2025 Presentations
Subject to Change
David Felgar: History of the Ogden School and the Ogden and Risser Family
This presentation is about the Ogden Family and the Ogden School. The Ogden Family are my Ancestors that have been in Nauvoo since 1842. The school was named after James Ogden. He was a prominent and respected citizen of Nauvoo. The Ogden family, James Ogden, Frances Risser, James Ogden Jr. and Emma Ogden were involved in the development of Sonora Township and the City of Nauvoo.
Kimberli Grant: Victorian Speed Dating or A Step into Historical Dance
How important was dancing, who danced, how did they dance, and what do the dance instructors of the Victorian Era have to say?
Joseph Smith: Life for the Taylor Family in Nauvoo and how it helped shape
Church History
John Taylor, third president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was born in England, moved to Canada where he joined the church and eventually immigrated to the United States where he joined the Saints in Kirtland. Ohio. He arrived in Illinois with the Saints to settle Commerce, Illinois which eventually became Nauvoo, Illinois. The presentation will discuss events of the Taylor family while in Nauvoo that helped shape Church history over the next half century.
Donna Lawson: Alois Rheinberger one of the First Vintner’s in Nauvoo
Alois Rhienberger was one of the first vinter's (wine merchants) in Nauvoo. Will include information about where he is from and his family, his vineyard, and a bit about his military background.
Debbie Callahan: Franz Liszt Visits the Rheinberger
The presentation will feature a video of a concert by Sister Beverly Jensen and local violinist Laurie Peterson at the Rheinberger Museum on Saturday, October 19, 2013. Sister Beverly, a professional accompanist, and Laurie gave three 45-minute concerts in the museum’s parlor. Fifty people, including President Spencer Condie, and Susan Easton Black and her husband, George Durrant, visited the Rheinberger during these magical performances. Sister Beverly discussed the nuances of the piano, which belonged to the Nicaise family, Icarians who arrived in Nauvoo as part of that movement and left it behind when they left Nauvoo. It was discovered in the Heber C. Kimball house when the home was being restored and his great-grandson, Dr. J.LeRoy Kimball, donated it to the Nauvoo Historical Society. German people are noted for hosting Sunday afternoon visits/entertainment in their homes. The concerts provided opportunities to capture this spirit and savor rich music in Margretha and Alois Rheinberger’s lovely home.
Paul DeBarthe - The role of the Mansion House as a probable way station of the underground railroad
Paul will demonstrate the role of the Mansion House as a probable way station of the underground railroad. Historical research combined with archaeological evidence will trace the abolitionist influence and orientation of the family to support the evidence found at the corner of the hotel, obscured by Emma’s lilacs. The Presbyterian minister in Palmyra, New York who helped set up the Lord’s Barn ministry in Quincy, Illinois served as conductor on the underground railroad and pastor to much of the Smith family before the publication of the Book of Mormon. Owen Lovejoy, brother of martyred Elijah Lovejoy who picked up the abolitionist baton became friends with Joseph Smith III, further influencing him toward equal human rights. The story hides behind the fugitive slave laws threatening those who helped escaped slaves with fines and imprisonment, and has remained untold.
Brian Stutzman: Warsaw, Nemesis of Early Nauvoo
Warsaw, located 18 miles south of Nauvoo, went from Mormon-friendly to being the center of anti-Mormon feelings in the 1840s. Residents of Nauvoo helped Warsaw charter a University, assisted with the chartering of a Masonic Lodge, and had big plans to establish what was to be "the most profitable railroad in the country" between Warsaw and Nauvoo. Within a few years, tensions arose, the anti-Mormon political party was founded, and the Warsaw Signal's call to arms led to the first US Presidential candidate's assassination, Nauvoo's own Joseph Smith. We will end with the incredible story of Nauvoo's Eliza Graham, who was living and waitressing at the Warsaw House the night of the Martyrdom and served the mob as they returned from Carthage, and her testimony against them the next year.
Michael Lorenzen: Bigfoot Sightings in McDonough County
This presentation will examine the issues and controversies around the creature known as Bigfoot with an emphasis on Illinois and McDonough County. What is Bigfoot? Where is this creature seen? Are they a hoax? Why haven’t any physical specimens been found? Accounts of Bigfoot sightings in Illinois will be looked at including several recent ones at Argyle Lake State Park. Join Dr. Michael Lorenzen of the WIU Libraries as he shares local history stories relating to this creature.
“Keynote Speaker” Joseph Monsen
How the Shell of the Nauvoo House became the River Side Mansion
Duane Taylor: Native Americans in the Nauvoo Neighborhood
Native Americans lived in the Nauvoo neighborhood for literally thousands of years, evolving through food availability and cultural influences. Although the Sac and Fox tribe was prominent here in the early historical period, most records of these people and their lifeways were filtered through the eyes of white settlers with fixed and often prejudiced ideas of “Indians.” This presentation attempts to reveal a fuller, more factual account of the Sac and Fox tribal group, its lifeways and history, and its forebears.
Heather Greeslaugh & Tim Phelps: Untold Stories of Hancock County Cemeteries
We will discuss why people should be interested in burials or cemeteries. How we find cemeteries or abandoned graves using different types of tools and methods. Stories of various people in local cemeteries, historical cemeteries and some famous people buried locally.
William Cook: Icarian Socialism
When we think of "Socialism," often we think of the Soviet Union, Karl Marx, and the horrors of Communism. What Etienne Cabet--a contemporary of Marx--proposed was different. This talk will focus mainly on Cabet's vision, often contrasting it with the often better-known Marxist version.
Dale Harris: Happenings and Livelihood of a Master Builders Lifetime in Nauvoo
About his lifetime work, his interest in building restoration work that included all kinds of masonary work, his interest in where all the stone quarries in old Nauvoo were and who owned them, and how he followed his fathers footsteps in his early working life as a builder in Nauvoo. He meet his death on 20 July 1970 in a horse riding accident at the age of 60 yrs.
Robert Cook: Temple House Building
The Temple House building, across from the State Bank of Nauvoo, was built in 1871 and used by many businesses and overnight guests until it fell into disrepair in the 1980s. At that time it was called the Independent building and was headed toward being demolished. Robert Cook bought it and spent several decades bringing it back into useful service again. Those decades were full of interesting stories and a few clues about the 100 years before.
Nancy Benz: Local History, National Hate: Quincy, Illinois and the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s
This presentation explores the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, focusing on its impact on rural America, specifically in Quincy, Illinois. During this period, the Klan expanded its influence beyond the South, infiltrating communities across the Midwest, including Adams County. The presentation will delve into how the Klan's message of white supremacy, anti-immigrant sentiment, and religious intolerance found fertile ground in small towns like Quincy, shaping local social dynamics and leaving a lasting imprint on the region's history.
Russ Fry: Cheif Blackhawk
This documentary covers what happen to Nlack Hawk's remains. It includes several speeches in the Sauk language with English subtitles. The Sauk war leader, Black Hawk, died in 1838. The history books say his remains burned up in a museum fire in Burlington. Iowa, in 1853. The history books are wrong. This documentary will show you what really happened.
Dale Harris: Happenings and Livelihood of a Master Builders Lifetime in Nauvoo
About my lifetime work, my interest in building restoration work that included all kinds of masonary work, my interest in where all the stone quarries in old Nauvoo were and who owned them, and how I followed my fathers footsteps in his early working life as a builder in Nauvoo. He meet his death on 20 July 1970 in a horse riding accident at the age of 60 yrs.
Rebecca Williamson: Architectural Tour of Nauvoo
Nauvoo is home to a unique mix of architecture. This presentation will highlight a few of the historic homes and talk about the architectural features of the homes. Using pictures from the Nauvoo's past and present, we will look at how the home has changed since it was constructed, who built the home and why, and talk about the unique architectural pieces of the building.
Garret Moffit: Joseph Smith and Lincoln