Two Church Centers
The Building of the First Mormon Temple and Zion’s Camp
In early 1834, Joseph Smith began to prepare the Mormons living in Ohio to build and enter the first Mormon temple. He received numerous revelations about the order to be followed within the temple, and instituted the ordinance of Washing of Feet. Joseph also began the School of the Prophets, which was designed to train and prepare the leaders of the Mormon Church for their great missionary work. Alcohol and tobacco were present at these meetings, about which Joseph Smith inquired of the Lord and received a revelation, known as the Word of Wisdom. This commands men and women to keep their bodies healthy by eating good food and avoiding things like alcohol, tobacco, and “hot drinks” such as coffee and tea.
On February 17, the first High Council was organized to oversee the Church in Kirtland. In July, after a revelation chastising them for the delay, the Church began in earnest to build the temple. The cornerstones and the foundation trench were completed. July was also a time of great trial for the Mormons. In Missouri, an editorial in a Mormon newspaper about the possibility of free blacks moving to the state led to crisis. Missouri mobs destroyed the newspaper press on July 20 and tarred and feathered the local Mormon bishop and other leaders of the Church. Books and stores were burned and, on July 23, the Mormons were ordered to leave Jackson County.
The editorial had been the final spark in the debate between Mormons and non-Mormons in the county. The non-Mormons felt that they would soon be overwhelmed by Mormon converts, who could then control the voting in the county. They were also concerned by some Mormons’ opposition to slavery, which the Missourians were trying to encourage. The Mormons, for their part, tried to appeal, knowing that they had legally purchased their lands and so were able to delay the expulsion.
Joseph Smith, who had meanwhile gone on a mission, preaching in Canada from October to November, received a revelation (see D&C 98) commanding the Mormons to avoid war and seek for peace, but not to let themselves be murdered. They were encouraged to seek legal redress. Unfortunately, this failed and in November of that year the Mormons were forcibly expelled from their homes, as mobs destroyed their homes and businesses. The Mormons tried to take the mob members to court, but the effort was futile since some of the Mob members were also the judges. The Mormons gathered affidavits and sent petitions to the governor of Missouri and the President of the United States, but received no reply.
In early 1834, Eber D. Howe and Philastus Hurlbut, the latter an excommunicated Mormon, began to write their book, “Mormonism Unvailed.” They found everyone willing to speak against Joseph Smith and gathered hundreds of affidavits purporting to prove that Joseph Smith was an unscrupulous person. Joseph Smith took Hurlbut to court and the judge ordered Hurlbut to pay a bond and all legal fees. The book was published anyway.
Meanwhile, Joseph continued to try to help the driven and persecuted Mormons in Missouri. A revelation was received ordering the Church in Ohio to gather men together to go and aid the Missouri Mormons. The camp, called Zion’s Camp, left Ohio on May 1, 1834, and eventually comprised over 200 men. The journey itself became a perilous trial and many tempers were pushed to breaking. Food ran short, but by mid-June the camp arrived in Missouri. Despite many threats made against the marching men, they were never attacked.
Part of the intent of the Zion’s Camp march was to pressure the Missouri governor into helping the Mormons and to offer protection to the Mormons from the mob violence that had expelled them. By the time Zion’s Camp arrived in Missouri, the local Mormon leaders and government representatives, including General Alexander Doniphan, who became a great friend to the Mormons, had come to an agreement. The Mormons remained temporarily in Clay County where local residents gave them shelter and aid. In northern Missouri, the government organized a new county, Daviess County, specifically for Mormon settlement. Zion’s Camp was disbanded on June 22, 1834, and the men dispersed, lest the large group of armed men cause the locals to think the Mormons had violent intentions.
Though not entirely successfully in all its purposes, the Zion’s Camp march did help encourage the Mormons and the government to reach a compromise which would allow the Mormons to remain in Missouri. Perhaps the greatest success of Zion’s Camp was in leadership. Of the later leaders of the Mormon Church, including most of the first Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (which would be organized in 1835) and the Quorum of the Seventy, many came from the ranks of the faithful men of Zion’s Camp. The Camp served as a school where they learned the Gospel and how to organize a large company of people.
The Quorum of the Twelve and the Book of Abraham
While some of Zion’s Camp remained behind in Missouri, Joseph Smith and others left for Ohio in early July, after organizing a High Council and helping the Mormons as best as they could. The Mormons tried to return some sense of order and stability into their lives and even began to republish The Evening and Morning Star while still in Clay County.
Joseph Smith spent the fall and winter of 1834 preaching around Ohio and Michigan and spending time with his family. In Kirtland, the Mormons published a newspaper, the Messenger and Advocate, to promote and defend their point of view. This was especially important as E. D. Howe published his book, Mormonism Unvailed, in November; the first anti-Mormon book ever published.
In early 1835, the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon, David Whitmer, Martin Harris, and Oliver Cowdery were charged with selecting the Twelve Apostles. They chose: Lyman Johnson, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, David W. Patten, Luke Johnson, William E. McLellin, John F. Boynton, Orson Pratt, William Smith, Thomas B. Marsh, and Parley P. Pratt. Shortly afterwards, they selected the first members of the Quorum of Seventy. These men, mostly drawn from the members of Zion’s Camp, were ordained and ultimately would assume the leadership of the Mormon Church after Joseph Smith’s death.
