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Revised Plan of the House of the Lord, circa 10 August–circa 4 September 1833
Source Note
Source Note
Revised Plan of the , [, Geauga Co., OH], ca. 10 Aug.–ca. 4 Sept. 1833; text in handwriting of and ; drawings in handwriting of ; four pages; CHL.
Two large leaves with drawings and writing on both sides of each leaf. The first leaf measures 26⅞ × 18⅞ inches (68 × 48 cm). The drawing on the recto of the first leaf measures 25½ × 8⅜ inches (65 × 21 cm) and is drawn with ink and watercolor. On the verso of the first leaf is a large drawing of a floor plan, which measures 24⅜ × 15¼ inches (62 × 39 cm) and is drawn with graphite, ink, and orange, or yellow, watercolor, which denotes pulpits. Much of the left edge of the recto of this first sheet is torn, obscuring some of the written text. The second leaf measures 15⅜ × 20⅜ inches (39 × 51 cm) and has one drawing on the recto and one on the verso. The drawing on the recto is of the east end of the building’s exterior, measures 13¾ × 16⅜ inches (35 × 42 cm), and is drawn with graphite, black ink, and green and orange or red watercolor. The drawing on the verso is of the west end of the building’s exterior. It is drawn with graphite and measures 11½ × 16⅜ inches (29 × 42 cm). When this document was donated to the LDS church and by whom is unknown.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
In late June 1833, JS and the other members of the sent a package containing the first iteration of the plat of the and the architectural plan for the , or temple, to church leaders in , Missouri. On the revised plan, featured here, scribe noted that the original city plat and plan for the House of the Lord (referred to herein as the “June plan”) were “incorrect in some respects; being drawn in grate haste” and that the presidency of the high priesthood had therefore created revised drawings of the plat and plan, “which are correct.” How the presidency determined that the June plan was incorrect is not known. It is possible that work on the in , Ohio, which commenced in early June, informed some of these revisions. More likely, the presidency reviewed the June plan and determined that clarifications and corrections were necessary. Though they may have begun drafting this revised plan soon after they sent the originals, the document was not finalized until after 9 August 1833, when Cowdery arrived in Kirtland from Missouri.
These revised drawings for the first meant to be built in occupy both sides of two sheets of paper. On the front of one sheet is a drawing of the “Side View” of the House of the Lord, along with ’s explanations for the new patterns. On the verso of the sheet is the interior floor plan with dimensions for elements such as the pews, doors, and vestibules. The other sheet contains a detailed “Eend View East” of the exterior on one side and a simple pencil outline of the unfinished “West End View” on the other.
Though drew each of these views in both the June plan and this revised pattern, two of the three exterior views are more elaborately detailed in the revised plan than they are in the original pencil-line drawings of the June plan. The revised plans, however, altered few of the building’s internal arrangements. The details of the pulpits and pews, for instance, remained virtually the same. This plan added ten feet to the building’s length (ninety-seven feet instead of eighty-seven), though it added no height. It also provided a few new dimensions that were not specified in the June plan, including the width of the aisles between the pulpits and the size of the inner doors. The revision further called for nine windows along the sides of the building instead of five and specified the number of glass panes, or “lights,” that should be in each window. Aside from these and other minor corrections (identified in footnotes in the following transcript), the revised plan closely resembles the first iteration composed in June.
At the time this revised plan was drafted, church members in had just experienced a wave of violence that forced them to agree to leave , the center place of . In mid-August, about the time that this revised plan was finalized, JS still believed that “the day will come that Zion will be keept for our sakes therefore be of good cheer and the cloud shall pass over and the sun shall shine as clear and as fair as heaven itself and the Event shall be Glorious.” The presidency thus once again directed church leaders in Missouri to commence building the in Jackson County despite the threats they faced. The revised city plat and modified temple design were sent to Missouri by special messengers and , who arrived in Jackson County in late September 1833. However, because church members were expelled from the county in early November 1833, the plans to build the temple in Jackson County were never realized.
The following transcription presents ’s explanation for the plan first and ’s drawings of the interior and exterior second. For the plan of the interior, the transcript divides the drawing into nine rectangular sections. These nine sections were not numbered originally but are numbered here for the reader’s convenience. The images of the interior plan are all oriented so that the north end of the building is at the top, as in the original document.
Footnotes
- [1]
The package was sent from Kirtland, Ohio, on 26 June 1833 and consisted of the following documents: Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 25 June 1833; Plat of the City of Zion, ca. Early June–25 June 1833; and Plan of the House of the Lord, between 1 and 25 June 1833. John Whitmer acknowledged receiving these building patterns in his 29 July 1833 letter. (Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833.)
- [2]
- [3]
Cowdery concluded the written explanations of the revised plan with personal remarks to his associates in Missouri, meant to buoy them in the traumatic and chaotic aftermath of the recent violence they had suffered in Jackson County. The immediacy and poignancy of Cowdery’s comments on the revised plan echo a letter he wrote to Missouri on 10 August 1833, the day after he arrived in Kirtland. (See Historical Introductions to Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833; and to Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 10 Aug. 1833.)
- [4]
For a discussion of these features, see Plan of the House of the Lord, between 1 and 25 June 1833.
- [5]
For a detailed architectural comparison of the two plans, see Robison, First Mormon Temple, chap. 2.
Robison, Elwin C. The First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction, and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1997.
- [6]
- [7]
- [8]
Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to John Whitmer, Missouri, 1 Jan. 1834, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 14–17; see also Letter to Vienna Jaques, 4 Sept. 1833.
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
- [9]
See Letter from William W. Phelps, 6–7 Nov. 1833; and Letter from Edward Partridge, between 14 and 19 Nov. 1833; see also Historical Introduction to Letter, 30 Oct. 1833.
| Door 5 feet | |||||
| 17 | |||||
| No. 16 | 6 feet wide | ||||
| Door | |||||
| 12 by 14 | |||||
| No 9 | |||||
| 13 | 9 by 14 |
| 61 feet wide | East | ||||
| 10 feet taken off for an entry and stairway | |||||
| 5 | 5 | 5 | |||
| 6 | No 15 | 6 | No 15 | 6 | |
| 7 | 7 | 7 | |||
| 8 | 8 | 8 | |||
| 6 feet wide |
| Door 5 feet | ||||
| 17 | ||||
| 6 feet wide | ||||
| Door | No 16 | |||
| 12 by 14 | ||||
| No 9 | ||||
| 9 by 14 | 13 |
| No 12 | |||||
| No 14 | |||||
| North | 18 | ||||
| 97 feet Long | 45 feet by 14 | ||||
| 4 feet wide | |||||
| No 10 | |||||
| 9 by 14 | |||||
| 13 |
| No 20 | ||||
| 18 | ||||
| 25 by 12½ | 18 | No 18 | 25 by 12½ | |
| 18 | ||||
| No 11 | No 11 | |||
| No 20 | ||||
| 6 feet wide |
| No 12 | ||||
| No 14 | ||||
| 45 by 14 feet | ||||
| 18 | South | |||
| 4 feet wide | ||||
| No 10 | ||||
| 9 by 14 | ||||
| 13 |
| No 12 | ||
| 12 by 14 | ||
| No 9 |
| Swing Table 19 | ||||
| 4 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 3 | No 15 | 3 | No 15 | 3 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| No 1 | No 1 | 1 | ||
| 6 by 14 | 9 by 14 | 6 by 14 | ||
| West |
| No 12 | ||
| 12 by 14 | ||
| No 9 |
Drawn by [p. [2]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
Frederick G. Williams handwriting begins.