Kirtland, Ohio

After the founding of the United States, northern Ohio was designated as the Western Reserve and was sold to the Connecticut Land Company. The area was first surveyed by Moses Cleaveland and his party in 1796.

Kirtland is named for Turhand Kirtland,^[8] a principal of the Connecticut Land Company and judge in Trumbull County, the first political entity in Ohio that included Kirtland township. Kirtland, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War, demonstrated "both breadth of vision and integrity" in his fair dealings with the local Native Americans. He was known for his bravery, resourcefulness, and passion for justice. ^[9] Dr. Jared Potter Kirtland was the son of the former; he helped to found a medical college in nearby Willoughby, Ohio, and he compiled the first ornithology of Ohio.^[10] The bird Kirtland's warbler is named for Jared Kirtland. This rare species has been documented in the city during migration, but it does not nest in Ohio.

Being less well suited to agriculture, the densely forested, clay soiled, high, hilly, land of Kirtland was settled later than surrounding townships: Mentor in 1798, and Chester in 1802. Kirtland's first European settlers were the John Moore family, soon followed by the Crary family who came to Kirtland in 1811.

In 1833, Julia Hills and her children moved the 133 miles to Kirtland, Ohio, where many members of the family worked to help build the first temple of this dispensation of the gospel. They had a house “on the flat” next to what is now the LDS Visitors’ Center. The house has been rebuilt, but part of the original remains.

There is a little hill behind the house where we think family members are buried.

• David died in 1833 after making brick for the Kirtland Temple.
• Seth died in 1835, having been weakened by his march with Zion’s Camp.
• Susan and Nancy both died in 1836.

They all died from “consumption”, (probably tuberculosis)

While in Kirtland, Benjamin attended the School of the Prophets in the top of Newell K. Whitney’s store. On 4 July 1838, Julia and her family left Kirtland, as part of the “poor camp,” to gather with the Saints in Missouri.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algonquian_peoples

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirtland,_Ohio

 

Johnson Direct Line Ancestors who lived in Kirtland

• Ezekiel Johnson (1773-1848) and Julia Hills (1783-1853)

  • Joel Hills Johnson (1802-1882)

  • Nancy Maria Johnson (1803-1836)

  • Seth Garnsey Johnson (1805-1835)

  • Delcina Diadamia Johnson (1806-1854) 

  • Julia Ann Johnson (1808-1857) 

  • David Johnson (1810-1833) 

  • Almera Woodward Johnson (1812-1896)

  • Susan Ellen Johnson (1814-1836) 

  • Joseph Ellis Johnson (1817-1882) 

  • Benjamin Franklin Johnson (1818-1905)

  • Mary Ellen Johnson (1820-1845) 

  • George Washington Johnson (1823-1900) 

  • William Derby Johnson (1824-1896) 

  • Esther Melita Johnson (1827-1876) 

  • Amos Partridge Johnson (1829-1842)

Places to visit in Kirtland

• LDS Visitor Center - 7800 Kirtland-Chardon Rd, Kirtland, OH

• Johnson House, and hillside graves - just off the Visitor Center parking lot

• Newel K. Whitney Store Kirtland-Chardon Rd, Kirtland, OH (where Benjamin attended the School of the Prophets)

• Reconstructed sawmill where Joel Hills Johnson worked

• Kirtland Temple Visitor’s Center, 9076 Chillicothe Rd, Kirtland, OH

• Kirtland Temple Historic Site

  • 7809 Joseph St. Kirtland, OH 44094

  • kirtlandtemple.org 440-256-1830 x7

• John Johnson House -6203 Pioneer Trail, Hiram, Ohio. House tour

• Snow Home - 11118 Mantua Center Rd., Mantua, OH (Privately owned)