During the next few months as the Twelve Apostles left on missions, Joseph remained in Kirtland, helping with temple construction. He was brought to court several times by former members of the Mormon Church, but was acquitted each time. That July, a traveling showman named Michael H. Chandler arrived in Kirtland with four mummies and several rolls of papyrus. Chandler had somehow obtained them from an Italian explorer and amateur archaeologist named Antonio Lebolo. Chandler, having heard that Joseph Smith was known for translating ancient documents, came to Kirtland to meet him. As Joseph Smith examined the papyri, he recognized their immense value. The Mormons pooled their money and bought the papyri, which Chandler insisted could not go separately from the mummies. They purchased the whole and Joseph spent the next few months studying and translating the papyri, which he soon realized contained some of the writings of Abraham the patriarch and of that Joseph who was sold into Egypt. He completed most of the translation by November of 1835 and hired two men to make prints of the drawings from the scrolls. Ultimately, the translation would be published as the Book of Abraham.
The First Mormon Temple
The remainder of the year was spent in daily Church business, teaching the Mormons about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and completing the temple. During the winter, Joseph Smith and others organized a school for gospel instruction and tried to hire a Hebrew teacher for their class. Eventually, a Hebrew scholar named Joshua Seixas arrived and taught classes on Hebrew. Joseph also studied German and encouraged the Mormons to study languages as well.
Early in 1836, the first Mormon temple was completed. Because of the poverty of the Mormons, the Kirtland Temple represented a supreme sacrifice. In January, Joseph Smith had a vision of Jesus Christ and the glory of heaven while praying in the temple. He learned that those who died without the gospel will be given a chance to accept it (see D&C 136). He later expanded this theme when he taught about baptism for the dead. Many other Mormons had visions in the temple, even before it was completed.
On March 27, the temple was dedicated. Joseph Smith read the prayer, which he had received by revelation. This prayer is recorded as section 109 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Many people had visions during and after the dedication. Many reported seeing angels and other heavenly visitors. Joseph Smith compared it to the day of Pentecost as recorded in the Bible. Nearly 1,000 people gathered into the temple, requiring some people to sit on laps.
For a time after the dedication, there was much peace in and around Kirtland. On April 3, 1836, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery witnessed one of the greatest visions in Mormon history. As they were praying in the temple, Jesus Christ appeared to them and accepted the temple as an offering of their faith where His Spirit would dwell. After this vision, the ancient prophets Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared to them and gave them the priesthood keys, or the authority, to gather Israel together and to restore all things. Elijah, whose coming fulfilled the biblical prophesy found in Malachi 4:5-6, gave them the power to seal families together. This vision is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 110.
The Kirtland Safety Society and the 1837 Apostasy
That summer, the citizens of Clay County requested that the Mormons leave and head to their new county in northern Missouri. Joseph Smith and the Quorum of the Twelve discussed the necessity to leave Kirtland soon. Their goal had always been to build up Zion in Missouri, where the Lord had commanded them to go, and persecution in Ohio had grown worse. However, the members were too poor to move. In the fall of 1836, Joseph Smith and several others went to Salem, Massachusetts, where they were told they could obtain money. The Lord chastised Joseph Smith in a revelation for going, but encouraged them to be faithful and wait for God to redeem them. They proselytized in Massachusetts and returned to Ohio.
In October of 1836, as a way to help the members organize economically and be financially stable, the Kirtland Safety Society bank was started. Sidney Rigdon was the president and Joseph Smith served as cashier. The Ohio state legislature, which was strictly enforcing a hard money policy, refused to grant a charter and the Safety Society was reorganized as an Anti-Banking Company with the authority to issue notes. Subsequent attempts to get a charter also failed. In 1837, a panic swept through the United States and many banks and institutions failed. Because of the impoverishment of the Mormons in Kirtland, much of the equity of the bank was backed by land and when, during the panic, people began demanding repayment, the Kirtland Safety Society failed, closing its doors in November 1837.
The financial crisis that ensued proved a great trial for many people. Joseph Smith himself had been one of the greatest investors and it took many years to pay off the debt he incurred. Some Mormons were upset, thinking that Joseph Smith was a fallen prophet because the bank failed. Joseph Smith, however, never claimed to be perfect, nor did he claim that the bank was somehow a commandment from God. Nevertheless, through the summer of 1837, there were many people who apostatized from the Mormon Church and some even threatened Joseph Smith’s life. David Whitmer was chief among the accusers, but even William Smith, the Prophet’s brother, accused him. Brigham Young remained loyal and was forced to flee Kirtland for his life. Repeated attempts were made to attack or arrest Joseph. In July, he was tried and acquitted. Most of the Quorum of the Twelve stayed loyal and that summer several Apostles left for England to preach. Ultimately, these missions to England brought thousands and people in the Mormon Church and, for a time in the 1840s, the number of Mormons in England exceeded that in the United States.