By Julene Thompson
As the sorrowing saints walked westward, George Washington Johnson was given six keys and a charge to watch over the Nauvoo Temple just weeks after its dedication in 1846.
Five years later, after mobs, fires, and a cyclone left the temple in ruins, Johnson turned west to join his family and the saints in Utah.
Throughout his journey, the six temple keys jingled in his pocket.
Johnson passed the keys on to his son David Almon Johnson whose widow gave them to Edward M. Rowe, a BYU professor of English and president of the Sons and Daughters of Utah Pioneers in Provo.
After the death of Rowe in 1951, his wife gave the keys to a nephew, Provo attorney J. Rulon Morgan.
According to his son, Alan Morgan, the keys were stored in a vault in his father”s office for 43 years until just before the father”s death in 1994. Alan Morgan and Jaynann Morgan Payne, put them in a safety deposit box.
Finally, after years of obscurity, Morgan”s children have brought the keys to light.
“When we heard the announcement that the Nauvoo Temple was to be rebuilt, we knew we should do something with the keys,” said Jeanene Morgan, wife of Alan Morgan.
Four of the keys were donated to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 30.
“The keys will be appropriately placed in the Nauvoo Temple signifying a ”return home” and will serve as a wonderful reminder of our pioneer heritage to all who have an opportunity to view them,” wrote the First Presidency of the church in a letter thanking the Morgan family for donating the keys.
Though four of the keys have “returned home,” the remaining two stayed home.
Morgan”s children donated them along with a collection of Nauvoo temple memorabilia to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum in Provo.
The collection was opened to the public after a commemorative program May 29.
“We knew many of our family members wouldn”t have a chance to go to Nauvoo so we donated some keys to museum,” Jeanene Morgan said.
The keys have fostered the already mounting interest in the history of the Nauvoo Temple with its dedication June 27.
“There is a lot of excitement about the Nauvoo Temple just because so many of our ancestors took part in building it. I know mine did,” said Barbara Brewer, an American Fork resident.
“Utahns appreciate the Nauvoo Temple because it began the migration to Utah. They have a feeling for it,” said Kay Newren, a custodian for the church.
Neighboring the keys in the museum is a small sculpture of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young called “Eyes Westward” and a miniature sunstone replica both by sculptor Dee Jay Bawden.
Two pictures of the Nauvoo Temple by local artist Chad Hawkins hang above the keys.
Also in the collection is a Nauvoo Temple handkerchief, and a fragment from the original temple.
The museum is open 12-4 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
