The Center Place: The Land of Missouri
Historical Background for Doctrine and Covenants Sections 51-57
This week we are studying Doctrine and Covenants 51-57, and J. Christopher Conkling’s A Joseph Smith Chronology helps us to understand the historical background and order of events that are connected with these sections:
May 7, 1831
Oliver Cowdery writes a letter from Missouri explaining their work and success and trials among the Indians in that area. (For his speech to the Delaware nation, see HC 1:183-85)
May 14, 1831
The Colesville Branch, including Joseph’s parents and Orrin Porter Rockwell, arrives in Ohio from New York. (For details of the trip see LMS 195-208; BYS, Sp ‘70, 379-83.) To help Joseph relocate these Saints, the Lord gives him D&C 51. The Colesville Branch settles in Thompson, Ohio, on the thousand-acre farm of Ezra Thayre and Leman Copley. Joseph’s parents stay on the Morley farm.
Winter or Spring 1831
Ezra Booth, a Methodist minister; John Johnson, and Johnson’s wife and family visit Joseph Smith out of curiosity. Joseph heals Mrs. Johnson’s lame arm miraculously. They are all converted.
Spring 1831
Joseph miraculously heals a lady named Chloe Smith.
June 1831
Several earthquakes occur in China and the newspapers carry a satirical story entitled “Mormonism in China” because a Mormon girl prophesied the event six weeks earlier. Because of the accuracy of the Mormon prophecy, Simonds Ryder joins the Church. (HC 1:158.) About this time Luke S. Johnson, Robert Raftburn, Sidney Rigdon, and others go on successful missions throughout Ohio, and the Church membership swells to two thousand.
Joseph receives D&C 53. At this time, the Saints from Colesville have been living the law of consecration and stewardship on land owned by Leman Copley in Thomson, Ohio. Copley apostatizes and begins to persecute the Saints. Newel Knight comes to Joseph seeking advice, and Joseph receives D&C 54. William W. Phelps and his family arrive in Kirtland, having been converted in New York, and seek Joseph’s advice. Joseph receives D&C 55. Later he also receives D&C 56.
June 3-6, 1831
The fourth general conference of the Church is held in Kirtland, Ohio. Two thousand persons attend. The previous day Joseph prophesied that “the man of sin” would be revealed. After many evil manifestations of the spirit of Satan descending upon one member after another, Joseph rebukes Satan and many wonderful spiritual manifestations are experienced (including Joseph prophesying that John the Revelator is among the ten tribes and Lyman Wight seeing a vision of the Son sitting on the right hand of the Father). Elders are ordained as high priests for the first time in this dispensation. (HC 1:175-77.) The next day, June 7, Joseph receives D&C 52.
June 19, 1831
Joseph, Sidney Rigdon, Martin Harris, Edward Partridge, W.W. Phelps, Joseph Coe, A.S. Gilbert, and Gilbert’s wife leave Kirtland for Missouri. They travel by way of Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis, traveling by stage, canal boat, and the last 250 miles on foot. In Cincinnati Joseph visits with the Rev. Walter Scott, a Campbellite minister who denounces the Saints’ beliefs in the gifts of the Spirit.
June 28-July 25, 1831
The Colesville Saints leave Thompson, Ohio, and make their journey to Missouri.
Mid-July 1831
Joseph’s party arrives in Independence, Mo. There is a glorious reunion with missionaries there. Jackson County population at this time is less than 3,000, and land costs $1.25 per acre. Joseph records that the people are nearly a century behind the times; Parley Pratt notes that they are still living in skins and very primitive conditions. (HC 1:188-89.) Because of the primitive land, Joseph wonders how Zion can ever be built in her glory in such a place, and receives D&C 57. The first Sunday after their arrival, W.W. Phelps preaches at the western boundary of the United States to a congregation made up of all races and peoples. Two are baptized. (pp. 23-25)
In chapter 11. “A Call to Zion” in their book Joseph Smith and the Doctrine and Covenants, Milton V. Backman, Jr. and Richard O. Cowan also describe the historical background for several of these sections:
After a special conference at Kirtland early in June 1831, the Lord directed the elders to hold their next conference in the consecrated land of Missouri, where he would reveal the location of their inheritances (D&C 52:2, 5). The next four revelations, Doctrine and Covenants 53 through 56, given during that same month, directed other Saints to go to Missouri. Joseph Smith and those traveling with him arrive there in July. During the next few weeks in Missouri, the Prophet received six revelations (D&C 57-62), all related in one way or another to establishing Zion in that land.
The Colesville Saints Move to Missouri
After Joseph Smith unfolded the law of consecration and stewardship (D&C 42:30-42), members of the Colesville branch who had settled in Thompson, Ohio, attempted to live this principle on land Leman Copley agreed to make available. Not long afterwards, however, he abruptly withdrew his offer, perhaps in the aftermath of his unsuccessful mission to the Shakers (see Chapter 10).
“At this time,” John Whitmer recorded in his history, “the Church at Thompson Ohio was involved in difficulty, because of the rebellion of Lemon Copley who would not do as he had previously agreed, which thing confused the whole church” (Early History, p. 74). In the midst of this confusion, the Lord instructed Newel Knight to lead the Colesville Saints “unto the land of Missouri, unto the borders of the Lamanites” (D&C 54:8).
Complying with earlier revelations (D&C 37-38), Newel Knight had sold a choice farm in New York, which had lakes and streams, and moved to a wilderness in Thompson, Ohio. Traveling with the Colesville Saints, via the Ohio and Missouri Rivers, he reached the chosen land of Missouri and exclaimed, “our feelings can be better imagined than described, when we, found ourselves upon the Western frontiers. The country itself presented a pleasant aspect with its rich forests bordering its beautiful streams, and its deep rolling prairies spreading far and wide, inviting the hand of industry to establish for itself homes upon its broad bosom. And this was the place, where the Lord had promised to reveal unto us where … the New Jerusalem” should be built. (Classic Experiences, p. 71).
Dedication of the Center Place
Newel Knight continued: “We had not long to wait, for during the month the Lord gave a revelation to Brother Joseph [soon after he arrived in Missouri], designating the spot [D&C 57:1-3].
“Being no longer at a loss to know where the exact spot for the building of the temple and the city of Zion was, we immediately prepared for our labors. On the 2nd day of August, Brother Joseph Smith, Jun., the prophet of God, assisted the Colesville branch to lay the first log as a foundation for Zion in Kaw township [now in Kansas City], twelve miles west of Independence. The log was carried by twelve men, in honor of the twelve trives of Israel…. This was truly a season of joy and rejoicing to all the Saints, who took part in, or witnessed the proceedings” (Classic Experiences, p. 71).
Sidney Rigdon dedicated the land on this same occasion for the gathering of the Saints. He asked the converts if they would covenants to keep the commandments of God. After they responded positively, he said, “I now pronounce this land consecrated and dedicated to the Lord for a possession and inheritance for the Saints (in the name of Jesus Christ having authority from him.) And for all the faithful Servants of the Lord to the remotest ages of time” (Whitmer, Early History, p. 79.)
The next day, August 3, a group of elders assembled on the rise where a temple was to be erected, and Joseph Smith dedicated the site. John Whitmer recorded: “Joseph Smith, Jr., laid a stone at the Northeast corner of the contemplated Temple in the name of the Lord Jesus of Nazareth. After all present had rendered thanks to the great ruler of the universe, Sidney Rigdon pronounced [that] Spot of ground wholly dedicated unto the Lord forever” (Early History, p. 80). (pp. 59-60)
The rest of the chapter describes Joseph Smith’s return to Kirtland and the experiences of the Partridge family.
