Home of John and Elsa Johnson (my 5th Great-grandparents) when they lived in Kirtland.
I'm not totally clear on which house is which. John and Elsa Johnson owned the 4th lot (white house at 7762 Maple Street). Two of their sons lived right by them. Lyman and Sarah Johnson owned the 3rd lot. Luke and Susan Johnson (my 4th Great-grandparents) owned the 2nd lot.
Right across the street from these homes is the Kirtland Cemetery where John Johnson is buried.
We stopped by the Isaac Morley Farm. The home is not open for tours but the farm site is. In 1831 the farm consisted of 80 acres. Isaac Morley offered his farm as a settling place for Saints migrating to Kirtland from New York. There was also a schoolhouse on the farm that held conferences for the church. Zion's Camp was also organized in the schoolhouse.
About 35 miles south of Kirtland is the John Johnson Home in Hiram, OH. John and Elsa Johnson invited Joseph and Emma Smith to live with them (Sept 1831 to Sept 1832). Later Joseph Smith asked John Johnson to sell his farm and give the money to the Church. Which he did. That's when they moved into Kirtland. The money helped the Church purchase the site for the Kirtland Temple. The house had been sold to another family which kept it for many generations until they sold it back to the Church. This house is still all original. The other family had placed new siding on top of the old. The Church was able to remove the new siding and find the original siding still in tack. This is it.
Summer kitchen.
Pantry.
Elsa often served as a midwife. This is the room where mothers were come to have their babies and Elsa would care for them for a week or two.
Look at these doors!! Elsa did all the painting (which has been restored). The sister missionary told me that the Johnsons first lived in a small cabin across the street with their 15 children! She thought Elsa must have been so excited to move into the house in 1829 and tired of looking at the dark walls of the cabin that she wanted to paint and add color everywhere.
John Johnson's office.
Kitchen
Stairs leading up to Joseph Smith's office. Look how steep the stairs are!
A view down into the cellar. All original foundation. Elsa made and stored cheese down there. Also notice the little shelf she put in behind the back of the stairs. She made use of every space.
This was Joseph Smith's office (at the top of those steep stairs).
It was in this bedroom that Joseph and Emma were sleeping with their adopted twins who were sick with measles. That night an angry mob attacked_Joseph and one of their adopted twins died 5 days later from exposure to the cold that night.
Here is another bedroom that the Johnsons used. The children would place their pajamas in the cupboard above the fireplace. Then when they got ready for bed at night their pajamas would be nice and warm from the fire.
Elsa's work area right between the bedrooms so she can keep on eye on everyone.
Attic bedroom where many church leaders slept while visiting with Joseph Smith.
These steps at the front door are part of the original foundation. On these steps Joseph Smith stood to preach to the saints on the Sabbath. On these same steps my ancestors walked daily going about their daily tasks.
That completed our vacation. Time to drive home.
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