Graves of Nathan, Sarah Marinda, Susan, Stephen and Martha Marinda Pratt

Some of the Pratt family children who died in Nauvoo were buried in a family plot on the boundary between Parley’s and Orson’s homes. We believe this plot contained three small graves (two children of Parley: Nathan and Susan; and one child of Orson: Sarah Marinda) when they were driven from Nauvoo. Before departing, their headstones were buried just above the coffins to protect the location of these children.

As the saints suffered through the bitter cold spring of 1846 on the western banks of the Mississippi, William and Wealth Eddy Pratt’s little girl, Martha, also died. At the request of her mother, Parley and William recrossed the river under cover of darkness into mob-controlled Nauvoo and buried this fourth Pratt child alongside the others. Since Wealthy Eddy Pratt stayed in Nauvoo to give birth to another son, Stephen Pratt, who died in March 1847, it is possible that Stephen is also buried with the other children.

Over time, Orson’s home was torn down, Parley’s became a Catholic monastery and a Catholic Church was unknowingly built over these hidden burial sites.