In Revelations in Context, particularly in the chapters “The Journey of the Colesville Branch” and “The Center Place,” we learn more about the historical background for these sections:
On May 20, Joseph Smith received another revelation, now identified as Doctrine and Covenants 51, directing those who settled in Thompson to be among the first to practice the recently revealed principles of consecration and stewardship. Newly called Bishop Edward Partridge was to “receive the properties of this People which have covenanted with me” and “appoint unto this People their portion every man alike according to their families according to their wants & their needs.”5 Although the revelation made it clear that Ohio would be a temporary gathering location, they were reminded that the “hour & the day is not given unto them” for their anticipated move to the future city of Zion. They were to “act upon this land as for years.”6
However, the Colesville Branch members had precious little time to comply with the commandment to implement the law of consecration. Leman Copley’s resolve to impart of his land was put to the test in early May when he participated in a mission to his former Shaker congregation. The experience seemed to raise doubts that weakened his testimony, and shortly after his return to Thompson he broke his agreement and evicted the Saints from his property. In June 1831, their future clouded and their lives in disarray, the Knights and other members of the Colesville Branch sought counsel and guidance from Joseph Smith as to what they should do next.
Instruction came in the form of a revelation now known as Doctrine and Covenants 54: “Take your Journeys into the regions westward unto Missorie [sic] unto the borders of the Lamanites & after you have done Journeying Behold I say unto you seek ye a living like unto men untill I prepare a place for you & again be patient in tribulation.”7 Newel Knight later described the situation: “We now understood that [Ohio] was not the land of our inheritance—the land of promise, for it was made known in a revelation that Missouri was the place chosen for the gathering of the church, and several were called to lead the way to that state.”8 Banding together once again, the Colesville members prepared for their journey. They selected Newel Knight to continue to preside over them despite his previous call, by revelation, to serve a proselytizing mission (see Doctrine and Covenants 52). In a revelation now canonized as Doctrine and Covenants 56, Knight was authorized to set aside his mission call and instead travel to Missouri as the head of the Colesville Branch.
The Move to Missouri
Leaving Thompson in early June 1831, sixty members of the branch reached Kaw Township in Jackson County, Missouri, on July 26 after a journey of about a thousand miles. Though Joseph Smith had arrived shortly before the Colesville Saints, they had the distinction of being the first branch of the Church to settle the land that had been dedicated as Zion on August 2, 1831, by Sidney Rigdon. Sadly, Joseph Knight Sr.’s wife, Polly, died a few days after their arrival. According to his later history, Joseph Smith “attended the funeral of sister Polly [Peck] Knight. … This was the first death in the church in this land, and I can say a worthy member sleeps in Jesus till the resurrection.”9 (pp. 42-43)
In the chapter “The Center Place,” we are reminded that Zion is not metaphorical or merely a concept to nourish in our hearts:
Across the long span of Western history, Christians of all kinds have longed for a new heaven and a new earth. John the Revelator’s breathtaking vision of “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,” preparing the way for the return of Jesus Christ as Lord and King, has stirred the hopes and the aspirations of many.1 What was the New Jerusalem? Was it, as St. Augustine contended, a metaphor for the blessed “immortality and eternity of the saints”?2 Or was it something more literal, as the 17th-century American Puritans believed when they imagined their colony as a source of religious regeneration, a “New” England?3
The restored Church of Jesus Christ was still in its infancy—not yet six months old—when Latter-day Saints began to envision the New Jerusalem in their own way.4 Joseph Smith’s early revelations described this entity not as a metaphor or a colony. It was, rather, a city the Saints must build. The New Jerusalem, also called Zion, was to be a refuge, a place of peace, a “center place.”5
Two questions came to mind immediately for the Saints. The first was where the Lord would have the New Jerusalem built. The second was who would be welcome in the city. A revelation given to Joseph Smith in August 1830 offered preliminary answers, directing Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, and several others to head west while preaching along the way. “You shall go unto the Lamanites,” the Lord commanded, referring to the name the early Saints used for the American Indians, “and preach my gospel unto them … [and] cause my church to be established among them.”6 The site for the city, the revelations said, would be “among the Lamanites.”7
Cowdery’s group preached in and around Kirtland, Ohio, converting many there. They then traveled hundreds of miles south and west, ending up at the far western boundary of the United States, on the border between the state of Missouri and Indian Territory. They preached to several tribes but were soon ordered off the territory by federal agents charged with managing relations between whites and Indians.8 This was discouraging news, but Joseph Smith was undaunted, backed as he was by the voice of God. In a revelation now known as Doctrine and Covenants 52, given in June 1831, the Lord commanded Joseph Smith to travel to Missouri, “the land which I will consecrate unto my people.”9 There the site for the city of Zion would be made known.
