Stoddard Tin Shop

By shaping sheets of tin-plated iron, tinsmiths produced commodities important to every household in the 1840s. Sylvester and Charity Stoddard’s reconstructed brick home along Main Street teaches how tinsmiths in Nauvoo contributed to the construction of the city and especially, the Nauvoo Temple.

Sylvester married Charity Nutter in 1833 while living in Hollis, Maine. They joined the Church and moved first to Ohio, then Missouri, then Illinois. In 1840, Sylvester was serving in a bishopric in Quincy, Illinois. He opened his tin shop in Nauvoo in 1841. His property on Nauvoo’s main street included this brick home with its lean-to kitchen and perhaps a separate building no longer standing that served as his workshop.

Charity Stoddard joined the Nauvoo Female Relief Society in 1842. The following year, she donated $1.00 in tinware to the society. She died in Nauvoo in October 1844 of tuberculosis. After her death, Sylvester remarried and moved away from Nauvoo, so his name does not appear among the members of Nauvoo’s Tinners Association in 1845. That year, the city’s tinners worked together to create the impressive dome of the temple’s spire and the gilded angel that stood atop the temple when it was dedicated. Their work reflects the cooperation, skill, and faithful dedication of many Saints working to build up the house of the Lord in Nauvoo.

What to Expect

Stoddard Tin Shop is a two-room guided tour of the family living area and workshop. The tour includes a demonstration of tinsmithing. After the tour of Stoddard Tin Shop, you will walk over to Browning Gun Shop across the street to continue the Main Street Trades tour.