William and Esther Gheen Home

In this home, the Gheen family consecrated their lives to the building of Zion. William contributed every tenth day of his labor to aid in temple construction by driving horses to transport quarried stone to the construction site. Esther joined the Female Relief Society in 1842. She and her children donated to the penny drive held by the Relief Society to raise funds for temple construction.

William and Esther Gheen were baptized and confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1839 in Pennsylvania. In 1842, along with the Hunter family, William, Esther, and their six children moved 900 miles from Chester County, Pennsylvania to Nauvoo, Illinois. They purchased an acre of land just downhill from the temple and built a brick home on it. In December 1844, they donated half of their one-acre lot as tithing. The Gheen family lived in this home from 1842 to 1846.

While living in this home, the Gheen family was blessed by temple ordinances. In 1843, William and Esther went twice to the temple’s baptistry to be baptized on behalf of family members who had died before they could receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Following William’s untimely death in June 1845, Esther remained faithful. In the Nauvoo Temple, she received her endowment in December 1845 and was sealed by proxy to her deceased husband William for eternity on February 2, 1846.

Read about the Saints’ united efforts and struggles to build the Nauvoo Temple, including an account of Esther Gheen offering to donate thread of her own spinning in Saints, Volume 1, Chapter 41.

What to Expect

The Gheen Home is a two-room guided tour that covers the dining room and parlor. After the tour of the Gheen Home, you are free to explore the rest of Nauvoo.

360° Walkthrough