Winter Quarters
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| The Winter Quarters Temple |
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| Will we ever master the Selfie? |
The next morning we went to the Visitor's Center to learn more about what happened here when the pioneers had to stop and camp for the winter. Amie called my attention to one of our ancestors who was here as well as in Nauvoo. The father died before they arrived in Nauvoo and Sarah and her daughter and sons were left in a rather desperate situation. She remarried in order to get the help and protection that she needed in the great exodus. They left Nauvoo and arrived in Council Bluffs, but she became ill and died and was buried in the pioneer section of the cemetery in Winter Quarters. We met a sister missionary in the visitor's center who was able to look up the information about Sarah and gave us a map and instructions about how to locate the site of the grave.
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| Inside the Winter Quarters Visitor Center |
The cemetery is located just north of the temple and across the street from the visitor center. They have erected this beautiful statue as a tribute and remembrance of those who lived and died there during the winter of 1846-7.
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| Tribute to the Faith and Courage of the Migrating Pioneers |
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| In front of the statue is a large plaque with the names of all of those who lost their live here. |
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| Sarah Billington was my ancestor through our Lyon line |
Sarah was born Sarah Ann Tomlinson in Fidley, Staffordshire, England in 1808. Her husband William Fredrick Holland and Sarah Ann heard the gospel in England and were baptized on
1 January 1842, They answered the call to gather to Zion and arrived in Nauvoo 13 April 1844. They moved east of Nauvoo and build a log cabin. In the fall of that year William took sick and died quickly, leaving Sarah, a thirty-six year widow, with five young children. She soon married Joseph Billington who helped care for her family and acquired a wagon and supplies . In the summer of 1846 she packed up and moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Mr. Billington did not treat them well and while her son John was gone, she fell sick and was cared for by dear friends, Robert and Ann Crookston in Winter Quarters. When Sarah died she made Ann promise to raise her young daughter Caroline and not let Mr. Billington have her. Sarah lived with the Crookstons and they were able to move successfully to the Utah Territory, When Caroline was sixteen she married John Lyon.
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| With map and measuring device in hand ,Norm was able to locate the grave site of Sarah Billington |
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| Standing at the west end of Sarah's grave |
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| We stand marking the corners of the grave on the west. The stick pushed into the ground and the measuring tool mark the eastern corners of the grave. |
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| Visiting with the sister missionaries who were stationed there to assist us locate our grave |
This is what I wrote in my journal.
"Sat
Sept 22nd We got up, had
breakfast at the hotel and then went to the Visitor Center. I was hoping to be able to look up
information about the cemetery in Winter Quarters so I could find the grave site
of Sarah Billington who died there. They don’t have the same type of set up as the
Land and Records office in Nauvoo, but there is a wonderful Sister Likey who
works there. She is a historian and has
been working for 15 years to collect and provide information about the
pioneers. She has access to several data
bases that are not open to the public.
She did find Sarah and gave us a map with the reference points and a
neat measuring device to help us measure out and locate the exact site of the
grave. Currently it is under the area of the monument that is covered with
grass. So many people died that winter that they could only note where people
were buried on paper. They did not have
the means to place stone markers on each one. We took pictures so we can
remember. There is a lovely history telling their story in "Memories" on Family Search. It is posted under Sarah's daughter, Caroline Holland."
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