March 23

1833 – The Prophet Joseph met in council to discuss the purchase of several farms for the gathering of the Saints in the Kirtland, Ohio, area. After discussion, the council decided to purchase three farms, Elijah Smith’s, Mr. Morley’s, and Peter French’s. The Prophet Joseph would choose the Peter French farm as the site for the Kirtland Temple and sends Joseph Coe, Moses Dailey, and Ezra Thayer to purchase it.

1844 – The Prophet Joseph and William Clayton spent part of the day raising money for the men working in the pinery in Wisconsin supplying lumber for the building projects in Nauvoo, including the Temple. He also learns that William Law, Wilson Law, Robert D. Foster, Chauncey L. Higbee, and Joseph Jackson are conspiring to kill him and his family. Dr. Foster had accused Joseph of inappropriate advances towards his wife. He tries visiting Dr. Foster but he was not at home. With witnesses present, the Prophet asked Mrs. Foster if he had ever done so and she replied, “No.’ (History of the Church, 6:271).

1847 – The Mormon Battalion companies A, C, D, and E, arrive at Pueblo de Los Angeles, California, after a four day journey north from the San Luis Rey Mission.

1876 – A group of Latter-day Saints who had been called to settle in Arizona, arrive at the Little Colorado River, chosen as the site for a LDS community.

1930 – In response to reports that the Soviet Union was suppressing religious freedom, President Heber J. Grant spoke at a meeting in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on religious Freedom that was attended by leaders from several different faiths including the vicar general of the Salt Lake diocese of the Catholic Church, rabbi J. E. Krikstein of the local Jewis faith, and the bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Utah, and the president of the Salt Lake Ministerial Association.

1974 – The Church gives the State of Utah the Brigham Young Forest Farm home in Salt Lake City for use in the state’s Pioneer State Park at the mouth of emigration canyon. In return, the State of Utah gives the Church Brigham Young’s winter home in St. George, Utah, and the Jacob Hamblin home in Santa Clara, Utah, to be used as visitors’ and information centers.

1986 – The first stake in the Dominican Republic is organized at Santo Domingo.

2007 – The wallet, owned by Martin Harris when he carried $3,000 to the printer’s shop to pay for the printing of the Book of Mormon in 1829, is donated to the Museum of Church History by Russell Martin Harris, a great-great-grandson of Martin Harris. Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and a direct descendent of Martin Harris’ brother, Emer Harris, accepted the wallet on the Church’s behalf.