Philo Dibble's Sacrificial Gift Saves the Prophet's Kirtland Farm (1831)
Published March 25, 2026 at 3:35 AM
Contributed by
Todd Morgan
Beaumont, CA, 92223
In 1831 the Prophet Joseph Smith and his family were living on a Kirtland, Ohio farm owned by Frederick G. Williams, upon which a debt of four hundred dollars was due within a stated time — if unpaid, the farm would revert to its former owner. Joseph Coe, who was asked to raise the amount, said he could not do so, for his wife held the money and she did not belong to the Church. Philo Dibble, a new convert who had pledged to assist the financially poor Smith family with his means or his personal services, was present when the subject came up and declared, “I can raise the money!” Joseph replied that if he would, he should be blessed. To raise the sum quickly, Dibble sold a portion of the twelve hundred acres he owned twenty miles south of Elyria, Ohio — land worth three dollars per acre — for only one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and paid the four hundred dollars, saving the farm. The timely, willing sacrifice preserved the Prophet's home in Kirtland at a critical moment in the young Church's history.
In Their Own Words
“They were living on a farm owned by F. G. Williams, in Kirtland, upon which there was a debt of four hundred dollars due, which had to be paid within a stated time or the farm would revert to its former owner. Joseph Coe, who was required to raise this amount to save the farm, said he could not do so, for his wife held the money and she did not belong to the Church. Being present with Joseph when the subject came up, I said to him, “I can raise the money!” and he replied that if I would I should be blessed. I had previously promised the Lord that I would assist the Prophet with my means or my personal services, and I felt that the time had come for me to fulfill my promise. I owned twelve hundred acres of land lying twenty miles south of Elyria, which was worth three dollars per acre. In order to raise the money then I would have to sell a portion of it for one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and I accordingly did so and paid Joseph the four hundred dollars.”
— Philo Dibble, "Philo Dibble's Narrative," in Early Scenes in Church History (Faith-Promoting Series, No. 8)
Sources & References
Philo Dibble, Autobiography (1806–c. 1843), in Four Faith Promoting Classics (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1968), pp. 74–96; public text at https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/history/philo-dibble (also transcribed at https://www.josephsmithsermons.org/Early-Saints/PDibble.html). Research note: Dibble's narrative records only the four-hundred-dollar farm-debt rescue, which he paid by selling a portion of his own land; it contains no account of any healing of Joseph Coe's wife. No publicly accessible verbatim source for such a healing has been located, so this record has been retitled and recategorized from Healing to Financial Provision to match its documented source. Full first-person account: Philo Dibble, "Philo Dibble's Narrative," in Early Scenes in Church History (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1882), 79. https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/history/philo-dibble
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