantes from the neighboring region,entered the near-empty city and vandalized the temple". The temple was reconstructed in 2002. The outside is a replica of the original. 

One of my ancestors was a foreman for the original temple, specifically worked on the stars.

As you travel down Parley Street west towards the Mississippi River you will find what is called the Trail of Hope. It is the path to where wagons and teams were loaded up on ferries to cross the river. As a monument the path is marked with plaques that have quotes by saints in regards to their feelings leaving their city or the hardships they bore on the exodus West. 

Grandma Aline Kelm and I on the banks of the Mississippi

In the musical that the senior missionaries perform in the old cultural hall they sang a song with the chorus that started out-

 "we left willingly because we had to", 

but by the end changed to- 

"we left willingly because we want to"

Opa Wolf Kelm and I, see the ferry behind? Can you imagine floating across the river on that? Or would you rather cross over the river frozen? I don't know which would be more scary!

This is the Iowa side of the Mississippi River, where the Saints arrived.

You can see Nauvoo in the background to the east.

Can you imagine leaving your city, and then looking back with your cherished temple behind you? The front of the Nauvoo Temple faces the West. Over 1500 miles away the Salt Lake City Temple faces the East. I like that imagery.

June 24, 1844 Joseph and Hyrum Smith left for Carthage to meet the charges against them.

"This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens; little do they know the trials that await them."

We followed the "Martyrdom Trail" by car. It is about 20 miles from Nauvoo to Carthage. Most of it was on gravel roads through corn fields. This is what the car looked like when we arrived at Carthage jail.

 What I love about this statue is that Hyrum is doing what he did to the end, he stood by, supporting his brother Joseph. Bishop Simmons point that out to me a few years ago. 

The jail itself. The upstairs window is where Joseph Smith fell as a sealed his testimony with his blood.

There were only 4 others on the tour of the jail. They were not members of the church because one lady asked about Jon Smith. As we sat in the upstairs room where the mob came through, the missionary couple asked if any of us had a comment to make. Grandma talked about how she is a convert and looked into a lot of churches before being baptized (The Salvation Army being one of her favorites). Grandpa spoke of Joseph Smith's last prophecy that Dan Jones would go on to serve a mission and that those vigilantes/mob members whose hearts were ready for blood would have more blood shed then they could stand...the interpretation of which could lend itself to the Civil war. I decided that I wanted to share my testimony of the prophet of the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ. I referred to the short video we saw prior to the tour. In it a lady approached Joseph Smith and asked if he thought he was the savior of his people. He replied no, he was just a man. I was able to testify, and do so again now, that member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints do no worship Joseph Smith. We honor him, and hold him with high and great respect, "Praise to the Man", but we do not worship him. We honor him because of what he did, he brought the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ back into the world. He restored priesthood power which gives me access to the mercy and healing power of the Atonement. Everything Joseph Smith did pointed back to the Savior of the world. That is why I say "Praise to that man".

Property of Reynolds Cahoon, at the corner of Parley and Warsaw Street.

Reynolds Cahoon was my 4th Great-grandpa on my mom's dad's side. His son Mahonri Cahoon was born in 1834. "While residing at Kirtland, Elder Reynolds Cahoon had a son born to him. One day when President Joseph Smith was passing his door he called the Prophet in and asked him to bless and name the baby. Joseph did so and gave the boy the name of Mahonri Moriancumer. When he had finished the blessing, he laid the child on the bed, and turning to Elder Cahoon he said, the name I have given your son is the name of the Brother of Jared; the Lord has just shown or revealed it to me. Elder William F. Cahoon, who was standing near heard the Prophet make this statement to his father; and this was the first time the name of the brother of Jared was known in the Church in this dispensation."^[9][10][11]

Stephen Winchester Property, on the corner of Parley and Winchester Street.

 Stephen Winchester is my 4th Great-grandfather on the maternal side.  Stephen's grandson  Henry married Reynolds Cahoon's granddaughter Nancy. Henry and Nancy were my Grandpa Jack Hutchison's grandparents on his mother side.

Miles Romney property.

Miles Romney's daughter Sarah married Mahonri Cahoon. Their daughter marred Henry, the connection previously mentioned. All of them left Nauvoo with the saints and settled in Utah, and later into Idaho.

I found the property based on records from the land and records office in Nauvoo. I plugged in Miles Romney, Stephen Winchester, Reynolds Cahoon, Sarah Romney (dtr of Miles), and Thirza Stiles (wife of Cahoon) in the database and found land records, pedigree charts, journal entries, and all kinds of information. It was all burned on to a CD for me. It made for a great souvenior.

Green X is Cahoon, Purple X is Romney, and Red X is Winchester

A few final reflections...

1.) Going to Nauvoo with my grandparents was a once in a lifetime experience. Grandpa has always told me he has Nauvooitis and has to return often for his treatments. I loved having the two of them show me their beloved city.

2.) Not only did I get to be in the Nauvoo temple with my grandparents, but we were able to do proxy work for Olive Vaile (not Olive Cox Vaile), daughter of Agnes and Charles (my paternal grandmother's grandparents). Olive was my grandma's last aunt living aunt before her passing. It was a privilege to be involved in the sealing of Agnes and Charles's last child on the other side of the veil.

3.) As already mentioned my testimony of the prophetic call of Joseph Smith was solidified. My final stop before driving through 2 hours of corn fields was temple hill. I stopped and parked by that statue of Joseph and Hyrum on horseback and I sang out loud "Praise to the Man".

4.) Having pioneer ancestry is awesome! Grandpa Kelm said he could have never been a pioneer. I told him he is wrong, he already is one. He joined the church in Berlin, escaped after WWII to Canada where he learned a new language and a new trade. And my Grandma Kelm was the first to join the church in her family. I have great respect for them. It is great to also know on my mom's side of the family I come from family who joined the church in the very start and had the faith to trek 1500+ miles west to follow a prophet's voice and word of God. It gives me great strength to know that if they could cross the Mississippi either by ferry or across the frozen ice, I can blaze trails in 2012!