Saturday, September 23, 2017 – Old Nauvoo Pioneer Burial Grounds

This morning on our way to do our P-day shopping we took a detour east of Nauvoo. We have never been to the “Old Nauvoo Pioneer Burial Grounds” so we decided we could use this P-day for the excursion.

 We have heard stories that there is Poison Ivy everywhere and the burial grounds were unkempt and hard to find. Well, we were misinformed. The signage was more than adequate and we had no problem finding the burial grounds. There was a lot of Poison Ivy but it was in the forest away from the foot path so it was no problem. The burial grounds didn’t have a manicured lawn but it was certainly neat, clean and a lovely place to walk through and honor those that have passed on before.

More than 2,000 people are believed to have died in Nauvoo between 1839 and 1846 and many of them are buried in the Nauvoo Burial Grounds. The cemetery was established in 1842 and approximately 200 of the graves have been located with about 150 of those identified through legible headstones or other sources. One of the prominent individuals interred here is Bishop Edward Partridge, the first bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who passed away on May 27, 1840.

There is a very nice monument at the burial grounds sculpted by LDS artist Dee Jay Bawden which states, “This memorial shows a pioneer family mourning the loss of a child they have just laid to rest. It honors valiant saints, who lived and died in Nauvoo, particularly during the 1839-1846 period. Many of those buried here are children.”

One of the grave markers in the cemetery was for Edmond Durfee, a prominent member in the early days of the Church. On the back of his monument was the following inscription, in part it said:

 “. . . When the Mormons were driven from Missouri, the Durfees settled in IL. What became Morley’s settlement or (Yelrome). . . In Sept. 1845 a mob burned many Yelrome homes. The Durfees went to Nauvoo for safety. Edmond and several men went back to finish the harvest. Midnight fire awakened them. They rushed out to fight it. Shots were fired. Edmond was shot just above the heart and killed. His body was taken to Nauvoo for burial. LDS Apostle Orson Hyde, in a letter to Brigham Young said, Br. Durfee was one of the most quiet inoffensive citizens in these United States. We are persuaded that his murder was wholly unprovoked.” 

The story of the Yelrome settlement, the fires by the mob and the return to harvest crops is significant to me because my Great Great Grandfather, Orville Southerland Cox, lived in Yelrome with his family at that time. His home was burned to the ground by the mob and he was part of the group that went back to finish the harvest. Those wonderful old pioneers went through so many hardships and suffered so much but they remained steadfast in the Gospel and in their love of the Lord. What a great and powerful example they are to us today.