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The Newel K. Whitney Store Photo courtesy of Steve Mortensen

The Newel K. Whitney Store served as the home of Joseph and Emma Smith between September 1832 and February 1834. Joseph Smith III was born here on November 6, 1832. The store served as the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the time that the Smith family lived here.

Many significant events occurred here including the organization of the School of the Prophets, the First Presidency receiving the keys of the kingdom, and receiving of the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom, Doctrine and Covenants Section 89.

During one of the meetings of the School of the Prophets, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to members of the school. Zebedee Coltrin, a member of the school related the following experience:

I saw a person passing through the room as plainly as I see you now. Joseph asked us if we knew who it was and answered himself, 'That is Jesus our Elder Brother, the Son of God!' After the vision closed, Joseph then told those present to resume their former position of prayer. Again I saw passing through the same room, a personage whose glory and brightness was so great, that I can liken it to nothing but the burning bush that Moses saw, and its power was so great that had it continued much longer I believe it would have consumed us. After this personage had disappeared from the room, Joseph announced that the men had seen the father of the Lord Jesus Christ.¹

In the late 1970s, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased the store from Wilford C. Wood and restored it. The store was dedicated by President Ezra Taft Benson on August 25, 1984.² On November 18, 1988, President Ronald Reagan presented the Church with the Historic Preservation Award for restoring the Newel K. Whitney Store in 1984.³

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SOURCES

¹ Larry C. Porter and Susan Easton Black, eds., The Prophet Joseph: Essays on the Life and Mission of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1988), 110-111.

² Karl Ricks Anderson, Joseph Smith's Kirtland (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1989), 249.

³ "Whitney Store Given Prestigious Award," LDS Church News, (November 19, 1988).