This is the stone quarry where the rock came from for the Kirtland Temple.
The twins of Joseph and Emma are buried here in the cemetery across the street from the temple. As well as Joseph's grandmother and Hyrum's first wife.
The Kirtland Temple is an interesting place. It is owned by the Community of Christ church, more commonly known as the RLDS church. They changed their name a few years ago. Christ appeared here as well as Moses, Elias, and Elijah. It was the first temple built in 1800 years. They Community of Christ church have taken very good care of this building, but they don't treat it like we do our temples. No ordinances are done here. They use it for education purposes and community meetings mostly. It is an interesting thing to contemplate the reason Heavenly Father allowed the temple in Nauvoo to be destroyed but preserved this temple. Why do you think he did??
This is one place I had honestly never heard of before. It is the John and Elsa Johnson farm in Hyrum Ohio. LOTS of important things happened here and this family sacrificed pretty much everything they had for the gospel, and I had never heard of them! They allowed Joseph and Emma to live here for a year. The church was headquartered here. They built Joseph and office upstairs in their home. The night that Joseph was taken in the middle of the night and tarred and feathered was from this home. 16 revelations were received here. It is a huge (especially for that time period) home that they willingly opened to many, many people. When people would come from Kirtland it was usually a full days travel to get to the Johnson Farm so when they came to see Joseph they would stay with the Johnson's. 2 of the Johnson's sons were members of the original 12 apostles. In 1833 they sold their farm to pay for the land the temple sits on in Kirtland.
This was John and Elsa Johnson's bedroom until they converted to an office for Joseph. Jesus Christ appeared in this room.
AMISH COUNTRY! What a beautiful place this is! We went to Holmes County and spent the night in the middle of Amish land. Travis was fascinated with their farming :) They were using horses for bailing even. We ate in a great, family style amish restaurant then went on a buggy ride with a guy named Lester lol.
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Sara mentioned you guys were traveling through Kirtland. I am SO glad you got to go to the Johnson farm. I served there for 4 1/2 months. Its my favorite place in the entire world!
Revelations received at the Johnson Farm[edit]
Several revelations were received by Smith and other church leaders while at the Johnson Farm. Sixteen of the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were received. Among these revelations were section 1 (the introduction) and section 76 (the vision of the degrees of glory).[6] As part of section 76, Smith and Sidney Rigdon stated, "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of [Jesus Christ], this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father". Smith also completed part of his revision of the Bible at the Johnson home.[7]
Violence at the Johnson Farm[edit]
On the night of March 24, 1832, Smith and his wife Emma were caring for their adopted twins, both of whom were sick with the measles. While Joseph was sleeping on the trundle bed on the first floor of the Johnson home, a mob of about 25 attacked him and dragged him out the front door. Smith struggled with the mob but was overcome. The mob choked him, tried to put acid in his mouth, and tarred and feathered him. When Smith got back to the house, Emma thought that the tar was blood and she fainted. Smith's friends spent the rest of the night cleaning the tar off of his body. The next day, Smith preached a sermon to a crowd which included some of the mobbers and baptized three people. One of the twin babies, the eleven-month-old boy named Joseph Murdock Smith, died four days later.[8][9]
A late second-hand witness, Clark Braden, alleged that Eli Johnson—whom Braden claimed was a son of John Johnson—led the attack and that its intent was to punish Smith for an supposed improper relationship with his sister Marinda.[10] Two other antagonistic witnesses, Hayden and S. F. Whitney, claimed that the motive was economic. However, Eli was, in fact, a brother to John Johnson (and an uncle to Marinda) and was living with the family at the time.[11][12] The mob enlisted the services of a physician to castrate Smith. However, in the end, the physician refused to administer the procedure
"Nancy Johnson did not have a brother named Eli", is what apologists will point out. Someone misspoke as to her brother's name is all. But that her brother who was a Mormon apostle, stated they brought a physician in the mob to castrate Joseph (and this brother was part of the mob), confirms the mob's motivation to punish Joseph's taking inappropriate liberties with Miss Johnson.
