Winter Quarters Temple-Florence, Nebraska
2010
Few events were as monumental in the lives of many of our ancestors as the encampment at Winter Quarters in what is today Florence, Nebraska. Many of our ancestors have recorded their experiences in their journals which include the cold, hardships, hunger and fear that followed them from their comfortable homes in Nauvoo, Illinois. Many stayed at Winter Quarters for many months as the name of the place implies. Several ancestors died there during that awful winter and are buried in the graveyard or in the countryside round about. Recently, a Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints was built on the hill next to the graveyard where many, many Saints rest. This angel signifies the holiness of the place and the reverence many feel for the ancestors who sacrificed so much to worship without persecution. Not all people who died as a result of their months at Winter Quarters are buried there. Some died on the trek from Nauvoo and outlying towns to Winter Quarters. Others died as left the place behind and made it only miles into the plains. When we think of our early pioneer ancestors, we think of many in the context of the hardships of Winter Quarters in 1847-1848.
