Kent's Ancestors in Early Nauvoo

Nauvoo Land and Records Office

Kent has several ancestors that were in old Nauvoo.  We made a visit to the Land and Records Office in Nauvoo in October 2012. This office has a variety of information about most of the people who lived in Nauvoo between 1839 and 1846.  On this visit we got a CD that contains information about all of our ancestors that were here during that period. There were 18 ancestors included in the CD. Seven of these individuals died in Nauvoo. Two were born just prior to coming to Nauvoo.

The map below shows the locations of property owned or occupied by Kent's ancestors.  

So who were these people?

Joshua (Jr.) and Prudence Fairchild are my 3rd grandparents. 

Joshua was born in Canada in 1797 and died in Basin, Idaho in 1891.

Joshua Fairchild Jr - 1797

Prudence was born in Rhode Island in 1799 and died in Tooele, Utah in 1895.  There is more to their story ... to be told at a later time.

Prudence Fenner Fairchild - 1799

Timothy Bradley Foote is my 3rd great grandfather, on my mothers side, and was born in upper New York in 1799.  He died in Nephi, Utah in 1886.  

He was a colorful character ... again much more to his story.

Timothy Bradley Foote - 1799

Stephen Foote is Timothy Bradley Foote's father.  He was born in Connecticut in 1774 and died in Nauvoo in June 1844.

John Riley is the father of Nancy Jane Riley, Timothy Bradley Foote's 2nd wife (they married in 1847 after the death of TB Foote's 2nd wife about six months earlier).  John Riley was born in Ireland and died in or near Quincy, Illinois.

Samuel Henderson is my 4th great grandfather (on my mothers side).  He was born in Tennessee in 1785 an died in Salt Lake City in 1856.

Samuel Henderson - 1785

In addition to those listed above there were others who lived or owned property in areas outside of Nauvoo.  Joshua also owned property south of Nauvoo, as did John Riley and Absolom Tidwell. The Tidwell family was burned out of their home and came into Nauvoo in 1846.  Timothy Bradley Foote also had property in Quincy, Illinois (about 50 miles south of Nauvoo). 

Bentonsport - Cantril

On preparation day we traveled to Bentonsport and Cantril Iowa to see the area.  Three other temple missionary couples traveled with us.  

The Terry, Slack, Dalling and Fairchild Missionary Couples

Bentonsport  and Cantril are in Van Buren County Iowa.  This county is beautiful farm country.   There is a significant Amish and Mennonite population in this area.  










Of particular interest in Bentonsport is a shop called Iron and Lace.  Iron and Lace (http://www.ironandlace.com/) includes a blacksmith who makes a variety of metal items, both decorative and practical.   In addition there are some other small shops along the Des Moines River.  

The river is next to the town.  It is a beautiful setting

The Lace shop sells Queen Annes Lace pottery items.  When we first arrived the owner of the shop did a brief demonstration of how the items available in the shop are made.  (See a portion of the demonstration by clicking on the video opposite).

Queen Annes Lace is a wild flower that grows around Bentonsport.  The flowers are picked and then dried.  The dried flowers are pressed into the clay when the pottery is fired, thus each piece is unique. 

The pottery available at the shop is beautiful. Bonnie purchased two pieces. One of these is pictured here.  

While the ladies were shopping Elders Dalling and Slack passed the time with a game of checkers ... the game ended in a draw.

Boneparte Retreat

On leaving Benstonsport we stopped in Boneparte at the Boneparte Retreat for lunch.  This building was a grist mill that is now on the National Register of Historic Places. 

There is a plaque at the bridge near to the restaurant that states the Brigham Young and the saints crossed here in 1846.

From Boneparte we drove to Cantril to visit Dutchmans store.  Before going to Dutchmans we stopped at a harness shop about 3 miles west of Cantril.  Another buying opportunity. We now own a dinner bell that will be used at our home in Colorado ... just what we needed.  At Dutchmans we bought a few grocery items ... the most important purchases were some pies.  This alone made the trip worthwhile.

We had a delightful time with our missionary companions.

We got BARGED

We sometimes cross the Mississippi River going to Fort Madison and other locations in Iowa by crossing a bridge about 10 miles north of Nauvoo.  It is called the Ft. Maddison Swing Bridge.  If you want to know more about the Ft Madison Swing Bridge click on this link to Wikipedia.  The bridge is used by the railroad for about 100 trains per day.  The bridge was completed in 1927 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. When barge traffic comes up or down the river the "swings" open so the barges can pass.

