Exodus

Photo from https://www.facebook.com/bccornwell

The first weekend in February the Exodus from Nauvoo is celebrated.  Saturday morning we all gathered at the Family Living Center for muffins, hot chocolate, and fruit. People pinned the names of ancestors who had lived in Nauvoo .  (Those of us without Nauvoo ancestors were suppose to pin names of other ancestors, but I didn't think that made sense. I am the "Mormon pioneer" in my family, so I just went as myself.) Elder Barrow has several ancestors who lived here, but as part of the Nauvoo Legion he was given the name of a member of the Legion. He picked up his "uniform" and "gun".

Gathering in the Family Living Center

Ready to march

 Soon the call to fall in was shouted and the men all went outside to get into formation.  They were followed by people, mostly sisters, carrying flags of nations of immigrants to Nauvoo. Everyone else fell in behind them and we walked down main street, turned right onto Parley, and walked to the river at the end of Parley street, the same route as the original exodus followed.

Elder Barrow

British and Welsh flags

We'd had some of the coldest weather ever recorded all week, but Saturday the temperature rose into the 40s, making the walk very pleasant.  At the end of Parley, we pledged allegiance, heard a few remarks by a church historian, Ben Pykles, had a closing prayer and dispersed.  It was a lovely morning, remembering the saints who were forced to leave, which turned out to be a great blessing for the church. The West gave the church room to colonize and to set up communities where they could gather, peacefully live their religion, and prepare to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all of the world.

At the end of Parley with Mississippi in the background

Photo from https://www.facebook.com/bccornwell

Here is an article that explains the exodus from Nauvoo in 1846.  The article explains why they had to leave and how the exodus unfolded between February and September.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1997/06/the-pioneer-trek-nauvoo-to-winter-quarters?lang=eng

Here in Nauvoo at the Land and Records office you can discover which wagon company your ancestor was in.  John Barrow and family left with Willard Richards in July 1846.

 Elder Barrow's North Carolina relative, Jesse Hobson, had a more complicated experience. He and his family were sent out in the fall of 1844 to scout out safe places for the saints to live and to make friends with the Indians. They settled and moved all over Iowa and South Dakota until the Spring of 1846 when they were told to meet up with the saints at Council Bluffs.  So Jesse met the saints instead of leaving in the Exodus of 1846.

Thousands of people joined the church and gathered to the west in the 19th century. At the turn of the century members were encouraged to stay in their homeland and strengthen the church there.  But many still immigrated.  For one reason the only temples were in the West until the 1950s.   After temples were built worldwide members found it better to stay where they were. Here is an article about that.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1975/07/coming-to-zion-saga-of-the-gathering?lang=eng