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"Ye Shall Go to the Ohio":
Exodus of the New York Saints to Ohio 1831

Larry C. Porter

Soon after the arrival of Sidney Rigdon and Edward Partridge in Seneca County, New York, on 10 December 1830, John Whitmer was dispatched to Kirtland, Ohio, to provide strength and leadership at that place. According to Lucy Smith, his appointment stemmed from a letter addressed to Joseph by the "Lamanite" missionaries, requesting that assistance be sent. John Whitmer related: "After Joseph and Sidney returned from Colesville to Fayette, the Lord manifested himself to Joseph the Revelator and gave commandment for me to go to Ohio, and carry the commandments and revelations with me, to comfort and strengthen my brethren in the land."

A letter was given to John Whitmer by Sidney Rigdon introducing his mission to the Saints in Ohio. It is reported that the letter stated:

I send you this letter by John Whitmer. Receive him, for he is a brother greatly beloved, and an Apostle of this Church. With him we send all the revelations which we have received; for the Lord has declared unto us that you pray unto him that Joseph Smith and myself go speedily unto you; but at present it is not expedient for him to send us. He has required of us, therefore, to send unto you our beloved brother John, and with him the revelations which he has given unto us, by which you will see the reason why we cannot come at this time.

John Whitmer apparently arrived in Ohio during the week of 9-15 January 1831. His appearance was noted by The Telegraph. An article entitled "Mormonism" related:

A young gentleman by the name of Whitmer, arrived here last week from Manchester, N.Y. the seat of wonders, with a new batch of revelations from God, as he pretended, which have just been communicated to Joseph Smith. As far as we have been able to learn their contents, they are a more particular description of the creation of the world, and a history of Adam and his family, and othey [sic] sketches of the anti-deluvian world, which Moses neglected to record. But the more important part of the mission was to inform the brethren that the boundaries of the promised land, or the New Jerusalem, had just been made known to Smith from God-the township of Kirtland, a few miles west of this, place, is the eastern line and the Pacific Ocean the western line; if the north and south lines have been described, we have not learned them. Orders were also brought to the brethren to sell no more land, but rather, buy more. Joseph Smith and all his forces are to be on here soon to take possession of the promised land.