I Heart Lincoln

 The one extra stop I wanted to make on this church history trail was in Springfeld IL, which was sort of on our way to Nauvoo. Our first stop was at the Lincoln Museum, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary. It is the Disneyland of Museums. It is brilliantly designed and executed. 

Here we met this nice family which let us photobomb their portrait. They were all a bit reserved.

The recreation of Lincoln's boyhood cabin has a young Abe reading by a dying fire while his parents snore in the bed and siblings sleep crowded in the trundle bed.  One of his favorites of the few books they owned was Aesop's Fables. I wanted to hang out in here a while.  I felt like he might look up when he finished a chapter. 

Another section lead you through the white house and Lincoln's years there. The civil war, Lincoln's controversial presidency and finally his murder are all portrayed beautifully. The exhibit ends as you walk past his casket as it was when he laid in state in the Springfield before his burial there. It was very emotional for me.

I was very interested to see the Lincoln-Herndon law office where Abe practiced. There was a district court on the third floor where Joseph Smith was once tried. Missouri was trying to extradite Joseph back there but were unsuccessful.  Mary Lincoln attended part of this trial. We couldn't go inside because the office is closed for renovation. 

There are four beautiful blocks around Lincoln's home that are a step back in time.

Lincoln's home is largely intact - much like it was when he and Mary raised their four sons there, prior to moving into the White House. The Forest Service runs the park and takes the tours through.

The parlor is pretty fancy and full of knick knacks. 

I bet the Lincoln boys broke their share back in the day.

Lincoln's desk was so small. I can't imagine how he folded his nearly 6' 4" frame under this.

I think Lincoln would have laughed heartily if he would have known that people would someday be taking pictures of his outdoors commode. (By the way, it is made of barrels and a triple seater)

I loved this quote by Mary Lincoln. They were permissive and indulgent parents. Three of their four boys did not reach adulthood, so this probably was a wise course.

There are five national parks devoted to Abraham Lincoln. Can you name them?

Carol Finds Her Old Kentucky Home

Driving through Lexington Kentucky was a bonus I didn't anticipate. I knew we would be traveling south to Elizabethtown, the town Carol's grandmother was born in - but mile after mile of beautiful pastures, horses and homes was more heavenly than I could have hoped for.

Carol's grandmother was a Haycraft, her ancestor a famous part of Elizabethtown's history. He was a Revolutionary War soldier, fort builder and community leader. Sarah Bush Johnston, the woman who would become Abraham Lincoln's beloved stepmother lived in a  14 x 14 cabin belonging to Samuel Haycraft. Leave it to our friend from England to have the coveted "link to Lincoln" that all Americans strive for!

There is a lovely Haycraft trail to follow that crosses over a little creek.

Carol and Keith

In the cemetery, next to Carol's relative, lies the body of another community leader and relative. I loved the creative spelling on his headstone. Apparently spelling wasn't a prerequisite to work as a stone carver.

There is a fine museum with friendly volunteers and gems like this one.

Even though Pepsi rules around here nowadays, early Elizabethtownians once had better taste.

I admit to being a bit frightened of the weird secretarial  display in the museum basement. 

As we left Elizabethtown for a long trip north to Springfield, Keith thought it would be a good idea to see the mighty "Ohio Falls". Apparently they have been stolen.

Serpents, Amish Fried Pie and Kentucky

Today we headed south and on the way we went to see some burial mounds.

Keith Brook adding perspective to my scene

An area as long as five football fields and I don't know how wide, is surrounded by a berm of earth, carefully and exactly laid out. Inside the berm there are many burial mounds containing remains and artifacts from as early as 600 B.C. The mounds are geometrically intricate, some indicating summer and winter solstice, even 18 year lunar events. Mind blown.

It was beautiful and warm today - about 80 degrees

One of my chief joys is tracking down great places to eat. Today Keith was referred to this bakery and sandwich place staffed by Amish bakers. Why oh why don't the Amish and Mennonites migrate west?

I wanted to stuff this huge lump of butter in my suitcase. Instead I settled for several pounds of pastries stuffed in my mouth.

We visited three sites with burial mounds today but my hands down favorite was the Serpent Mound. It is unique in all the world, the largest effigy site in the world. There is a tower you can climb to see the mound that undulates from a wide stretched serpents mouth biting an egg down to a spiral tail. It is absolutely fantastic - mysterious and wonderful.

I loved the note in the restroom. Who would dare to disobey an edict directly from "Serpent Mound". Ignoring this stern warning and flushing a feminine product would surely mean a poltergeist experience would follow you to the end of your days.  WARNING DULY NOTED!

After the mound we drove to Kentucky, through Lexington and mile after mile of beautiful fences and horses, horses horses.

This world is a beautiful place. I can't wait to explore Elizabethtown tomorrow.

