“Still a Sacred Place,” New Era, Apr. 2003, 20
Still a Sacred Place
Valiant Saints continue to build the Church in Kirtland.
This is a quiz question. What city did the Saints live in the longest before establishing Salt Lake City in Utah?
Did you answer Nauvoo?
Wrong.
The correct answer is Kirtland, Ohio. Early Saints lived there a little less than eight years, nearly a year longer than in Nauvoo. Kirtland and surrounding towns are significant to Church history because the Prophet Joseph received 65 recorded revelations, which make up nearly half the Doctrine and Covenants, in and around northern Ohio. Also, the Prophet and other early Church leaders received visitations from Jesus Christ and had the wonders of the heavenly world revealed to them. After organizing the Church in New York state, the early Saints, looking for a hospitable place to live and worship, arrived in Kirtland, where Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, and Ziba Peterson had introduced the Church to one of the town’s foremost preachers, Sidney Rigdon. With a well-respected clergyman encouraging his congregation to listen to the missionaries, the Saints found a community that was anxious to learn more about the restored gospel.
Temple on a hill
The little town of Kirtland today is still surrounded by farms, and there, white and gleaming, still standing, is the first LDS temple built. Although presently the Kirtland Temple is not a functioning temple, nor is it Church-owned, it has been preserved as it was, 165 years ago, overlooking the town. The temple is still a quiet, pleasant place to visit and has retained a sacred feeling about it.
The Kirtland Temple is one of Laura Packer’s favorite places. She and her family live right in town and attend the Kirtland Ward. She passes the temple almost every day going to and from school. “I’m really lucky to know how important this place is,” says Laura. “I don’t think I appreciate it enough.”
The temple remains special to all members of the Church. It was here that in a marvelous vision the Savior, Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery (see D&C 110).
Mike McMurtrey of the Mayfield Ward has lived in the Kirtland area since he was six. He remembers the first time he heard about Joseph Smith receiving a vision of the Savior in the temple. “I remember thinking, ‘Wow, that’s a big deal,’” says Mike. “I also like reading section 109, the dedicatory prayer, in the Doctrine and Covenants. To me that shows that Joseph Smith was a prophet. It’s obvious that he isn’t a farm boy speaking.”
Farm in Hiram
One thing that continues to amaze the teens who live around Kirtland is how far the early Saints regularly walked to listen to the Prophet speak or to attend Church meetings. The John Johnson farm is about 40 miles from Kirtland. The Johnson family opened their rather large home and asked Joseph and Emma and their children to live with them for a while.
Today the journey from Kirtland is a fairly long ride in a car since the country roads don’t allow for highway speeds. Pausing to talk in the driveway of the Johnson farm, Paul Brown III of the Hiram Ward says, “The most amazing thing is the travel they did back then. Joseph Smith would go back and forth between Kirtland and here. I can’t imagine doing that a couple of times a week on a horse or walking.”
The John Johnson farm was the location of one of the more dramatic stories in Church history. It was here that a mob dragged the Prophet from his room, tarred and feathered him, and returned him to his terrified wife, Emma, who mistakenly thought he was covered in blood. They both spent the rest of the night trying to remove the tar. The next morning, sore and in pain, he stood on the front porch and preached to a crowd.
Standing on the front steps of the Johnson home, in the very spot where the Prophet Joseph stood before the gathered crowd the morning after the mob attack, Paul says, “After all he went through, the Prophet Joseph was provided the strength from the Lord to get up and preach.”
“And,” adds Jessica Seipert, also from the Hiram Ward, “Joseph and Emma also had to deal with one of their twins dying after being exposed to the cold that night.” Joseph, an adopted son of Joseph and Emma, died from exposure in March 1832.
Jessica walks inside the home to stand in the room that Joseph and Emma used as their bedroom. The furniture is arranged as it might have been that night. She tries to imagine the chaos and fear that would have been in that room that night.
The Hiram Ward meets next door to the Johnson farm. Meagan Gallagher is a member of the ward. She says, “I think it’s really cool to be able to come here and feel the Spirit in the home, especially in the room upstairs where Joseph Smith received so many revelations. If I could, I would come here every day and study the scriptures. That’s my favorite part of living close to the Johnson farm.”
Standing in the upstairs room, Kevin Powell, also of the Hiram Ward, says, “We’re told that Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ while in this room. It’s in the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. In fact, 16 out of the 65 revelations given in Ohio were given here on this farm.”
What’s in store
Shane Draper is a runner. He likes the feel of speed caused by his own efforts. He likes the rhythm that his feet find as they carry him to the finish line. And he’s gaining a reputation in Ohio as having a talent for track. But now, he’s sitting still. He’s on the porch of a small, white-sided store in Kirtland, his hometown.
As a member of the Church, Shane knows how important this building is. It is the Newel K. Whitney Store, where the Prophet Joseph received revelations that are now in the Doctrine and Covenants, and where the first School of the Prophets was held. Shane is explaining why he likes visiting that upstairs room, a place where men saw visions. “No matter when I go there, the Spirit is really, really strong.”
