Land Ownership in Kirtland, Keith W. Perkins
The original Latter-day Saint landowners in Kirtland, Ohio, were residents of Kirtland who had been converted to the Church in 1830 and 1831. Some of the most prominent converts were Newel K. Whitney, A. Sidney Gilbert, and Isaac Morley. Newel K. Whitney and his partner Sidney Gilbert owned the N.K. Whitney and Company Store, which played a major role in providing for the numerous Latter-day Saints who later moved to Kirtland. They paid taxes on $2,500 worth of merchandise, making this one of the largest mercantile stores in northeastern Ohio at the time. Isaac Morley owned a large farm consisting of 130 acres. It was to his farm that most of the Saints gathered when they immigrated to Kirtland in 1831.
As the Saints began to gather to Ohio, the amount of property owned and managed by Church leaders in Kirtland significatnly increased. In April 1832, Frederick G. Williams purchased 144 acres for $2,000. On May 3, 1834, this property was conveyed without monetary renumeration to Joseph Smith, as agent for the Church. In April 1833, Joseph Coe and Ezra Thayre purchased, for the Church, the Peter French farm of 103 acres for $5,000. It was on a small portion of this property that the Kirtland Temple was later built. Much of the money for this purchase must have been donated by John Johnson from the sale of his farm in Hiram, Ohio, since most of this property was later deeded to him. On October 5, 1836, another large farm, consisting of 239 acres, was purchased by the Church for $11,777.50.
The Church also purchased a tannery, an ashery, a printing office, and later a steam sawmill under the United Order. This order was an organization that managed the economic affairs of the Church, presided over by nine of the leading Brethren. Four of these Brethren were residents of Kirtland: Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Jesse Gause, and Newel K. Whitney. Five lived in Missouri: Oliver Cowdery, Edward Partridge, Sidney Gilbert, John Whitmer, and William W. Phelps (Doctrine and Covenants 82:11-12). When Jesse Gause was excommunicated in Kirtland, Frederick G. Williams replaced him not only as a member of the United Order, but also as a member of the First Presidency of the Church (Doctrine and Covenants 81; 92:1-2). Later, John Johnson was added to the Order, apparently because of his major financial contribution to the Church (Doctrine and Covenants 96:6-9). When Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris moved back from Missouri they also became a part of the United Order. These 12 men held properties in trust and cared for the poor by supervising the Bishop's Storehouse. They also purchased land and assisted in the construction of the Kirtland Temple.
A major change in the United Order came on April 23, 1834, when it was divided up into two orders, the United Order of the Stake of Zion, the City of Kirtland, and the United Order of the City of Zion (Doctrine and Covenants 104:48). This was necessary because the Latter-day Saints had been driven out of Jackson County, Missouri, a few months earlier. At this time individual stewardships were assigned to various leaders of the United Order. Sidney Rigdon not only received responsibility for his place of residence, but also the tannery as his stewardship (Doctrine and Covenants 104:20). Oliver Cowdery and Frederick G. Williams received the printing office as their stewardship (Doctrine and Covenants 104:29). Newel K. Whitney received the mercantile store and the ashery for his stewarship (Doctrine and Covenants 104:39, 41). Joseph Smith, Jr., received for his stewarship the property where the temple was later built (Doctrine and Covenants 104:43). John Johnson receivd most of the French farm that had been purchased a year earlier (Doctrine and Covenants 104:34-37). The land from the Johnson stewardship was later divided up into lots that were "laid off for the building up of the city of the saints" (Doctrine and Covenants 104:36) and form part of the city of Kirtland today.