Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources, Places: Missouri, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2020)
Places: Missouri, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources
Historic Places: Missouri
Maps and information about places associated with the revelations from The Joseph Smith Papers, Historic Sites, and other helpful sources (Eastern United States Map, 1828–1831)
Adam-ondi-Ahman, Missouri
Facts and sources: Settlement located in northwest Missouri. 1835 revelation identified valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman as place where Adam blessed his posterity after leaving Garden of Eden. While seeking new areas in Daviess Co. for settlement, Joseph Smith and others surveyed site on which to build city centered on bluffs of Grand River near home and ferry of Latter-day Saint Lyman Wight, May 1838. Joseph Smith announced area as gathering place for Saints, May 1838. First called Spring Hill; renamed May or June 1838 when Joseph Smith identified area as Adam-ondi-Ahman. More …
Revelations in Missouri
Adam-ondi-Ahman
Topic essay: As Latter-day Saints gathered to dedicate the Kirtland Temple in 1836, they sang “Adam-ondi-Ahman,” a hymn composed by William W. Phelps and included in the newly published Latter-day Saint hymnal. The lyrics celebrated teachings from Joseph Smith’s revelations about a place called Adam-ondi-Ahman, where Adam bestowed his last blessing upon his posterity. More …
Northwest Missouri, 1832–1838
Caldwell County, Missouri
Facts and sources: Located in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” Major Latter-day Saint immigration followed. More …
Chariton County, Missouri
Facts and sources: Established 16 Nov. Population in 1836 about 3,500. In Aug. 1831, while en route from Independence to Kirtland, Joseph Smith met ten other elders in county. More …
Clay County, Missouri
Facts and sources: Settled ca. 1800. Organized from Ray Co., 1822. Liberty designated county seat, 1822. Population in 1836 about 8,500. Refuge for Latter-day Saints expelled from Jackson Co., 1833. Citizens demanded Saints leave, summer 1836. More …
Daviess County, Missouri
Facts and sources: Area in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Latter-day Saint settlement in that region. Small number of Latter-day Saints had settled in Daviess Co. by 1837. Joseph Smith led expedition into county to survey possible future settlements for Latter-day Saints, May 1838. Significant Latter-day Saint settlements in Daviess Co. were Adam-ondi-Ahman, Marrowbone, Honey Creek, and Lick Fork. More …
Far West, Missouri
Facts and sources: Originally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer held one square mile of land in trust for Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. More …
Joseph Smith’s residences
Far West
Topic essay: In 1836, three years after Latter-day Saints had been driven from Jackson County, the Missouri legislature created Caldwell County, a new county in a sparsely settled portion of the state, which they intended as a place for Latter-day Saints to settle. The Saints purchased land there and began building a city called Far West. More …
Fishing River, Missouri
Facts and sources: Consists of two forks, Big Fishing River and Little Fishing River, which conjoin near Excelsior Springs, Missouri. River then flows southeasterly through Clay and Ray counties. Early settlers in area lived along river; Saints settled there as well, 1833. Camp of Israel, including Joseph Smith, camped between forks of river, 19–20 June 1834; armed Missouri citizens planned to attack Camp of Israel that night, but storm prevented them from crossing river. More …
Camp of Israel Route May–June, 1834
Hawn’s Mill, Missouri
Facts and sources: Located on north bank of Shoal Creek in eastern part of Caldwell Co., about sixteen miles east of Far West, Missouri. Jacob Hawn (Haun) settled in area, 1832; established mill, 1834. Location of branch of church, 1838. More …
Northern Missouri, Western Illinois, Southern Iowa, 1839
Independence, Missouri
Facts and sources: Located twelve miles from western Missouri border. Permanently settled, platted, and designated county seat, 1827. Hub for steamboat travel on Missouri River. More …
Church Settlements in Northwest Jackson County, 1833
Zion/New Jerusalem
Topic essay: The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith’s early revelations spoke of a future city of Zion that would serve as a gathering place for the scattered descendants of Israel in the last days. More …
Questions and Answers about the Temple Lot in Independence Missouri
Site history: At a certain place in Independence, Missouri, a rectangle of land is surrounded by an amphitheater, a visitors’ center, a peace plaza, a mission office, hundreds of parking spaces, three meetinghouses for congregational worship, and the headquarters for an international church. More …
Printing Office, Independence, Missouri
Facts and sources: Joseph Smith revelations, dated 20 July and 1 Aug. 1831, directed establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ first printing office in Independence, Missouri. Dedicated by Bishop Edward Partridge, 29 May 1832. More …
Jackson County, Missouri
Facts and sources: Settled at Fort Osage, 1808. County created, 16 Feb. 1825; organized 1826. Named after U.S. president Andrew Jackson. More …
Liberty, Missouri
Facts and sources: Located in western Missouri, thirteen miles north of Independence. Settled 1820. Clay Co. seat, 1822. Incorporated as town, May 1829. Following expulsion from Jackson Co., 1833, many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay Co., with church leaders and other Saints taking up residence in and near Liberty. Camp of Israel disbanded six miles from Liberty, 22 June 1834. More …
Liberty Jail
Topic essay: On December 1, 1838, Missouri authorities imprisoned Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin, and Alexander McRae in a jail in Liberty, Missouri, for crimes allegedly committed during conflicts with other Missourians over the past several months. They had surrendered two weeks earlier after Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs ordered that “Mormons” be driven from the state or be exterminated. More …
Light in the Darkness: Liberty Jail
On December 1, 1838, curious residents of Liberty, Missouri, gathered near the center of town. They watched six men descend from a wagon and walk slowly up the steps of the county jail. More …
Missouri River
Facts and sources: One of longest rivers in North America, in excess of 3,000 miles. From headwaters in Montana to confluence with Mississippi River near St. Louis, Missouri River drains 580,000 square miles (about one-sixth of continental U.S.). More …
Ray County, Missouri
Facts and sources: Located in northwestern Missouri. Area settled, 1815. Created from Howard Co., 1820. Initially included all state land north of Missouri River and west of Grand River. Population in 1836 about 6,600. Latter-day Saints who were driven from homes in Jackson Co., Missouri, 1833, moved northward across Missouri River and took refuge in Ray and other counties. More …
Richmond, Missouri
Facts and sources: Area settled, ca. 1814. Officially platted as Ray Co. seat, 1827. Population in 1840 about 500. Seat of Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri; also location of courthouse and jails. More …
In accordance with instructions in a March 1832 revelation, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Newel K. Whitney traveled from Hiram, Ohio, to Independence, Missouri, to counsel with Church leaders.