The Seventies Hall

I'd like to tell you about the Seventies Hall.

The Seventies Hall with the Temple in the background at the left.

This is the Seventies Hall, built in the Federalist style that is so prevalent here in Nauvoo and of course with the Nauvoo red bricks.  Seventies are missionaries, the same as they were in the Church that Christ established as explained in the New Testament (Luke 10:1).  In old Nauvoo, the Seventies Quorums built this building as a place where they could learn and worship.  It was the first Missionary Training Center.  Notice the three stars just above the first story.  They are washers which are attached to rods which run through the building and strengthen it.  On some buildings they are S shapes and some buildings have stars. 

A closeup of the star-shaped washers

Edward Hunter donated his land for the building and men volunteered their time to build, make bricks, and raise money for materials.

As they were building, in 1844, a tornado blew down the unfinished west wall which you see here.  It smashed the flooring and the men were discouraged and almost ready to give up.  Brigham said it was a good omen; it showed that the Devil was mad and knew that they'd receive blessings in the Hall.  He told them to get to work and build it up again.  They made all the walls one brick thicker and by the first of May, 1844 the hall was closed in.  It was dedicated in December 1844 by Brigham Young.  Joseph Smith had been martyred by then.

The ground floor was to be used for classes, lectures, and worship services.  On the second floor there was a library, museum, and a doctor's office.  Shorthand classes were also taught here.  It was intended that missionaries would bring back artifacts from their missions to go into the museum. 

The architect for the building was William Weeks who was also the architect for the original Nauvoo Temple.  The building was constructed under the direction of John D. Lee, the secretary of the Seventies Quorums in Nauvoo. 

I worked at the Seventies Hall recently with my good friend, Sister Christensen

The word Priesthood is above the door at the Seventies Hall

The Seventies Hall was used for many purposes, among them dances, photography, political meetings, Nauvoo City Council meetings, family gatherings, etc.  When the Saints left Nauvoo it was sold to a merchant from Quincy, Illinois who wanted to use it for a Presbyterian congregation.  Later it was sold to a Catholic Bishop and then for a while, it was used as a school.  After the school moved to a new building on Main Street in 1904, the Seventies Hall was leveled to the ground.  The Church bought back the land in 1962, excavated the original foundations and rebuilt the present Seventies Hall as close to the original building as possible.



The east staircase with new carpet.  The sunshine was streaming in.

The carpeting for the two staircases is woven in the family living center.  They were laying new carpet the day we were there.



This is me at the podium on the main floor.  The middle section of benches are shown and the stove at the right.

 

A close-up of the stove in the corner

Upstairs in the library are books with alphabetical lists of the Seventies in Nauvoo.  You can find your ancestor and if he was a Seventy, you can sign a descendancy book, put your name, your ancestor's name and your relationship to him.  Some of our children signed the book, since some of Mark's ancestors were Seventies.

 

 

People can find their ancestor in these books.



Part of the library on the 2nd floor with the descendancy book at the right.

The library has bookcases with very old books on either side, but we don't touch them. 

 

There is a large room upstairs with artifacts they found when excavating Nauvoo.

 

Some artifacts found from Old Nauvoo

Some metal utensils found under buildings from Old Nauvoo





 

 

 

 

Some of these buttons were made from Mississippi clam shells.  There was a button factory in Montrose in the early days.  Montrose is across the river from Nauvoo.

The Seventies Hall is a great place to visit.  It is a beautiful historic building with a wonderful history.

 

 

 

We have had so many bald eagles here lately.  It is really the season for them.  What beautiful birds.

 

 



An eagle in flight over the river



 

 

 



An eagle on the Mississippi ice



 



Geese on the river



Some of our horses in Starr Valley this month

Mark has been worried about our horses in Starr Valley.  It has been very cold there for a long time and they have quite a bit of snow.  Recently Enoch took photos of them to set his dad's mind at rest.  Ann and Andy are among these horses.  We appreciated Enoch making us feel better.  We also appreciate Demar furnishing the pasture for them.




Sunset on the Mississippi

 



Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone.  We had a very nice Christmas here in Nauvoo.  We missed our family and friends but have many friends here and it is wonderful to be in the service of our Savior during the season of His birth. 

