| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Maid of Iowa |
| Cost | $4,000 [1] |
| Launched | 1842 |
| Fate | Sold, 1845 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type | Sternwheel steamboat |
| Tonnage | 60 tons |
| Length | 115 ft (35 m) |
| Draft | Less than 2 ft (0.61 m) |
| Capacity | 200 passengers |
Maid of Iowa was a steamboat first owned and captained by Dan Jones. It was first launched in 1842, and was used as a passenger ship on the Mississippi River. The boat is best known for transporting British Mormon converts to settle in Nauvoo, Illinois.
The Maid of Iowa was built and owned by Levi Moffitt and Dan Jones. It was first launched on the Mississippi River in the fall of 1842. Shares of the boat were purchased by Joseph Smith in 1843, for use by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The boat played an important role in the establishment of Nauvoo, Illinois, as Mormon converts from abroad landed in New Orleans and journeyed up the Mississippi River to settle in Nauvoo. [2]
The boat was small relative to other steamboats of the time. On one voyage, a large steamboat tried to run the Maid of Iowa off the river, but Captain Jones prevented this by threatening to shoot the pilot of the larger ship. [3]
The first use of the boat was as a ferry between Nauvoo, Illinois and Montrose, Iowa. It was also used to carry freight, such as coal, lumber, lead, military supplies, wheat, corn, and pork. When used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it was also used for pleasure cruises, a church meeting place, and for hauling the workers and supplies for work on the Nauvoo Temple.
After Joseph Smith was killed, it was sold in 1845 to Peter Hoelting to haul freight on the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. It was last reported carrying freight on Soap Creek in Iowa in 1850. [2]
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its religious significance to members of several groups: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; the Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (RLDS); other groups stemming from the Latter Day Saint movement; and the Icarians. The city and its immediate surrounding area are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Nauvoo Historic District.
The Mormon Trail is the 1,300-mile (2,100 km) long route from Illinois to Utah on which Mormon pioneers traveled from 1846–47. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails System, known as the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail.
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William Smith was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and one of the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Smith was the eighth child of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith and was a younger brother of Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Samuel Harrison Smith was a younger brother of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Samuel was a leader in his own right and a successful missionary. Smith is commonly regarded as the first Latter Day Saint missionary following the organization of the Church of Christ by his brother, Joseph. One of the Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon's golden plates, Samuel Smith remained devoted to his church throughout his life.
John Cook Bennett was an American physician and briefly a ranking and influential leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, who acted as mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and Major-General of the Nauvoo Legion in the early 1840s.
Hosea Stout was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, a Mormon pioneer, soldier, chief of police, lawyer, missionary, and politician in Utah Territory.
Milo Andrus was one of earliest leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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George Miller was a prominent convert in the Latter Day Saint movement and was the third ordained bishop in the Latter Day Saint church.
James Sloan was an official historian and recorder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a secretary to Joseph Smith, and one of the first Mormon settlers in Nauvoo, Illinois.
Reynolds Cahoon was an early leader in Latter Day Saint movement and later, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was one of the inaugural members of the Council of Fifty, organized by Joseph Smith Jr in 1844.
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Edward William Bonney was a 19th-century adventurer, miller, hotel keeper, city planner, counterfeiter, livery stable keeper, bounty hunter, private detective, postmaster, merchant, soldier, and author. He is best known for his undercover work in exposing the "Banditti of the Prairie", resulting from his investigation of the torture-murder of noted Illinois pioneer and frontiersman Colonel George Davenport.
Donald Quayle Cannon is a retired professor at Brigham Young University who specializes in Latter-day Saint history, particularly early Latter-day Saint history and international Latter-day Saint history.
Sarah Melissa Granger Kimball was a 19th-century Latter-day Saint advocate for women's rights and early leader in the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Kimball's involvement in the church led to the establishment of the women's Relief Society as well as participation in the national suffrage movement.
Nathaniel Henry Felt was a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature and a mid-level leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 19th century.
Isaac Galland was a merchant, postmaster, land speculator, and doctor. He is best known for selling large tracts of land around Commerce, Illinois, to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1839.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Illinois refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Illinois. The official church membership as a percentage of general population was 0.44% in 2014. According to the 2014 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey, less than 1% of Illinoisans self-identify themselves most closely with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The LDS Church is the 13th largest denomination in Illinois.