Hiram, Ohio

From The Encyclopedia of Mormonism

See this page in the original 1992 publication.

Author: Anderson, Karl Ricks

Hiram, Ohio, a small town twenty-five miles south and slightly east of Kirtland, Ohio, was the site of a large branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1830s and served for one year as home to the Prophet Joseph Smith. John and Elsa Johnson, a prosperous farmer and his wife, residents in Hiram Township, welcomed Joseph, Emma, and their adopted twins to live with them in September 1831. Joseph had healed Elsa's arthritic arm several months earlier.

During the Smiths' stay, Joseph received an outpouring of fifteen of the revelations now published in the Doctrine and Covenants. Section 1,known as the Preface, was given at one of many Church conferences held there. On February 16, 1832, Joseph and his scribe at this time, Sidney Rigdon, beheld a divine vision of the eternal worlds that forms the basis of Latter-day Saint understanding of life after death. In this vision (see Doctrine and Covenants: Section 76) they reported seeing both God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ and bore witness of Jesus Christ: "He lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God" (verses 22-23). A Hiram conference in November 1831 voted to print all revelations received up to that date as the book of commandments.

On the cold night of March 24, 1832, a mob dragged Joseph and Sidney from their beds into a nearby meadow, beat them, and poured tar and feathers on their bodies (HC 1:261-65). Joseph and Sidney bore the marks of that night for the rest of their lives. Another consequence was the death of Joseph and Emma's adopted eleven-month-old son. Ill with the measles at the time, he was exposed to the cold and died five days later.

While living in Hiram, Joseph accomplished a significant portion of his translation of the Bible (see Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible (JST)]). He left the area only once for a trip to Missouri and for several nearby preaching missions.

The Johnson home is now owned by the Church and is open as a visitors center. The Hiram Ward meetinghouse stands nearby.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z