I wasn't planning to have a Christmas tree this year, but our dear friends the Calls had other ideas.  Sister Call gave us a tree all decorated for the season.  We were at their house and she got a roll of Saran Wrap, wrapped up the tree, and sent it home with us.  We enjoyed that tree so much and we're planning to bring it home as a sweet remembrance of our friends, the Calls.




Our Christmas Tree



Our good friends, President & Sister Call

We spent Christmas Eve at a party at the home of the Calls.  They are such dear friends.

We have had ice and geese and ducks on the Mississippi in great abundance.  The ice patterns change every day.  We have enjoyed watching the birds.

Geese on the Ice

The geese sit out on the ice till about 3:00 p.m.  Then they fly over the farmers' fields and eat and then come back about dark and stay on the river till the next afternoon.

The geese

It is really interesting to watch the geese.  They seem like they are having a big meeting.  They huddle together, sometimes in water and sometimes on ice.  Perhaps they are huddling for warmth or perhaps they are having a meeting.  Here is an example.




The geese in convention


 

The geese in flight

It is fun to hear and watch the geese as they fly.

The beautiful bald eagles are back.  What a great national bird they are.  So stately and elegant. 

A bald eagle in the tree right next to our house.

A bald eagle



A different bald eagle in the same tree



Sunset on the Mississippi Ice
 

It may seem that all of our Sunsets are the same but they are new photos.


On Christmas Day, Mark and Elder Nunn gave the missionaries a Christmas gift--their own carriage ride.  They gave three rides and they were very well attended.  Everyone enjoyed the beautiful, chilly day. 




Christmas Day Ride

The horses for the Christmas rides were Chad and Champ

Ready to go



Mark driving and Elder Nunn narrating

One of the sights we saw on the carriage ride was the Mississippi River from Inspiration Point.  The Prophet, Joseph Smith, used to ride his horse to Inspiration Point.  This is just above the upper landing.




Inspiration Point overlooking the Mississippi

 

On the Carriage Ride, we sang Christmas songs and heard wonderful stories of the people who lived here in the 1840's. 
Samuel Smith was the younger brother of the Prophet, Joseph Smith.  He was the first official missionary for the Church.  Just days after he was ordained an elder he was set apart as a missionary.  His first mission was only 3 or 4 days long.  He returned home thinking that it had been a complete failure.  But he had lent a Book of Mormon to a Methodist minister, John Green.  John's wife, Rhoda, read it and believed it.  She told her husband about it.  He read it and believed it.  Most of his congregation also joined the Church, including Rhoda's brothers and sisters.  One of her brothers was Brigham Young. A neighbor and good friend, Heber C. Kimball, also joined the Church.  From these people during their lifetime, literally thousands of people came into the church.



Elder Nunn driving and Mark narrating on a later ride

At one point on the carriage ride, you can see three spires, from the left, St. Peter & Paul's Catholic Church, the Nauvoo Temple, and our Stake Center where we attend church.  You can also see the other horses eating their morning hay.



The horses and the three spires from the carriage ride

We hope your 2013 is very happy.  We leave you with another Mississippi sunset.



Sunset on the Mississippi

Merry Christmas!

For our Christmas letter this year, we want to share with you the things we are doing on our mission in Nauvoo.  We are very happy to be here and to be serving as missionaries.  We miss our family, but they are all doing well.  We have had 3 new grandchildren this year.  Ammon and Melanee had a little girl, Azure, February 20.  Olivia and Edgar had a little boy, Omar Rafael, May 15.  Tabor and Katie had a little girl, Charlotte Louise, December 4. 

Nauvoo is a beautiful place to be.  There is so much history of the church here.  It is a very spiritual place.  There are many missionaries serving here who have become wonderful friends.  What a wonderful time we're having.



Mark & Coralee and Rod & Chuck

This never happens.  It was only for the picture.  Mark drives the horses for wagon and carriage rides.  This is one of the wagons.  I narrate on the wagon ride every once in a while, but I would not be up on the driver's seat with him, I'd be in the back with a microphone. 