Remember the faithful accounts that some of 'the mob' was in church meetings the next day? Is that not odd, if true, that Joseph did not look his attackers in the face in this public forum and demand their arrest for assault and battery? An open accusation by Joseph could have evoked countedcharges of Joseph's indiscretions with young Nancy.
Years later in Nauvoo, Joseph Smith and Willard Richards took their turns with Nancy while her husband was on a mission to the holy land. The joke being uttered behind closed doors was "Joseph and Willard are receiving 'a Hyding!' " Nancy Marinda Johnson Hyde. Poor Orson Hyde! Even more years later in the Great Salt Lake valley, Orson Pratt twitted Bro. Hyde about Sister Hyde's sexual escapades with Joseph and Willard, which led to Orson divorcing Nancy.
Grant Palmer and others have shown evidence that the Johnson brothers (Luke and Lyman) were at least partially behind the events of that night and had issues with Joseph Smith for at least 2 reasons:
1- Smith was showing too much interest in their sister Nancy Marinda
2- Their father John Johnson was going to consecrate the family farm to Smith's Church and thereby give away their inheritance.
Wikipedia seems to confirm that sources— whether one trusts them or not— gave these as the reasons for the attack.
Ironically both Luke and Lyman Johnson became LDS apostles— Lyman leaving the Church in the 1838 apostasy. The FAIR boys claim that they never were part of the mob because they became apostles.
http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/11-MarindaJohnsonHyde.htm
Fifteen-year-old Marinda Johnson and her family were baptized into the church during the winter of 1830, near Kirtland, Ohio. “The [following] fall”, Marinda wrote, “Joseph came with his family to live at my father’s house. He was at that time translating the Bible...” For the next year, Joseph lived in the Johnson home.
In 1833, Marinda met and was courted by Orson Hyde. A year later they would marry. Within months of the marriage, Orson was called to be an Apostle of the church, a calling which meant he would spend two of the next three and one-half years in the Eastern States and England in missionary service. Back home Marinda raised their two children. By June 1839 Marinda and Orson had relocated to Nauvoo. A third child soon arrived.
On April 6, 1840, Orson wrote, “I was appointed, in company with Elder John E. Page, to go on a mission to Jerusalem”. A week later, Orson left for what would be a three year mission. On October 24, 1841, Orson stood on the Mount of Olives and consecrated Palestine for the gathering of Judah in the last days.
While Orson was gone, Marinda, “had to live in a little log house whose windows had no glass but in place of which were pieces of greased paper...A little cornmeal and a few groceries were all the provisions remaining to sustain her and the little ones.”. Noting Marinda’s living conditions, Joseph Smith received the following revelation dated December 2, 1841: “Verily thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph. that inasmuch as you have called upon me to know my will concerning my handmaid Nancy Marinda Hyde Behold it is my will that she should have a better place prepared for her than that in which she now lives...and let my handmaid Nancy Marinda Hyde hearken to the counsel of my servant Joseph in all things whatsoever he shall teach unto her...”
Marinda soon moved to a better home. In the Spring of 1842 she married Joseph. In Joseph’s diary is a list of his marriages. It includes the entry: “Apr 42 Marinda Johnson to Joseph Smith.”. Eight months later, in December, Orson returned from his mission. It is not clear when, or if, Orson learned about his wife’s marriage to Joseph. However, by March, Orson had learned about plural marriage himself and married two additional wives.
After Joseph’s death in 1844, Marinda and Orson continued to live in Nauvoo. In April of 1846, shortly before leaving for Utah, Orson dedicated the Nauvoo temple. Over the next 20 years, Marinda would bear 7 more children. Orson would continue to serve missions and marry seven additional wives. In 1870 Marinda and Orson divorced.
Marinda’s grandchildren later wrote of her caring and thoughtful demeanor: “She was so loving and sympathetic with...all... She was a lovely creature, dignified and...took a keen interest in life and people”.
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