My third great grandparents, Richard and Mary Ann Reese Steele, were converted to the LDS church in England, and met and married in July 1845 in Nauvoo, Illinois. Here is an excerpt from Richard's journal, from the the time they married till they were driven from Nauvoo in September 1846.
“I
was married on the 13th of July 1845 to Mary Ann Reese.
Sept 8 I paid 58 dol in ware for tithing from the 16 to the 22.
We were mustered in order to
be ready to march to any part of
the country. On the 21st I went to Warsaw with
about 200 more but the
mobbers were all gone over the river.
The disturbance lasted about
three weeks.
Conference was held on the 6
of October in the temple and
continued 3 days. It was
moved and seconded that we move
in a body to some part where
we can live in peace out of the
boundaries of the United
States. And the rich expend all their
means to help the poor. Carried….
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| Nauvoo Temple |
Jan 31 I
received my endowments in the temple. I was working on the temple from Oct 22nd
1845 till April
26, 1846. The temple was dedicated on Thursday 30 of April. I had a son born on the 27 of April about
half past eleven
o’clock in the morning. His name is
Thomas Grafton Steele. I settled up
with the trustees. I had 33 dol and 20
cents at fifty
cents on the dollar, for we agreed to take 50 cents in cash when we settled
up.
On the 12 of June we were called out to
muster for
the mob was collected again at Goldens
Point with the intent of driving us from Nauvoo, for most of the
Saints were gone with the first camp and to work in other
places. And a few poor were left that could not get away and
some that were waiting to sell their property. On the 14 we mustered with the intention of going to Goldens Point but the mob was
dispersed.
On Fri July 10 some of our brethren
were wipt by some of the mob for
eating some wheat belonging to Amos
Davis. They had had
20 lashes each. On Sat 11 our brethren got writs and arrested
Brattle and another and brought them to
Nauvoo. On Sun 12
P.
Young, his son, Valentine, James Standing and another
were taken by the mob as they were
coming from the mill with a team.
On the same even a posse was called out and went to Pontoosuc and
arrested 15 and were near where our
brethren were confined. They
found some of our brethren’s things and
brought them to Nauvoo on
Monday,
F. Higbee was one of the 15. Our brethren went in
search of Young and the others but
could not find them. The
mob were tried and sent to Quincy. Our brethren came home
on Sunday 26th of July having been
dragged from place to
place and they were near having been shot several
times.
Aug 6 I was taken with a bilious fever and then the ague [malaria]. I was sick about nine weeks. On the 10 and 11 of Sep the mob and our
brethren were firing at each other with
a cannon. And on the
12 the mob were determined to come in
the city and they near
the breastworks of our people and the
small arms were used
and the mob was driven back with great
loss. There was 8
killed on our side -- Br Anderson, his
boy and a blacksmith. On
Sunday 13th the mob was burying their
dead. On the 14--15 and 16
they fired a few cannon at each
other.
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| Battle of Nauvoo, by CCA Christensen, painted about 1878 |
Br Babbitt made a treaty with them. We
was to lay down our arms and
leave the city in 10 days. The mob was to come in the city at 3 o’clock the next day. On the 17th they came
into the city -- about 1500 of them and we could not muster more than
200. They marched about and took possession of the temple.
On the 18th I moved down to the river
with a one horse wagon and had my gun took away by the mob and no
horses and moved over the river on the 21st. [Their daughter Sarah later wrote, "When [Thomas] was only five months old they were driven out of Nauvoo by the mob. Grandfather was not well, so it fell to grandmother's lot to gather their belongings together, put them in a cart, and pull them down to the river, so they could be taken across on the ferry. As she was pulling her load some of the mob called to her
saying that she made a good horse."]
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| Parley Street in Nauvoo, looking west across the Mississippi |
On the 24th we left and
went to Farmington and Bonaparte till the 31st of Oct. Then I commenced to work a little potting [pottery
making] but did not make much. “
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| Bonaparte, Farmington, and Nauvoo |
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