Statement and Justification of the Problem
During the course of a meeting which he conducted in Kirtland, Ohio, February 27, 1835, Joseph Smith expressed sorrow that many important items of doctrine and many instructions which had been introduced since the beginning of the work had not been recorded. “We have neglected to take minutes of such things, thinking perhaps, that they would never benefit us afterwards,” he explained: “which if we had them now would decide almost every point of doctrine which might be agitated.”1 Joseph further lamented that because of this neglect the Saints could not bear record to the Church and the world of the great and glorious manifestations which had been made to them with that degree of power and authority they otherwise could, if they then had those things to publish abroad.2
Although it is fortunate that many details of the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been preserved, nevertheless, as Joseph Smith indicated, there are also some occurrences of significance which have been lost with the passing of years, [1] because of a failure to record what transpired at the time. However, through techniques of historical research, the knowledge of these missing events can be retrieved. In speaking of the importance of such research, Dr. Truman G. Madsen, Chairman of the Institute of Mormon Studies at Brigham Young University, has stated:
By 1980 the Church itself will have a membership of five to six million, international in character. The fresh perspectives of those who become identified with the movement, and their allies, will surely intensify concern for the Church’s legacy, its authentic past. The very statistical importance of the Church will draw the attention of competent observers; and those satisfied with surface glimpses will inevitably diminish. Backgrounds, in short, will more and more come to the foreground.3
It is with a desire to advance specified aspects of the historical legacy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that the writer has been prompted to examine the time period detailed herein.
There exists a distinct need for additional information on the activities of Joseph Smith, Jr., and his family during the New York period of his life. Writers have been very sketchy in their treatment of this era. Many details concerning the friends, associations, habitations and movements of the Smith family are obscure. Too little is known of the infant Church while it was in New York or of many of the early converts who espoused Mormonism. What was the background of their conversion? There is a need for biographical data on these important individuals. What is our understanding of the context in which the new movement grew? What was the condition of the Church in [2] the formative period and its status prior to the removal of that body from New York? This study is concerned with these important questions.
Method of Procedure and Sources Used
Under the auspices of the Institute of Mormon Studies at Brigham Young University, the writer spent eight weeks doing research in the states of New York and Pennsylvania, during the summer of 1968. In November, 1968, through another provision of the Institute of Mormon Studies, the writer accompanied Dr. Robert J. Matthews to Independence, Missouri and spent a week in the RLDS Church Historian’s Office searching for materials relating to the Church in New York.
During July–August, 1969, the writer again returned to New York in order to microfilm pertinent records in the Ontario County Courthouse, Canandaigua, New York. Subsequently, on a leave of absence from the LDS Department of Seminaries and Institutes, working under the direction of the Institute of Mormon Studies and the J. Reuben Clark Library, Brigham Young University, the writer again returned to the East and resided at the Martin Harris Farm, Palmyra, New York, from September, 1969, to August, 1970.
The primary purpose of the latter visit was to identify and collect available sources on “Mormonism” and other related materials. Having previously been trained as a microfilm photographer under the direction of Van A. Neiswender, Microfilm Production Manager for The Genealogical Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, the writer filmed records, documents and books in some courthouses, libraries, historical societies and private holdings in the state of New York. Through a special arrangement [3] with The Genealogical Society, the writer also worked with Phillip Adair, a photographer from Reproductions Systems Inc., Salt Lake City, having a contract with The Genealogical Society to microfilm courthouse records in some New York counties. The writer identified specific courthouse materials of historical significance in Broome and Chenango Counties, which were then filmed by Mr. Adair.
The resultant films from these combined efforts were processed by The Genealogical Society and “donor” copies were returned to the agencies supplying the original materials. Copies have also been dispensed to the J. Reuben Clark Library at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, and certain films were forwarded to the LDS Church Historian’s office, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Primary attention has been directed toward the holdings of a six-county area Ontario, Wayne, Seneca, Chenango and Broome counties in New York, along with the important county of Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. Although time would not permit the filming of all of the vast amounts of materials found, representative sources have been photographed from each of the counties named, with the exception of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, which will have to wait for a subsequent endeavor.
During the years 1969–1970, specific materials from areas external to the principal counties mentioned above have also been examined and in some instances filmed. Limited surveys of certain library collections in the New York cities of Lockport, Rochester, Syracuse, Cooperstown, Ithaca and New York City have been undertaken. Similarly, libraries in the Pennsylvania cities of Harrisburg, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Kingston have been visited. [4]
In order to gain a better understanding of the Smith family’s activities outside of New York State, the writer visited New England and surveyed records in the town clerk’s offices in Sharon and Tunbridge, Vermont, and at the Baker Library, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. Collections were also examined at the Lebanon Public Library, Lebanon, New Hampshire.
