After they got back, we went to a play, presented by the young performance missionaries, for children, called Anna Amanda. The kids loved it. Here is a picture of Analynn & Shannyn with some of the cast members.
After lunch, we took a carriage ride, this time through town. One or two of the older kids thought it was boring, but most of us enjoyed it. And it gave us the chance to see the city of Nauvoo while sitting down! We saw the homes of two of our ancestors. There were many more, of course, but they haven't all been restored.
This is Parley's house. It is the house he built. It didn't have the wrap-around porch then, I guess the Catholic Church added that when they bought it. It tugged a little at my heartstrings to see his house with a cross on the top, but I was grateful to at least know where it was. It is right on the same road, Wells St., as the Temple.
This house is the home of William Gheen, Grandma Brinton's great grandfather. He is also the great grandther of Spencer W. Kimball, which explains why it is one of the houses restored; President Kimball's cousin was in charge of the restoration project, and we are thankful that he included it.
Dad & I went to the office of Land and Records the day before, and looked up some of our family names. We all know, of course, about Parley and Shadrach Ford Driggs and Ben the Wagon boy,(who became the husband of Parley's oldest daughter Olivia). But we found a wealth of other names of ancestors who had lived in Nauvoo. There were 3 Biggses, but we couldn't determine if one of them was an ancestor or not. But we found Abel Lamb and his wife, Almira Merrill, and their children, including Joseph Smith Lamb, Grandmother's grandfather. We also found that Abel had been a member of Zion's Camp. Almira's parents, Daniel Merrill and Phoebe Shepherd, were also there. Joseph Smith Lamb was a child in Nauvoo, as was Harriet Clawson, who eventually became his wife in SLC. She lived there with her parents, John Reese and Susanna Owen, and their family. So you see, just in those names, alone, there are over 8 other ancestors who lived in Nauvoo. And that is just the tip of the iceberg! We could go into so many more if we had had enough time. We did find that David Brinton, my great grandfather, and his wife, Harriet Dilworth, also lived there, as did her parents, Caleb Wollerton Dilworth and Eliza White. We ran out of time and were not able to check any of the other names on my side of the family either, but we got a CD showing all we found. Basically, we had so many relatives who lived in Nauvoo that we should feel right at home when we visit there!
After our carriage ride, we went straight to the Carthage jail. Here are some of the kids in front of the statues of Joseph and Hyrum, with the jail in the background.
The following pictures are in the wrong order. Sorry.
This is in the upstairs dungeon room at the Carthage jail. (They wouldn't allow pictures in the bedroom). You can see how exhausted some of the babies were...and their parents, from having to carry them around. But the older kids had a good experience, I think. They all seemed to be impressed with the solemnity of what happened there.
After Carthage, Dad & Connie and I went to the Temple. It was beautiful inside, but also quite plain, befitting a replica of the Temple the Saints built when they had no money or even time. It is amazing to me how much care and time, and money, they spent on it anyway, when they knew they were going to be leaving it behind. They were so faithful. I hope we can exhibit even a fraction of the faith and courage our ancestors showed at that time.
3 comments:
The temple was incredible!
-Devynne
i would have enjoyed the temple but i slept in way to late........... noon to be exact lol. but overall it was a good experience and i was one of the older kids who thought the carriage ride was boring. i think it was b/c it was so slow and it was grossly humid outside.
ps that was bethany's comment
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