On our way home we headed through Carthage, IL to visit the Carthage Jail where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum Smith were martyred. There was a reverence on the grounds. Unfortunately, by this point our kids were done so we were unable to stay very long.
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| Click on the picture to make it larger and possibly read the monument. |
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| Carthage Jail, the walls are 3 feet thick. |
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| The kitchen/living area where Joseph and Hyrum spent time with the family that owned the jail |
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| The dungeon cell |
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| There are only small slats that let in very little light in this room. |
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| The bullet hole |
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| This is the door that the Prophet, Hyrum, and the others tried to keep closed as the mob tried to enter. |
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| The window that Joseph fell through |
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| Joseph fell to his death from the second level window |
The family that owned the jail were very nice to the prisoners (Joseph and Hyrum Smith, John Taylor, and Willard Richards). They often ate and lounged with the family. The four prisoners were allowed to sleep in a bedroom rather than a jail cell. It was in this bedroom that the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith occurred. During the tour, while sitting in this room, an audio recording is played. It is audio of the last minutes of the lives of these wonderful men. The audio included the singing of John Taylor's favorite hymn, "Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" followed by the mob charging up the stairs with wild gunshots, yelling and screaming, and finally glass breaking as you picture Joseph falling. While listening to the depiction of this sorrowful event my arms were covered in goosebumps and tears started to swell in my eyes.
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| Hyrum and Joseph |
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| Nathanial's nose at the end of our trip |
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| Christopher's new 'coon skin hat |
We had a great trip to Nauvoo. It was nice to go on a vacation with our family. It is a trip that we will always remember.
2 comments:
I bet Nathaniel will remember bits and pieces from this trip for a long time. I remember traveing to Navoo as a little girl. Carthage jail stayed with me as did walking the perimeter of the old Navoo temple.
Now that y'all are "back to the grindstone" again, how are things going?
Love the coon hat . . . Collin and Kadon would be jealous! lol I'm sure they could catch the girls sporting that look ;) I'm really glad your experiences at Nauvoo and Carthage were really good and testimony building.
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