Chruch History and Book of Mormon Tour: John Johnson Farm, The Newark Earthworks

What an amazing day! The day started off with a visit to the John Johnson farm. We were not able to go inside due to a youth group taking the time of all the missionaries, so we visited out in the front of the home and talked about a few of the events that occurred here while Joseph and Emma lived with the Johnsons. This is where Joseph was dragged out of the home in the middle of a Saturday night and tarred and feathered; was cleaned all through the night and then preached a sermon from the front porch step that morning. We learned an interesting fact. Many films depicting the event show a large pot of boiling tar being poured over the prophet, but in reality it is more like a warm tree sap that is rubbed on the individual and then they dump chicken feathers over the victim to make them look silly. Still, the tree sap is very sticky and takes a great deal of cleaning, which takes the skin off. If boiling tar was used, the victim would most likely die as it would burn the victim beyond the ability to recover. The John Johnson Farm

After our visit to the John Johnson Farm, we visited the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in Coshocton, Ohio. There are some truly incredible pieces of history here. All these pieces in the photos below came from digs into the earth works or came from farmers plowing their land or some other means, some people simply walking along a river bed found many of the artifacts. In my mind the most fascinating things in the collection are the Clovis Pieces. The Clovis Pieces are of the most ancient date, yet they are of the finest make; in other words rather than mankind becoming more skilled in making arrow or spear tips the most ancient of date are the best quality. The Clovis Pieces are the oldest artifacts in all the world. They date back to the time of Adam and Eve and their posterity. Most likely when Heavenly Father and Jesus expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden they would have insured they were instructed on how to hunt, fish, farm and other necessities. They were instructed in the best way to make these implements and they did, but as their posterity grew away from the truths they were taught the worse off these tools became. Also in the museum are the original "Holy Stones" found in Hopewell mounds near Newark; they are the Key Stone, the Decalogue stone with its stone box and an oil bowl. The Key Stone is literally a Key Stone that would hold an arch together and it was inscribed on all four sides with the following phrases: 1. Holy of Holies; 2. King of the Earth; 3. The Law of God; 4. The Word of God; the oil bowl was a container for olive oil and the Decalogue stone is inscribed with a depiction of Moses and the 10 Commandments. In the Hebrew Moses could also be translated as Mosiah. Truly a fascinating testament that Hebrews lived in the Heartland of America.

Above: Mammath bones

The nearly white arrow head is from the Clovis period along with the 2nd light colored arrow head along the top row. Another may be the 4th from the end on the bottom row and the second from the end on the middle row.

The two end pieces on the top row are likely Clovis pieces.

An arrow and an ax

Notice the hollowed out pieces. The 3 pieces on the bottom are likely clothing decorations

Ax heads

The piece with the holes in it was to crack nuts without smashing the inner eatable part

More ax heads

Above and below are tools

Ax heads

See the holes in some of the pieces, they were sown on to clothing

Above and below are Effigy Pipes

Head and chest armor

Lots of arrow heads, these are flint

These are the Holy Stones: 1: Is the Decalogue Stone, in the middle is Moses or Mosiah; inscribed all the way around on all sides are the 10 commandments; they are written in a block Hebrew. 2. Is the Key Stone and 5. Is the oil bowl 3 and 4 are the stone box the Decalogue Stone was found in; the two pieces were cemented together.

The following photos are of the Newark Earthworks. They depict the largest temple complex in all the world, over 4 miles in area. The first photos are of a plaque and a picture depicting what the complex once looked like taken from a survey made back in the mid 1800s. Half of it is now destroyed. It depicts the Plan of Salvation; in order to understand it there must be an understanding of the Hebrew Symbolism.

First of all it must be read from right to left: The very lower right you see a circle; if you look closely you will notice what appears to be an outlet facing up toward to walls on the left and on the right which proceed upward to a point where the walls are off-set from the upper ones slightly to the right. The walls that continue up feed into a square diagram.The square diagram then feed into an area above it that looks like a half circle; it has two sets of two walls feeding into it; the left one on the upper left corner and right one that comes from the middle and up to the top, it has a little notch or bump on the left side. Then comes two walls from the left side of the square all the way over to an octagon; there is also another set of two walls above it that come out from the half circle down to the octagon. The octagon then feeds into another circle. Another two walls lead out of the octagon heading downward; another set of two walls lead out of the half circle running to the right.

A circle in Hebrew symbolism means eternal or eternity or a quality of Godliness. The square in Hebrew symbolism means the earth. The first circle on the lower right has a large ditch of water that runs around the entire circumference on the inside of the walls; at the very center is a large area of 2 or 3 small hills. You will be able to see them better in the photographs. All life begins in water; the water around the circumference inside the walls represent the walls of a womb; the passage way leading out at the top into the two walls represent a birth canal, depicting our birth into the earth represented by the square; the offset walls half way up represent the Vail of Forgetfulness, where our memories of the life just left is blocked. The top left path leading out of the square represents the road into the Spirit World and the right path also leads to the Spirit World, but the notch represents a delay or a holding area. The upper path way between the two walls represents a road leading to the Terrestrial Kingdom, represented by the octagon; the first round double circle toward the right is a check point, the 4 circles beyond represent essential ordinances one must obtain prior to entering the Terrestrial Kingdom. The second path you will notice only has a check point meaning that while on earth, in the square box you already obtained the ordinances. This depicts that before entering the Celestial Kingdom as represented by the circle on the lower left, one must first be worthy of the Terrestrial Kingdom. The two other pathways are roads which lead to other cities or population centers. The one on the left is called the Hopewell road and leads directly to Chillicothe , Ohio. The one on the right is unknown. The upper right portion of the diagram was not able to be surveyed and is obviously meant to be the Spirit World, where are spirits go to await the resurrection and to receive the Gospel if not already received.

In the following photos you will get an idea of the incredible size of these earth works. They were not normally inhabited, but were rather visited at a specific time of year to accomplish ordinance work; it is believed the roads leading up to the temple complex could support a very large number of people and the animals that would be sacrificed during the holy days, which was most likely Passover. It is also believed to be the temple complex that Jesus Christ came to after the destruction which occurred at His crucifixion. Of course this cannot be known for sure, but seems to be a very likely candidate.

Looking right toward the entrance to the first circle representing our premortal life. You should be

able to get a feeling for how high and wide the walls are.

Looking ahead into the circle between the walls on the left and right

The left wall

The interior ditch around the wall

Looking right

Looking left

Looking down into the ditch

Looking ahead to the 3 small hills

Looking back. The area is 1200' across

On top of the hills

Looking back at the hills

On the way out

We are now at the throat between the octagon, the Terrestrial Kingdom and the circle, the Celestial Kingdom. We are climbing the wall to look over the area which is now an 18 hole golf course.