One of the restored homes and buildings in Nauvoo, Illinois, is one that once belonged to Ellis Mendenhall Sanders. This Federalist-style home is located at 1285 Sidney St. in Nauvoo. The initial cost of the home was $2,500.
Original to the 1840s, the home’s written provenance has an interesting detail. It notes that on one occasion in 1844, when the home was under construction, Sanders offered the basement — something relatively rare in those days — as a refuge to the Prophet Joseph Smith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tradition holds that Joseph used the stairs leading from the basement to the back of the property to avoid being detected. He would die in Carthage, Illinois, that same year. It is believed the stairs’ handrail in the home leading to the second story is original.
Ellis and Rachel evidently lived in the home for less than a year before heading West with the Saints. The house was built by William Mendenhall, cousin of Ellis Sanders. The extant Mendenhall home is next door to the Sanders home. Beginning in 2003, the Sanders home was opened to the public as a bed-and-breakfast.