Nauvoo and Carthage

On Saturday, we took the kids to Nauvoo and Carthage.  It was a cold wet day, but we really enjoyed our outing anyway.  In Nauvoo we first stopped at the temple, and then visited a couple of the pioneer places. 

Carthage was probably the highlight of our day.  Logan has been very interested in Joseph Smith lately, and especially curious about the Carthage Jail.  The moment we approached the jail, we could feel that we were on hallowed ground.  It was very powerful.

Logan really wanted his picture taken underneath the window Joseph fell from.

I didn't know much about the jail before we visited.  A large family lived in the majority of the house, while two rooms were designated as jail cells.  The family was very kind to Joseph and the others who were imprisoned there.  Because he felt one cell was unsafe from the mob because it was on the ground floor, and the other too hot because it had no windows, the jailer had the prisoners inside his own bedroom on the second floor.  That is where they were when the mob broke in.  The mob shot at his wife, who fled with two of her children, and proceeded upstairs where they killed Hyrum and Joseph.  This is the side where Joseph fell.

This is the front of the jail.