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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Hiram

Matt and I decided to take advantage of our time in Ohio by heading up north to a little town called Kirtland, which is a significant place for both our church and family histories. On the way there, we stopped about 45-minutes shy of Kirtland in an even smaller town called Hiram to visit the John Johnson Home.

In 1831, John & Elsa Johnson invited the prophet Joseph Smith and his wife, Emma, to live with them on their 260-acre farm. The Johnsons were well-off and had a beautiful home with plenty of room for visitors. That home is still standing and has been restored by our church to its original condition. I couldn't help but take a picture of the beautiful woodwork in the kitchen and the large pantry that many a mom would envy.
The picture below is of the parlor-turned-guest-bedroom where Joseph and Emma stayed. On a Saturday night in March of 1832, a mob broke into the home and pulled Joseph from the trundle bed, where he was lying with his sick 11-month-old twin son. More than two dozen men dragged Joseph about 300 yards from the home, where they tarred and feathered him and then tried to force acid into his mouth. Joseph, Emma and their friends stayed up through the night to remove the tar and Joseph still conducted a church service the next morning. A few days later, their baby son died from being exposed to the cold on the night of the attack.
Although Joseph and Emma endured unimaginable heartache in Hiram, they also enjoyed immense blessings from our Heavenly Father. In the upstairs room pictured below, they had incredible spiritual experiences and were given great knowledge that continues to bless our lives today.
We had such a neat experience visiting Hiram, and it made us even more grateful for our heritage and our faith.

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this. I've been to Nauvoo and Palmyra but I haven't been to Kirland yet. You are so lucky to be able to visit these places with Matt.

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  2. that brings back heritage tour memories! that was the best 3 weeks ever!

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  3. JJ Farm was one of my favorite spots we stopped at on Heritage Tours. so jealous

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  4. goodness you guys are quite the world travelers these days aren't ya? that's so awesome I'm jealous you got to see that.

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  5. That is what I loved about Ortho Residency! We took advantage of all those church history sites on our travels to and from New York, and of course all around Rochester while we lived their for two years. You two are very blessed to get so much time to travel and see the world. Great time to do it while you are young and mobil. Thanks for the great reminder of where this amazing gospel all got started. I love the Johnson Farm.

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  6. What a wonderful experience! I have been reading a little bit about the history of the church and just read about that experience about a week ago. It is amazing what Joseph Smith endured. It helps me realize that the things I complain about are small in comparison. Thanks for the pictures and testimony.

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  7. Oh, thanks so much for sharing this!!!

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  8. I remember seeing that on HT! miss it and I am jealous you got to see it!

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