There is no vehicle toll when crossing from Illinois to Iowa.  There is a $2.00 toll to cross from Iowa to Illinois.

When a barge is approaching the bridge the bridge closes for vehicle and train traffic until the barge traffic passes.  When you are in the line waiting for the barges it is called "Being Barged". 

Well we've had that experience twice in the last couple of weeks.  The wait time has been 15 - 30 minutes depending on when we arrive and when the barges are coming. 

We were "Barged" a few days ago on a return trip from shopping in Burlington, IA.  The wait was about 30 minutes.  It was a nice day so the wait was pleasant. We definitely would not want to be on the bridge if the barge hit the bridge.  You can see a barge passing under the bridge at this link - Ft. Madison Swing Bridge - Barge passing by.

Nauvoo Illinois Temple

Nauvoo Illinois Temple

For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the temple is the house of the Lord--the most sacred place on earth.

 Whereas our meetinghouses are open to the public and are used for Sunday worship services and weekday activities, the temples are a holy place dedicated to our highest form of worship and is a spiritual environment set apart from the outside world.

WHY DO WE BUILD TEMPLES?

From the days of the Old Testament, the Lord has commanded His people to build temples-sacred structures where He could teach, guide, and bless them.  For example, the Lord told the Israelites to build a portable tabernacle that would be their temple while they traveled in the wilderness.  

  

When Jesus Christ was on the earth, the only existing temple was known as the Temple of Herod. Jesus was often found in this temple  After the rejection and deaths of Jesus's Apostles, there were no temples on the earth for many centuries. When the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored in the early 1800's, the Lord again commanded His people to build temples  Today, the Church has 142 operating temples around the world and another twenty-eight will be completed in the year 2015. 

WHAT DO WE DO IN THE TEMPLE?

In the temple we are taught, we make covenants, and we are promised blessings. We receive ordinances that enable us to live in the presence of God.

One ordinance we receive in the temple is the endowment. The word endowment means “gift” or “bestowal.” As part of this ordinance, we are taught about the purpose of life, the mission and Atonement of Jesus Christ, and Heavenly Father’s plan for His children. We gain a glimpse of what it will be like to live in His presence as we feel the peaceful atmosphere of the temple.  In exchange for the endowment we agree to be virtuous, honest, upright. and to serve others.

Another temple ordinance is the sealing ordinance, in which husbands and wives are sealed to each other and children are sealed to their parents in eternal families. This means that if we are faithful to our covenants, our family relationships will continue for eternity.

In addition to receiving these ordinances for ourselves, we can receive them for our deceased ancestors. In this way, people who died without receiving essential ordinances such as baptism and confirmation, the endowment, and sealing have the opportunity to accept these ordinances.

The following pictures were produced by the Church for a brochure given out to visitors at the dedication of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple in 2002.  

Entry Foyer

The Baptistry
The font rests on the backs of twelve oxen, symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel.  It is a close replica of the font in the original Nauvoo Temple 

The Assembly Room patterned closely after the one in the original Nauvoo Temple

The Garden Room depicting the beauty and tranquility of the Garden of Eden

The world room which depicts the world in which we now live, complete with contrasting happiness and hardship, which are part of our growth.   

The celestial room.  The Celestial Room helps to remind us of our ultimate goal of living a life fully in accordance with God's commandments to allow us to return and live again with Him.

AT THE END OF A DAY

 We are facing the temple and behind us are the statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith as they look back on the city of Nauvoo and the Mississippi River before leaving for Carthage where they were killed by a mob.    

   

The following is a video titled "Why Mormons Build Temples"

Our Assignments

We received our assignments during our 1st week of training.  We are at the temple five days a week.  Our schedule is:

• Monday - 12:30 - 6:00 p.m.
• Tuesday - 1:30 - 8:00 p.m.
• Thursday - 7:30 - 2:00 p.m.
• Friday - 7:30 - 2:00 p.m.
• Saturday - 7:30 - 2:00 p.m.

Wednesday is our P (preparation) day.  This is a day to run errands and to see some of the sights in the area.   About 10 other couples have the same preparation day and it is likely that we will go to visit places together.  For example on May 7th several of us went to the jail at Carthage, followed by dinner at a local mexican restaurant. 

Kirksville, Missiouri LDS Chapel

On Sunday we have been asked to attend the Kirksville, Missouri 2nd ward.  We attend this ward with Elder and Sister Rich. Kirksville is about 100 miles from Nauvoo ... it takes a little over 2 hours to drive there. Kirksville has three colleges.  Two of these are medical schools and there are several young couples attending the ward that go to school there.

We have been asked to teach a temple preparation class for two young men who will be leaving on their missions in the near future.

Nauvoo - 1839-1846

Nauvoo (The City Beautiful) became the gathering place of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints beginning in 1839.  They came here after being driven from their homes in Ohio and Missouri.  The prophet Joseph Smith and other leaders selected a town named Commerce in Hancock County, Illinois, to be their new city.  It was a beautiful, though swampy location overlooking a large bend in the Mississippi river.  They bought the land and began settling there.  The people drained the swamp and cleared the land so that a city could be established.

People began to arrive. Homes were built and crops were planted.  Nauvoo prospered, and soon more immigrants began arriving from England and Canada.  In 1840, the Church was ten years old and had grown from a mere 6 members in April 1830, to over 16,000 by the end of 1840.

The period of 1840 to early 1842 was relatively peaceful.  During this time members of the church continued to gather in Nauvoo.  Construction of the Nauvoo Temple began in the fall of 1840.  Well over 1,000 homes were built.  Nauvoo became a stopping place for river boats.  The boats came with the goods needed by the people, with members of the church and others who were interested in the activity that went with the building of a new city.  

During the later months of 1842 and on into 1844 some of the neighbors of Nauvoo became hostile to the saints.  Homes and businesses in the outlying areas were burned and otherwise destroyed.   Joseph Smith and other church leaders were often in hiding due to the persecution.  In spite of these difficulties the city continued to do well.  Work on the temple progressed, the women's Relief Society was organized and many other things were accomplished during this period.  It is estimated that the number of residents in Nauvoo reached 12-15,000 people.

Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred in Carthage, Illinois on June 27, 1844.  In February 1846,the first company of Mormon pioneers left Nauvoo, walking across the frozen Mississippi into Iowa.  On February 8, the temple was officially dedicated, though the public dediction was not until May 1.

The Mormons left in waves and founded temporary settlements  in Iowa: Garden Grove, Mount Pisgah, Kanesville (now Council Bluffs) and finally Winter Quarters, Nebraska.  The road was slow and soggy.  On September 10, the last Mormons were attacked by mobs in the Battle of Nauvoo.  By September 1846, the last Mormons were driven from the city.  The temple was burned by an arsonist.  Nauvoo, a city that in 1844 had rivaled Chicago for size and beauty, was all but destroyed.  In 1850 a tornado hit Nauvoo and finished what the arsonists had begun.

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Please enjoy the following video Remembering Nauvoo (here in three segments)

Our 1st Week in Nauvoo

We arrived in Nauvoo on Friday, April 18.  We were greeted by our host couple, Elder and Sister Dieterich,  who showed us to our apartment so we could move in.  They took us and another couple. Elder and Sister Nelson, to dinner that evening at a mexican restaurant in Hamilton, Ill (about 12 miles away).  The company and food was great.  

The weekend included shopping to get food and other items for our apartment to make it home for the next six months.  On Sunday we met with all of the temple missionaries at church, had lunch with the other couples and then were set apart as temple ordinance workers by President Nelson, a counselor in the temple presidency.  

Monday was another day to get settled, shop and get acquainted with the area.

Our training at the temple began on Tuesday and continued through Friday.  The training included an orientation tour of the temple, training specific to our assignments as ordinance workers, and a guided tour of Nauvoo and some of the sites across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo led by Sister Susan Easton Black Durrant.  

The week was full of information and was a great experience for us.  We had many of opportunities to get acquainted with the other couple missionaries.  We were fed well and generally experienced a great welcome to Nauvoo.

On Friday, each missionary couple was given an assignment to attend one of the congregations of the church in the Nauvoo Temple district.  We were asked to attend the Kirksville 2nd Ward.  Kirksville is in Missouri and is about 100 miles from Nauvoo.  We were pleased with the opportunity to be assigned to one of the local congregations.

A Note:  Sister Susan Easton Black Durrant and her husband, Elder George Durrant serve in the temple as ordinance worker.  Sister Durrant recently retired as a professor at BYU and has been involved with Nauvoo since the 1970's.  She is the author of many articles and books.  On Tuesday and Thursday evenings she gives a lecture on one of the presidents of the church.  It has been a great opportunity for us to be here to learn from her.