Shane also has a lot of sympathy for Emma, the Prophet’s wife. She complained about the mess created by the men using tobacco. Shane says, “In our locker room at school, kids chew tobacco, and there’s spit all over. Sometimes your clothes will drop in it. It’s nasty.”
These days, Kirtland is taking on a new look. Some of the original buildings are being rebuilt. A new Church visitors’ center has opened. Yet, the real attraction is the knowledge that in this place the heavens opened, and the Lord spoke to His servants. Those revelations have become precious scripture that continue to guide the Church and instruct Church members.
The First Temple
After three years of sacrifice, the Kirtland Temple was completed in 1836. The Saints in Kirtland described the weeks following the temple’s completion as a time of spiritual outpouring.
One thousand people attended the Kirtland Temple dedication on 27 March 1836. In the meeting, the Prophet Joseph Smith offered the dedicatory prayer and asked for a visible manifestation of the Lord.
Eliza R. Snow recorded the fulfillment of the Prophet’s prayer, “No mortal language can describe the heavenly manifestations of that memorable day. Angels appeared to some, while the sense of divine presence was realized by all present” (The Women of Mormondom, 95).
The following week, on 3 April 1836, the Savior appeared in the Kirtland Temple to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. In this appearance, the Lord accepted the temple as His house. After the Savior’s appearance, Moses, Elias, and Elijah also appeared and restored priesthood authority and keys.
John Johnson Farm
The Johnson farmhouse in Hiram, Ohio, was the home of Joseph Smith and his family from 1831 to 1832. While living with John and Elsa Johnson, the Prophet worked on his translation of the Bible and received 16 of the revelations published in the Doctrine and Covenants.
In February 1832 the Prophet translated the Gospel of John. While translating the fifth chapter of John, he began wondering if some truths regarding salvation had been lost from the Bible. With this inquiry in mind, Joseph and his scribe, Sidney Rigdon, received a miraculous vision of the three kingdoms of glory and an explanation of life after death.
In the vision, the two men saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Their testimony of Jesus Christ is recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, “He lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God” (D&C 76:22–23).
Newel K. Whitney Store
This story is recorded in the Newel K. Whitney family history about the arrival of Joseph Smith in Kirtland: “About the first of February, 1831, a sleigh containing four persons drove through the streets of Kirtland and drew up in front of the store of Gilbert and Whitney. One of the men, a young and stalwart personage alighted, and springing up the steps walked into the store and to where the junior partner was standing. ‘Newel K. Whitney! Thou art the man!’ he exclaimed, extending his hand cordially, as if to an old and familiar acquaintance. ‘You have the advantage of me,’ replied the merchant, as he mechanically took the proffered hand, ‘I could not call you by name as you have me.’ ‘I am Joseph the Prophet,’ said the stranger smiling. ‘You’ve prayed me here, now what do you want of me?’” (History of the Church, 1:146).
From 1831 to 1834, the second floor of the Newel K. Whitney Store served as the headquarters for the Church. This store was the location of many important Church activities, including the organization of the first School of the Prophets. Throughout the winter of 1833 the School of the Prophets met from sunrise to late afternoon on the appointed days. In these meetings Joseph Smith and Orson Hyde prepared a select group of 20 priesthood leaders for their missions that coming spring. In general these missionary training sessions consisted of scripture study and gospel discussion, but secular subjects such as grammar were discussed as well.
The Prophet often received revelations during these sacred meetings held in the Whitney Store. During one meeting on 27 February 1833, the Prophet received the important revelation we know today as the Word of Wisdom (see D&C 89).
Photography by Janet Thomas, Jed A. Clark, and Craig Dimond. Historical photography courtesy of Church Archives.
The Prophet Joseph Smith established the Church in Kirtland where the Saints built the first temple in modern times. (Painting Brother Joseph by David Lindsley.)
Laura Packer (left) loves the fact that she passes by the Kirtland Temple every day on her way to and from school.
Emma Smith had to endure attacks by mobs while living on the John Johnson farm. (Painting Emma Hale Smith by Lee Greene Richards.)
Jessica Seipert (opposite page, left) and Meagan Gallagher visit the farm often. Jessica (below, right) pauses in what was the Smiths’ bedroom. Paul Brown III and Kevin Powell (below, center) inspect the room where the revelation in section 76 was received. Nicki Shepherd (below, left) loves living so close to Church history sites.
This artist’s depiction of Newel K. Whitney shows how he may have looked when he met the Prophet Joseph for the first time. (Engraving by H. B. Halls and Sons, courtesy of Church Archives.)
The interior of the store (below, center) has been restored to appear as it did in the 1830s. Kimberly Eggleston holds a handcrafted basket similar to those used a hundred years ago. (Below, left) Shane Draper and Trent Taufer (below, right) enjoy visiting the store. (Photography by Welden C. Andersen.)