They were contacted by the missionaries of the Mormon Church. They wanted to be near the Prophet Joseph Smith and the main body of saints so they sold their property, their servants and many acres of land and headed to Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois. They resided there from 1839 to 1846. There they secured land a built a beautiful nine room home.They received their endowment on 20 December 1845 when he was 39.
When the persecutions began, William and his brother James were policemen to guard as uphold the law that was set up under the Nauvoo Charter. They were sealed on 20 January 1846 in the Nauvoo Temple. This was just about three weeks before the saints were driven from Nauvoo.
William and his family desired to join the body of the Saints in the Nauvoo and accordingly sold their plantation, home and slaves. They brought some former slaves with them to Nauvoo and later to the West. The story is told that these former slaves begged to be allowed to come with the family they had served for many years, and they later remained in the Utah area and were buried near their former owners. William and Margaret bought land in the Nauvoo area and built a beautiful nine-room home. The family was apparently active in the affairs and events happening in Nauvoo at the time. William (as a 4th Corporal) and James Pace, along with John D. Lee and Isaac C. Haight, are listed as being called as special policemen in Nauvoo in December 1843 as recorded in History of the Church, 6:149-50. They were to guard the city and es¬pe¬cially Brother Joseph in that time of unrest. The guard was dismissed in the spring of 1844 as Joseph decided he could guard himself. In the meantime, another son was born to William and Margaret in 1844 in Lee County, Iowa.
According to our family group sheets, William and Margaret Pace received their endowment in the Nauvoo temple on January 20, 1846. However, in Saints in Exile, also by David R. Crockett, both James and William and their wives are listed as receiv¬ing their endowments in the Nauvoo Temple on Saturday, December 20, 1845. Either way, they were blessed to be able to have this blessing in the chaotic days of persecu¬tion and trial as the Saints prepared to leave Nauvoo.
The Paces were involved in the exodus from Nauvoo in February 1846. A quote from William Pace (probably James Pace’s son who kept a diary) in Saints in Exile for February 21, 1846, described their camp at Sugar Creek. “Our camp was made in snow about 8 inches deep and was a rather uncomfortable introduction into camp life with¬out tent or any shelter save it be a wagon cover made from common sheeting. Here we stayed for some time waiting the arrival of all those who could possibly supply them¬selves with teams.” The Paces were in one of the first companies that helped build the road for others across Iowa and were involved in establishing the base encampments of Garden Grove, Mt. Pisgah and Council Bluffs in Iowa. These encampments were some of the places where crops were grown, where sick could be cared for and where poor and crippled oxen and horses could be exchanged for fresh ones.
