The other day the news leaked that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had purchased the Kirtland Temple.
Kirtland, not Kirkland, and not a “miracle”, after all, it turns out it’s true you can buy anything in this world for money, but still it’s a historic sale.
From The Church News:
Today, Tuesday, March 5, 2024, the responsibility and ownership for the Kirtland Temple, several historic buildings in Nauvoo, and various manuscripts and artifacts officially transferred from Community of Christ to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for an agreed-upon amount. Together, we share an interest in and reverence for these historic sites and items and are committed to preserving them for future generations.
Rumour has it the agreed upon amount is a whooping $192.5 million USD. Included in the sale:
- The Bible used in the Joseph Smith Translation
- Manuscripts of the Joseph Smith Translation
- Seven letters from Smith to his wife Emma
- A history of the church written by John Whitmer
- The original David Rogers portraits of Joseph and Emma Smith
- The cornerstone of the Nauvoo House, used to store the original Book of Mormon manuscript
- The original door of Missouri’s Liberty Jail, where Joseph, Hyrum, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, and Caleb Baldwin were famously held captive.
- A document with the title of ‘Caractors,’ which are alleged to contain a sample of inscriptions from the gold plates. (In 2017, the church bought the printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon from the Community of Christ for $35 million — an amount one historian called a bargain.)
- Joseph Smith’s writing desk from the Kirtland Temple.
- Emma Smith’s walking stick.
- The home of Sidney Rigdon and wife Phebe.
- The Smith Homestead
- The Mansion house
- The Nauvoo house
- The Red Brick Store
- Other homes and significant documents that belonged to early members.
This video about the news leaking explains how it went down: