Heritage Trail: Our pioneers in Nauvoo

The 1840s Nauvoo, Illinois days were full of exceeding joy and sorrow, not just for the LDS Church, but for many of our ancestors as well. They experienced the blessings of the temple and sealing power for the first time; they also experienced persecution and murder. Several died here, several were married, one was born in Nauvoo. Some were baptized here, Thomas Grover served on the High Council and Addison Everett was a bishop. It was a time and place for personal, familial, and institutional transformation. Some remembered it with sadness as a time of trial and loss. For others it was a golden memory, such as Clarissa Eastman who recorded in her last testimony, “I loved Nauvoo and had the spirit of gathering as soon as I believed.” When Lorenzo Hill Hatch returned to Nauvoo from his mission to Vermont after the martyrdom, he reported, “I found Nauvoo flourishing; such crops I never saw growing out of the earth before.”

Some addresses are known, as shown on the map labeled with information from the Nauvoo Land and Records Office.  Nicholas Welch lived on block 74, Joseph Billington practically next door on block 75 (although when they first arrived, the Billingtons stayed in the Nauvoo House on block 156). John Welch, Nicholas Welch, Thomas Grover, Hezekiah Hatch, William Thompson, and Ira Hatch had farmland east of the city. Hezekiah Hatch’s house was at the corner of Mulholland and Bennett Street, two blocks east of the temple. Thomas Grover reportedly built a home on .75 acre just south of the temple site (although this is not in the Nauvoo Land records). Ira Hatch lived in the 5^th ward and had property in the city and 22 miles east at Eton Farm. 

Hatch house with plaque

Jeremiah and Elizabeth Hatch lived a few blocks from their son Josephus at the corner of Ripley and Fulmer Streets, and the two-story brick house is still standing, with a plaque to honor the only Revolutionary War veteran to live in Illinois. Jeremiah petitioned for his pension to be forwarded with the following letter found in the National Archives pension files: “My son, Hezekiah, upon whom I lean for comfort in old age, has removed to this place, Nauvoo, and I am moved by the Spirit of God and my love to be with the Saints to gather to this place.” His annual $88-$96 pension was transferred. 

Ellis and Rachel Sanders’ home at the corner of Page and Sidney Streets is still standing and is now a Bed & Breakfast. The elegant three-story brick home features an original banister, six fireplaces with bun-warmer cupboards, and a Nauvoo Temple stone for the back step. Family lore says that Joseph Smith was hidden from the mobs in the home’s cellar during construction, and that Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young preached in the parlor. It has a view of the temple and the Mississippi River below.

Schuyler Everett and his sister Adelaide often paid Lucy Smith a dime to see the Egyptian mummies and he frequently saw Joseph Smith ride a beautiful white horse. Family legend says schoolteacher Hannah Grover taught Joseph Smith’s children in Nauvoo. Addison Everett was a carpenter on the Nauvoo Temple, and Nicholas Welch and Lorenzo Hill Hatch also helped build it. The Billingtons, Eastmans, Sanders, Jeremiah and Elizabeth Hatch, Thomas and Hannah Grover, Ira Stearns Hatch, Lorenzo Hatch, and John and Eliza Welch all received their endowments in the Nauvoo Temple before the exodus.

William Thompson attended the School of the Prophets. Addison Everett, Ira Hatch, Thomas Grover, and John Welch served in the Nauvoo Legion, Thomas Grover as the aide-de-camp.  John Welch carved two beautiful pen knives (small pocketknives to trim quills) for Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Nauvoo, and stood guard over the Smith bodies as they lay in state. Addison helped destroy the apostate printing press, The Nauvoo Expositor, and helped wash and guard the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum after the martyrdom. He played in the band as they brought the bodies into Nauvoo, and often told how they brought them into the city wrapped in flags, followed by the band playing a martial air called “Liberty” with muffled drums. Weighted coffins were buried and the real bodies buried at night in a private lot, and Addison helped guard those against body-snatchers. Tears rolled down his face as he would tell these stories, saying “those were the days that tried men’s souls.”

While doing missionary service near Kalamazoo, Michigan, Thomas Grover was warned in a dream in June 1844 to return to Nauvoo. This dream was repeated three times, so he awoke his companion and they took the shortest route possible, arriving at Carthage just after the martyrdom. Thomas and his companion accompanied the bodies to Nauvoo and assisted in burial preparations. 

Schuyler Everett belonged to a company of boys in Nauvoo under Captain Bailey, and did military drills with wooden guns and wore a uniform of white pants, checkered vest, and three-cornered hat.  Joseph Smith III was the first lieutenant. When his father helped destroy The Nauvoo Expositor printing press, Schuyler watched and filled his pocket with type. Schuyler saw Joseph speak as he left for Carthage, and saw the martyrs’ bodies.

Ellis Sanders left for Nauvoo to meet the prophet Joseph Smith and loan him some money. He returned to Wilmington with Heber C. Kimball and Lyman Wight to serve as the branch president in Delaware, but they had only been home for a few hours when word came that the prophet was killed.  Brother Kimball read the letter in the presence of the Sanders family, and said, “God has damned them, and he will damn them, they have murdered Brother Joseph. Brother Lyman, we have got to get to Nauvoo as fast as steam will carry us, and Brother Sanders, we haven’t a cent.” Ellis wrote them each a check and Lyman gave him a note of repayment, but he later apostatized and didn’t return the money. The Sanders moved to Nauvoo the next morning.

Silas Tupper, Wealthea Bradford, Elizabeth Thompson, Nicholas Welch, and Hezekiah Hatch all died in Nauvoo. Wealthea prophesied before her death that her family would be driven out to the Rocky Mountains.  Nicholas’ death resulted from the swampy weather and damp work at the adobe yard.  Hezekiah was murdered by an evil doctor. Elderly Jeremiah and Elizabeth Hatch were driven out by the mobs. John Cottam’s infant child also died.

William Woodland and the Welches were at the meeting in the grove where the prophetic mantle fell on Brigham Young. John left a deposition of that experience with his testimony, and William said that influenced him more in future years than any other experience. In her later years, Eliza Welch delighted in telling stories to her grandchildren of the joys and trials in Nauvoo, the early days of the Church, and frequently quoting the prophet. The children were so impressed by these stories that they would often perform them in their playtime. What a transformative time and place for so many individuals and families--we are blessed to be able to visit there today and catch a glimpse of what Nauvoo the Beautiful meant to them and how it impacts our lives today.