My husband, Ray, and I were going on a road trip to Nauvoo, Illinois to visit some historical places of our stalwart pioneer ancestry. On the trip, we were passing through Fort Madison, Iowa which lies west of the Mississippi River before getting into Nauvoo.
As we were driving through Fort Madison, a memory clicked in my head. I remembered I had recently completed the temple work for my paternal great-grandparents, Lena Schoene and George Korn, who lived in Fort Madison. My father was baptized but never embraced the gospel and his parents were not members which has opened a virgin field for me to do family research and temple work.
Strangely, as we were passing Fort Madison, a strong, penetrating message suddenly burned in my head. I heard, “Shirley, I, too, love my children and grandchildren.” I felt Lena Schoene Korn’s spirit and saw her picture in my mind.
Even though we continued to Nauvoo and even with the inspirational and educational experiences there, the spiritual pleading of Lena would not leave me. On the way home, I explained to Ray my need to visit Fort Madison and search for some cemeteries.
We found Lena Schoene and George Korn’s tombstone. It appeared old and neglected so I bought some flowers, placed them on their grave, then decided to look for more family members.
We found the graves of several of Lena’s sisters, but the TREASURE of the trip was discovered in an old library. Here, I found a 9-chapter tattered mimeographed history of the Schoene family that had been written and compiled by Lena’s youngest brother, Charles Edgar Schoene. He recorded family connections from Histories of the Old Original Settlers, a delightful account of a visit by Lena’s sister providing personality profiles from a variety of family homes. Also included were vital records of members who attended St. Peter’s Presbyterian Church, plus many individual stories of families and, importantly, European ancestral records, which have allowed and inspired research into early periods of pre-migration European history.
I believe this experience is an example demonstrating a statement by Elder Melvin J. Ballard.
“Why is it that sometimes only one of a city or household receives the Gospel?”
(I would ask, “Why is it that in church pre-restoration time, Charles Edgar Schoene was touched by Elijah to write the Schoene history?)
President Ballard continues, “It was made known to me that it is because the righteous dead who have received the Gospel in the Spirit World are exercising themselves. . . “We often wonder if our ancestors will accept the gospel. Ironically, in many instances, they accepted it before we did. Their prayers and faithfulness have brought the gospel into our lives instead of the other way around. Officiating in the temple for them is a deep expression of our gratitude for their contribution to our life and it helps bind us to them.”
From many seedings of Charles Edgar Schoene’s written history, I have found hundreds of names to be submitted for temple ordinances and sealed into families. Without this history to connect and locate families it would not have been possible.
I bear witness that the Gospel is true, The Spirit World is real, and many Spirits are anxious and willing to help us in pursuit of their records.
-Shirley C. Montgomery