In addition to the above, the libraries of Brigham Young University, the LDS Church Historian’s Office, The Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, and the Utah State Historical Society have been used extensively in the research which has gone into this study.
Delimitation and Scope of the Study
The purpose of this study has been to analyze the historical origins associated with the rise of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the initial years of the restoration, in New York and Pennsylvania between 1816 and 1831. Although the arrival of the Smith family in the state of New York in 1816 appropriately marks the beginning of this study, the writer has traced the family’s earlier movements in New England. Beginning with the marriage of Joseph Smith, Sr., and Lucy Mack, 1796, the family has been followed through their various habitations in Vermont and New Hampshire to that juncture where untenable circumstances resulted in their removal to the state of New York.
Joseph Smith, Jr., necessarily forms the focal point for this analysis. His activities supply the basis of the chronology which has been followed. Six counties form the primary nucleus for Joseph’s [5] activities in the period specified viz., Wayne, Ontario, Seneca, Chenango and Broome counties in New York, and Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. His associations in these localities have been examined in depth. The study concludes with the departure of Joseph Smith, Jr., for Ohio, in January, 1831, and the subsequent removal of the Saints in New York to that state in the same year.
This treatise is concerned with the historical picture in the above areas as it relates to the restoration of the gospel. It is not an analysis of doctrinal views, except when they are directly related to the historical scene.
Where possible the writer has treated events chronologically, as they occurred.
Consideration of Terms
The following terms are used with a restricted meaning:
Prophet
In this treatise the title “Prophet” has reference to Joseph Smith. Although there have been others who are designated by Latter-day Saints as prophets, it has become customary to affix this title primarily to the first prophet and president of the Church, Joseph Smith.
Revelation
The Prophet Joseph Smith claimed to be inspired and to receive divine aid and direction in many of his spoken and written pronouncements. Some of these documents have been printed in the Doctrine and Covenants and have thereby been assigned numbers. These communications are commonly referred to as “revelations” in the writings of the Prophet and in the terminology of the Church. [6]
Doctrine and Covenants
The Doctrine and Covenants is accepted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a volume of scripture containing revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, with additions by some of his successors in the Presidency of the Church. Whenever this title is used, it has reference to the publication of the Church, with headquarters at Salt Lake City, Utah.
LDS
The letters “LDS” constitute the abbreviated form of the name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Mormon
The word “Mormon” is a recognized nickname for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or it may be used in reference to individuals within that faith. Members will also be designated as “Latter-day Saints” or “Saints.”
Dispensation of the Fullness of Times
The word “dispensation” means the act of dealing out or distributing. In regard to the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is a time of dispensing or giving out the word of God and the conferring of divine authority upon certain chosen ones by which they are empowered and act authoritatively in the name of God. The “Dispensation of the Fullness of Times” is considered to be the last of a series of dispensations in which all the decrees of God respecting the salvation of men and the redemption of the earth will be fulfilled.4 When the term “restoration of the gospel”[7] is used it has reference to the establishment of this last dispensation in which a final restoration of all things pertaining to Christ’s gospel will take place.
Town and Township
The meaning of the term “town” and “township” in New England, New York and Pennsylvania is not always recognized by people in the West. In the West, a “town” usually refers to a community or settlement, and a “township” is merely a unit of measurement to describe a geographical area which is not given a name, just a number, and usually contains thirty six sections of land. In the East, however, the word “town” or “township” is not used to identify an individual community or settlement, but is descriptive of a larger geographical area having a distinctive civil government, complete with “town” elections, supervisors, councilmen, justices of the peace, and is accorded a proper name. For instance, the “town” of Fayette, Seneca County, New York, lies on the south bank of the Seneca River and extends from Seneca Lake on the west to Cayuga Lake on the east and is the largest “town” in the county. Within the “town” of Fayette is found a part of the incorporated village of Waterloo and also the unincorporated communities of West Fayette, McDougall, Fayette, and Canoga. Confusion is avoided if the reader recognizes, for example, that the Peter Whitmer, Sr., family did not live in the community of Fayette, but in the country, in the rural area of the “town” of Fayette.5 Similarly, the Joseph Smith, Sr., family lived in the “town” of Manchester, and Martin Harris lived in the “town” of [8] Palmyra rather than within the villages bearing those names. [9]
