Auvoo Fact Book

Nauvoo Fact Book

500 Little-Known Facts About Nauvoo

In this newest addition to the popular 500 Little-Known Facts series, George Givens offers answers to the questions most often asked by visitors to Nauvoo, such as, What is the difference between a blacksmith and a whitesmith? Did you know that one of the first recorded cases of artificial resuscitation happened in Nauvoo and that it saved Brigham Young's life? What are the rules for playing Old Cat - Containing everything from trivia about popular songs and games to information about religious practices and architectural symbolism, this is the perfect treasure for anyone who is interested in the early Saints and the difficult but spiritually rich time they spent in their beloved City Beautiful.

The Man Behind the Discourse

Who was King Follett? When he was fatally injured digging a well in Nauvoo in March 1844, why did Joseph Smith use his death to deliver the monumental doctrinal sermon now known as the King Follett Discourse? Much has been written about the sermon, but little about King. Although King left no personal writings, Joann Follett Mortensen, King’s third great-granddaughter, draws on more than thirty years of research in civic and Church records and in the journals and letters of King’s peers to piece together King’s story from his birth in New Hampshire and moves westward where, in Ohio, he and his wife, Louisa, made the life-shifting decision to accept the new Mormon religion. From that point, this humble, hospitable, and hardworking family followed the Church into Missouri where their devotion to Joseph Smith was refined and burnished. King was the last Mormon prisoner in Missouri to be released from jail. According to family lore, King was one of the Prophet’s bodyguards. He was also a Danite, a Mason, and an officer in the Nauvoo Legion. After his death, Louisa and their children settled in Iowa where some associated with the Cutlerities and the RLDS Church; others moved on to California. One son joined the Mormon Battalion and helped found Mormon communities in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. While King would have died virtually unknown had his name not been attached to the discourse, his life story reflects the reality of all those whose faith became the foundation for a new religion. His biography is more than one man’s life story. It is the history of the early Restoration itself.