Mary Gibbs Bigelow and Nahum Bigelow: Endurance during 1840s Missouri–Illinois persecutions and the Nauvoo exodus

In the 1840s (circa 1845) Mary Gibbs Bigelow and her husband Nahum Bigelow endured the mob violence, displacement, and hardships that accompanied the Church’s persecution in Missouri and Illinois. Their Hancock County/Nauvoo home was repeatedly threatened by mobs; Nahum, a veteran of the War of 1812 who had been baptized in 1839, remained undaunted in his testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith despite physical suffering from the era’s privations. Mary Gibbs Bigelow displayed remarkable courage and faith in the Lord’s protection for her children, provided comfort to other sisters during the forced exodus from Nauvoo across the frozen Mississippi, and exemplified spiritual resilience. Nahum is reported to have been sustained by prayer and the administration of the priesthood; together their conduct has been remembered as unwavering loyalty to the kingdom of God during its most turbulent years in the American Midwest.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in Bigelow, Nahum (6) = nah61673.htm):

In the early fall of 1845 all the saints living outside of Nauvoo were advised to move into the city for mutual protection. Consequently Nahum took his family down to Nauvoo. It is the mob, Father, what shall we do?” For answer, he sprang from his sick bed and grasping his pistol, stood against the door, holding it shut as there was nothing but a rude latch to protect them from violence without. “Does Mr. Bigelow live here?” asked a stern voice outside. “Yes, sir.” “Well, I want to see him.”