The other pictures I will explain as I attach them.
But I also wanted to start a series of stories about various groups or individuals who were instrumental in the building of Nauvoo, or in making substantial contributions to the city and the welfare of the Church. One of our horse-drawn vehicles is called the "Wagon ride", and the other is called the "Carriage ride". The Wagon ride takes you around the city streets and talks about the various parts of town, who lived there, and what went on there. The Carriage ride goes back into the wilderness area surrounding Nauvoo and talks much more about the people...who did what, and why, and what happened to them. It is the "people" stories that I will tell about. Those of you who come to visit will take both rides, but on the Carriage ride, you will hear more about the people stories I am highlighting here.
We start in Missouri in 1838. The Mormons had established settlements north of St. Louis, after being chased from place to place over 8 to 10 years. Prejudice against the Mormons led the Governor of Missouri, Lilburn Boggs, to declare that the Mormons were not welcome in Missouri, and he issued the famous Extermination order, stating that it was legal to shoot any Mormons found in Missouri unless they were headed out of state. This was based entirely on religious persecution, not upon anything else the Mormons may have done.
So in mid winter of 1838-1839, the Mormons headed east, across the Mississippi river, into Illinois and the town of Quincy. They had only the clothes on their back. They had to leave everything else behind. They received nothing for the property they had purchased from the government. They arrived in Quincy, 5000 strong, destitute, hungry, and freezing. The 1500 residents of Quincy took them in for the winter, fed and clothed them, gave them jobs, and housed them until spring when the Mormons could move about 30 miles north to Nauvoo to start a new life. That meant that each Quincy household of 5 volunteered to take in about 15 Mormons for the winter. One Quincy resident, writing in his journal, said, "I would wake up in the morning and could not even cross my floor without stepping on a Mormon".
The Mormons have, since that time, been eternally grateful to the residents of Quincy for their generosity and kindliness. In 2002, when President Gordon B. Hinckley came to Nauvoo to dedicate the re-built Temple here, he brought the Tabernacle choir for a mid-west tour. The choir gave two concerts in Quincy, and at the conclusion of the second concert, President Hinckley called the Mayor of Quincy to the stage. President Hinckley gave the Mayor a check for $75,000.00 and told the Mayor it was our way of saying "Thank You" for what their ancestors did for our ancestors. There were tears all around.
The Mormons today still talk in great reverence about what those Quincy people did for us.
Next week, I will tell you about Jonathon Browning, inventor of the repeating rifle and a resident of Quincy, and his meeting with Joseph Smith.
Here is the Joseph Smith House.
This is the west side of the Lyon Drug and Mercantile Store. The street and the front of the store is on the left, or north end. This is where we live. We use this west side door, and immediately climb a set of steep stairs to the second floor. The Lyon Drug store occupies the entire main floor, including the smaller building on the right. Lyon Drug is now an historical site, with very old apothacary jars, pharmacy tools, etc,
This walkway runs north and south in front of our entrance to our apartment. Because the owner of the Lyon Drug was a herbologist, he grew all sorts of herbs on his property. This long row of chives is now in flower, but the place is surrounded by all sorts of exotic plants....quite well maintained.
Out in the herb garden, there are a number of larger bushes. Pam found this Robin's nest in one of those bushes.
Pam also found a pile of weeds in the garden outside the store. When she went to pick up the pile to throw them away, the ground seemed to be moving. She found the weeds were sheltering a large family of little tiny rabbits,a probably six or 8 of them. The next picture is a close up of the tiny bunnies.
Well, that's it for today. We hope you have enjoyed yet another small chapter of life here in old Nauvoo.....A truly remarkable place.
We are hearing of more and more of you coming out to visit, and we are very excited.
Love to all, Pam and Jerry