As He had done with the land of Canaan millennia before, God had identified the land as sacred before His covenant people settled there, and like Canaan before it, Missouri was not empty when the covenant people arrived.10 The site where the Saints had been called to gather had a long and complicated history of occupancy. (pp. 122-23)
The rest of this fascinating chapter describes the history of the land and its occupants before, during, and after the Saints arrived. I commend it to your attention and careful study.
The authors of the LDS Come Follow Me manual describe the historical background for D&C 51-57 in the following terms:
For Church members in the 1830s, gathering the Saints and building the city of Zion were spiritual as well as temporal labors, with many practical matters to address: Someone needed to buy land where the Saints could settle. Someone needed to print books and other publications. And someone needed to run a store to provide goods for people in Zion. In the revelations recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 51–57, the Lord appointed and instructed people to handle these tasks.
But while skills in such things are needed in Zion, these revelations also teach that the Lord desires His Saints to become spiritually worthy to be called a Zion people—His people. He calls each of us to be “a faithful, a just, and a wise steward,” having a contrite spirit, “stand[ing] fast” in our appointed responsibilities (see Doctrine and Covenants 51:19; 52:15; 54:2). If we can do that—regardless of our temporal skills—the Lord can use us to build Zion.
Although the Saints had already begun to gather again in Missouri, there are many great and marvelous events that took place in Kirtland, Ohio. The gathering in Ohio may have been a prelude to the gathering in Missouri, but it was powerful prelude. In his book The Savior in Kirtland, Karl Ricks Anderson describes the intense opposition that the Saints in Ohio faced from the adversary and his minions and the powerful manifestations of Jesus Christ that followed.
At first some of the Saints who migrated to the new gathering place in Missouri were impressed with the beauty of the land, but they soon felt disappointed:
Joseph spoke optimistically about the church in Independence. He told some of the elders that Oliver and the other missionaries were sure to have built up a strong branch of the church there, as they had in Kirtland. Some of the elders took it as a prophecy.
As they neared Jackson County, the men admired the gently rolling prairie around them. With plenty of land for the Saints to spread out, Missouri seemed like the ideal location for Zion. And Independence, with its proximity to a large river and Indian lands, could be the perfect place to gather God’s covenant people.16
But when they reached the town, the elders were unimpressed by what they saw. Ezra Booth, a former minister who had joined the church after seeing Joseph heal a woman’s paralyzed arm, thought the area looked dreary and undeveloped. It had a courthouse, a few stores, several log houses—and little else. The missionaries had baptized only a handful of people in the area, so the branch was not as strong as Joseph had expected. Feeling misled, Ezra and others began to question Joseph’s prophetic gifts.17
Joseph was disappointed too. Fayette and Kirtland were small villages, but Independence was little more than a backwater trading post. The town was a point of departure for trails going west, so it drew fur trappers and teamsters along with farmers and small businessmen. Joseph had known people in most of these trades all his life, but he found the men in Independence especially godless and rough. What’s more, government agents in the town were suspicious of the missionaries and would likely make preaching to Indians difficult, if not impossible.18
Discouraged, he took his concerns to the Lord. “When will the wilderness blossom as the rose?” he asked. “When will Zion be built up in her glory, and where will Thy temple stand?”19
On July 20, six days after his arrival, Joseph’s prayers were answered. “This land,” the Lord told him, “is the land which I have appointed and consecrated for the gathering of the saints.”
They had no reason to look elsewhere. “This is the land of promise,” He declared, “and the place for the city of Zion.” The Saints were to purchase as much of the available land as possible, build homes, and plant fields. And on a bluff west of the courthouse, they were to build a temple.20 (Saints, Vol. 1, Chapter 12. “After Much Tribulation”)
Lyndon W. Cook’s book The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith contains a detailed section by section summary and explanation of the historical background that we will consult as we study these sections (51-57) one at a time.
