It is supposed that such a plat when built up will contain fifteen or twenty thousand population, and that they will require twenty-four buildings to supply them with houses for public worship and schools. These buildings will be temples, none of which will be less than eighty-seven feet by sixty-one, and two stories high, each story to be fourteen feet, making the building twenty-eight feet to the square. I say none of these temples will be smaller than this, but of course there will be others much larger; the above, however, are the dimensions of the one the saints were commanded to build first.
Lands on the north and south of the city will be laid off for barns and stables for the use of the city, so there will be no barns or stables in the city among the homes of the people.
Lands for the agriculturist are also to be laid off on the north and south of the city plat, but if sufficient land cannot be laid off without going too great a distance, then farms are to be laid off on the east and west also; but the tiller of the soil as well as the merchant and mechanic will live in the city. The farmer and his family, therefore, will enjoy all the advantages of schools, public lectures and other meetings. His home will no longer be isolated, and his family denied the benefits of society, which has been, and always will be, the great educator of the human race; but they will enjoy the same privileges of society, and can surround their homes with as much refinement as will be found in the home of the merchant or banker.
"When this square is thus laid off and supplied, lay off another in the same way," said Joseph to those to whom the city plat was sent, "and so fill up the world in these last days, and let every man live in the city, for this is the city of Zion."
CHAPTER V.
SETTLEMENT OF THE SAINTS IN MISSOURI—THEIR ERRORS—REPROOFS AND WARNINGS.
On the 4th of August, 1831, a conference was held among the Colesville saints, at the house of Joshua Lewis, in Kaw Township; and about this time a number of revelations were given in which the Lord made known his will to his servants and gave his reasons for calling them to Missouri. Those reasons were:
1. That the Lord's servants might give to him a witness of their obedience;
2. That they might have the honor of laying the foundation of Zion;
3. That they might bear record in all their travels hereafter, where the city of Zion shall stand;
4. That the testimony of these things might go forth from "the city of the heritage of God." [A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 58:1–13]
The Lord commanded the saints to purchase lands in Jackson County, to the extent of their ability; and for the better accomplishment of this object, Sidney Gilbert was appointed agent for The Church. Having accomplished these things, the elders, except Edward Partridge and a few others whom the Lord appointed to settle permanently in Missouri, were commanded to return to their homes, bearing record by the way of what had been revealed.
The saints and elders who remained in the land of Zion began the work of building up permanent homes. They had arrived too late to raise crops that season, but they cut hay for their cattle, and prepared some ground for cultivation. The fall and winter were occupied in building log cabins; but with all their industry they were not able to provide shelter for all. Through that long, cold winter the saints cheerfully submitted to all kinds of inconveniences, such as several families living in an open, unfinished log room, without windows, and nothing but the frozen ground for a floor. Their food consisted chiefly of beef and a little bread, made of coarse corn meal, manufactured by rubbing the ears of corn on a tin grater. The spirit of peace, union and love, however, was in their midst, and at their prayer meetings, and in their family worship, they were blessed with many seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.
Thus the winter of 1831 passed away.
As soon as the churches scattered abroad learned that the Lord had revealed the place where the city of Zion was to be built, preparations to purchase inheritances absorbed the minds of the faithful; and money was sent to The Church agent from all quarters to buy lands. Edward Partridge had been appointed the bishop in Zion, and it was made his duty to divide unto the saints their inheritances.[B] As early as February, 1831, the Lord had said that those who loved him would remember the poor, and consecrate of their property to sustain them, for inasmuch as they did it to the poor, they did it unto him; and that which was consecrated to the poor, should be imparted to them with a deed and a covenant that could not be broken. Moreover every man was to be made a steward over his own property.[C]
[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 57:7.]
[Footnote C: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 42:29–35.]
This law of consecration and stewardship was as follows: Every man was to consecrate his property to the bishop of The Church without reserve, with a covenant that could not be broken; and then from this consecrated property receive an inheritance from the bishop—sharing equally with his brethren, according to his family and circumstances—this inheritance being deeded [D] to him by the bishop; which inheritance then became his stewardship, upon which he was to improve according to the measure of wisdom he possessed. Every man is to be independent in the management of his stewardship. By every man consecrating his property to the bishop, and then receiving back as his stewardship only sufficient for his support, there was a surplus left in the hands of the bishop to be placed in the Lord's storehouse. Then if in the management of his stewardship a man obtained more than was needful for his support, it, too, was put into the Lord's storehouse, and that, as well as the surplus first named, was to be used in giving inheritances to the poor; and in assisting the brethren in the improvement of their respective stewardships, as should be appointed by the high council of The Church, and the bishop and his counselors.[E] And thus the saints were to be made equal in temporal things as well as in things that are spiritual.[F]
[Footnote D: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 51:4.]
[Footnote E: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 42:33, 53–55.]
[Footnote F: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 78.]
The hearts of the saints in Zion were made glad in the spring of 1832 by a visit from their youthful Prophet and Sidney Rigdon, both of whom had suffered much for the truth's sake, during the winter that had just past, at the hands of a furious mob in Ohio.
At the time the mobbing referred to occurred, the Prophet was living at the house of a Brother John Johnson, Sen., (usually called "Father Johnson" by Joseph and the saints), in the little town of Hiram, Portage County, Ohio, about thirty miles from Kirtland. Before removing to that place, the Prophet's wife had taken two children (twins) to rear, their mother, the wife of a Brother John Murdock, having died when the children were a few days old. Emma Smith received them when they were nine days old, and at the time of the event to be related they were eleven months old.
Nothing of unusual importance had occurred in Hiram since the Prophet's arrival. He had occupied his time in the revision of the Bible that he had been commanded to make, and in holding public meetings in the evenings and on the Sabbath day. Here, too, he received a number of revelations, among them the one called the "Vision," [G] which describes the different degrees of glory to which men may attain in the future life.
[Footnote G: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 76.]
A number of men, however, had apostatized from the truth and