Lucy Mack Smith home

I had this blog post almost completed in March, but then I got a new calling to be the Rendezvous director.  More about that in a later post.  I haven't had any time since so I didn't finish this blog post--until now.  That is why it is kind of wintery. 

Recently I worked in the Lucy Mack Smith home with Sister Monney.  Lucy Mack Smith was the mother of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  She had 8 sons and 3 daughters.  Her photo hangs in her home.  She was a very small lady but very determined and always believed her son to be a prophet and that the Book of Mormon was true.

She said, "I would declare, as long as God should give me breath, that Joseph has that record, and that I know it to be true."

She was born in 1775 in New Hampshire. 



Lucy Mack Smith

The home was built by Joseph Bates Noble who was a Justice of the Peace in Nauvoo.  When the Saints left for the west, the LDS church leaders purchased the home for Lucy Mack Smith to live in.  She was too old and not well enough to go west.

Lucy Mack Smith home--with S washer attached to a rod, strengthening the home.

Here I am welcoming you to the Lucy Mack Smith home



Dishes that belonged to Lucy Mack Smith's sister in law

These are my favorite dishes in Nauvoo.  They were given to Lucy's sister-in-law at her wedding in 1796.  Only one saucer is missing.

Me and the lying-in room

This may have been where Lucy slept.  In those days they often had a lying-in room for people who couldn't climb the stairs because of advanced age, arthritis, or advanced pregnancy.  You can see why when you see the stairs they had in those days. 



The steepest stairs in town

Often I go down these stairs backwards.  It's easier that way.

Stairs with door

This door would shut down over the steep staircase.  If you had children sleeping upstairs, you would sure want to put that door down in case anyone woke up in the night.

Beautiful lace gloves from the period

These lace gloves are in the upstairs parlor.

Lovina Smith Walker portrait--from Lucy Mack Smith home

There are also some portraits upstairs of Lucy Mack Smith's granddaughter, Hyrum Smith's daughter by his first wife Jerusha who died before they came to Nauvoo. The granddaughter is Lovina Smith Walker. There is also a portrait of her husband, Lorin Walker. They were married by Hyrum Smith, her father, on June 23, 1844--the day before Hyrum and Joseph went to Carthage where they were martyred. What a blessing for her to be married by her dad before he was killed.

A doll in the children's room

Socks and shoes and a doll in the children's room

A little cradle and chest in the children's room

Some pictures on the wall upstairs.

 

Lucy Mack Smith told the women at the second Relief Society meeting, "We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together."
That was her goal for her family and friends and what a worthy goal for all of us.

Pelicans in the River

Eagles in back and ducks in front

An eagle in flight

Pelicans



Eagle



On the sleigh with Tim and Tom

 

 

This spring there was a lot of mud and the carriage route was pretty muddy.  It was too hard for two horses to pull the carriage.  So the teamsters hooked the horses up in a four-up hitch.  

 

Four-Up Carriage Ride with Dan and Doc and Bill and Bob

 

 

Mark driving & Elder Nunn narrating the Carriage Ride

 

 

Another four-up hitch.  Horses are Tim and Tom and Mike and Ned

 

The Exodus Re-enactment

During the Winter of 1845-1846, the people living in Nauvoo had to leave.  Their Prophet, Joseph Smith, and his brother, Hyrum, had been killed a year and a half before.  The mob wanted all of the Mormons gone and were persecuting them relentlessly.  They had planned to wait till spring but things got so bad that they had to leave in February.  They hurriedly built wagons and assembled supplies and many of them left in February.  They lined up on Parley Street waiting to be ferried across the Mississippi River.  On February 19, 1846 there was a big snowstorm.  Then it got very cold.  The River froze over and some of the people were able to cross on the ice.  But many others were ferried across.  Every February in Nauvoo, we have a re-enactment of that Exodus.  It was held on Saturday, February 2, 2013. 

Mark was busy preparing for the Exodus Trek.  He helped ready wagons and helped get the horses used to pulling wooden wheeled wagons.  The day before the Trek, I was working at the Brigham Young home.  He drove the horses down to visit me.  It was very cold.

