2008 – Nauvoo, Illinois

Cazier Family Newsletter 2009 (PDF)

58th Annual William Cazier Family Reunion

Trip before the Reunion
Those of you that were not able to come to the reunion in Nauvoo missed a great experience. As some of you may remember, a few weeks before the reunion last year there was a lot of flooding in the mid west. Some of us were concerned that the flooding would put a stop to the reunion. From across the US I looked at every news story and internet site that dealt with the flooding. I made several calls to Durell Nelson the reunion host to make sure that all was OK. My brothers and I and some of our immediate family arrived a week early to tour some of the LDS Church and country historical sites before the reunion. As we flew into St. Louis, Missouri we could see the overflow of the river. Our planned route took us west away from the high part of the flooding toward Independence, Missouri and away from the flooding. We spent the night in Columbia, Mo. We spent the next day visiting the Independence Visitor Center, Liberty Jail, Far West and Adam-OndiAhman. Some of the back roads to get to the sites were wet and muddy and our GPS units seemed to want to always take us the back routes. After the visits we drove north to Council Bluffs for the night. The next day we visited Winter Quarters visitor’s center, the Kanesville Tabernacle and the Cottonwood Grove where I believe Pleasant Drake Cazier was buried. While at the Kanesville Tabernacle we met the Cazier Family president Marilyn Crezee, who went with us out to the grove. The farm land and streams surrounding the grove showed signs of recent excess water. From there we headed south and followed in the reverse path of the Mormon Trail along what is now Route-2. We stopped at several historical sights including Garden Grove. We arrived late in Nauvoo after crossing the Mississippi river that showed signs of recent flooding with sand bags still in place in several locations. We spent the next day visiting the different sites in Nauvoo and attending the many historical presentations that were available. We also drove out to Carthage,Illinois and saw the jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred. On Friday we went to the Nauvoo LDS Temple where we did baptisms for the dead. On the way out one of the sisters showed us Joseph Smiths sword that he wore as part of the Nauvoo Legion. It was in a case in one of the offices.

Friday Gathering June 27th 2008
In the afternoon at 3:00 we went down to the Nauvoo State park for the reunion, but found signs directing us to the Nauvoo City Hall. Because of the recent wet weather and misquotes it was decided to move the reunion indoors. There were about 40 in attendance at the Friday gathering. We sat around the tables talking and eating. There were a number from the James line that live in the east that attended. It was very enjoyable to sit and get acquainted with them. Some of the stories that were exchanged came from different perspectives of history and were wonderful to share. We all lined up for pictures of the different family lines in attendance. However I failed to get copies of them. If any of you would like to send copies to me I would like to share them on the Cazier web site. Durell and Kathy Nelson the reunion hosts gave us instructions and directions for the activities for the next day. Nauvoo being a historical site there were a lot of things to see and do.

Saturday, June 28th
Executive Meeting Marilyn Creezie conducted and Andy Cazier offered a prayer over the meeting then did a quick review on the results of the post card mailing. Of the 114 post cards that were sent out with the newsletter (see the May 2008 newsletter article “The Family Mailing List”) 6 newsletters were returned as undeliverable, no responses from 90 and 18 postcards were returned with 6 e-mail addresses. The executive committee approved that the 90 be moved from the active mail to the inactive mail list. We discussed Genealogy Research donations, where the reunion would be held next year and who may be the next president. It was suggested that Andy Cazier be Vice President and host for the reunion in Washington State.

Genealogy Meeting
Larry Galli offered a prayer over the meeting. There were 40 family members in attendance. Durrell Nelson welcomed everyone and turned the time over to Gail Cazier for the meeting specifics. Gail showed an “all Cazier chart” and pointed out where John Cazier who was in attendance fit in. They are related thru Philip and Catherine before William. Gail talked about the Abraham Cazier will, presented a power point presentation on genealogy and told us that the “Big Red Book” has been scanned to CD. He also showed websites and advised us to send more histories to Gail. Gail also reported back on the preliminary results of the professional genealogist he hired. Dick Cazier gave a presentation on James Cazier, oldest son of William and Pleasant Drake Cazier. He spoke about James’ travels as well as his birth/marriage/Mormon Battalion service and his death. Larry Galli also spoke about the donations needed for further research.

Family Dinner
We all met for dinner at the Hotel Nauvoo buffet. We ate as much as we liked and there were many selections. The Mississippi River Catfish was new to a lot of us, but good. Durell welcomed all us cousins to Nauvoo.

After dinner Andy reviewed last year’s reunion and a Roll Call was taken with 61 in attendance. The number in attendance from the family lines were: James-11, Maranda-0, John-0, Benjamin-31, Elizabeth-5, Samuel-2, David-0, Charles Drake-4, Rosannah-0 and 8 other Caziers from before the William lines. A discussion was had as to where the next reunion should be held. It was proposed that Kathryn Kovac could host one in Florida at some future date. It was also suggested the next reunion be held in Washington State. It was sustained for June 26 & 27, 2009 with Andy Cazier as the host. Bob Cazier was nominated to be president. Bob has served several times before as the Cazier president and he accepted the task again. Bob Cazier then spoke to the cousins and stated how much he enjoyed coming to Nauvoo and thanked Durell and Kathy for hosting it.The Family then departed to take in some of the sites of Nauvoo and enjoy the sunset over the Mississippi river