“There was at this time in Kirtland, a society that had undertaken to have a community of property.” — George A. Smith, Journal of Discourses1
In the fall of 1830, Isaac Morley's farm near Kirtland, Ohio, was a hub of activity,2 serving as a communal living space for believers practicing communal living like that in the New Testament.3 The farm, established in 1811 and expanded in 1812, was located on the outskirts of Kirtland (about a mile northeast of Newel K. Whitney's store) and situated along the Chagrin River. By winter 1829, Morley and other families had adopted a "common stock family" arrangement, living in separate buildings but sharing resources and labor.2
It was against this backdrop that Lucy Morley, a fifteen-year-old farm worker, encountered Oliver Cowdery, Parley Pratt, and Ziba Peterson. The young girl invited the three missionaries to visit the farm in the fall of 1830 where they shared a message of the restored gospel, teaching of the Book of Mormon.3
