On Tuesday evening (May 25th) we drove east on Parley Street about a mile outside of Nauvoo to the old pioneer cemetery. Tucked away in the woods off the right side of the road, there are few stones left from the Mormon pioneer era, but the serenity of the spot bears witness to the spirit of those who are buried here. This is where Phebe Ann Babcock Patten Bentley was laid to rest in January of 1841. Diantha and Titus Billings stood here in March of 1844 when they buried their ten-year-old son Titus Jr. The body of John Cole, father of Sarah Cole (second wife of Edward Ockey), is in this space as well.
A small octagonal shelter along the trail into the burial grounds houses a list of the known names of those who are buried here. Among those names are Edward Partridge, first bishop in the Church, who died in May of 1840, Edmond Durfee, who was killed in a raid on the Morley Settlement (Yelrome) on November 15, 1845, and a child of Wilford Woodruff who died while he was away on a mission.
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