THE LAND OF SHINEHAH--ARRIVAL OF HEBER AND BRIGHAM IN KIRTLAND--THEIR
FIRST MEETING WITH THE PROPHET--THE KIMBALLS AND YOUNGS REMOVE TO
OHIO--VEXATIOUS SUITS AND MOB VIOLENCE--FALLEN ON PERILOUS TIMES.
Kirtland, at the time arrived at in our narrative, was the
head-quarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The
home of the Prophet of God and many of the leading Elders of Israel,
it was also the spot designated by revelation where the first temple
was to be built in this dispensation.
The Church, organized at Fayette, Seneca County, New York, on the 6th
of April, 1830, had entered on the third year of its existence, and
the Saints throughout the eastern parts had been commanded to gather
westward. Kirtland and its vicinity, or "the land of Shinehah," as it
is named in revelation, had been settled as a stake of Zion since
early in 1831, and from there, in the summer of the same year, had
gone forth a colony of Saints to purchase and occupy "the land of
Zion," in the western confines of Missouri. That region was then the
nation's frontier, bordering on a wilderness inhabited by wild beasts
and savages, and but sparsely peopled itself by whites scarcely less
ignorant and cruel.
The Gospel, preached by the first missionaries sent westward from New
York, in October, 1830, had taken a firm hold among the
honest-in-heart of Northern Ohio. Among those who had embraced the new
faith--new, indeed, and wonderful to that generation--were Sidney
Rigdon, Edward Partridge and Newel K. Whitney. The Pratts, the
Whitmers, and other noted families were already numbered among the
followers of the "Mormon" Prophet, and it was Parley P. Pratt, Oliver
Cowdery and other Elders who had first brought the Gospel to Kirtland.
The new branch throve so rapidly as to soon eclipse in importance all
others; an event no doubt divinely ordered, as the Saints at large, in
December, 1830, were commanded to "assemble together at the Ohio."
Late in October, or early in November, 1832, Heber C. Kimball, in
company with Brigham and Joseph Young, arrived in Kirtland. They had
traveled by team a distance of three hundred miles. Their first
meeting with the Prophet, whom they had come so far to see, was on the
8th day of November. Joseph was felling trees in the forest when the
party approached. It is related that, on seeing Brigham, he said:
"There is a man who will yet preside over this Church."
As to Heber, the heart of Joseph was at once knit with his, in
friendship like unto that of David and Jonathan; and this feeling of
brotherly love, like a golden chain, uniting these two noble souls,
was destined to endure unbroken through time and eternity.
Says Heber: "We saw brother Joseph Smith and had a glorious time;
during which Brother Brigham spoke in tongues before Joseph, this
being the first time he had heard anyone speak in tongues. He rose up
and testified that the gift was from God, and then the gift fell upon
him and he spoke in tongues himself. He afterwards declared it was the
pure, or Adamic language that he spoke. Soon after this the gift of
tongues commenced in the Church at Kirtland generally. We had a
precious season and returned with a blessing in our souls."
In the fall of 1833, Elder Kimball disposed of his possessions in
Mendon, and settled his affairs preparatory to gathering to the bosom
of the Church. He had borne faithful testimony to the inhabitants of
the place which had been his home for so many years, but, with few
exceptions, they had turned a deaf ear to his warning words. Heber was
the only one of his father's household to embrace the Gospel. His
brother Solomon, though friendly, and at one time, like Agrippa,
"almost persuaded," did not come within the fold.
No sooner was Heber ready to start Zionward, than he was again beset
by petty persecutions. This time they were not only malicious, but of
an out and out dishonest character. Notwithstanding he had settled all
his accounts, and paid every penny that he owed--"unless it was two
cents to one man, in a case where change could not be procured"--and
left debts owing to him, uncollected, to the amount of "some hundred
dollars," attachments were issued at the instance of some of his
neighbors, and his goods seized by officers of the law.
Rather than be delayed by a law-suit, in which, owing to religious
prejudice, he had little hope of receiving fair treatment, he settled
the unjust claims and departed.
His family at this time consisted of himself and wife, and their two
children, William Henry and Helen Mar. Judith Marvin, an elder
daughter, and Roswell Heber, a younger son--the first and latest born
of the household--had died. Brigham Young and his two little daughters
went in the same wagon with the Kimball family to Kirtland. They
reached their destination about the last of October, or early in
November. They first occupied a house belonging to Elijah Smith, uncle
to the wife of Bishop N. K. Whitney; but Heber soon had a home of his
own, which he continued to share with his friend and brother Brigham,
until the latter procured a separate domicile.
It is an interesting fact that Brigham was the builder of Heber's
house in Kirtland, he being a carpenter and joiner, as well as a
painter and glazier.
"When I got to Kirtland," says Elder Kimball, "the brethren were
engaged in building the House of the Lord. The commandment to build
the House and also the pattern of it, were given in a revelation to
Joseph Smith, jun., Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams, and it
was to be erected by a stated time. The Church was in a state of
poverty and distress, in consequence of which it appeared almost
impossible that the commandment could be fulfilled. Soon after our
arrival, there was a contribution called for to finish the
school-house and printing office; I contributed the glass for the
house, and I gave Brother Hyrum Smith two hundred dollars for the
building of the temple."
The newly arrived pilgrims had fallen on perilous times. Mobocracy was
rife and rampant; persecution was raging against the Church, both in
Ohio and in Missouri. The infernal regions seemed stirred to their
depths at the prospect of a temple, whose walls, now climbing
heavenward, gave promise of salvation and deliverance for the living
and the dead; the unlocking of prison doors, the bursting of spirit
dungeons, the smiting off of fetters from the limbs of the slave of
sin, and the ushering forth of the penitent captive into the life and
light of gospel liberty. Keys were about to be restored whereby the
heavens would be brought nearer to the earth, the prophets of the past
would minister in holy places to the prophets of the present, and the
cause of human redemption receive such an impetus as would shake the
throne of Satan to its foundations. No wonder the dominions of Sheol
were agitated.
"Our enemies," says Heber, "were raging and threatening destruction
upon us. We had to guard night after night, and for weeks were not
permitted to take off our clothes, and were obliged to lie with our
fire-locks in our arms, to preserve Brother Joseph's life and our own.
Joseph was sued before a magistrate's court in Painesville, on a
vexatious suit. I carried him from Kirtland to Painesville, with four
or five others, in my wagon, every morning for five days, and brought
them back in the evening. We were often waylaid, but managed to elude
our enemies by rapid driving and taking different roads. Esquire
Bissell defended the Prophet and he came off victorious.
"At this time our brethren in Jackson County, Missouri, were also
suffering great persecution; about twelve hundred were driven,
plundered and robbed, their houses burned, and some of the brethren
were killed.
"Mobs were organized around Kirtland, who were enraged against us,
ready to destroy us."
Such was the state of affairs with the Church of the living God, at
the close of the year 1833. Such was the nature of the action upon
which the hero of this history had entered. But he was of the gold,
not the dross of the earth, and passed through the fire, purified, yet
not consumed.