I found it interesting when I went in to the gun shop. I had always thought it was just a gun shop, but there is a very tender story told about a man who had incredible faith. I had heard about Browning guns all my life being from Ogden, but now I know the story of the man behind the guns and somehow they take on more significance when I realize the kind of person behind them.
These are some of the guns on which the Brownings hold patents. They hold over 127 different patents on guns. Jonathan Browning was the inventor of the repeating rifle. His sons and grandsons followed in his footsteps. Jonathan was also a blacksmith and when the Saints moved west, although he desired to be in the first company, he remained behind and worked on getting others prepared. When the country wanted volunteers for the later to be called Mormon Batallion, Jonathan was one of the first to volunteer, but he was asked to stay at Winter Quarters and build wagons for those who would follow. Finally, in 1852, when Brigham Young called in all the Saints, he realized his dream of being gathered with the other members of the church. He was sent to the Ogden area when they arrived in the valley.
Of all the restored homes in Nauvoo, this is the most spacious. It has the most rooms and the largest rooms. This was the parlor. The only thing that belongs to the Browning family is the picture on the wall--the other items are furnishings of the period.
This is Jonathan Browning. What an amazing man he was!!! He found a rifle he really liked when he was 14 years of age, so he went to the maker of the gun and asked if he could learn how to make it. He apprenticed for free. When he had learned the necessary skills, he began his own business and became quite successful. His brother invited him to come to Quincy to set up his shop, and it was there that he met the early Saints. He gained a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and followed the prophet of the Lord wherever he was asked to go, whatever way he was asked to to do it.
This is Elizabeth Browning, but it's his second wife, not his first. I thought it was pretty clever of Jonathan to marry two women with the same name so he didn't forget which wife he was talking to.
The kitchen table with the "stairs" going up to the loft where the children would have slept. None of the furniture in this cabin is original, but I love the way the Church has taken such pains to authenticate furniture before putting it into the sites that it is from the period and of the type of material that would have been used or known to be used in the Nauvoo area. Some of the other local sites do not take such painstaking care, and it shows.
The obviously used fire place at Browning Gun. One of the features this fireplace does not have is a "wife saver"--a crane to pull the pots out to stir the food. One of the greatest causes of death in the 1800's was women catching their skirts on fire and being severely burned. One of the biggest differences between this home and the average pioneer home was they had sufficient funds to put a cabinet in their kitchen. I've often thought, where did they store things in their log cabins? That's probably why had root cellars.
This is the bed in the log cabin behind the gun shop. Most of the families in Nauvoo, including the Brownings, built a log cabin before they were able to build a frame home or a brick home. Notice the sticks pulling the ropes tighter. These are the original "sleep number" beds. Depending on how tight or loose you made the ropes depended on how tight or loosely you slept. This also would have been a great way for keeping children from falling out of bed.
This is the obviously updated headstone of their daughter, Emma, who died as a baby. They had to leave her buried here as they left for the west, but this marker now stands as a memorial and tribute to the faith and sacrifice of her parents.
These are some of the books on display in the schoolroom. It has taken every bit of self-discipline I have not to reach up and look at those books. There are geography and history books. It's always interesting to see how history is perceived from a "historical" standpoint.
I've had several people tell me that the blocks above the podium are misspelled. I remind them that there was no standardized spelling in the 1840's. People spelled as it sounded. One of my favorite spellings to show from that time period is "bertato" spelled in our day potato. On the stool you can see a slate. Our slates are really made of slate and they are heavy.
This is Calvin Pendleton. He joined the church in Kirtland, while he was studying to be a doctor. He was sent on a three year mission to Maine, from whence he hailed. He returned to Nauvoo and married. The man who performed the ceremony had been his missionary. He learned the trade of blacksmithing and helped Jonathan Browning in the making of wagons. He was an excellent penman, so he often did the writing but also taught penmanship to adults, along with the school children he taught. He went west, but his first wife died also his daughter in Winter Quarters. He married again, and that wife died. Finally, he married a third time and they moved west and settled in Parowan, Utah, where he served as a member of the stake presidency
Above the fireplace you can see some herbs hanging down. Calvin had studied to be a doctor but his wife, Sally convinced him that he should use those skills to help people. He was more into preventative medicine and herbology as opposed to the purging and bleeding that was common to the day. Ironically, he earned his living teaching school and did his doctoring for free.
Although none of the furnishings are original, this gives an idea of what a pioneer family home would have contained. The rocking chair was almost essential as so many of the families had large families. There are some great things in the cupboards, but I couldn't get them into view as it was too dark to shoot in there. The rag rug was made here in Nauvoo on the loom in the family living center.
This is the rebuilt home and school house in the back of Calvin Pendleton. The home was built on the orginal foundation and done by use of pioneer tools by the owner of the Allyn House. He also did the windows for the Nauvoo Temple. It has an upstairs and living/kitchen area and in the back is the schoolroom.
