Stories are told of Quincy families opening their small one or two room cabins to several families of Mormons and sharing their own food, blankets and other necessities with the refugees. It isn't known if Oliver and Mary stopped in Quincy, but by September 28 they were settled on a farm along Bear Creek north of Quincy and in a town called Fairfield.
Mary was in the early part of another pregnancy when they were forced out of their Missouri home. Miraculously, their second daughter, Alice Ann Thornton, was born in Adams County at Fairfield on September 28, 1839. Almost exactly one year to the day after Edward died.
Fairfield doesn't exist anymore, and in fact there were a number of small towns in the area that the Mormons built that are no longer to be found.
I finally located Bear Creek on this highway map of Illinois. During our midwest trip we drove across it several times. Of course, at that time I had no idea where in Adams County the Thorntons had lived.
Oliver and Mary left their small farm on Bear Creek and travelled to Nauvoo with the intention of making a home in "the City of Joseph". When they arrived Joseph met Oliver and advised him that they should settle on the outskirts, rather than in the city proper that they might escape many of the troubles and persecutions that would follow.
In their typical manner, Oliver and Mary followed the prophet's counsel. There was a small farm located just outside of Carthage that was owned by a David R. Fabes that they rented. It was a wonderful time for the Thorntons. Their Illinois neighbors had received them kindly, a beautiful city was being built and a temple was rising, in spite of their poverty.
The rebuilt Nauvoo Temple graces the distant skyline.
This shows the positions and distances involved. From Lima (near where the Bear Creek farm was) to Nauvoo is about 30 miles. From Nauvoo to Carthage is 25 miles on today's roads or 15 miles "as the crow flies".
In 1841 Apollos Griswold Thornton, named for one of Mary's brothers, was born. Their farm and family was prospering, they were learning the gospel from the prophet's own lips and they were getting acquainted with their neighbors and members of the Church. Oliver dedicated many days to working on the temple. When it was his turn to work, he would take at least one of his children so they could play with the other workers' children. Thomas Ephraim recalled playing at the temple with many of the other boys, including Joseph Smith, Jr.
In 1843 Mary had her seventh child, who they named Eleanor for Mary's mother.
Everything was going great for the Thorntons. They had six children living and were able to provide well for them. They were gathered with other Saints and were building a city and a beautiful temple for their worship.
On the 27th of June, 1844 they were working on the farm as usual. Around 5:00 in the afternoon they heard a series of shots from Carthage. In Zella Nesbitt's history of the Thorntons she says "From one of the histories: 'We heard distinctly the shots but we didn't know what had happened. We felt a sense of dread and an oppression which seemed to hang over the countryside, even the animals seemed extra quiet About midnight Sister Grant, wife of George D. Grant and a neighbor who lived about a mile away, came to our door. Her husband had gone to carry the news to Nauvoo, and she had waited until dark as she was filled with fear. She had her baby in her arms and another little one with her.' The Thorntons received the terrible news that Joseph and Hyrum Smith had been shot and killed in Carthage Jail with shock, disbelief and grief. "
Some of the kid by Joseph's and Hyrum's statues at Carthage
"Thomas [who was 9 at the time] remembered going down to the road to watch the sad procession as they brought the bodies of these beloved men back to Nauvoo. Later their mother took them to Nauvoo to view them as they lay in state in the Mansion House. One of the older girls says in her history she thought they looked hallowed even in death and she could never forget that day. "
The Thorntons stayed on their farm near Carthage until the Spring of 1845, when they moved to Nauvoo. Oliver wrote a small autobiography dated May 5, 1845 that ends with these words:
"I now reside in the beautiful City of Joseph. "
Their daughter Mary was born 7 October, 1845 in Nauvoo, but it was a bitter-sweet event. Apollos Griswold had died earlier that year at the age of three and sometime in October their two year-old daughter Eleanor died. Three of their first eight children were dead and Oliver and Mary would never again have the chance to visit the graves of their little ones once they left Nauvoo.
Their son Amos Thornton recorded the following which is quoted in a history by Hattie M. Thornton Snow: