Nauvoo Vacation: Day 7 (Thursday)

Today was really fun... really surprising... and I didn't take many pictures Not sure why. I guess I was just so caught up in what was going on that I didn't realize I hadn't been taking pictures! We started early again by going on a carriage ride. The best way to explain the difference between the wagon ride and this one is that the wagon ride is more "information" and this one is more "inspiration". They have to do these rides early because it gets too hot for the horses. You have to look hard, but there are three snapping turtles on that log....

 Afterwards we found another place to get breakfast. Not great...

 But Courtney obviously liked her french toast...

 The first place we headed to this morning was the "Family Search" building. We wanted to print out our family records so we could go to the "Land and Records" office...

What we found was both exciting and surprising! First we found that my great-great-great grandfather on my Dad's side of the family lived in Nauvoo! My dad didn't even know that!

 Dan helped look up information... and then we headed to the Land and Records Office to get maps and detailed information that we could copy on to a disc.

 When we got there I was able to find information on him and his family, where they lived, the fact that he was a "cooper" (barrel maker) and that he and his family were finally forced to move west when the mobs burned down his home and business. (He actually lived right outside of town)

Dan decided to check and see if he just might have had someone live there to and this was when things really got crazy! His father is a convert to the church, and you might say his grandparents were even "anti-Mormon." They loved us dearly and were respectful of us, and maybe even softened a bit in their feelings about our religion based on what they saw in our girls and our family, but still told his uncle not to let anyone do their temple work.

We had noticed that there was a home in town with the name "sessions" on it. That was his grandfathers mothers maiden name. When he put in his 5th great-grandfathers name (Richard Sessions) to see if he lived in Nauvoo it came up!!! He then also found his 6th (Solomon Sessions) and 4th great-grandfathers (William Bradford Sessions) in the same line. We couldn't believe it!!! They owned property close to the temple and Richard and William were members of the Seventies and the Mormon Battalion. But wait....

After going to the "Seventies Hall" listed below and looking up more information, I noticed something. Richard (his 5th) and William Bradford (his 4th) who were supposed to be father and son had birthdays only 4 years apart! After much research, including on the airplane ride home and for HOURS the day we arrived home we FINALLY figured it out! Solomon (who is listed as his 6th great-grandfather, but is actually his 5th) is correct, but Richard (who is Solomon's son) and William Bradford (who is Richards son) are actually his great-uncle and great cousin. His 4th great grandfather WILLIAM (not William Bradford) is Richards brother. He too was there and a member of the church, but when the Prophet Joseph had asked members to go to Texas to build the church there, he decided to go, married a Baptist and fell away from the church. The really crazy part, is that so many people have done the genealogy wrong, including sealing the wrong men to the wrong wives etc... that it is a total mess. We were told that with the new "family tree" program we should be able to fix it by the end of the year!

The lesson today? Check dates... make sure when you are doing genealogy that you do it correctly. Don't get excited because someone has an awesome life story and attach them to your relative without making sure the dates and names work. We finally figured it out and know that this is one of the reasons that we needed to take this vacation. We would never have even noticed if he hadn't been prompted to look up that name in the Land and Records office! The veil is thin... and Dan has been bit by the "genealogy bug" now too!!!

 This is the land Dan's family owned....

 And this is the land that my Great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas Norton King owned... It really made us feel connected to our families. Very cool day!!!

 One of our favorite ways to end the day while sweltering in the humidity and heat of Illinois... Annie's frozen custard. It was soooo good! This place was packed every evening with missionary couples. We probably ate to much, but we justified it because of the stair climbing we had to do to get to our room. Lame excuse, I know....

 Courtney with her favorite...

Another great day... and we finally heard from McKenna today! She texted to ask Dan if he had a teacher in high school and a friend with the last name of DeMille. YES!!! Dan's high school science teacher was a Mr. DeMille, and he went to school with his son Steven. Steven had moved away to attend dental school and was now living in Wisconsin. His son Caleb was in Kenna's EFY group! How crazy is that! The gospel makes it a very small world. And once again, is everyone from Duchesne? Seriously!!!!

On a side note... when we got back to our room the air conditioning had gone out... they moved us to a room on the 2nd floor... less than 12 steps!!! Awesome....but no more frozen custard!!!