A step back in time

About 30 minutes away from Kirtland is Hiram Ohio were the John Johnson farm is located. To think that the saints would travel back and forth by horse or wagon did not sound fun at all. We were grateful for our air conditioned car, GPS, and snacks. When we arrived at the Johnson Farm and had a tour from the sister missionaries I found myself thinking I would have loved to live back in these times when you had to work hard, but you also were closer to your family and not distracted by things of the world. The one clincher that would really stop me though is: Air Condition!


The John Johnson home. The Johnson family had quite a large home and for good reasons. They had 13 children, if I remember right, and they always accommodated guests. Elsa Johnson, who was married to John, was an artist so the rooms inside had decorative painting and more color then you would normally find in the houses at the time.


The Bowery is something like a tarp or tent in our day. The Saints would set up a Bowery in front of the Johnson home for people to sit under while the prophet and other general authorities preached.


A "School of Prophets" type room, although I am not sure if this room actually had a name. Brethren in the church would have discussions here and I believe that Joseph also translated parts of the Bible. More importantly the Father and the Son appeared here.


John Johnson's home office. He owned many businesses including a dairy and crop producing farm.


The kitchen. If you look closely you can see the decorative painting on the mantle.

Look closely at the floor...it is black, green, and red checkered (original to the house). This was the Parlor or the nicest room in the house, so John and Elsa felt the Prophet deserved to stay there. This is the bedroom were Joseph and Emma stayed caring for their sick twins when a mob came. They first pulled out Sydney Rigdon(from another area of the house) and then they tarred and feathered Joseph. This bedroom was right by the front door so you could see how the mob had easy access. The church had recently asked the Johnson Family to consecrate their house to the church (sell the property in order to have more funds for the temple). Supposedly some of the Johnson children were not happy about this and were instrumental in helping the mob gain access into the home.


After leaving the Hiram, OH area we set off to eat in a Amish Restaurant, Mary Yoders, and visit the oldest Amish working general store. The restaurant is famous for it's pies, according to the sister missionaries who were serving at the sites. I tried homemade noodles with chicken and mashed potatoes (because that is what my grandma used to make) and a slice of that famous pie too. The general store also had some penny candy, which I have always heard about, but never actually seen before.


After that we were off for a day of driving across Ohio, Indiana (which charges tolls the whole way across) and Illinois. The next day was also spent driving until the afternoon when we arrived in Carthage. More about Carthage and Nauvoo to follow.