“Doctrine and Covenants Revealed,” Ensign, Jan. 2009, 40–45
Doctrine and Covenants Revealed
Most of the sacred revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants were received through the Prophet Joseph Smith and came in answer to prayer. Following are a few of the sites where sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were revealed or where related events took place.
New York
Twenty-five sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were given in Manchester, Fayette, and Perrysburg, New York, from 1823 through 1833.
Below: A rainbow glows in the sky near the Joseph Knight Sr. farm in Colesville (present day Nineveh), New York (D&C 23:6). Emma Smith was baptized on the Knight farm.
Below, right: The Peter Whitmer home in Fayette, New York, where the Church was organized in 1830 (D&C 21).
Pennsylvania
Fifteen sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were given in Harmony, Pennsylvania, from 1828 through 1830.
Background: This section of the Susquehanna River runs past Harmony, where the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods were restored (D&C 13).
Ohio
Sixty-six sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were given in Kirtland, Hiram, Thompson, Amherst, and Orange, Ohio, from 1831 through 1837.
Left, top: The John Johnson home in Hiram, Ohio, was the site where 16 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were revealed. Among them was section 76, which describes the telestial, terrestrial, and celestial kingdoms of heaven.
Left, center: Forty-six revelations were received in Kirtland, Ohio, more than any other location. The School of the Prophets met in this upstairs room of the Newell K. Whitney store. As result of the common use of tobacco at the time and in this room, the Lord revealed D&C 89.
Left, bottom: Several revelations revolve around the Kirtland Temple but the most powerful is found in D&C 110. On April 3, 1836, Jesus Christ appeared. Moses, Elias, and Elijah also appeared to commit their keys to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Background: Local tradition identifies this site, two miles west of the Kirtland Temple, as the quarry from which the stones for the temple were taken. The quarry eventually filled with groundwater and became known as the square lake.
Missouri
Twenty-one sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were given in Jackson County, Caldwell County, Daviess County, and Clay County, Missouri, from 1831 through 1839.
Background: Section 116 of the Doctrine and Covenants was given at Spring Hill, Daviess County, Missouri, an area the Lord named Adam-ondi-Ahman. The Prophet Joseph laid out a city, but the Saints were driven away before they could build it.
Far left: Seven revelations were given in Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri. Here the Lord named his church (D&C 115) and taught the Saints about the law of tithing (D&C 119).
Illinois
The majority of Saints lived in either Ohio or Missouri before gathering to Illinois. Ten sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were given in Nauvoo and Ramus from 1841 through 1844.
Left: The weathered wood identifies the original Nauvoo home of Joseph Smith. Eight revelations were received in Nauvoo, including D&C 124 wherein the Saints were commanded to build a temple.
Left, bottom: In this upstairs room of the Carthage Jail, a mob killed Joseph and Hyrum Smith. In D&C 135, John Taylor records the events of the martyrdom and pays tribute to Joseph and Hyrum.
Photographs by Kenneth R. Mays