Melody Lloyd & Eileen Smith

Melody Lloyd has a history degree from the University of Missouri Rolla (NOW MS&T) and is now retired from her position an archivist at UMR for almost 20 years. She is the mother of 4 and grandmother to 5 wonderful young people. Married for 57 years, she has traveled the world with her Army husband and her love of history helped her appreciate the many places she has lived. Melody is also an avid family historian and currently works part time as a volunteer at the local Family History Center. Eileen Smith has her dream job now, Professional Grandma, except she has to do it all remotely. The closest grandchild lives 400 miles away and is married. But previously she finished college at University of Illinois graduating with a Linguistics degree. She learned to sew at age 8 by her mother's side and hasn't missed many years since then doing some kind of sewing. She worked at a bridal shop doing alterations for a few years. Now she loves anything that has to do with fabric, yarn, costumes, or color. She's made a few quilts and enjoys knitting and crocheting all the time. Buttons are an old fascination.

Dave Moen

Dave is a lifelong resident in and around Fort Madison, Iowa. He has been deeply interested in area history since watching the archeological dig at Old Fort Madison in 1965 and the flurry of archeology and rebuilding at Nauvoo in the late 1960's and early 1970's. After receiving degrees in History and Political Science, he has tried to keep involved in historical research. Dave helped write a history of West Point, Iowa and helped research and rewrite parts of the Nauvoo Pageant, especially covering German speaking residents and their wine culture. In Fort Madison he helped write a city history, wrote a history of the Catholic Church, created a Victorian House Tour and was a long time member of the Historic Preservation and Old Fort Madison Committees.

Rebecca Willamson

Rebecca is a single working mother. In her spare time she does genealogy, sews, quilts and gardens. She owns The Cambre House and Farm outside of Nauvoo, IL. It is an event venue, available for weddings and other events. The Cambre House also hosts events like painting nights, ghost tours and open houses during the summer. She is presently the Nauvoo Tourism director.

Joseph Smith

Dr. Joseph Smith was born in Salt Lake City and grew up near St. George, Utah before attending Brigham Young University where he received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. Dr. Smith has worked in the Chemical Industry and has taught at the University of Illinois, University of Michigan, and Missouri University of Science and Technology. His research focuses on developing sustainable energy systems and applying computational tools to simulate combustion equipment. Dr. Smith has spent many years as a volunteer for his church, for the Boy Scouts of America, and for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers for which he currently serves as President. Married to Eileen Sanford, they currently have 5 children and 14 grandchildren. Stories of his family in Nauvoo, previously documented in the book “Nightfall in Nauvoo” form the basis for this presentation.