Our first stop was the LDS visitor’s center in
Independence. The Church purchased 25 acres of land in Independence in 1904
when Joseph F. Smith was President of the Church. Part of that acreage
consisted of the original Temple Lot, where the visitor’s center was built.
Sister missionaries serve as guides in the visitor’s center. In the downstairs
of the visitors center they share a little of the early history of
Independence. The following is a brief outline of what they share along with
some detail from a book I bought on early church historical sites titled Sacred
Places, Missouri:
Joseph Smith and about two dozen elders arrived in
Jackson County the summer of 1831 from Kirtland Ohio. They had been called to
travel there to select the location of Zion. In Jackson County, the Prophet
received a revelation designating Missouri as the “land of promise.”
Independence, the county seat, was to be the location of the Temple and the City of Zion- the millennial New Jerusalem (D&C 57:1-5)
That same summer members of the Colesville Branch
from New York arrived. They and others started building settlements in
Independence and in nearby Kaw Township. This area was to be a sacred and
dedicated land for the members of God’s Kingdom. Joseph Smith later stated that
Jackson County was important because it was the location of the biblical Garden of
Eden.
When the saints arrived in this area, Jackson County
was at the very edge of the western frontier. In fact when Missouri became a
state in 1821 just a few years prior, the Osage Indians retained the choice 27
mile strip of land on the western edge of the state that would become Jackson
County. After a treaty with the Indians the land was opened up for public sale
in 1825 for $1.25 an acre. The County was named after Andrew Jackson, a popular
General and President. The first white man to explore Jackson County was Daniel
Morgan Boon, son of the famous Kentucky pioneer Daniel Boone.
Since it was at the very edge of the frontier,
Jackson County attracted a rugged class of citizens who were prone to violence
and lawlessness. A protestant minister who had been sent to the area in 1831 by
his mission society in the east wrote back to his office about the vice filled
and disorderly culture of Independence. He called this rugged pioneer
settlement a “godless place,” with such common evils as saloons, gambling,
swearing, and prostitution. He said that many suspicious characters who
headquartered in the town, fled beyond the frontier when a federal marshal
approached the County.
In the visitors center they told us that at the
height of Mormon Settlement in Jackson County members of the church made up
about one third of the population, one third were white settlers and one third
were slaves. When Joseph Smith arrived in Independence during the summer of
1831, he spoke of Independence and its people as being somewhat degraded and
“nearly a century behind the times” So the Saints who came into this area were
for the most part from the east and they arrive in an area with people mostly
from the south, rugged individualists, people running from the law and slave
owners. The significant cultural and religious differences caused almost immediate
conflict.
Bishop Edward Partridge was called to purchase land
for the church in the county. He eventually acquired more than 2000 acres in
Kaw and Blue townships, including the Temple Lot. By the late summer of 1833
approximately 1200 latter-day Saints lived in five Mormon Settlements in and
around independence. The church established a printing office and a general
store. William W. Phelps was appointed church printer and Oliver Cowdery his
assistant.
Local citizens protested against rapid increase in
the Mormon population and within a little over two years violence broke out. In
July 1833 a large mob demonstrated against the saints, damaged their property,
and tarred and feathered Bishop Edward Partridge and Charles Allen on the town
square and attacked the Church Store and printing office. The mob ordered the
Mormons to withdraw from the county starting by the end of the year. However
instead of waiting until the end of the year, mobs abruptly drove out the
unprepared Mormons in the fall of 1833. Most of the Mormons driven out of
Jackson County fled to Clay County just to the north. (I will share some
interesting details about the girls who saved the pages from the Book of
Commandments at a later date)
Upon leaving the LDS visitors center we walked to a
little chapel owned by the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) The Church of Christ (Temple Lot) owns approximately
2.5 acres of the original temple lot.
Members of this religious body, known by some outside their faith as
Hedrickites, were followers of Joseph Smith in Woodford County, Ill. Following
the Prophet’s martyrdom, they rejected Brigham Young and did not go west with
him. Many of them moved as a body to independence in 1867 under the leadership
of Granville Hedrick, who soon purchased some city lots that were part of the
original temple land. By then the temple land had been annexed into
Independence and partially subdivided into building lots. This group following
Granville Hendrick took the original (1830) name of the LDS Church – the Church
of Christ and added “Temple Lot” to its title as a place designation (D&C
20:1)
John E. Page, an early LDS apostle at Nauvoo, was
one of their leaders for a short time and ordained Granville Hedrick an apostle
in 1863. While excavating a foundation for a temple on the Temple lot in 1929,
members from this church found two stone markers. Joseph Smith had placed the
northwest cornerstone and a southeast corner marker at the temple site on Aug.
3, 1831. One stone bears the inscription “SECT 1831” which is believed to stand
for “southeast corner temple”. We saw the stones which are on display at this
churches visitor’s center room. We visited with an older gentlemen there who
shared a little of their history. He told us they view themselves now as
basically caretakers of the property.
The Church of Christ Temple Lot owns the site where
Joseph Smith and others stood to dedicate the sacred spot. However it appears
that Joseph Smith had an enlarged plan to construct 24 temples in the center of
New Jerusalem, his apparent intent was to position buildings on the entire
63.27 acres of the Temple Lot.
The Church of Christ Temple Lot had planned to build
a temple on the temple site beginning in 1929 with an architectural design
similar to Greek temples. The basement was dug and then the Great Depression
set in. In addition an apostasy led by one of their apostles Otto Fetting in
1930 drew away a third of the church members. The property remained undeveloped
until 1946 when the city furnished a bulldozer and filled in the hole.
The early church history book I bought states, the
apostles of the 2,500 member Church of Christ temple lot still believe that a
temple will be built on their site by their members who will be a nucleus of a
larger group of the pure in heart.
On January 1, 1990, an agitated former member of the
Church of Christ temple lot burned the frame headquarters and meetinghouse
built in 1902 on the site. With contributions from many sources, including the LDS
Church, the current Church of Christ
temple lot headquarters and chapel were soon rebuilt on the site.
The Community of Christ
formerly the Reorganized
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has
several buildings on the 63 acres that were the original temple lot property.
The Community of Christ has an auditorium which we did not visit. They also
have a substantial and beautiful Stone Church situated just north of the Temple
lot. There are rumors that they are having financial problems. I don’t know if
that is true, but the day we were there they were having a large yard sell in
the basement of this beautiful old stone church. There were signs that
suggested parts of the building had been used for a pre-school in the past, but,
we were there on a Friday and the building seemed to be vacant other than the
yard sale. We also visited their Temple which is directly across from the LDS visitor’s
center. This building is fairly large but not too functional. We watched a
little video of their history. The second floor of the building has a fairly
large auditorium with a large organ. It seems they have made many changes to
their doctrine and beliefs over the years. This Church which claims to have
followed the leadership of Joseph Smith III was organized in 1860 at Amboy,
Ill. Headquarters of the church had been in Plano, Ill and later in Lamoni,
Iowa, before being moved in 1920 to the Stone church in Independence. Their
emphasis seems to be focused on world peace. I am for that as well, however we
know from modern prophecy we will not have world peace until Christ returns.