The Land & Records Office where I mostly work

 

 

 

I work three days a week in the Land and Records office.  We have computers and a database with app. 46,000 names in it.  We are continually researching the people who lived here in the 1840's and finding information about them.  When guests come in, we help them find information about their ancestors.  We put all the information, histories, pictures, etc. on a cd for the guests.  We do that at no charge of course.  (It is impossible to spend money in old Nauvoo.)  We can put up to 550 pages on a cd.  We also help people to find the land their ancestors owned.  We have maps and much information about that.  It is a great place to work.  When we are short of guests, there is lots of research to do.  I didn't have any ancestors who came through Nauvoo but Mark has about 35 direct ancestors here on his mother's side.  It has been interesting to learn about them.

One wall in the Land & Records Office

Our guests sit at these computers and we help them there.



 

This is another part of the Land and Records center.

 

The Pendleton Home and School

 

 

Before that I worked quite a lot at the Pendleton Log School.  We told about Calvin Pendleton and about education in Nauvoo.  There were 83 public school teachers and 54 private school teachers in Nauvoo during the seven years the people were here.  I loved telling about that.

Me at the Merriweather Dry Goods Store modeling a bib we made for older people

We are doing quite a bit of humanitarian work during our slow season.  We are making newborn kits with blankets, burp cloths, booties, etc. for the local hospitals.  We also make bibs for older people to wear in the various hospitals and rest homes in this area.  Some have joked that we are all old people too and maybe should be wearing them.  In this photo I am modeling one of the bibs that we made that day.


I just received the assignment to be a cast manager for our nightly production of Rendezvous.  That means I'll send out the cast assignments by email and people will let me know when they are sick or need to have a part changed.  It's mostly an Excel job and I help conduct our green room practice.  I guess we'll see how that goes.  Mark and I play a vignette in Rendezvous now.  We are Jed and Annie.

Us in Rendezvous

Mark works with the horses.  He spends a few days in the historic sites, but he mostly gives wagon and carriage rides.  He helps take care of the horses and harnesses in his spare time.  We have 20 horses here in Nauvoo and they are really good horses.

Mark with Chad and Champ

Running in the horses in the morning
 

Horses going into the barn to start the day

Having their morning grain.  The headstalls have the horses names on them.

The carriage with Mark

Everyday except Sunday, there are wagon and carriage rides.  At no charge of course.  Two teamsters drive the wagon and it is narrated by a sister missionary.  The wagon ride goes around town and past most of the historic sites and along the river.  The river narration is done by the teamsters.  The wagon ride is an hour long.  The wagon is shown at the top of this blog post. 

 

The carriage ride is driven by two teamsters.  It is an hour ride out into the countryside, narrated by the teamsters.  They tell stories about some of the people who lived here in the 1840's.  It is a very spiritual ride and is Mark's favorite.

Elder Rogers & Elder Call feeding the horses with Mike & Ned

Elder Call's brother, who was here as a missionary until recently, built this wagon so they could feed the horses using the horses. 

These horses felt bad that they weren't pictured.  Because there isn't enough room in the barn they have to eat their grain outside.

We are enjoying the river.  We live right on the river.



Sunset on the Mississippi--as seen from our home

Another sunset
 

This is a sunrise

A sunrise as seen from our home

Nauvoo is decorated for Christmas

The nativity at the Visitors' Center

 



The Christmas tree in the Visitors' Center



 



Noah's Ark in the Log School--animals made of seeds etc.



 

 

The tree at the Lyon Drug & Variety Store

Me in front of the John Taylor home decorated for Christmas

Live nativity

 

On December 1, we had a Christmas walk.  We lit the tree in the Visitor's Center and then Christmas stories were told in four different sites.  The teamsters took visitors to the various sites on the wagons.  This live nativity was held at the cultural hall.  My assignment was to play the piano to accompany the nativity.

The temple with a nativity

Another thing we do here is attend the temple often.  The Nauvoo temple is so beautiful.  We have never lived so close to a temple and we enjoy it.

In the last nine months we have learned much about Joseph Smith and the good people who lived here in the 1840's.  We have such admiration and respect for them.  We are happy to tell folks about them and their stories.  We can learn many things from them.

Our testimony of Jesus Christ has increased greatly.  We know He is our Savior.  We are thankful for Him and for His atonement in behalf of us.  Our purpose here is to testify of Him and to invite others to come unto Him.  We invite you to do the same.  During this Christmas season, we hope we will all develop a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Thank you for being our friends and family.  Have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!  Come and visit us.