The Whitmer Home

THE WHITMER HOME A New Addition to the Church's Collection of Historic Places By E. Cecil McGavin, Principal L. D. S. Seminary, Beaver The purchase last Fall, by the Church, of the "Old Whitmer Home" adds another shrine to the collection of places hallowed by the presence of the valiant souls who laid the foundations of this latter- day work. The Whitmer farmstead, with its old humble cottage, neighbor- ing woods, streams and lake, is not one whit behind the Smith farm at Vermont, the Joseph Smith farm at Palmyra, Carthage, Kirtland, Independence, Nauvoo and other places made sacred by the lives and deaths of the Saints of God. This historic spot, in the little town of Fayette, Seneca county, New York, has been the eye witness of many of the most miraculous manifestations that have been portrayed upon this sphere, not excluding the thunderings upon Mt. Sinai, the transit of the Israelites over the dry stones of a treacherous stream, or other acts in which the supernatural intervened in the affairs of men. One hundred seventeen years ago Peter Whitmer made the pur- chase of the same homestead that the Church has recently acquired. (See Frontispiece Era, December, 1926; also pp. 174-179.) .From 1809 until 1831, when the loyal family left their peaceful home, cast- ing their lot with the persecuted Saints of Missouri, many stirring events have transpired to endear that spot to the hearts of Church members of a later generation. While the work of translating was progressing in Harmony, Penn- sylvania, the work of the adversary was also making rapid advance- ment. Martin Harris had permitted the 116 pages of manuscript which the Prophet had dictated to fall into the hands of evil men, who sought the destruction of Joseph Smith. Plans were now made for further in- terference with the work of the Lord. Oliver Cowdery, the scribe, re- alizing this danger, wrote to his friend, David Whitmer, at Fayette, requesting him to come and take Joseph Smith and himself to the Whit- mer home. Oliver had previously corresponded with David about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and thz latter's interest was very much aroused in the new subject. This message was received early in June, 1829. Of this incident David later relates, "I did not know what to do. I was pressed with my work. I had some twenty acres to plow, so I concluded to finish plowing and then go. I got up one morning to go to work as usual, and upon going to the field, found between five and seven acres of my ground had been plowed during the night. I do not know who did it, but it was done just as I would have done it myself, and the plow was left standing in the furrow.

1018 IMPROVEMENT ERA This account was related to Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith forty years after David left the Church. Of the same event Geo. Q. Cannon further adds that on another occasion David found, at the close of a day's harrowing, he had accom- plished more in a few hours than he had usually been able to do in two or three days. At a later day he discovered, upon going to the field to spread some plaster which had previously been placed in heaps prepara- tory to scattering, that the work had already been done, just as he would have done it himself. He inquired of his sister, who lived near the field, whether she had noticed any one working there the day be- fore. She replied that she had seen three men at work, but supposing that he had employed them, said nothing about it, though she observed that they labored with unusual skill and rapidity. By means of this unusual assistance he was soon able to depart for Harmony, returning with Joseph and Oliver. Joseph's family was later moved to Fayette. Very soon after their arrival at the Whitmer home, the three Whitmer sons, David, Peter and John, were desirous of knowing their respective duties, and begged Joseph to inquire of the Lord concerning them. He did so through the Urim and Thum- mim, and received the revelations recorded in the Doctrine and Cov- enants, sections 14, 15 and 16. In all, about twenty revelations now compiled in the Doctrine and Covenants were received in the home of Peter Whitmer, Sen. Within a month after the Prophet's arrival, Hyrum Smith, David and Peter Whitmer were baptized in Seneca lake near Fayette. As the work of translation progressed, Joseph ascertained that "Three special Witnesses" were to be provided by the Lord to see the plates and bear record of the same. Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, being desirous to be these special witnesses, received the promise by revelation, through Joseph, that they should have a view of the plates, and also the breast plate, and sword of Laban, and the Urim and Thummim, the miraculous directors. A few days later the promise was fulfilled. The place to which the chosen witnesses repaired for this manifestation was a grove "con- venient to the house of Peter Whitmer," says Joseph. Of the vision, he also writes: "We beheld a light above us, in the air, of exceeding brightness, and behold an angel stood before us. In his hands he held the plates which we had been praying for these to have a view of. He turned over the leaves one by one so that we could see them, and discern the engraving thereon distinctly. He then addressed himself to David Whitmer and said, 'David, blessed is the Lord, and he that keeps his commandments,' when immediately afterwards we heard a voice from out the bright light above us, saying, 'These plates have been revealed by the power of God. The translation which you have seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of what you have seen and heard.' " After Section 1 7 had been received, promising the Three Wit-