Morley and Me

As we anticipated going on this trip, I decided I needed to prepare a little and found the book Church History in the Fulness of Times, which is available from Amazon free for your Ipad or kindle. Even before we had gone one mile, my heart began to fill with love for early saints. Names that I had read in the Doctrine & Covenants suddenly had context and meaning.

I was especially taken by the history of Kirtland. I know we are visiting Ohio at an idyllic time of year, when the temperatures are comfortable, the trees aflame, the apples crisp and pumpkin patches around every corner, and that the winters are different, but still my heart breaks at the loss. I can't imagine the disappointment Joseph must have had in those that turned against him and the church - the division amongst those who had worshipped together, seen angels and glorious manifestations. It was the best and the worst of times.

Amidst all this there were men like Isaac Morley.  I love Isaac Morley. He was part of Sidney Rigdon’s congregation - a generous man providing space for others to live communally on his property. He was prepared when the missionaries came and was converted  with Sidney Rigdon and the rest of his congregation. Isaac’s magnanimity continued, providing shelter and help to many newly minted Mormons, including a home for Joseph and Emma.  A remarkable vision of the Father and the Son took place in the schoolhouse on his property.

A kind missionary couple, the Horsleys told us about Isaac Morley and his family. We walked the leaf-soft trail up the hill that once held many log homes and the school. I was struck by all Isaac gave up, a prosperous farm and land and then realized that all of it was gone, sunk back into the earth. Trees have grown back over cleared land, leaves cover foundations, logs have crumbled into dust. Isaac’s mansion was built sacrifice by sacrifice in another place where moth and rust will not corrupt it.

Our next stop was the Johnson farm, where we were surprised and happy to see old friends, and Richard and Diana Heward, who lived in Snowflake for a time. They gave us a sweet and spiritual experience as we learned about the Johnsons and their part in blessing the church and its people.

Kirkland would be a fabulous place to serve a mission.

This is the original door and hardware at the stairway that lead up to the room Joseph and Emma stayed in for a time at the Johnson home.

The Johnson home is substantial and beautiful, set amidst green pastures and apple orchards.

They even had a couch!

In this bedroom with a brightly painted floor, or the one above, Joseph Smith was dragged from the trundle bed where he lay with one of their sick twins. Emma was in the bed with the other baby. Joseph was dragged down the steps, over the frozen ground, beaten, tarred and feathered. I kept imagining how hard it would be to get the tar off and dress the wounds.

I loved this little stool

Can I just say how much I love Carol? She is hilarious, brave (especially crossing bridges), tells great stories and is really fun to cry with. Sometimes we laugh and cry at the same time.

Go To the Ohio

I think I am finally going to be able to remember that it is Kirtland Ohio, not Kirkland. (Thanks for the confusion Costco). The visitors center is set amid beautiful flowers and grounds on many acres.

We started in the Newell Whitney home where Joseph and Emma stayed when they came to Ohio. The Whitney home and store are the actual structures, others have been recreated. The chair in the Whitney's bedroom actually belonged to Brother Whitney. The Whitneys are my heroes, They lived consecrated lives, giving all their resources both physical and spiritual to further the gospel.

The thing that is even more impressive about their service is that in Kirtland, apostasy and division in the young church was the cause of much of the persecution. It must have been so hard to be faithful in those days. Even some apostles lost faith, it was a time of turmoil. The bright promises of Ohio were dimmed by dissension.

I loved the Whitney store. I wanted to stay there and play store. It fulfilled all my childhood dreams.

Walking on the original floorboards in the big room above the store was fabulous. Each creaky step made me think about Joseph and Emma taking those same steps.

This small bedroom was a sanctuary - especially for Emma above the busy store.

At this table Joseph received many revelations for the church.

In this small room was the school of the prophets. Don't worry Emma, we didn't spit any tobacco juice on the floor.

Here we read the testimonies of those that saw a vision of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in this room.

A few miles away from the LDS visitor's center is the beautiful Kirtland Temple. We started with a film in the visitor's center of the Reorganized Church. Our marvelous tour guide then took us into the Kirtland temple. We made our way through each story with another couple from Canada. My favorite part was sitting on the benches together while Keith Brook played "The Spirit of God" on the piano and we all sang. My heart was beating fast, thinking about the 1000 people that had gathered and sung it at the dedication. There was a marvelous spirit there.

At our request - and for an additional donation, we were able to take a special tour of the temple. We went with flashlights down in the basement to see the construction details. We climbed up narrow steep steps that wound up into the bell tower. The last steps took us out into a small area where we could see for miles.

The wood shake roof is like the original.

I never knew there was a bell on top of the temple. It is rung each Sunday fifty times and on other special occasions.

Kirtland is so beautiful, it makes me sad to think of what might have been if the Saints had been able to stay - but there was much more to come as the Lord tried and tempered his people.