Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
KIRTLAND, Ohio — The home that Joseph and Emma Smith lived in for the longest period of time was dedicated on Saturday, and is now open for visitor tours in Kirtland, Ohio — immediately north of the Kirtland Temple and historic cemetery.
Elder David A. Bednar, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said this home where the first prophet of the church lived is more than just a historic building.
"In this home," he said, "Emma and Joseph worked unitedly to take care of each other, their children and members of their extended family. This home was a place where they obeyed the commands that the Lord recently had given to parents: to teach their children the gospel and bring them up in light and truth."
Elder Bednar dedicated the home in a ceremony with about 300 dignitaries and religious leaders in attendance. Others watched the ceremony which was livestreamed to local church buildings.
"Our hearts are filled to the brim with thanksgiving as we remember, reflect on and commemorate the important revelatory events that occurred in this city and in this place in the earliest days of the restoration of thy son's gospel and church," he prayed as he dedicated the house as a place of inspiration, remembrance and reverence.
Elder Bednar mentioned that there are now over 300 temples, following the first one that was built near this home. He said it was in Kirtland where Joseph Smith said the church would spread throughout the world, and Elder Bednar has seen the prophecy fulfilled when he travels around the world.
The church purchased the home and property around it in 2012, and has spent 10 years doing research to determine what parts of the home were original before beginning construction to return the home to its original appearance.
Ben Pykles, church historic sites director, said the research was "a labor of love."
"So many experts and intelligent individuals have come together to really make this home as accurate and as authentic as possible so that we can bring people here and tell them this is what the home looked like when Joseph and Emma lived here in the 1830s," he said.
Pykles says visitors to the home will get a sense of Joseph Smith as a husband and father.
The home often had visitors, including extended family and some long-term boarders. Mark Staker, a master curator in the Church History Department, said Joseph and Emma and their parents would sleep on the floor to accommodate visitors.
The site purchased by the church also contains a parcel where the home of Joseph Smith's parents once was, and a marker shows its location.
Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints moved to Kirtland in 1831. Joseph and Emma Smith arrived there in February 1831, and they lived in this home between late 1833 and early 1838 when they fled the city with three children.
Elder Bednar's wife, Sister Susan Bednar, talked about her tour of the residence.
"I could sense how excited Joseph and Emma must have been to be together there with their young children in a house that would hold memories both amazingly joyful and deeply sorrowful," she said.
