Blog #26

Kevin V. Hunt

Here is the PDF file link:

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:va6c2:a9645cc9-ed19-4147-90b7-c3919ffdf0e9

When Sister Hunt and I first received our call to serve our “senior couple” mission in Nauvoo, my immediate thought was that I wanted to create a package or document to remind me – and all of my family – about the many ancestors who lived in Nauvoo.  I knew that I had many Nauvoo ancestors, but I had not really taken an accurate count of how many there were.  I made a note on one of my cards – to make this a future project.

And then, the longer that I was in Nauvoo, the more that I wanted to get to this special project.  Being in Nauvoo just naturally draws one to his/her ancestors. Nauvoo just does that to you.  You can’t be here without being drawn to your own ancestors.   And that was what happened to me. 

Of course, Sister Hunt and I are site missionaries.  This means that we focus on about 20 families who lived here in Nauvoo.  In our tours, we share personal details, stories of commitment and covenant of some great people who were in Old Nauvoo.  And giving those tours, has led me to do even more research about those people.  And then this research drew me on to my own ancestors.

My first step was to create an expanded pedigree chart to show all of my Nauvoo ancestors.  I looked carefully at each person, their birth dates, marriage and their death dates (the basics on the pedigree chart).  And if there was any possibility that they might have been here in Nauvoo – or if I wasn’t sure, I checked on my Family Tree and “memories” on FamilySearch.  I got excited with each name that I was able to highlight in green – my indication that he or she lived in Nauvoo.

And after this exercise, I was absolutely elated to find that I actually have 32 NAUVOO DIRECT ANCESTORS.  Wow!  This was so exciting and wonderful.

With my green-highlighted pedigree charts, I went to work.  There was much research to complete.  I dug into it and had a grand time going for it.  And the more information that I found, the more excited I became.  I learned of my people and their family events in Nauvoo.  I found many special accounts of their conversion stories, their associations with Joseph Smith, how they dealt with mob persecutions and being driven from their homes – even multiple times, how they sacrificed for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, how and when they were baptized, and their participation in the Nauvoo “covenant community”.   I found ancestors who came at all ages to Nauvoo.  I learned of Nauvoo marriages.  I found many young children who were born here.  I found some ancestors who died here.  I found ancestors who walked the “Trail of Hope” of Parley Street with their faces toward better times in the West.

I love the “collective” story of the Nauvoo period.  But, even better, I love the individual stories of faith, dedication and commitment.   And together, all of these ancestors build a beautiful tapestry woven together into the bigger story of the Restoration of the Gospel, the First Vision of God and Christ visiting their chosen prophet, Joseph, and calling him to restore the Church of Jesus.

And so now, as the project concludes, I am very excited to share with you the lives and commitment of these great people.  I hope that you might each feel the same love for these our pioneer ancestors as I have come to know them.  I love them each.  I am so grateful to all of our 32 Nauvoo ancestors and their families.

I am also grateful for the many ancestors in lines who did not make it through Nauvoo.  These folks are just as marvelous and amazing as those who were here.  And who did not make it to Nauvoo?

The Hunt family – John Hunt and Jane Coates and their son, Amos Hunt with two wives joined the church around 1850 in Kentucky where the Hunt clan had lived for 50 years.  A great many of the Hunt clan joined the church together in Kentucky and they moved in one great migration toward Utah in the Benjamin Gardner Company in 1852.  They settled in Ogden, Utah.  In the October 1861 General Conference, their names were read over the pulpit to be colonizing missionaries to the “Dixie (or Muddy) Mission” around St. George.

Samuel Barnhurst was an ancestor who gave up everything – literally – for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  His family thought that he was crazy – and even his wife tried to poison him so that he could not join the Church.  He escaped with almost no possessions and left to join the Saints in Utah.  Upon arrival in Utah, he was brought to the office of Brigham Young – who counseled him to marry a young Danish lady who had arrived about the same time from Denmark.  They were obedient even though he did not know Danish, and she knew no English.  That should have been interesting marriage – at least from the beginning.

My mom’s Pritchett family was like the Hunts.  A large group of Pritchett family members joined the church together in Virginia.  They traveled together to Utah under the leadership of William D. Pritchett – in 1855, and began a faithful legacy in Sanpete County in Utah.

And then there are my Danish ancestors.  I love my Danes.  And I recently had a DNA test (thanks, Keith) which revealed that I literally have 50% Danish blood in me.  This is so exciting!  I have 5 second great grandparents who came from Denmark.  The Danes did not receive the Gospel until the early 1850’s.  But having joined, with complete commitment and faith, they immediately wanted to join the Saints in Utah’s “Zion”.  They joined handcart companies and made their way west – after getting to St. Louis, Missouri and going west from there.

The project relative to my own ancestors in Nauvoo, naturally leads to a similar future project to feature the Nauvoo ancestors of my wife and her family.  I would not be surprised to find that she also has 30 or more such Nauvoo ancestors.  I can’t wait to get into that project.

In my Nauvoo research I have found individuals and families of profound faith.  I have found people who made special covenants in the Temple.  I have found many of my/our own people who were among the first who received their endowments in the Nauvoo Temple – just as soon as it was possible for them to receive their endowments there.  I have found my/our people who had strong and continuing testimonies of the Prophet Joseph Smith – in spite of his challenges and weaknesses.  I find my people who were true all of their lives to Joseph and his mission.  I found people who were so committed that they were willing to leave their homes again and again in support of God’s Kingdom.  

And in my research, I am uplifted as I have seen my/our people continue  in their faithful lives in Utah.  Even with their challenges and sacrifices, they were true to what they believed.  They were true to the Nauvoo covenants that they had made.  I hope that you will bask in and love the Nauvoo Spirit as you get to know these special people who were here, who gave their all, and who remained covenant faithful through their lives.  And these folks (in the next world) hope that all of their posterity are drawn to them – just as they are drawn to us.  Let’s keep the hearts turning and burning!

Here are a couple of ways by which you can access the book.

Here is the PDF file link:

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:va6c2:a9645cc9-ed19-4147-90b7-c3919ffdf0e9

As ever, I have published the book on lulu.com. The link is not yet cojing up but should within the next couple of days. You can go to lulu.com and then do a search on “Nauvoo” or my name. Contact me for a discount code if you want to order the book.