Fun and Chores in Early Nauvoo

The objects in these pictures were used in the days when the Saints were building a temple in Nauvoo. Jed Hill (10), Jessica Lindsay (5), Sarah Chantry (5), and Ryan and Calvin Schmid (9 and 7), the children in the pictures, live there today. They have on costumes (except for their shoes and socks) to help you see what you might have worn if you had lived in this beautiful city in the 1840s.

Photos by Carol Hill and Richard Lindsay

Playing house is fun with this pretty china and the wonderful china closet.

Noah’s Ark is the perfect toy for a rainy day! All the animals in this one in Brigham Young’s house are hand carved.

Another good thing for a rainy day is this fox-and-geese game. By removing the clay marbles that you jump over (as in checkers), you try to end up with just one.

Rocking horses and pull-animals are great to play with. This horse has a wool body, leather ears, and a real horsehair mane and tail.

Getting vegetables from Brigham Young’s root cellar is more fun than chore if Mom’s going to make pie with them.

Another chore is fetching water from the well. But it’s not all bad—at least it helps build up your muscles.

How can feeding the darling little goats be a chore? It really tickles when they eat out of your hand.

Skipping rocks on the big Mississippi River with the guys is a lot of fun. We’ve become good at it together.

While the boys skip rocks, we practice tightrope walking on this fallen log by the river.

Yummmm! There are seven bakeries in old Nauvoo, and this one gives out free cookies!

A favorite doll always gets plenty of love.

We prefer something more active than dolls. Stick pulling fills the bill. Maybe someday we’ll challenge the Prophet Joseph at it.