ANN ARBOR, Mich. — "Mark my words—as true as God lives, before three years we will have more than one-third of your church."
These inspired words by Lucy Mack Smith in the summer of 1831 hearkened the beginning of the Church in Michigan — a beginning of which today's Church members have been reminded by Michigan artist Craig Harris.
When the construction commenced of the Ann Arbor Michigan Stake Center in late 2003, Brother Harris of the Saline Ward was challenged to do a painting for the new facility. He studied journals and historical material for inspiration. As he read the accounts of the Church in Michigan, the story of the early church meeting in a schoolhouse in Pontiac, Mich., in 1834 caught his attention.
"I've painted watercolors of many historical buildings throughout the country, and the schoolhouse in Pontiac struck an immediate chord with me," Brother Harris said. His watercolor painting, "The Schoolhouse," depicting the first meeting place of the Church in Michigan, was recently donated to the Ann Arbor Michigan Stake Center.
In early summer 1831, Lucy Mack Smith, mother of the Prophet, ventured from Kirtland, Ohio, to Detroit, Mich., to visit the family of her brother. Accompanied by son Hyrum and several other missionaries, Lucy demonstrated her own missionary zeal when a Pontiac, Mich., pastor, a Mr. Ruggles, challenged Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon and Sister Smith's testimony that the book contained the fullness of the gospel.
Unflustered by the negative portrayal of her son and the Church, Sister Smith said that within three years a third of Mr. Ruggles' congregation would be "lost to the Mormons." When Mormon missionaries Jared Carter and Moses Daley came to preach in Michigan in 1832-33, Lucy Mack Smith's words were fulfilled. More than 70 members of Mr. Ruggles' congregation entered the waters of baptism.
In October 1834, the Prophet Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Frederick G. Williams and David Whitmer, visited the new congregation in Pontiac, Mich., and met with them in a local schoolhouse. With uplifted hand the Prophet testified, "I am a witness that there is a God, for I saw Him in open day, while praying in a silent grove, in the spring of 1820."
The Prophet spoke with power. "Such power," testified one who was present, "as had not there ever before been witnessed in this 19th century."
This memorable moment in early Church history in Michigan was brought to life in Craig Harris' painting of the Pontiac schoolhouse. Although the actual schoolhouse no longer exists, its depiction in the watercolor is based on similar structures of the period. A plaque describing the painting and its history will hang with the painting.
President Steven A. Hedquist of the Ann Arbor Michigan Stake said, "Brother Harris' painting is a wonderful reminder of the legacy the members of our stake and all of Michigan share with the early saints. It has affected all of us with its ties to the Prophet Joseph Smith," he added.
While Brother Harris was working on the painting, another Saline Ward member, Sherri Adams Magleby, realized its connection to her family history. Her ancestor, 12-year-old Mary Curtis Reed, attended the 1834 meeting with Joseph Smith in the schoolhouse. "While reading about Mary Curtis in a family journal, I realized her recollection of the Prophet's testimony mirrored those of journals Brother Harris had found," Sister Magleby said. "I was thrilled to find this amazing event in Michigan was part of our family history," she added.
Brother Harris has painted many historical buildings and sites across the United States. He is currently working on a series of paintings of the tabernacles and bishop's storehouses found throughout the Mountain West.
