i am tired...
ten days; just over 2000 road miles; 4 road games; a committed attempt to take in all the exhibits, history and shows each historical site has to offer; and of course my nightly blog... six o'clock wake up, lights out about 12:00, and i'm beat.
soooo, this will be short.
one of the restored buildings in Nauvoo is the Assembly Hall. this building was suggested to joseph, funded and built by the 70's of the church. a little background:
- of the 5000 original saints who settled Nauvoo 490 were 70's
- there were 1000 seventies in 1844, and 15 quorums of seventy at the time they departed.
- the leadership of the 70's felt they needed a place of learning... here they could study scriptures and instruct each other, practice their speaking skills, a little teaching of the geographys or countries they may be called to, a museum of artifacts brought back by missionaries from around the world, a library of books donated by the citizens of Nauvoo etc.
- they also kept a record of each and every 70 who lived in Nauvoo
one of those was James Standing, son of John and Mary, husband to Nancy Varley, and our great, great, great relative... not exactly sure how it all fits together. he played in the Nauvoo brass band, (i guess Barney playing the flute was in the genes), was a stonecutter listed on the temple records, and a body guard of the prophet Joseph.
now the good part... after i found James in the record of 70's, i went to the land and records building were they provide you with key information re: each church member that resided in the Nauvoo area... namely what they did, where they lived, activities, priesthood ordinances and blessings etc... they even give you a CD of all the records they find.
Nauvoo was laid out in 4 acre sections, each section consisted of four 1 acre lots. picture the way SLC is laid out... everything organized, neat and equal. when the saints came to Nauvoo each family was given a 1 acre plot of land to homestead, drain, build a home, business and garden. don't know how they passed them out but our boy James got a good one.
when i got the plot map, it showed James lived on lot 116, just off parley and main street. this address sounded familier as i had just walked down main street which was THE hub of activity in Nauvoo... (not counting the Temple) the printing press and paper, the post office, Jonathan Browning gun store, John Taylor's home to name just of few of the store fronts which have been restored on what was the busiest street in the city.
walking to the place i determined was lot 116 i was excited to find James kept pretty good company. just across the street, or so i thought, sits the home of Brigham Young... i was close, Brigham owned lot 123 which is still just across the street and kitty corner to Jame's, lot 116 sits behind the printing press, John Taylor's home and the post office. so it would seem if Jame's were to have a backyard bar-b-que, he could shout over the fence and invite the Taylors, stand on his front porch and wave in the Youngs, if it looked like a big social event the paper/printing press could open their back door and interview all in attendence. Jame's no doubt kept pretty good company including the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd presidents of the church. not bad.
point of interest... Geoff, i checked to see if any Steeds were registered in the record of 70's and couldn't find them. guess they changed their names when they got to the valley.
tomorrow is another big travel day as i go to omaha neb. for a view of winter quarters. plenty of time to ponder all that i saw and heard. a lot to talk about tomorrow night, Carthage jail visit, Jonathan Browning and the story of Quincy, senior missionaries and what they do in Nauvoo, as well as any parting thoughts i may have from Nauvoo. i'm treating this blog as if i were a reporter... one story a day... stay tuned.
just to see if you're paying attention i'd like a little input on the best traveling foods you'd take for a long trip.. i've got a few coming up in the next three or four days and would like your recommendation on what to snack on along the way... you name it, healthy, refreshing, keeps you awake, whatever... give me your best shot. thanks in advance.
good night
pictures..
upper left... shot from behind John Taylors home. check out the red building in the upper left corner... Brigham's home
upper right... inside assembly hall
lower left... shot from Brigham's front porch
lower right... give some perspective to where the printing press is, John Taylor's home would be next, and then the post office.
5 comments:
Well can't wait until tomorrow's post but to help you in your travels, Steve Guthrie who is a maniac cross country driver swears by sunflower seeds, the in shell ones as the act of cracking them open as you chew and spitting out the shells keeps you awake. So that is my advice on food to keep you awake, and somewhat healthy I say. And you know, a good coke always keeps you awake too but you already knew that!!!! Katie
i love all the historical info. very cool to hear about the standing relatives, especially in light of the information we got at the family reunion. i hope you took pictures.
as a matter of fact, i believe i read somewhere that the original contractor for lot 116 was stephen strong. unfortunately, after a prolonged period in which the job stalled and stalled and stalled, the deal went sour; but it didn't prevent standing from asking strong back again when he was ready to do more work on the homestead. stranger still, strong agreed to come back despite having been paid with a covered wagon and two canoes.
the standings also apparently suffered from a rodent infestation as well as a problem with murky water in the nearby mississippi. as luck would have it, they found handyman david who just happened to specialize in both rodent removal and water purification. unfortunately by "specialize" he meant "dabble." and so the front yard was littered with over 16 rodent holes despite handyman david's valiant attempts at feeding them poisoned worms. (he was just getting back into it after 15 years, which would explain why the swimming hole was soooooo cloudy, and the moles were soooooo pesky). perhaps handyman david should not have quit his day job.
i think, ron, you'll be able to see some striking parallels between the standings' experiences and your own life.
xoxox,
karen
I think you just burst my bubble that I have been living in for the past two years since reading The Work and The Glory. I thought the Steed's really existed. Did my wife's other relatives exist or were they made up as well? Her relative on the other side was a guy named Hyrum Smith. Was he in the records?
Geoff
trail mix, and grapes, and propel. no coke that would make your daughter cry :) but then again, i guess you ONLY drink it to stay awake while driving, so this may be the exception.
little baby carrots work great as well.
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