Nauvoo the Beautiful

On our way home from Indiana we got to stop in Nauvoo and spend a few hours walking around the restored houses and see the demonstrations. I have been there before, but it has been a few years. It made a huge impression on me and I wanted to be able to share it with my kids. Hopefully we will be able to go again when they are older and remember it more. There were still a lot of things that I didn't remember. I think mostly I remember the feelings that are present there. You can feel the spirit of those that lived there and the truth of what they believed. It's amazing to see and feel of their sacrifices. The kids loved it especially Michael. I have never seen him so attentive and excited to sit and listen to people talk.

We started at the visitor's center. They have beautiful flower beds just outside the building.

Grandma, Grandpa, Emily, Alex, and Michael.

Inside the visitor's center they have an amazing statue of the first vision. It was inspiring!

Michael, Emily, and Alex

Just outside the front door is a sunstone from the first Nauvoo temple. There are 30 still in existence. This is one of the 30 Emily is standing next to.

The first house we went in was the Browning Home and Gunsmith Shop. These are some of the guns on display that Jonathan Browning designed. Jonathan Browning was a very wealthy man and gave everything up to move to Nauvoo, where he re-established his home and family only to leave it again.

Here are some more guns that he designed.

This is the first machine gun ever invented by by his son. It was still used in the Vietnam War.

The Brownings were the only ones to have a well dug inside the house. These are the stairs leading down to the well.

This is inside their first home they built before they built the bigger home. It was shocking how small and dark it was. This was a more typical home of those that lived in Nauvoo.

Next we went into the John Taylor home. John Taylor was also pretty well off. This is typical of what his dining room was like.

This is inside John Taylor's bedroom, where the missionary shared John Taylor's testimony.

This rocking horse was made by John Taylor for his son. When they left Nauvoo his son cried for days. They finally found out why he was so sad, it was because they had to leave the rocking horse behind. John Taylor loved his son so much he crossed the river back to Nauvoo, disguising himself so he could sneak back and got the rocking horse for his son. The rocking horse made the trek all the way to the Salt Lake Valley. And now it has returned to Nauvoo back to John Taylor's house and the kids' room.

John Taylor was the editor of the Newspaper for a year so next to his home is the printing office.

We learned how they would print the newspaper. It cost $2 a year for the paper which at that time was a luxury. They also had a display of how the Book of Mormon was printed.

This is the Pendleton Home and Log School. Mr Pendleton was a doctor and provided his services free of charge. However, he needed to make money to provide for himself so he started a school in the back of his house.

Here we are ready for school. We had our own slates and chalk where we learned how the pioneers would learn at school. We even played a learning game. We all had a great time at school.

Emily, Alex, Me(Jolene).

Grandma and Michael sat on the back row.

Next we went over to the brickyard were we learned how they made brick from the clay found by the river. It would cost .50 cents a brick. The people knew they were going to be run out of their homes so they hurried to finish their homes before they left. It was amazing to me that they cared enough about what they were leaving behind to make sure they left their homes finished and in perfect order. The kids each got to take home a souvenir brick with Nauvoo stamped on them.

This is the Lucy Mack Smith home. This was Lucy's home after the pioneers left for Salt Lake. Lucy stayed in Nauvoo with Emma. This was Lucy's bedroom. She was unable to get up and down the stairs anymore so her room was on the main floor.

These are the stairs to the upstairs. They are known as the steepest stairs in Nauvoo. There was a trap door that would cover the stairs so you could move from room to room upstairs. It was a very interesting floor plan.

The kids were very cautious going down the stairs because of how steep they were.

We also went to the Webb brothers' blacksmith shop. Out front they had a typical wagon the pioneers used. I was very surprised at how small they were. The wheel base was much larger than the actual wagon bed.

Inside the blacksmith shop we learned how they made wagons and specifically the wheel. It looked like a lot of hard work. They also had on display a loaded wagon and what it would've consisted of when the pioneers left. It wasn't much and most was food.

Then we went to the blacksmith shop. Do you know why they are called blacksmiths? Because they blacken their metal so it doesn't rust. We saw a demonstration of how they would make horseshoes. Emily got the tiny horseshoe that the missionary made. Then we all got to pick a "prairie diamond." A prairie diamond is a horseshoe nail bent in a circle to fit your finger, the head of the nail being the "diamond."

The kids were very attentive. Several tools in the blacksmith shop were actually owned by the Webb brothers.

Michael really wanted to see where Joseph Smith was buried and where he lived. It being Sunday and not a lot of time we decided to forgo the tour. All of these properties are owned and operated by the Community of Christ church. Outside the cemetery is a sign, (above) that describes what they did with Joseph and Hyrum's body and where they were buried. They were originally buried in the walls of the home basement, then moved under a small house in the corner, then eventually moved to the cemetery where they rest now.

This is a picture inside the cemetery. There are two flower beds in the cemetery.

This is the other flower bed in the cemetery. It was very beautiful and peaceful.

These are the headstones for Joseph, Hyrum, and Emma Smith

Joseph Smith

Hyrum Smith

And Emma Smith

This cemetery is also the resting place of Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph's parents.

We found an old small headstone of Wilber W .

This is the old Homestead that was Joseph and Emma's first home in Nauvoo. The family lived here for 4 years. The cemetery is next to the homestead.

The Homestead was originally constructed in 1805. Joseph lived here from 1839-1842.

This is the Nauvoo house. It was the hotel that Joseph owned.

This is the Mansion House. It was Joseph's final home.

Here is the Nauvoo temple on the hill right above the Nauvoo "city." Originally the people donated one day of every 10 as a tithe to work on the temple. The women sewed clothes for the builders. The first time I visited Nauvoo the temple was near completion in the reconstruction. We were told it was built as much as it had been built when Joseph was martyred. There was still the top portion to be completed. After Joseph and Hyrum were martyred the saints redoubled their efforts to complete the temple. The temple was dedicted on June 27, 2002. A couple of my uncles have had the privledge of helping in the reconstruction of this beautiful temple that our ancestors originally helped build.

Visiting Nauvoo was a wonderful experiance, one I would recommend to everyone. The spirit is strong and the experiance life changing. I hope my kids will always remember the feel of this amazing city and the people that worked so hard to build it, and sacrificed so much in leaving.