THE WHITMER HOME 1019 nesses an opportunity of viewing the plates, Joseph and Oliver became anxious to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, as promised to them by John the Baptist when he conferred upon them the Aaronic Priest- hood. They, together with David Whitmer, made this a subject of earnest prayer. While thus engaged in a secluded chamber in the Whit- mer house, the word of the Lord came to them, commanding Joseph and Oliver to ordain each other Elders, and then ordain others to the same office as the Spirit should direct. This ordination was not to take place, however, until the Church was organized, and the members had an opportunity of sanctioning the action by their vote. This op- portunity was soon granted. On Tuesday, April 6, 1830, the Church was organized. The laws of the state of New York required that six persons must be united in a religious society before the same could be legally organized. Though a few more persons had been previously baptized, the following subscribed their names, and the Church of Christ was formally organized: Joseph Smith Jr., Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, Peter Whitmer, Jr., Samuel H. Smith and David Whit- mer. Joseph and Oliver ordained each other Elders — the first Elders in the Church. They then laid hands upon all the baptized members present, that "they might receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and be confirmed members of the Church." The Holy Ghost was poured out upon them abundantly; some prophesied, "and all praised the Lord and rejoiced exceedingly," writes the Prophet Joseph. Thus was organized, under the roof of the Whitmer house, the Church of Christ in the last days — an event awaited for centuries by an anxious world. The first time for centuries that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered under the direction of the Holy Priesthood was in this same house, to an audience of humble truth seekers. The following Sunday, April 1 1, an interesting meeting was held in the Whitmer house, at which the first public discourse preached by any Elder of this Dispensation was delivered by Oliver Cowdery. "Large numbers of people attended" this meeting, following which these per- sons! were baptized in Seneca Lake, by Oliver: Hiram Page, Catherine Page, Christian Whitmer, Anne Whitmer, Jacob and Elizabeth Whit- mer. The following Sunday Oliver baptized seven more in the same lake. During the Prophet's lengthy sojourn at the Whitmer home he was given every courtesy and comfort the humble cottage afforded. He and his associates were boarded gratis by their hospitable host and hostess. Joseph partook of the Whitmer hospitality until the Book of Mormon was translated and in the hands of the printer. In the same house the words of Moses and the prophecy of Enoch, published in the Pearl of Great ir'nce, were revealed to the young Proph- et. In May, 1829, Newel Knight, visiting the Whitmer home, was baptized by David Whitmer. Later, Edward Partridge, and scores of

