60 years, 120 days: Day 96: GeNeilogy

David Tulley LeBaron and Esther Melita Johnson LeBaron (Nauvoo Power Couple)

I love that dad loves genealogy. He is a living family tree and I have always enjoyed picking his brain about our many famous (and infamous) ancestors.

On a recent trip to Nauvoo, I felt a sense of pride at our family's pioneer heritage, a sense of gratitude for dad taking us on a church history trip nearly two decades ago (it was no vacation), and a sense of humility with the realization that my own posterity would soon be posing genealogical queries that I felt ill-equipped to answer.

Nauvoo Temple, May 2011

During our trip—while Krista and the kids were sampling cookies at the bakery and learning to braid rope—I stopped by the Land and Records Office with Anders to see if I could dig anything up on the couple pictured above—my dad's great-great-grandparents: David Tulley LeBaron and Esther Melita Johnson LeBaron. I knew that they had lived in Nauvoo during the time of the prophet Joseph Smith and that David had actually purchased the Nauvoo Temple from the church when the saints went westward (essentially agreeing to stay behind for a short time in order to find an appropriate buyer).

Thanks to some stellar senior missionaries at the Land and Records Office, I came upon a trove of interesting documents including deeds of sale, endowment registers, and stories about everything from viewing the prophet's original garment presentation to seeing Brigham Young's transformation after the martyrdom (you can download PDFs of my research by clicking here).

I am so grateful for dad's passion for family history (he just hired a new consultant) and for his (and mom's) unwavering service in the temple each week. I believe that their pioneer efforts are no less noble than those who have gone before them and I know that our ancestors will be waiting for them with arms wide open on the other side of the veil.