OHIO - Part 2 (KIRTLAND VILLAGE)

KIRTLAND VILLAGE VISITORS CENTER
We started out at the visitor's center with a video presentation depicting the time when the early Saints were in Kirtland and before they built the temple. Kirby Heyborne (Single's Ward, RM, etc.) was the actor playing Oliver Cowdrey (who also, incidentally, served his mission with Elliot).

We got a little guided tour, starting at the Newell K. Whitney store, which was the original building and apparently the central location for the town. Newell K. Whitney was kind of the unsung hero for our trip after we'd learned all that he did for the Saints in Kirtland. He was a very successful and generous man. He gave supplies and food freely. We were impressed once again by the church's painstaking efforts in trying to recreate what the original inside of the building would have looked like.

The upstairs office area was where early church leaders discussed plans for the Kirtland Temple as well as the location for several other revelations.

The room next door was called the School of the Prophets. It was a small room where several men were able to meet with the prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. This was also the site where the Word of Wisdom was revealed as Emma Smith was disgusted with the spitoons she had to clean out after their meetings. Can you imagine sitting that close to Joseph Smith in a meeting?

Newell and Elizabeth Whitney separated the once large room of the upstairs to make a place for Joseph and Emma Smith to live for a period of time. This is where their twins were born and died a few hours later.

THE WHITNEY HOME
Elizabeth Whitney wanted a yellow home, so Newell sent for paint from England to grant his wife's wishes. See what I tell you about being a generous man. Good one. We liked the "wife saver" in the fireplace which allowed for the cooking pot to swing out away from the fire in the fireplace so the wife's skirt wouldn't catch on fire from leaning in too close. The Whitney Home had a summer kitchen built to the side of the winter kitchen to keep the house from getting extra hot in the summer when she did her baking.

Their fireplaces were built so the warm air would be directed more accurately into the room as well as the warmer built above it to keep bedsheets or clothes warm for bedtime. The front parlor was where Joseph and Emma lived for 6 weeks before moving to the Isaac Morley farm. I didn't get a picture because my camera card kept locking for half of the tour.

JOHN JOHNSON INN
The red brick structure seemed more reminiscent of Nauvoo than what we pictured for Kirtland. This building was given to John Johnson after he was asked to consecrate his home and farm to the church. This allowed him to still provide for his family.

They had a computer that printed the names of people who were baptized there in Kirtland. We looked up Elliot's great-great-great grandfather Philo Dibble and his wife Celia Kent who were both baptized in October 1830 by Parley P. Pratt in the River by the village.

On display in the museum-like Johnson Inn was an early hymnal turned to the hymn 21 (in the old book) "The Happy Day At Last Has Come" which was written by Philo Dibble. This hymn is #32 in our hymn book today.



THE SAW MILL & ASHERY
The saw mill was powered by water wheel. When President Hinckley came to visit several years ago, he asked them to "power it up!" which they did. It takes 15 minutes to cut the length of a hardwood log. The finishing room was also powered by the mill.



The ashery was next to the sawmill where ash was refined to lye water, potash, or pearl ash. Ash was gathered from homes or businesses and then water was filtered through it for 2 days. The water/ash liquid (lye water) that resulted was barreled (after being tested) and sold to others for soap making and other purposes (shipping as far away as Pittsburgh and England). It sold for $50/barrel. The lye water could also be "cooked" (heated) in large iron cauldrons until the water boiled off. The result was potash. It could also be sold for $100/barrel. The potash could also be baked into pearl ash, which could be sold for $150/barrel.

The ashery was one of Newell K. Whitney's businesses and once he joined the church, he donated 100% of all the ashery's proceeds to the church for the building of the Kirtland Temple. Though I'm not named after him, I'm proud to bear the name of Whitney.

We were told that in 2003 the state highway passed right through the yet-to-be restored Kirtland Village. So the church worked with the town to adjust the roadway and preserve the village area for pedestrians.

THE RED SCHOOL HOUSE
The church started to build the parking lot in this area, but then found a footing for this school house and had to rearrange the plans to rebuild this building and move the parking lot to the other side.

Stella was pretty much done with this tour. She was done picking all of the beautiful wild flowers, so she moved on to her boogers.