Back to School

Sister Ramsey and I are ringing the bell to begin class.

Here in Nauvoo you can find out about the University of Nauvoo in the Calvin Pendleton Log Home and Schoolhouse.   What? A University in Nauvoo?   The University of Nauvoo was written into the Nauvoo City Charter, as well as, a State Police Force called the Nauvoo Legion.  Joseph Smith, during his time in Liberty Jail, Mo, decided that he would build up a new city in Illinois with protections for the Saints, so they did not suffer the same persecutions they had in Missouri.     He was held on false charges and released finally, but he used his time there to plan  Nauvoo.   The University of Nauvoo was on paper only, a system sanctioned by the State of Illinois in the City Charter in 1841, whereby teachers could be certified and instruction was encouraged for everyone.  There were 86 certified teachers in Nauvoo.

Power on your tablet. Today we will be using the chalk and eraser apps….

In the 1840’s spelling had not been standardized.   We have taken 8 actual words from the journals of the pioneers, and it is a fun game to see if visitors can figure out what the word would be.  So here goes!  See if you can get them!

BERTATOES     NEASE     CURBERT   SHOUSE     YOUTENSHELS    ISHOUE   WEREENAPARIL    GERRIL

I’ll post the answers in the next post.

Calvin Pendleton was a doctor in Nauvoo.   He attended the Eclectic School of Medicine in Ohio which combined Thomsonian and Native American medicine.   He learned the use of herbs, letting nature heal with rest, temperance, using preventative medicine and proper diet.   This is in harmony with our Word of Wisdom  today.   For Mormons it is more than just avoiding coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol and harmful drugs.

Calvin Pendleton’s love of learning, to be a doctor and a teacher in Nauvoo,  exemplifies the secular and spiritual learning we seek.   I was taught that whatever principle of intelligence I attain in this life, it will rise with me in the resurrection.  D&C 130:18-19.         He also worked with Jonathan Browning in his gunshop making rifles and stayed in Council Bluffs for several years with him and my great-great-grandfather, Richard Ballantyne, who was a wagon maker, to help the more than 30,000 saints coming from Europe to be outfitted with wagons, guns and supplies for their trip west to Salt Lake City. He settled in Parowan, Utah where he died in 1873.