Nauvoo Temple

Nauvoo Temple: The Original

The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the small but growing Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1839, the Latter-day Saints were pushed from their homes in Missouri by mobs. They sought refuge in Illinois and were given a charter to build a city on the banks of the Mississippi. The land was a swamp, and the people labored to drain the land and build a city. In 1841, the prophet and leader of the Church, Joseph Smith announced that a temple should again be built.

The task was daunting; most of the members had lost everything when they were driven from their homes in Missouri. Some donated all of their life savings to the building of the Nauvoo temple; others donated their time to help build it. 1,200 men worked in the stone quarries to cut giant limestone blocks out the ground. The women were asked to donate their pennies to the temple fund as well as time sewing clothing and preparing meals for the men working on the temple. The Twelve Apostles recorded the effort made by the saints to build the temple, “many have volunteered to labor continually, and the brethren generally are giving one-tenth part of their time, or one-tenth part of their income, according to circumstances; while … sisters … are knitting socks and mittens, and preparing garments for the laborers, so that they may be made as comfortable as possible during the coming winter.”

Mercy Fielding Thompson told how the sister began donating their pennies, “At one time after seeking earnestly to know from the Lord if there was anything that I could do for the building up of the Kingdom of God, a most pleasant sensation came over me with the following words. Try to get the Sisters to subscribe one cent per week for the purpose of buying glass and nails for the Temple. I went immediately to Brother Joseph. … He told me to go ahead and the Lord would bless me.” More than one million dollars was donated to the temple fund by the time the temple was completed.

By 1844, Nauvoo rivaled Chicago as Illinois’ largest city. Neighbors were threatened by their large numbers and began to demand the Saints leave Nauvoo. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by a mob, and it was obvious that the saints would not be allowed to stay in Nauvoo. The temple was not completed until May 1846, but by this time many of the Saints had left Nauvoo because of persecution. Individual rooms of the temple were dedicated as they were finished. This allowed nearly five thousand saints to receive sacred temple covenants before they were forced to leave. Only two years after its completion, the temple was almost completely destroyed by arsonists, and in 1850 a tornado toppled most of what remained of the temple. Over time stones were taken from the temple to be used on houses and other buildings.

Don L. Searle an editor for the Ensign Church Magazine said, “As Latter-day Saint pioneers left Nauvoo in 1846, many looked back longingly at the temple they left behind. For some, the sight of the temple on the hill above the Mississippi River may have been their last mental picture of their beautiful city. If they could gaze on the same spot today, they would recognize the temple that stands there now. The new Nauvoo Illinois Temple has been made to look like the first one.” The Nauvoo Temple was rebuilt and today signifies the sacrifice that those early saints made to build a beautiful temple to God.

Other Links: http://www.lds.org/temples/main/0,11204,1912-1-160-0,00.html

Nauvoo Temple: Rebuilt

In the April 1999 conference President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley said, “I feel impressed to announce that among all the temples we are constructing…we plan to rebuild the Nauvoo Temple.” The news was received with joy and tears by members and even those not of the LDS faith. The rebuilding of the Nauvoo temple stood as the fact that the legacy of those pioneers who had suffered so much to build their temple, only to be driven from their homes in the middle of winter, was not forgotten.

On October 24, 1999 a groundbreaking ceremony was held. The Church had been able to obtain a building permit that allowed them to rebuild the temple on the exact same plot where the original temple had once stood. Builders labored tirelessly to try and recreate the original look of the Nauvoo temple. Original architectural drawings were found and used to help rebuild the temple. The Church estimates that nearly 2,500 people helped build the temple. 150 were volunteers, and over 24,000 hours of work were donated to the building of the temple. Keith Stepan, who oversaw the building of the Nauvoo temple said that 95 percent of the outside of the temple was exactly as it was originally. The inside was harder to replicate, because there was not much information about it, but a few drawings were found and careful attention was paid to make sure that furnishings and artwork were made of items available in the 1800’s.

A cornerstone laying ceremony occurred on November 5, 2000. On that occasion President Hinckley stated, “I would hope that every time you pass that cornerstone [of the new temple] you will think of Him whom it represents, Him whom it symbolizes, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the foundation of this work. And upon that foundation rests the structure of apostles and prophets, the priesthood of God, with all of the authority inherent therein. And the building of the temple on top of that, all fitly framed together.”

So many people were interested in the progress of the building of the temple that a “temple cam” was set up. It took pictures every minute that were published on the Church’s internet site. As the temple neared completion, it was announced that an open house would be held during May and June 2002. 250,000 free open house tickets were given away, but more wanted to attend so another 50,000 were made. During the open house hundreds of volunteers helped lead people through the temple.

June 27, 2002 was set as the date for the dedication of the Nauvoo temple. Thirteen different sessions were held to accommodate the large number of Saints who wanted to attend. The dedicatory services were also broadcast over satellite to thousands of locations worldwide, so that those who were not able to attend the service in the temple were still able to participate in the historic event.

Other Links: http://www.lds.org/newsroom/extra/0,15505,3881-1---1-579-1,00.html http://www.nauvootemple.com/ http://users.marshall.edu/~brown/nauvoo/nt-parent.html http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/cgi-bin/pages.cgi?nauvoo