1020 IMPROVEMENT ERA others destined to become leaders in the Church, received baptism in the river or lake neighboring the Whitmer farm. In June, three months after the Church was organized, the first conference was held at Fayette, possibly in the same interesting house, since the membership in the Church at the time of the first conference was only twenty-seven, while at a previous meeting in that house, "large numbers of people attended," wrote the Prophet. At this conference, brethren were ordained to the Priesthood; the Holy Ghost was poured out Upon them in a miraculous manner; many of the Saints prophesied, while others beheld heavenly visions. The second and third conferences were also held in the town of- Fayette, the fourth and subsequent ones convening in Kirtland and other western towns. By 1831, the Whitmers and other loyal "Mormon" families moved from Fayette, while the many inspiring scenes the little town had experienced were repeated only in cherished memories. There is a melancholy atmosphere of tragic gloom, shrouding the very name "Whitmer," because of the outcome of two of the sons, „bear- ing that venerable name. David, though one of the "Special Witnesses," privileged to behold the vision of the immortal Moroni with the Golden Plates, turning them leaf by leaf; was inspired by angelic words from Moroni and from the Lord himself in individual revelations through the Prophet Joseph; yet died outside the Church — un-numbered with the Saints. John, the third son of Peter Whitmer, had a most auspicious be- ginning. He was secretary to the Prophet, accompanying him to Coles- ville, Broom county, New York, where a branch of the Church was organized; was Church Historian; went with Oliver Cowdery, in 1831, to Jackson county, Missouri, to direct the publication of the Book of Commandments, and was one of the eight witnesses of the Book of Mormon. Yet as the Stream of Time, in her surging, conquering on- slaught, overtook him, he fell as a broken reed in the flood's full ebb and was carried along the crowded channel of least resistance, finding an untimely grave — his only rest, outside the fold of Christ. The Pilgrim of today need not search out the pasture land of Jethro's and marvel at the hallowed land surrounding the spot where the Lord appeared in the burning bush: shrines of greater glory are in our own land. The sacred spots of unpretentious simplicity now possessed by the Church can do much to engender an appreciation for the work of our noble predecessors in the cause of truth. Every portion of the Whitmer farm, from the "chamber" to the woods "convenient" to the house, are reminiscent of hallowed associa- tions and heavenly manifestations. This is one spot indeed where there are "tongues in trees, sermons in stones, books in the running brooks, and good in every thing." So many places in the little town of Fayette, and especially on the farm of Peter Whitmer, have been

THE WHITMER HOME 1021 made sacred by the condescension of heavenly messengers to commune with trembling humanity, that the place will become a Mecca — a sacred spot where the man of purity may commune in retrospection with the train of supernal beings whose numerous visits have hallowed the land. It requires no Poe to catch the message of divinity that is wafted by the breeze from the near-by lake, in which the vanguard of Saints were made partakers of the "heavenly gift;" from yonder grove, in which the Keeper of the Golden Record exhibited his precious collection to the chosen Three. The mention here of the statement of Governor Thomas Ford, in his History of Illinois, will be appropriate. He says: "The Christian world, which has hitherto regarded 'Mormonism' with silent contempt, unhappily may have cause to fear its rapid increase. Modern sociology is full of material for such a religion. At the death of the Prophet,, fourteen years after the organization of the first 'Mormon' Church, the 'Mormons' in all the world numbered about 200,000* souls. A num- ber equal perhaps to the number of Christians when the Christian Church was of the same age. It is to be feared that in the course of a century some gifted man like Paul, some splendid orator, who will be able by his eloquence to attract crowds of the thousands who are ever ready to hear, and be carried away by the sounding brass and tinkling cymbal of sparkling oratory, may command a hearing, may succeed infringing a new life into this modern Mohamedanism and make the mighty name of the martyred Joseph ring as loud, and stir the souls of men as much, as the mighty name of Christ itself. Sharon, Palmyra, Manchester, Kirtland, Far West, Adam-ondi-ahman, Ramus, Nauvoo, and Carthage Jail may become holy and venerable names, places of classic interest in another age; like Jerusalem, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Mount of Olives and Mount Calvary to the Christian, and Mecca and Medina to the Turk. And in that event the author of this history feels degraded by the reflection that the humble governor of an obscure state stands a fair chance, like Pilot and Herod, by their official connection with the true re- ligion, of being dragged down to posterity with an immortal name hitched to the name of a miserable imposter. There may be those whose ambitions would lead them to desire an immortal name in history even in these humble terms, I am not of that number." Fayette, the domicile of the Whitmers, may well be numbered with the above list of sacred shrines, each destined to become a Mecca to the Saints of God, if not to the world. Beaver. Utah. ♦This is an error; the Church numbered between 20,000 and 30,000 souls. — Ed. , * My Prayer O guide me in paths of thy choosing, dear Lord, And make my way clear now, I pray; O help me to throw off the fetters of sin That bind me and hold me today. May I have desires for naught but to serve. And help spread the truth's shining light; A bearer of tidings of peace and of joy; Mv weakness make strong with thy might. Raymond, Canada HELEN KIMBALL ORGILL