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Dear
Gramps, |
Dear
Jeff,
The
Kirtland Temple has not been operated as a temple since the Saints moved away
from Kirtland. The Temple and other properties were sold by court order after
the death of the prophet, Joseph Smith, to settle some of his debts. It fell
into the hands of the RLDS Church in 1873. Below is an account of those
transactions from BYU Studies, 25:11--
“Beginning
on 29 October 1860, the probate court of Lake County, Ohio, took action to
settle the question of ownership of property in the Kirtland area that had
been recorded in the name of Joseph Smith, Jr., the Trustee in Trust for the
Church. A part of this property included the temple. The court concluded that
all this Kirtland property should be sold to pay the debts that Joseph Smith
had incurred to a local merchant, Grandison Newell, and other residents of the
area. The probate court made the appropriate arrangements for the sale, and on
18 April 1862 sold the property to William L. Perkins, a prosperous
businessman in the area. On the same day Perkins conveyed that portion of
Smith's estate containing the temple in a quit claim deed to Russell Huntley,
a member at one time or another of several Mormon splinter groups and a man
who had long had an interest in the temple. Huntley held the temple for more
that a decade, but on 17 February 1873 Joseph Smith III and Mark H. Forscutt
acquired Huntley's title for $150. They controlled the Kirtland Temple without
dispute until 1875 when the RLDS church leadership, Smith and Forscutt
included, determined that the quit claim deed was insufficient to ensure the
perpetual ownership of the property and that the church should undertake a
lawsuit to secure a final settlement. Accordingly, the Presiding Bishop, the
church's chief financial officer, filed suit in the Lake County Court of
Common Pleas in 1878 and received a favorable verdict in February 1880.”
Since
it’s acquisition by the RLDS Church the Kirtland Temple has been maintained
in very good shape. It has been used for public and RLDS church meetings, but
has served no temple purpose. The building has been open to the public and a
staff has been maintained to conduct guided tours through the building. The
present director of the Kirtland Temple Historic Center Site is Lachlan
Mackay, Kirtland Temple Historic Center, 9020 Chillicothe Road, Kirtland, Ohio
44094.
It
was held by those who formed the RLDS Church that the church presidents were to
be lineal descendents of Joseph Smith. Upon the organization of the RLDS Church,
the leadership was controlled by others until the prophet’s second, Joseph
Smith III, became old enough and willing to accept the presidency. He accepted
the position of president in 1860.
Joseph
Smith III had three wives and seventeen children, including three sons who
became the next three presidents of the RLDS Church (Frederick, Israel, and
William Wallace). Reorganized members hasten to note that Joseph had one wife at
a time, and that the first two wives preceded him in death.
It
is not true that there are no living direct descendents of Joseph Smith.
However, the direct-line descendents of Joseph Smith III came to an end
somewhere along in the mid 1900s.
Although
women have been admitted to the RLDS priesthood and preside over some
congregations, all the general officers of the church are men. The presidency of
the RLDS Church at this time consists of W. Grant McMurray, president, with
counselors Howard S. Sheehy Jr. and Kenneth N. Robinson.
Gramps