Washington Square

 
 
This is Washington Park in Old Town Quincy. The group are from left: Burt Wasson, Sandy & Wynn Farnsworth, Brother Gentry, Justine & Blaine Seamons, Chris Wasson, Wayne, Lynn & Susan Cottrell, Bill and Margo Schultz. We enjoyed our visit. One thing I did not get a picture of was of the old prison walls. They were stone and massive. When the prison was no longer used, the walls remained and they built a football field inside. It was plenty big enough to house the field and bleachers. We went back through the beautiful streets where the old houses have been restored. See earlier entries on this blog. We found out that it was the first planned community in the United States. Houses had to be set back from the street. The street had to be divided with a median strip, and colors were regulated.

Thanks to Quincy

 
This is the marker that was installed in a beautiful park dedicated to the Coast Guard. It says thanks to the City of Quincy for their kindness and compassion in taking in the Mormons who had been driven from Missouri and were destitute. Many families took in entire families and kept them for the winter, feeding and clothing them. The Latter-day Saints moved to Missouri to build homes and farm. Because they began to outnumber the old settlers, the old settlers wanted to drive them out. The Saints applied to the governor for aid in not being molested, but the old settlers burned homes, assaulted people and at Haun's Mill, murdered 17 men and boys. The Governor wasn't any help. He thought the Mormons ought to be exterminated. He issued an order stating that the Mormons were to leave the state or be exterminated. The Saints lost their homes, their farms, everything they had and fled across the state to Illinois. When the restored Nauvoo Temple was dedicated, President Gordon B. Hinckley, brought the Mormon Tablernacle Choir to give a concert in this park. The entire city turned out. At that time, he handed the Mayor of Quincy a check to help with whatever Quincy had need of.

George Rogers Clark

 
We didn't realize that George Rogers Clark was from Quincy until we were taken to this park. The statue and park were created during the depression. It was a WPA project. I knew George Rogers Clark was the Clark of Lewis and Clark and I knew George Rogers Clark was the hero of the War of 1812 by capturing Fort Vincennes. What I didn't know was that he did it all before he was 25 years old.

Stained glass?

 
The Quincy Ward has a stained glass window. You can't tell it from the outside (they put electric lights behind it). When they were a branch, they rented an old church building to meet in. The church building has this beautiful stained glass window. As the branch grew, they became a ward and the church began to talk about building them a building. The nieghborhood where the rented church was, became poorer and more dangerous. The ward members wanted to preserve the stained glass window by moving it into their new chapel. Salt Lake said "no - Wards don't have stained glass windows". quincy Ward said, "If we don't get our window, we won't move." It took a year of negotiations but the building was built and the window installed. It does not show on the outside for several reasons, one of which is that they don't want anyone to throw rocks and break it. It is really a beautiful piece of art and we enjoyed seeing it. The Quincy members are really proud of it.

Quincy, Illinois October 13

 
 
Our P-day group went on a tour of Quincy. We were led by a district temple worker, Brother Gentry. Brother Gentry was born and raised in Quincy and showed us places we would not have known about. We started at the John Wood Mansion and Museum. John Wood was an early governor of Illinois. The house has been beautifully restored and there are several interesting pieces of furniture. There is a desk that was used by John Quincy Adams before he went into politics. We can't help comparing the stuff we see with what is in Nauvoo. This house is well done - as well as Nauvoo. The group beginning in the back: Wayne and me, Susan and Lynn Cottrell, down one step, Bill and Margo Schultz, down one step, Burt and Chris Wasson, bottom: Blaine and Justine Seamons and Sandy and Wynn Farnsworth.

Lauren and Eric

 
 
 
Here are pictures of Lauren's kitchen and the living room and the great Mexican restaurant where we had lunch. We had a wonderful time in Des Moines and have proved that we can do it in one day!

Des Moines, Iowa

 
Lauren and Eric's house - look at the trees. It has a new paint job. They hired a painter to turn their obnoxious blue house into this beautiful home.