Joseph Smith at Nauvoo

Joseph Smith at Nauvoo By Harold H. Jenson "Backward, turn backward, O time, in thy flight. Make me a child again, Just for tonight." WORDS soon die, but writing, like souvenirs safely guarded, live on a testimony of yesterday. The remarkable exhi- bition of relics of the Prophet Joseph Smith, a reproduction of a room from the "Nauvoo Mansion," displayed recently for a limited time in Salt Lake City, brings back a picture of the life of a great martyr whose memory will live on forever. With the passing of the Salt Lake Theatre, Utah's pioneer playhouse and the third oldest theatre in America; the tearing down of Social Hall a few years ago, the building of the Federal Reserve where the Gardo House once stood, great credit is due Herbert S. Auerbach, whose hobby is to keep alive the spirit of the past, so that genera- tions today may see and visualize what took place in days gone by. Too few appreciate the historical interest attached to such places, and the exhibit already referred to, which must have been secured at great expense, is interesting to all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Nauvoo Mansion stood at Nauvoo, Illinois, and was notable for two things: It was the official residence of the Prophet Joseph Smith, where with Emma Smith, his wife, he lived a happy family life amid, not luxurious, but comfortable surroundings; sec- ondly, it was the place of entertainment for notables of the day. History recalls that Charles Francis Adams, American Ambassador to Great Britain, who was largely responsible for preventing the cause of the Confederacy spreading, once stopped at the Mansion House, sleeping in the guest room, which was so ideally reproduced in the Auerbach exhibit. The reader will also recall that Josiah Quincy, the historian, slept in this house, and visited with the Prophet Joseph Smith forty- three days prior to his martyrdom. In a later history this famed writer records of Joseph Smith, "It is by no means improbable that some future text-book, for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something like this: What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen? And it is by no means im- possible that the answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet."

920 IMPROVEMENT ERA Srpt., 1929 Prophet Joseph Smith's Cottage, Nauvoo, III. One can picture this early-day mansion as one of the sturdy pioneer type. The "Mormons" built to last, and visitors to Nauvoo today will still find houses just as good, or nearly so, as when inhabited in the days when this place was larger than was the city of Chicago. For Nauvoo was then Nauvoo the beautiful, while to- day it is Nauvoo the fallen. Though the Mansion House was a frame building, not built so substantially as were the homes of Wilford Woodruff, Brigham Young and others, still it stands, the west front facing Main street and the south front Water street. The Smith family moved into it on August 31, 1843, and the place was the scene of many a festive gathering. Poor and rich visited there, for Joseph Smith feasted the unfortunate just as often as he did the first men of the state. The Smiths have always been noted as a family who loved children. One cannot but picture the Prophet Joseph Smith with his group of loved ones around him. The hand-made rugs on the floor, the home-made chairs and footstools, the spinning wheel in the corner, all bore mute evidence of busy days. Work was paramount with those early colonizers. Each one had a part to do and did it well. Although it is not likely that Joseph Smith had time to make many of the things found in his home, it is likely that he often had to repair some of the furniture. In fact, the wicker- bottomed chairs show signs of hard usuage and rather crude repair-

Sept., 1929 JOSEPH SMITH AT NAUVOO 921 ing. To the children of the Smith household, their home was a paradise as well as playhouse. One can even imagine the finger marks on the many candlesticks of pewter and bronze, when lovingly the kiddies were sent up to bed, and told to be sure to "blow out the light," for candles, in those days, were a luxury, and the candle- snuffer must have seen good service. The eight-day and thirty-hour clock, must have been a gift, like many other relics, for the Smiths could not afford many luxuries. The writer of this article is of the opinion that a great many of the articles on display, such as the old metal lantern, hand-pierced and hand-wrought pewter pots, and other relics, were gifts to the Smiths. A low rocker, with a hand-made head rest, said to have been occupied by the Prophet, brings back memories of a loving father with children on his knee, and, as he rocks, the man thinks, and thinks, for he was a thinker, and had a heavy weight on his mind, the welfare of his people. One pictures Emma Smith at the spinning wheel, or the old wooden churn, whose handle is worn thin by long usuage. One also sees her tucking the children into the two little beds and the crib, which were made of walnut, beautifully hand carved, and still stand as complete as when used by the Smith family. From this scene of happiness, one pictures a home of grief. For history recalls that the body of Joseph Smith lay in state in the Mansion House after his foul martyrdom at the hands of a cruel The Prophet Joseph Smith's "Mansion House." Nauvoo. 1842

922 IMPROVEMENT ERA Sept.. 1929 Interior Mansion House, Nauvoo, III. mob. His body was viewed by sorrow-laden people, who passed silently by his bier to see for the last time the form of a man who was loved dearly. Thus ended the life of a real character in American history, That a Church can grow from six members to over half a million, bears testimony that Joseph Smith's life was not in vain. The song of life for him was ended, but his work will ever linger on. Credit is also due W. C. Reimbold, who for sixty years had these relics and safely guarded them at Nauvoo, exhibiting them to hundreds who visited the place. Mr. Auerbach, with John Y. Smith, recently secured the exhibit, which is now assured of being kept intact. This writer believes the best place for it would be with the hall of pioneer relics at the State Capitol. You want a better position than you now have in business, a better and fuller place in life. All right; think of that better place and you in it as already existing. Form the mental image. Keep on thinking of that higher position, keep the image constantly before you, and — no, you will not sud- denly be transported into the higher job, but you will find that you are preparing yourself to occupy the better position in life — your body, your energy, your understanding, your heart will all grow up to the job — and when you are ready, after hard work, after perhaps years of preparation, you will get the job and the higher place in life. — Joseph H. Appel.