Preparing Chad & Champ for the Exodus Trek

For a couple of months prior to the Trek, Sister Nunn and I and the sisters who worked in Land and Records had been busily preparing tags for people to wear.  We wore ancestors' names around our necks.  We could wear up to 5 names.  People turned in their ancestors to us and we researched them to make sure they were in Nauvoo and that they did go west.  We typed them and laminated them and put yarn on them.  Some who didn't have ancestors walked for people they weren't related to.  There were 611 tags used on the day of the Exodus.  Some of them were blank and people filled in their own ancestors.  Most were typed.



Sister Nunn and I giving out tags.

We assembled at 7:00 a.m. at the Family Lving Center to give out tags to missionaries and others.


The people who we walked for--all Mark's mother's ancestors

Mark and I each walked for 5 ancestors.  They were all his.  I didn't have any ancestors in Nauvoo.  He walked for the blue tags and I walked for the pink ones.

There was a continental breakfast at the Family Living Center before we left.  Everything was free of course.

Breakfast foods for the folks

 

We had a short opening program and then headed outside. It was a cold day. With the wind chill factor it was about 0. In 1846 when the pioneers left, it was -12 without the wind chill factor.



The Christensens portraying Brigham and Mary Ann Young

Elder & Sister Christensen portrayed Brigham and Mary Ann Young.  Elder Christensen is ill and they left for home this week.  We were glad they could stay to participate in the Exodus Trek.

The wagons lined up at the Family Living Center.

There were 6 wagons and conveyances which followed all of us who walked.  There was a surrey with a fringe on top and then several wagons.  There was a carriage for those who were unable to walk.

Me, proudly holding the Scotland flag

Sister Heaton & me with our flags

Many of us carried flags as we walked.  I carried the Scotland flag.  I didn't get any pictures of us walking.  There were app. 200 people who walked from the Family Living Center down Parley Street to the River.  First was the Nauvoo Legion.  Then the flags.  Then the walkers and then the wagons.

Walking down Main Street
 

The Nauvoo Legion leading the way

The Walk down Parley Street

 

The wagons and surrey going down Parley Street

The wagons all turned into our lane when they got down by the River.

Brigham Young and Mary Ann in the surrey with the fringe on top.  Driven by Elders Nunn & Johnson.  Horses are Mike & Ned.

The wagons coming down Parley Street and turning onto our lane

Mark & Jordan with Chad & Champ

Mark on the wagon at left with Chad and Champ

Mark driving a wagon with Jordan and Chad and Champ

Mark's wagon with the temple in background

We stood down by the River and a list was read of our ancestors who died before getting to Utah.

The Christensens with their 3 little grandchildren

The Christensens' son, daughter-in-law, 3 granddaughters, and 1 grandson came to be with the Christensens.  They are pictured toward the left.  The little girls were so sweet.

The Nauvoo Legion raised the flag.  Taps was played by Elder Germer.

The Nauvoo Legion at the River

It was a wonderful day and we were thankful we could participate.  We all felt the spirit of the people who had to leave in 1846.  We are so thankful for their sacrifices so that we can have the Gospel today and live it as we want.

The day after the trek we had a fireside at which we told about an ancestor.  Mark told about Archibald Gardner and I told about Isabelle Burt.  She wasn't in Nauvoo, but the fireside included pioneers other than the Nauvoo ones.

Mark and I in the surrey with a fringe on top.  Horses are Mike and Ned

A couple of days after the Trek, before they put the surrey away, Mark came and gave me a ride--in front of the John Taylor home where I was working. 

Mark and I in the surrey with the fringe on top

The river has been partially frozen for the last while.  It looks like waves but often they are waves of ice.  There have been so many geese, ducks, and bald eagles.

Geese on the partially frozen river

The geese flying aboe the river.

Flying Geese

Mark was out on the ice getting up closer to the geese to take a photo.  He slipped and fell down--flat on his back.  That scared the geese and he was able to get this photo lying flat on his back.

Mark has taken some photos of the horses eating their hay in the morning.

Horses eating hay

Here are some bald eagles on the ice and water.

Eagles on the ice

The ducks/geese huddle together and it looks like a carpet of ducks out in the middle of the river.



A carpet of ducks on the river

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