Called to Serve in the Nauvoo Temple

In October 2013 we were asked if we would be interested in serving in the Nauvoo Temple.  We enthusiastically said "YES".  Our names were submitted and we received the formal call from President Monson in early December.  Our assignment is to serve as ordinance workers beginning in mid-April 2014 for a six+ month period.

We have looked forward to this time as an opportunity to grow closer to our Heavenly Father as we serve those who will come to the temple to participate in the ordinances of the temple.  We have served in the Colorado Denver Temple .  Our initial service in Denver began in 2004 and has only been interrupted by our 2 year mission to Cambodia and other church service.

Getting to Nauvoo

We left Highlands Ranch on April 15.  We took a circuitous route to Nauvoo so we could visit many church history sites and Michael and his family on the way.  We traveled to Winter Quarters Nebraska, Kanesville and Mt. Pisgah Iowa, Adam-ondi-Ahman, Far West and Liberty Jail Missouri.  We spent a night with Mike and Jill in Ellisville, MO before completing our journey to Nauvoo.  We reported in Nauvoo on Friday, April 18.

Our stops at the Church History sites were a real treat as we learned more about the experiences and trials of members of the Church. 



Winter Quarters Nebraska - Approximately 2,500 members of the church gathered here in 1846 before beginning the trek westward.  The initial group of 147 men left for the west in 1847.  Approximately 800 cabins and sod houses built by the saints as their homes during the winter of 1846.  Due to poor diet and disease approximately 400 people died her between 1846 and 1848.  The settlement relocated across the Missouri River in 1848.

The Winter Quarters Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was dedicated at this location in 2001.

Mormon Trail Center - Winter Quarters Nebraska

Statue in Cemetary at Winter Quarters

Kanesville Tabernacle (Council Bluffs, Iowa) - This tabernacle build in two and one-half weeks by 200 members of the Church.  Brigham Young was sustained as the second President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at this location.  Members of the Church gathered here in 1848 after leaving Winter Quarters just across the Missouri River from this site.  The current log tabernacle was rebuilt in 1996 and serves as a visitors center.  

Kanesville Iowa Tabernacle

Mount Pisgah, Iowa - Mount Pisgah was a semi-permanent settlement or way station from 1846 to 1852 along the Mormon Trail between Gardon Grove and Council Bluffs.  It is located near the small community of thayer in Jones Township, Union County, Iowa.

Mt. Pisgah Iowa

Cabin built at Mt Pisgah in 1995-96 by our stake in Des Moines

Adam-ondi-Ahman - A place of spiritual significance to the earth.  In early 1838 the Saints gathered in this area until they were driven out by the "Extermination Order" from Missouri Governor Boggs issued in October 1838.

Adam-ondi-Ahman Missouri'

Far West Temple Site - Cornerstones for a temple were placed here in July 1838.  The Saints were not able to complete the temple, but the cornerstones remain.  Members of the church gathered in this area in early 1838 after being driven from Jackson County Missouri.  They remained here until late 1838.

Far West Missouri Temple Site

Liberty Jail - Joseph Smith and other church leaders were incarcerated here from December 1838 - April 1839. The dungeon was about 14 feet square with a ceiling just over 6 feet high.  Only two small barred windows allowed light and air into the cell.  The prisoners suffered from winter weather, filthy conditions, hunger and sickness.

Liberty Jail Missouri

Where we live in Nauvoo

We arrived in Nauvoo with approximately 40 other senior couples called to serve in the Nauvoo Temple on the afternoon of Friday, April 18.  We were greeted by the temple president and matron President and Sister McArthur and our host couple Rudi and Kathi Diederich.  Elder and Sister Diederich took us and another new couple, Don and Sharon Nelson to our apartments.  There we were able to unpack our car and begin the process of settling.  That evening the Diederich's hosted us at dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Our apartment is located on the first floor at 440 Partridge in Nauvoo.  (Brad and Susan Dalling occupy the apartment on the 2nd floor of the building.)  The apartment is nicely furnished.

There are 24 apartment building in the "flats" that house the temple missionary couples.  Some of the buildings have 2, some 3, some 4 apartments, and a few just one apartment.

440 Partridge

Living Room

Kitchen

Bedroom   

Back of Building

Back Yard