Foundation Excavated at Joseph Smith Historic Site

NAUVOO, ILLINOIS—According to The Quincy Herald-Whig, a team of volunteers is assisting archaeologist Paul DeBarthe with the excavation of an early nineteenth-century cabin that was the home of Joseph Smith Sr. and his wife Lucy Mack, parents of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon church. They are excavating the foundation of a double log cabin at the Joseph Smith Historic Site in western Illinois, and have uncovered a structural support for the house, a small house key, marbles, window glass, metal, and buttons. They’ve also uncovered prehistoric pieces of pottery and weapons. “People come here to pilgrimage to the Joseph Smith burial site and home site. Mormons in particular come for about five years of Mormon history, 1839-1844. For us to come looking for five years of history and find 10,000 years is really gratifying,” said descendant Bob Smith.