Prof. James R. W. Johnston was perhaps even more prophetic than he realized when in 1851, he recorded:
In the future history of mankind, if present appearances are to be trusted, the counties of Wayne and Ontario, N.Y., are likely to derive an interest and importance, in the eyes of a numerous body of people, from a circumstance wholly unconnected either with their social progress, or with their natural productions or capabilities. In these counties lie the scenes of the early passages in the life of Joe Smith, the founder of the sect of the Mormons.1
The advent of the LDS Church on the religious scene received its initial impetus from a revivalistic spirit which made its inroads across Western New York in the 1820’s. In consequence of the “excitement” created by this atmosphere, Joseph Smith subsequently recounted experiencing his “First Vision,” conversing with the “Angel Moroni,” securing the “Golden Plates,” and, eventually, publishing The Book of Mormon. All these events occurred in the Ontario-Wayne County area.
In the present era the thousands who visit the scenes of Joseph Smith’s early activities attest to the “interest and importance” ascribed to the events which occurred in those counties. Elder and Sister George Scott, an LDS Church missionary couple at the Bureau of Information, Hill Cumorah, informed the writer “In making up the yearly report we learned that we had had more than 43,000 visitors in 1970 as [35] compared with around 18,000 visitors in 1969.” That did not include approximately 100,000 persons who attended the Hill Cumorah Pageant.2
The Village of Palmyra
In the same year that the family of Joseph Smith, Sr., came to the village of Palmyra, [1816] the construction of the Erie Canal was authorized. That year, a board of canal commissioners assigned engineer James Geddes and Benjamin Wright the task of completing the project. Ground was broken on July 4, 1817, and on October 26, 1825, the Seneca Chief, first through boat over the entire canal, left Buffalo with Governor Clinton and a group of dignitaries on board. A flotilla of lesser celebrants followed.3
The importance of the Erie Canal to the development of the village of Palmyra and other communities along the canal route was summarized by Rev. Horace Eaton, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Palmyra, when he stated: “Clinton performed a most desirable ‘marriage service.’ He united the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, and fruitfulness and life through half a hemisphere. Freight from Albany to Buffalo sank from one hundred dollars to ten.”4[36]
The influence of the Erie Canal is further noted in a description of the village of Palmyra, between 1822 and 1823. It stated:
The Village, or Borough of Palmyra, where is the Post Office, is on Mud creek, in the E. township, and has the Erie Canal along the N., and across the E. part of the village. It has long been a place of very considerable business, and is the third in rank in this County, and increasing rapidly. Several larger stores and store houses, for the Canal trade, are erected and erecting here, and a regular line of two Canal Packets, for passengers, have been running through the season of 1822, between Pittsford of Monroe Co., this place and Utica. This Village is incorporated, and ought to be called a Borough, for reasons assigned under Ithaca, and many other places. It has 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist, and 1 Baptist Church, an academy, 2 or 3 schoolhouses, 13 dry good stores, 3 druggists shops, 3 inns, 2 tanneries, one of which is so extensive as to employ 40 hands, and a number of other mechanical establishments. It has 3 capacious basins, on the Canal, one of which has a dry dock. Mud creek runs eastward, 40 rods N. of the main street, which is one mile in length, and the Erie Canal is between this street and the creek, except that near the E. border of the Village, it crosses this street. At the W. extremity of the Village, the Canal comes within 2 rods of it, so that Palmyra may by-and-by look much more like a city of the Netherlands, than its great namesake, of ancient fame. There are many mills, close bordering, and some within the Village, which now contains 125 families, 85 dwelling houses, a printing office, post office, and about 1000 inhabitants. A turnpike is nearly finished to Montezuma. Palmyra Village is situated 13 miles N. of Canandaigua, 22 E. of Rochester, 15 W. of Lyons, 16 S. of Pultneyville, 12 NW. of Vienna v[illage], and 22 from Geneva.5
During the residence of the Smith family in the village of Palmyra, approximately 1816–1818, the community was located within the boundaries of Ontario County, New York. Palmyra did not become a part of Wayne County, New York, until 1823, where the new county was taken from the northwest corner of Ontario County and the north end of Seneca [37] County.6
The Smith Family in Palmyra
Following their arrival from Vermont, in 1816, local tradition stipulated that the family of Joseph Smith, Sr., resided in a house which was situated on the southeast corner of the intersection of Johnson and Vienna Streets, in the village of Palmyra. The reputed home no longer stands on that site, but has since been replaced by a dwelling of a later time period.7 Samuel J. Ferguson, former president of the Palmyra Branch of the LDS Church, told the writer that the residency of the Smith family on that site is “purely traditional.” He said
We do not know exactly where the Smith family moved but it is logical that it could have been in this particular location at that time when they moved into Palmyra. We are not positive that this is the exact location. The home which is here is an old home, but it’s not the original house that stood on this particular spot. This is a brick construction.8
Lucy Mack Smith left a very meager account of those early years in Palmyra. Her reminiscences cover only a few paragraphs. She stated:
When I again met my husband at Palmyra [after the journey from Vermont] we were much reduced—not from indolence, but on account of many reverses of fortune, with which our lives had been rather singularly marked. Notwithstanding our misfortunes, and the embarrassments with which we were surrounded, I was quite happy in once more having the society of my husband, and in throwing myself and children upon the care and affection of a tender companion and father.
We all now sat down, and counselled together relative to the course which was best for us to adopt in our destitute circumstances, and we came to the conclusion to unite our strength in endeavoring to obtain a piece of land. Having done consider [38] able at painting oil-cloth coverings for tables, stands, &c., I set up the business, and did extremely well. I furnished all the provisions for the family, and, besides this, began to replenish our household furniture, in a very short time, by my own exertions.9
Of the Smith family tenure in the village of Palmyra, there is very little information from their contemporaries. Pomeroy Tucker, a resident of Palmyra, asserted that he “was well acquainted with ‘Jo Smith,’ the first Mormon prophet, and with his father and all the Smith family, since their removal to Palmyra from Vermont in 1816.”10He further stated:
At Palmyra, Mr. Smith, Sr., opened a “cake and beer shop,” as described by his signboard, doing business on a small scale, by the profits of which, added to the earnings of an occasional day’s work on hire by himself and his elder sons, for the village and farming people, he was understood to secure a scanty but honest living for himself and family. These hired days’ works were divided among the various common labor jobs that offered from time to time, such as gardening, harvesting, well-digging, etc.
Mr. Smith’s shop merchandise, consisting of gingerbread, pies, boiled eggs, root-beer, and other like notions of traffic, soon became popular with the juvenile people of the town and country, commanding brisk sales, especially on Fourth of July anniversaries and on military training days, as these prevailed at that period. Peddling was done in the streets on those occasions by the facility of a rude handcart of the proprietor’s own construction.11
The Smith’s Move to the Town of Farmington
Ever changing boundaries in a formative period cause many geographical discrepancies in later historical treatises. A primary ex-[39] ample of this is the towns of Farmington and Manchester. In a technical sense, the removal of the Smith family from the village of Palmyra to the town of Manchester was an impossibility in 1818, since the town of Manchester was not created from Farmington until 1821–1822. Spafford’s Gazetteer explains the circumstances in these terms:
Manchester, a Post-Township of Ontario County, 10 miles N. of Canandaigua, [that is, its centre is 10 miles N. of Canandaigua village], bounded N. by Palmyra, E. by Phelps, S. by Hopewell, W. by Farmington, being T. 11, in the 2d Range, 6 miles square. In the 1st edition of this work, this was the easternmost of 2 townships that then constituted the Town of Farmington. It was erected into a separate Town in 1821 [March 31, 1821], and called Burt; and in April, 1822, [April 16, 1822], received its present name, by another act of legislation.12
The exact date of the removal of the Joseph Smith, Sr., family from the village of Palmyra, Ontario County to the town of Farmington, Ontario County, is difficult to determine. However, an approximation of the time period has been obtained from Mother Smith who attested:
My husband and his sons, Alvin and Hyrum, set themselves to work to pay for one hundred acres of land, which Mr. Smith contracted for with a land agent. In a year, we made nearly all of the first payment, erected a log house, and commenced clearing. I believe something like thirty acres of land were got ready for cultivation the first year. . . .
When the time for making the second payment drew nigh. Alvin went from home to get work, in order to raise the money, and after much hardship and fatigue, returned with the required amount. This payment being made, we felt relieved, as this was the only thing that troubled us; for we had a snug log house, neatly furnished, and the means of living comfortably. It was now only two years since we entered Palmyra, almost destitute of money, property, or acquaintance.13
The move to the farm in “Manchester” was apparently effected [40] within two years of their arrival in Palmyra, approximately 1818. Pomeroy Tucker recalled that “in 1818 they [the Smiths] settled upon a nearly wild or unimproved piece of land, mostly covered with standing timber, situate about two miles south of Palmyra, being on the north border of the town of Manchester, Ontario County.”14 Tucker also remembered the nature of the home into which they moved, saying that they “occupied in the first instance, a small, one-story, smoky log-house, which they had built prior to removing there.” He explained: “This house was divided into two rooms, on the ground-floor, and had a low garret, in two apartments. A bedroom wing, built of sawed slabs, was afterward added.”15
Orsamus Turner, another contemporary of the Smiths in Ontario County, stated that as early as 1819 the family had occupied some new land on “Stafford street” in the town of Manchester, near the line of Palmyra.16 Turner also recalled that “here the author remembers to have first seen the family, in the winter of ‘19, ‘20, in a rude log house, with but a small spot underbrushed around it.17
Thomas L. Cook, a Palmyra historian, traced the movement of the Smiths within the Palmyra-Manchester area in these words: [41]
They moved to this tract of wild land to occupy it as squatters, as there was no one who seemed to be looking after it, and on the west side of the road and north of where the barn stands, he [Joseph Smith, Sr.], built a log cabin that contained two rooms on the ground floor, with two divisions in the garret. Later an addition was put up that was made of slabs and used for a sleeping room. In this cabin they made their home for a dozen years.18
In the above account, Thomas L. Cook located the original log cabin on the west side of the road and north of the existing barns. This prospect is very interesting in the light of a highway survey which might confirm not only the cabins location on the west side of the road, but also the possibility that the Smith log home may have actually been situated in the town of Palmyra and not in the town of Manchester. The survey is as follows:
Minutes of the survey of a public Highway beginning on the south line of Township No 12 2d range of townships in the town of Palmyra three rods fourteen links southeast of Joseph Smith’s dwelling house, thence N 3° West 192 rods thence N 2 deg east 24 rods thence N 3° deg west 76 rods, thence N 2° W 58 rods thence North 7° east 26 rods thence N 11° E 47 rods to the line of lots owned by Zebulon Williams and the heirs of John Hurlbut thence N 1 1/2° E on said line 68 rods thence N 4 deg West 42 rods to the south line of main Street two rods west of the north west corner of a Lot of land formerly owned by Joseph D Hayward the above minutes are calcualted to be the center of the road and were taken by the poor old town Compass, actually explored and surveyed by us this 13th day of June 1820.
Note that this survey begins on the “south line of Township No. 12, 2d range of townships in the town of Palmyra,” and is a measurement from “the center of the road,” north into the town of Palmyra. The road mentioned here would be the Stafford Road which runs north from the town of Manchester into the village of Palmyra. If the starting point is “three rods fourteen links southeast of Joseph Smith’s dwelling,” on the south line of the town of Palmyra, then a back azimuth of that same line would necessarily place the Smith home “three rods fourteen links” northwest—into the town of Palmyra, and not the town of Manchester. Any point north of a south line of the town of Palmyra must be in the town of Palmyra. If this is a valid estimate of the above survey, then the Smith family cabin was situated just inside the town of Palmyra, on the west side of the Stafford Road and slightly north of their own hundred acres in the town of Manchester. Such an “accident” is entirely possible in a day when boundary lines may not have been well established. This would also mean that the Smith family did not actually remove to Manchester, other than farming there, until they moved from the log cabin into the new two story frame home just south of the Palmyra-Manchester town lines.20[43]
The Revival of 1820
During the later years of the Smith family’s residency in Vermont, a revivalistic spirit was evidenced in that state. This fact is attested in the following statement:
In 1810, and again in 1816, revivalism swept Vermont from town to town in a manner very similar to an epidemic of disease. As many as fifty persons succumbed to these onslaughts of emotionalism in a single town in a single day, and the total harvest of the churches ran into the thousands. The mental and even physical upset involved in such an experience as the old-time conversion was unquestionably profound; and it must have tended, in a vague sort of way at least, to add to the general unrest. Certainly there were some of the converts who felt the necessity of a new outward life to correspond with their new inner revelation.21
The Smiths could not have been unaware of these occurrences in Vermont. Nor could they have been oblivious to a continuation of this pattern of revivalism as they moved to their new home in Western New York State. Dr. Milton V. Backman affirmed:
During the summer of 1816 a powerful revival erupted in the town of Palmyra, and the spiritual enlivenment continued throughout the winter. During this productive spiritual quickening, membership in the Presbyterian church nearly doubled. Consequently the congregation was divided in 1817. Fifty-six members separated from the mother church and formed the Western Presbyterian Church of Palmyra with Jesse Townsend as the first installed pastor.22
Lucy Smith also stated that shortly after a spiritual experience of her husband, in 1819, “there was a great revival in religion, which extended to all the denominations of Christians in the surrounding country in which we resided.” Continuing, she explained: “Many of the [45] world’s people becoming concerned about the salvation of their souls, came forward and presented themselves as seekers after religion.”23
Among the seekers attracted by the movement were four members of the Smith family, the mother, Lucy Mack Smith, and her children Hyrum, Samuel Harrison, and Sophronia, who all joined the Presbyterian Church in Palmyra.24 Joseph Smith, Jr, then in his fifteenth year, was also stirred by this religious agitation. He recorded:
During this time of great excitement, my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness; but, though my feelings were deep and often poignant, still I kept myself aloof from all these parties, though I attended their several meetings as often as occasion would permit. In process of time my mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them, but so great were the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong. My mind at times was greatly excited the cry and tumult were so great and incessant.25
Joseph stated that he retired to the woods “on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty,” to make his first attempt at vocal prayer.26 The earliest [46] known account of the ensuing “First Vision” was recorded in the handwriting of Frederick G. Williams, scribe to Joseph Smith, Jr., in Kirtland, Ohio. The document has been dated by Dean C. Jessee, of the LDS Church Historian’s Office, as being penned between the summer of 1831 and November 1832.27 An extract from this account stated:
. . . I cried unto the Lord for mercy for there was none else to whom I could go and obtain mercy and the Lord heard my cry in the wilderness and while in the attitude of calling upon the Lord in the 16th year of my age a pillar of light above the brightness of the sun at noon day came down from above and rested upon me and I was filld [sic] with the spirit of God and the Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord and he spake unto me saying Joseph my son thy Sins are forgiven thee. go thy way walk in my statutes and keep my commandments behold I am the Lord of glory I was crucifyed [sic] for the world that all those who believe on my name may have Eternal life behold the world lieth in sin at this time and none doeth good no not one they have turned asside [sic] from the Gospel and keep not my commandments they draw near to me with their lips while their hearts are far from me and mine anger is kindling against the inhabitants of the earth to visit them acording [sic] to this ungodliness and to bring to pass that which hath been spoken by the mouth of the prophets and Apostles behold and lo I come quickly as it [is] written of me in the cloud clothed in the glory of my Father and my soul was filled with love and for many days I could rejoice with great joy and the Lord was with me but could find none that would believe the heavenly vision. . . .28[49]
In the more familiar account, prepared in 1838, Joseph Smith described more fully the nature of that experience. After commenting on his deliverance from the power of an “enemy which had seized upon him,” he detailed the following:
I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said—pointing to the other—“THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, HEAR HIM.”
My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right—and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight: that those professors were all corrupt; that “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the commandments of men: having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.” He again forbade me to join with any of them: and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, “Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off.” I then said to my mother, “I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true.”29[48]
Joseph attempted to recite his experience outside his family, but was rebuffed when he did so. He reported: “I soon found . . . that my telling the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against me among the professors of religion, . . . and in a manner to create in them a spirit of the most bitter persecution and reviling.”30 Mention is made by Joseph of a particular attempt to communicate the events of his vision with one of the Methodist preachers who had been most active in the recent revivals. However, the minister treated his telling of the experience with “contempt.”31 In both LDS literature and non-LDS texts, this exchange with the Methodist minister is often linked with the Rev. George Lane. It has been suggested that Rev. Lane may have prompted Joseph to inquire in the grove, and that he was the minister who administered this rebuff. Because of the principal role ascribed to Rev. George Lane, the writer will examine the possibility of his participation in these events.
Reverend George Lane
According to certain accounts, one of those instrumental in moving Joseph Smith to make his epic inquiry of the Lord, which resulted in the vision of the Father and Son, was Rev. George Lane (1784–1859), a Methodist minister. Rev. Lane had been attracted to Methodism in the winter of 1803, near where the community of Kirkwood, [49] New York stands today.32 Lane was apparently “awakened” through the preaching of James Herron, and was received into the church by Samuel Budd.33 In 1803, George Lane was employed by the presiding elder of the Genesee District as an assistant preacher on the Tioga circuit. He was admitted into “full Connexion” and ordained a deacon by Bishop Francis Asbury in 1807. By 1809, Bishop William M’Kendree had ordained George Lane an elder in the Methodist Church.34
On July 20, 1810, the Genesee Conference, newly formed by a division of the Philadelphia Conference, held its inaugural gathering at Lyons, New York. The “Journal of the Genesee Conference” for July 23, 1810 specifies that Rev. George Lane was officially located as of that date.35 Broken in health because of his “former toils and exposure,” he found himself under the necessity of retiring for a season from the itineracy.36 According to the records of the old “Stewards Book of the Wyoming circuit, Lane had in fact located shortly after the [50] quarterly meeting in December 1809. The account indicates that in March 1810 Samuel Carver received traveling expenses and one-fourth salary for one quarter in Lane’s stead. From March to July 1810, Loring Grant traveled the Wyoming circuit in place of George Lane.37
When George Lane withdrew from the itineracy, he entered the mercantile business in partnership with his youngest brother, Charles. They established themselves in a store-room formerly occupied by a Mr. Wright at the lower end of the village of Plymouth, Pennsylvania. This relationship was dissolved in 1812, Lane later went into still another partnership with his brother-in-law, Benjamin Harvey. A second store was opened in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, operated by George Lane in October 1814. Lane served as Collector of Taxes for Plymouth township in 1813, and in 1818, he was elected Treasurer of the Wilkes-Barre Bridge company.38
Despite his retirement from the itineracy, Rev. Lane did not divorce himself from certain ministerial performances. He continued to preach occasionally and was called upon to address various congregations in Wilkes-Barre and surrounding communities. He also assisted other ministers and, “in his house the preachers ever found a pleasant home, and in him a true friend and wise counselor.”39[51]
His health restored and anxious to associate once again with the active ministry, Rev. Lane sold his stock at the Wilkes-Barre store in March 1819, and re-entered the itineracy.40 On Thursday, July 1,1819, he was in attendance at the annual Genesee Conference which convened in Vienna (afterwards Phelps), Ontario County, New York. The following day, Friday, July 2, at “9 o’clock A.M. conference met. George Lane, Gideon Draper, Wm. Snow and Thomas Wright were again received into the traveling connexion.”41
The conference was in session over a period of eight days, July 1 to July 8, 1819. Abel Stevens gave some indication of the general pattern which evolved at such conferences of the Methodist Church. He stated:
These annual assemblies became imposing occasions. A bishop presided; the preachers from many miles around, usually including several states, were present; hosts of laymen were spectators. There was preaching in the early morning, in the afternoon, and at night. The daily proceedings were introduced with religious services, and were characterized by an impressive religious spirit. They continued usually a week, and it was a festal season, gathering the war-worn heroes of many distant and hard-fought fields, renewing the intimacies of preachers and people, and crowned alike by social hospitalities and joyous devotions.42
The presence of some 110 ministers and their bishop, R. R. Roberts, at the Genesee Conference meetings, representing the New York, Pennsylvania, and the Upper and Lower Canada districts, must have [52] created at least a moderate stir in the immediate neighborhood.43 This places Rev. George Lane within a thirteen mile vicinity of Manchester attending the largest Methodist meeting of the year in Western New York, among a great number of Methodist ministers and at a time when Joseph Smith was aware of “an unusual excitement on the subject of religion.”
Whether or not Joseph attended some of these meetings cannot be determined from any records presently available, but the opportunity cannot be denied—if only to sell confectioneries.44 To think that the Smiths would not have heard of the gathering is hardly believable.
Rev. Lane was appointed Presiding Elder of the Susquehanna District at the conference. He was so named because he was one “who incessantly travels his extensive territory, preaching, counseling the traveling and Local Preachers and Exhorters, meeting the official members of the circuit Societies, and promoting the interest of the Church in every possible way.”45 The circuits which comprised the Susquehanna District, in 1819, were the Bald Eagle, Lycoming, Shamoking, Northumberland, Wyoming, Canaan, Bridgewater, Wyalusing, Tioga, and Wayne.46 The following year, 1820, the Broome circuit was placed under Lane’s jurisdiction.47
Rev. Lane’s geographical assignment prompts some interesting [53] speculation relative to his possible acquaintance with some individuals who were later to become principals in the Mormon movement. Living within the confines of the Susquehanna district, at Harmony, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, immediately west of the community of Harmony, on the Susquehanna River, were Isaac Hale, his wife Elizabeth and their nine children, among whom was Emma, the future wife of Joseph Smith. The Hale family were devout Methodists, Isaac and Elizabeth being numbered among the members of the first class conducted at Lanesboro, Pennsylvania, some two miles east of their Harmony home.48 Preachers on the Broome circuit were welcomed into the Hale home and one of their appointments was in a log school house near the Isaac Hale residence.49 Under these circumstances, it is a distinct probability that Rev. Lane, in his capacity of “meeting the official members of the circuit Societies,” may have known the Hale family.
Rev. Lane would most assuredly have been acquainted with Isaac Hale’s brother-in-law, Nathaniel Lewis. Nathaniel had married Sarah Hale, and lived just across the Susquehanna River from Isaac. He was a deacon in the Methodist faith, having been ordained by Bishop Asbury on July 12, 1807.50 “Nathaniel Lewis, an ordained local preacher, was deeply pious, shrewd, witty, and at home in the rough-and-tumble pole [54] mics of the time. He preached and formed classes at Jackson, Thompson, Starruca and other places.”51 Lewis was one of those who became strongly opposed to the claims which Joseph Smith later made. He was still preaching in that vicinity as late as 1835, prior to moving west.52
On September 13, 1819, Rev. George Lane and Marmaduke Pierce preached with telling effect at a camp meeting held at Carpenter’s Notch, Wyoming circuit. From the following account we derive some feeling for Rev. Lane’s persuasive abilities from the stand:
Marmaduke Pierce preached a short but mighty sermon, and closed with a perfect storm. He addressed the wicked with tremendous power, and then, exclaiming, “I feel the Spirit Of God upon me, Glory, hallelujah!” dropped down upon the seat behind him, shouting, weeping, laughing, wonderfully moved. The joyous responses from preachers and the assemblage arose like the sound of many waters, while the whole congregation shook like the forest in mighty wind. The exhortations of the presiding elder, George Lane, were overwhelming. Sinners quailed under them, and many cried aloud for mercy. The meeting included the Sabbath, and continued about a week. Sixty persons professed to find peace, and thirty joined the church.53
The annual Genesee Conference in 1820, convened at Lundy’s Lane, Niagara, Upper Canada, on Thursday, July 20. Rev George Lane was present at the gathering and on July 24, was examined and “passed.”54 Lane was an active participant in the proceedings of the conference, being named to at least two committees. In the first instance, July 20, he was elected to a three man “committee of temporalities,” [55] with Abner Chase and Charles Giles.55 Lane also served on still another committee of three, which investigated the inroads of Free Masonry into the Methodist itineracy in the Genesee Conference.56
Lane’s service on the latter committee subsequently caused him considerable discomfiture. In his home community of Wilkes-Barre, where he had been affiliated with the Masons, certain persons proceeded to “implicate and assail his character.” On September 24, 1823, Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M. (Free and Accepted Masons), having been appraised of the resolutions made at the Genesee Conference of 1820 and ascribing their authorship to Rev. Lane, formulated some resolutions of their own, calling for an investigating committee.57 The efforts of the committee resulted in a carefully framed letter from George Lane to the members of the Free Mason Lodge. His detailed reply to the charges leveled against him is a classic representation of his powers of diplomacy in ameliorating a tense situation between the Methodist clergy and the Masonic Society.58
Joseph Smith asserted that his vision of the Father and the Son resulted from the motivation which he received by an unusual excitement on the subject of religion which was generated by various sects and [56] affected “the whole district of country.”59 The question necessarily arises, was Rev. George Lane among the religionists promoting the revivalistic excitement in the immediate area, and in particular, was he a personal instigator of Joseph’s design to pray?
In the pursuit of his ministerial duties, Rev. Lane was in the area where Joseph Smith lived on a number of occasions between the years 1819 and 1825. The nature, degree, or indeed, the actuality of their acquaintanceship during this interval poses a number of interesting possibilities.
For eight days, from July 1, 1819 to July 8, 1819, George Lane was in attendance at the annual Genesee Conference at Vienna, New York (now Phelps), some thirteen miles southeast of the Smith farm at Manchester.60 In July 1820, Lane would have had to pass through the greater Palmyra-Manchester vicinity on his way to Niagara, Upper Canada, to attend the conference held at Lundy’s Lane, July 20 to July 26, 1820, unless he went by an extremely circuitous route.61 Present records do not specify Lane’s itinerary or exact route of travel to and from Niagara, but they do for Lane’s friend, Rev. George Peck, who lived at Kingston, Pennsylvania, just across the Susquehanna River from Lane at Wilkes-Barre. His conference route took him north to Ithaca, then to a camp meeting in the Holland Purchase, subsequently passing along the Ridge Road to Lundy’s Lane. His return journey was by way of the Ridge [57] Road to Rochester, and then on to Auburn, New York.62 A quick look at the map of New York state will show that Palmyra is almost on a direct line between Rochester and Auburn. If Lane followed a similar avenue, it would have brought him very close to the neighborhood of the Smith home.
The “First Vision” very probably occurred before July, 1820. Though it is not known specifically that Rev. Lane was in the area earlier that spring, it is known that he did not travel to the conference with Rev. Peck, which suggests that he either went to the Methodist assemblage earlier or later than his associate. After two weeks of travel, Peck arrived at Lundy’s Lane just in time for the conference. Since Lane did not travel with Peck, there is a possibility that he chose to leave Pennsylvania at an earlier time in order to participate in revivals along the way. He had a vested interest in the Ontario District stemming from his very early itineracy in that general section of country. It is possible that invitations extended during or as a result of the Vienna conference of 1819 may have caused him to spend time in the area before going on to the conference at Lundy’s Lane.
The Genesee Conference for 1822, was again held in Vienna, Ontario County, New York, July 24 to August 2, 1822. Rev Lane was present, examined and passed. He was also called to serve on two committees. One concerned the examination of manuscripts for publication, and the other the receipt of communications relative to the establishment of auxiliary societies.63 For about ten days, Rev Lane was again [58] within a few miles of Manchester.
From July 1819 to July 1823, Lane served as supervising elder of the Susquehanna District. During the interval from July 1823 to July 1824, his appointment was the Wyoming circuit.64 In July 1824 he was once more assigned as a presiding elder, this time, however, to the Ontario District. The Ontario District then comprised the circuits of Lyons, Ontario, Seneca, Crooked Lake, Canandaigua and Geneva, Canisteo and Bath and Prattsburgh.65 For an entire year, then, from July 1824 to July 1825, Lane presided over the district within the confines of which the Smith family resided (Manchester was probably on the Ontario circuit). On January 25, 1825, Rev. Lane addressed a glowing letter to the editors of the Methodist Magazine in which he outlined the unusual successes being enjoyed in the Ontario District. An entry of particular interest stated:
December 11th and 12th our quarterly meeting for Ontario circuit was held in Ontario. It was attended with showers of blessings, and we have reason to believe that much good was done. Here I found that the work which had for some time been going on in Palmyra, had broken out from the village like a mighty flame, and was spreading in every direction. When I left the place, December 22nd, there had, in the village and its vicinity, upward of one hundred and fifty joined the society besides a number that had joined other churches, and many that had joined no church.66
From the foregoing evidence, it is easy to see that Joseph Smith could have had contact with Rev. Lane at a number of points during this extended period. If such an acquaintance had existed, [59] when would it have been? Oliver Cowdery, in December 1834, undertook to enlighten the readers of the Messenger and Advocate on the circumstances shaping the earliest foundations of the Church. As he prepared to recount the events of Joseph’s “15th year” (1820), he prefaced his remarks with this statement:
It is necessary to premise this account by relating the situation of the public mind relative to religion, at this time:
One Mr. Lane, a presiding Elder of the Methodist church, visited Palmyra and vicinity. Elder Lane was a talented man possessing a good share of literary endowment, and apparent humility. There was a great awakening, or excitement raised on the subject of religion, and much inquiry for the word of life. Large additions were made to the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist churches.—Mr. Lane’s manner of communication was preculiarly calculated to awaken the intellect of the hearer, and arouse the sinner to look about him for safety—much good instruction was always drawn from his discourses on the scriptures, and in common with others, our brother’s mind became awakened.67
Cowdery’s account at this juncture is in harmony with Joseph Smith’s relative to the circumstances of 1820. However, in his next letter to the Messenger and Advocate February 1835, he retracted his initial statement and said:
You will recollect that I mentioned the time of a religious excitement, in Palmyra and vicinity to have been in the 15th year of our brother J. Smith Jr’s age—that was an error in the type—it should have been in the 17th.—You will please remember this correction, as it will be necessary for the full understanding of what will follow in time. This would bring the date down to the year 1823.68
Although he offers no explanation for his doing so, Oliver Cowdery circumvented the happenings of 1820 by omitting any entry relative to the “First Vision.” Instead, he suddenly moved ahead three years, [60] identified the religious fervor, and began his account with the visit of the angel on the evening of September, 21, 1823. Whatever Oliver’s reasons may have been for this deletion, Joseph Smith filled in the omissions in Cowdery’s letter by including an account of the appearance of the Father and Son in his 1838 manuscript and identified the time as being “early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty.”69
Years later, in 1883, William Smith, Joseph’s younger brother gave this reminiscence of Rev. Lane on the scene. He stated:
In 1822 and 1823, the people in our neighborhood were very much stirred up with regard to religious matters by the preaching of a Mr. Lane, an Elder of the Methodist church, and celebrated throughout the country as a “great revival preacher.”70
Again, in 1893, just prior to his death, William further identified Rev. Lane as one who was directly responsible for Joseph’s prayerful inquiry. William related:
Rev. Mr. Lane of the Methodists preached a sermon on “What church shall I join?” And the burden of his discourse was to ask God, using as a text, “If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally.” And of course when Joseph went home and was looking over the text he was impressed to do just what the preacher had said, and going out in the woods with child like, simple trusting faith believing that God meant just what He said, kneeled down and prayed. . . .71
Although William Smith stipulated that it was Rev. George Lane who had such a profound affect on his brother Joseph, and that the particular religious excitement was occurring in 1822 and 1823, what [61] were the recollections of Joseph himself? Nowhere in the Prophet’s writings does he appear to have mentioned George Lane by name. He does speak of a certain Methodist minister who was active in the revival sequence of 1820 and to whom he related his vision, but he fails to identify the man.72
Lucy Mack Smith, another principal in those eventful days, similarly makes no mention of the minister by name. Amidst the profusion of dates ascribed to Joseph’s vision, it is important to note that Mother Smith, a witness, does confirm Joseph’s dating of that experience as the spring of 1820.73
What of Rev. George Lane’s own expressions relative to Joseph Smith or Mormonism? The writer has thus far been unable to find any account, public or private, which states Lane’s personal reactions either to the Prophet or the Mormon sect. However, there were certain circumstances outside of the Ontario scene which may have prompted Lane to make some comment on Mormonism. Irene, an older sister of Rev. Lane, lived among the Mormons and became a member of the Church near the end of her life. She married David Foote, at Windsor, Broome County, New York in 1791, and in the fall of 1798, they moved to Dryden, Cayuga (now Tompkins) County, New York. During the spring of 1830, David borrowed a copy of The Book of Mormon from a neighbor and after reading it, testified that it was a true book. In November, 1833, he journeyed to Geneseo, Livingston County, New York, to investigate the new religion. While there, he was baptized by Elder John Murdock. [62] As a result of David’s conversion, his daughter Betsy, another daughter and a son Warren linked their fortunes to the Mormon faith. Irene died at Montebello, Illinois, March 5, 1846, and was buried in the Nauvoo Cemetery.74
Rev. George Lane’s wife, Sarah, being in ill health, had not accompanied her husband to his 1824 appointment as presiding elder of the Ontario District, but had remained in Wilkes-Barre. As her health continued to fail, Lane elected to “locate” in 1825. For nine years, 1825–1834, he was engaged as a merchant in Berwick, Pennsylvania. “But these were not years of idleness; he had his regular appointments for twenty miles around Berwick, and many in that region will arise and call him blessed.”75
Sarah Harvey Lane died on October 11, 1832, in Kingston, Pennsylvania, while visiting at the home of the Pierce Butler family.76Lane continued his mercantile business for a season, but again was unable to stay away from the itinerant ministry. He sold his interest in the store and was admitted into the Oneida Conference in 1834 (the Oneida Conference had been formed in 1829 by a division of the Old Genesee Conference). He was once more appointed as presiding elder of the Susquehanna District, making his residence at Wilkes-Barre in his house on the public square.77[63]
The General Conference of the Methodist Church elected George Lane assistant book agent in 1836. He removed to New York City and transferred his relations to the New York Conference. In September, 1840, he became book agent. In all, he served the Methodist Book Concern for a total of sixteen years. During twelve of those years he held the office of treasurer of the missionary society.78
In New York Rev. Lane met Miss Lydia Bunting. They were married January 24, 1837. Two children were born to the couple, Sarah Georgiana and Lydia.79 In 1852, Lane received a superannuated relation and at the age of sixty-eight he and his wife retired to Mount Holly, New Jersey. With Lane’s health declining, it was thought best to return him to more familiar surroundings amidst family and friends in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Rev. George Lane died there on May 6, 1859, age seventy-five, at the home of his son, Charles A. Lane.80He was buried beside his first wife, Sarah Harvey Lane, in the Hollenback Cemetery, at Wilkes-Barre.
The Visitation of Moroni
Historical accounts give little or no information relative to Joseph Smith’s activities during the years immediately following his first vision. Joseph, himself, merely stated: “I continued to pursue [64] my common vocation in life until the twenty-first of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, all the time suffering severe persecution at the hands of all classes of men, both religious and irreligious, because I continued to affirm that I had seen a vision.”81
When Joseph mentions the pursuit of his “common vocation” he undoubtedly has reference to work on the farm or hiring out as a day laborer. One account places him a mile west of Seneca Falls, New York, Seneca County, “about 1821 or ‘22 as a general hand for any kind of work.”82 Another account, time unspecified, indicated that Joseph may have worked as “a laborer on the farm in what is now the northern section of Geneva.”83
Undoubtedly, Joseph was also involved in a family building project in this time period. The Smiths had begun the construction of a new frame home to replace the inadequate log house, but they had apparently not yet progressed far enough to take up residence in the structure.84
Joseph stated that in the years which intervened between the “First Vision,” in 1820, and the above mentioned manifestation on September 21, 1823, he frequently fell into many foolish errors and dis [65] played the weakness of youth. He also remarks that he was guilty of levity and sometimes associated with jovial company.”85 On the evening of September 21, feeling somewhat condemned for these actions, he engaged in a prayer of supplication for forgiveness, with a desire to know his stand before God. Joseph reported the results of his appeal as follows:
While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air for his feet did not touch the floor. He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked and his arms also, a little above the wrist, so, also were his feet naked as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom. Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person.
When first I looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me. He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all the nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the sources from whence they sprang. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants; also that there were two stones in silver bows—and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim—deposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these stones were what constituted “Seers” in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book.86[66]
Moroni quoted to Joseph a series of scriptures from both the Old and New Testaments. The angel also warned him that when he obtained the record, he was to show it to no one. Neither were the accompanying implements, the “breast plate” and the “Urim and Thummim” to be displayed to others. Joseph said that he saw in a vision the place where the plates were deposited. Having given his message, the angel departed, only to return two more times during the course of the night. Each time he reiterated his previous message. Joseph reported that these heavenly communications lasted the whole of the night.87 The next day, as he attempted to perform his labors in the field with his father and brother Alvin, Joseph appeared pale and was sent to the house by his father. Before reaching the dwelling, however, he sank down to the earth exhausted and was again visited by Moroni. The angel admonished Joseph to tell his father everything that had transpired the previous night. This instruction was complied with and Father Smith, in turn, charged his son to do exactly as the angel had directed.88 Joseph asserted:
I left the field, and went to the place where the messenger had told me the plates were deposited; and owing to the distinct [67] ness of the vision which I had had concerning it, I knew the place the instant I arrived there.
Convenient to the village of Manchester, Ontario county, New York, stands a hill of considerable size, and the most elevated of any in the neighborhood. On the west side of this hill, not far from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates, deposited in a stone box. This stone was thick and rounding in the middle on the upper side, and thinner towards the edges, so that the middle part of it was visible above the ground, but the edge all around was covered with earth.
Having removed the earth, I obtained a lever, which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and with a little exertion raised it up. I looked in, and there indeed did I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate, as stated by the messenger. The box in which they lay was formed by laying stones together in some kind of cement. In the bottom of the box were laid two stones crosswise of the box, and on these stones lay the plates and the other things with them.89
When Joseph attempted to take the plates from their container, he was informed that the time for their removal had not arrived, “neither would it until four years from that time.” The Prophet explained. “He [Moroni] told me that I should come to that place precisely in one year from that time, and that he would there meet with me, and that I should continue to do so until the time should come for obtaining the plates.”90
The Hill Cumorah
The Hill Cumorah is 3.0 miles southeast (road distance) from the Joseph Smith, Sr., farm, and 4.0 miles south of the village of Palmyra, on the Canandaigua Road (New York State Highway 21). The Hill is situated in the town of Manchester. The term “Cumorah” is derived from the “land of Cumorah,” spoken of in The Book of Mormon, by a hill which was called “Cumorah.”91 That landmark has been known by a succession of [68] names in modern times each reflecting in some way its association with Joseph Smith and the plates. In addition to the title “Hill Cumorah,” one encounters “Mormon Hill,” “Golden Bible Hill” and “Bible Hill.”
Before “Cumorah” came into popular usage in the LDS Church, David Whitmer said that he, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery had a singular experience with the name. He stated:
When I was returning to Fayette [about June 1, 1829] with Joseph and Oliver all of us riding in the wagon. . . a very pleasant, nice looking old man suddenly appeared by the side of our wagon who saluted us with, ‘Good morning, it is very warm,’ at the same time wiping his face or forehead with his hand. We returned the salutation, and, by a sign from Joseph I invited him to ride, if he was going our way. But he said very pleasantly, ‘No, I am going to Cumorah.’ This name was something new to me, I did not know what Cumorah meant. We all gazed at him and at each other, and as I looked around inquiringly of Joseph, the old man instantly disappeared, so that I did not see him again.92
With the publication of The Book of Mormon, in March 1830, the title of “Cumorah” became widely known. Oliver Cowdery visited the Hill in 1830, and left a graphic description of its formation, groundcover and a rather detailed approximation of the location where the plates were buried. He stated:
The hill of which I have been speaking, at the time mentioned, presented a varied appearance: the north end rose suddenly from the plain, forming a promontory without timber, but covered with grass. As you passed to the south you soon came to scattering timber, the surface having been cleared by art or by wind; and a short distance further left, you are surrounded with the common forest of the country. It is necessary to observe, that even the part cleared was only occupied for pasturage its steep ascent and narrow summit not admitting the plow of the husbandman, with any degree of ease or profit. It was at the second mentioned place where the record was found to be deposited, on the west side of the hill, not far from the top down its side; and when myself visited the place in the year 1830, there [69] were several trees standing: enough to cause a shade in summer, but not so much as to prevent the surface being covered with grass—which was also the case when the record was first found.93
The Christian Register, in 1831, also described the features of the Hill Cumorah. Its correspondent stated:
This hill has since been called by some, the Golden Bible Hill. The road from Canandaigua to Palmyra runs along its western base, at the northern extremity the hill is quite abrupt and narrow. It runs to the south for half a mile and then spreads out into a piece of broad table land, covered with beautiful orchards and wheat fields. . . . It is profusely covered to the top with Beach, Maple, Bass, and Whitewood the northern extremity is quite bare of trees.94
Edward Partridge and Isaac Morley visited the Hill in 1835. In his journal, Edward recorded this impression of that site:
July 7th, 1835. Went to Palmyra about 36 or 8 miles and lodged with Brother Martin Harris. We passed the Hill Cumorah, about 3 miles south of Palmyra. It is a hill perhaps 100 feet high [125 feet high] running from a trifle west of north to a little east of south. The north end breaks off very square, and when from a distance we view it the sides appear steep like the roof of a house.95
In a series of land purchases, the LDS Church has acquired that part of the Hill Cumorah which has historical significance to the Saints, with its adjoining lands. The primary acquisitions have included the “Cumorah Farm,” October 16, 1923; the “Bennett Farm,” February 17, 1928; and the “Sampson Farm,” February 17, 1928.96 On [70] Sunday, July 21, 1935, a dedicatory program marked the unveiling of the “Angel Moroni Monument” on top of the Hill Cumorah. Heber J. Grant, President of the LDS Church, offered remarks and gave the dedicatory prayer.97 This unique monument measures 39' 3" from ground level. The statue of Moroni stands 10' 4". The granite marker is 25' 4" and the steps are 1' 3". The monument rests on a 2' 4" foundation above the ground, making the overall height 39' 3".98
Alvin Smith and the New Frame Home
The birth of Lucy Smith, daughter of Joseph Smith, Sr., and Lucy Mack Smith, on July 18, 1821, increased the family size to eleven persons. Living in crowded conditions, and enjoying but a modest prosperity, the Smiths renewed their efforts to construct a new house.99 Mother Smith stated:
We were still making arrangements to build us a comfortable house, the management and control of which evolved chiefly upon Alvin. And when Nov. 1822 arrived, the frame was raised, and all the materials necessary for its speedy [71] completion were procured. This opened to Alvin’s mind the pleasing prospect of seeing his father and mother once more comfortable and happy. He would say, I am going to have a nice pleasant room for father and mother to sit in, and everything arranged for their comfort, and they shall not work any more as they have done.100
Alvin’s personal designs for his parent’s comfort were curtailed by his own untimely death. His mother described this unfortunate circumstance in these words:
On the fifteenth of Nov. 1824 [1823], about ten o’clock in the morning, Alvin was taken very sick with the bilious colic. He came to the house in much distress, and requested his father to go immediately for a physician. He accordingly went, and got one by the name of Greenwood, who, on arriving, immediately administered to the patient a heavy dose of calomel. I will here notice, that this Dr. Greenwood was not the physician commonly employed by the family; he was brought in consequence of the family physician’s absence. And on this account, as I suppose, Alvin at first refused to take the medicine, but by much persuasion he was prevailed on to do so. This dose of calomel lodged in his stomach, and all the medicine which was freely administered by four very skilful physicians could not remove it.
On the third day of his sickness, Dr. M’Intyre, whose services were usually employed by the family, as he was considered very skillful, was brought, and with him four other eminent physicians. But it was all in vain, their exertions proved unavailing, just as Alvin had said would be the case—he told them the calomel was still lodged in the same place, after some exertion had been made to carry it off, and that it must take his life.101
Alvin called for each of the children, in turn, to be brought to his bedside, and gave them a parting admonition. In his recorded remarks to Joseph, he said: “I want you to be a good boy, and do everything that lies in your power to obtain the Record. Be faithful in receiving instruction, and in keeping every commandment that is [72] given you.”102
An incorrect death date for Alvin was perpetuated in the accounts of both Lucy Mack Smith and her son Joseph Smith, Jr.103 However, the proper date is readily discernible on the tombstone. The inscription reads: “In memory of Alvin. Son of Joseph and Lucy Smith, who died Nov. 19, 1823. In his 25 year, of His Life.” Alvin is buried in the General John Swift Memorial Cemetery, Palmyra, New York.104 His grave lies on the extreme south edge of the cemetery, about thirty feet west of the Church Street stairway. The headstone once stood upright, but is now flush with the ground as are all the stones in the cemetery. The cemetery itself is on the west side of Church Street, and directly across the street to the west from St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church. Church Street is the northern continuation of Canandaigua Street, and the cemetery is just one-half block north of the “four corners” in Palmyra.
Additional confirmation of the headstone entry is contained in the “Day Book” of Dr. Gain C. Robinson, apparently one of the four [73] doctors described by Mother Smith as accompanying Dr. Alexander McIntyre during his treatment of Alvin. This entry appeared on the day of Alvin’s death and stated: “Joseph Smith visit attend 300 [$3.00].”105The writer believes that such an entry is more than coincidental. It appears definite that Dr. Robinson was one of those attending Alvin. There is one other possibility, the charges could reflect a purchase of medicine from his drug store (or both). Dr. Robinson “opened the first drug store on the upper end of Main street,” and the bill might be for medicine from this establishment.106 This latter possibility seems remote, however, because of the phrasing of the above day book entry.
It would be very natural for Dr. Alexander McIntyre to call for the assistance of Dr. Gain C. Robinson in a case so acute as the one above. Dr. Robinson was the uncle of Dr. McIntyre and prior to and after the War of 1812, Dr. McIntyre had studied under Dr. Robinson in Palmyra.107 Lucy Smith speaks of Dr. Robinson as an “old friend” in 1825.108
That the Smith family felt the death of Alvin was unwarranted [74] and unnecessary is reflected in Lucy Smith’s comment that “Alvin was murdered by a quack physician.”109 Joseph, Jr., greatly lamented the loss. In 1842 he remembered Alvin in these words:
In him there was no guile. He lived without spot from the time he was a child. From the time of his birth he never knew mirth. He was candid and sober and never would play; and minded his father and mother in toiling all day. He was one of the soberest of men, and when he died the angel of the Lord visited him in his last moments.110
Even in death, the remains of Alvin were not allowed to rest in peace. As early as September, 1824, about one year after his demise, some vicious person(s) began spreading the rumor that the Smith family had allowed the removal and dissecting of Alvin’s body. With obvious hurt and irritation, Joseph Smith, Sr., published the following account in the Wayne Sentinel:
To the Public.
Whereas reports have been industriously put in circulation that my son Alvin had been removed from the place of his interment and dissected which reports, every person possessed of human sensibility must know, are peculiarly calculated to harrow up the mind of a parent and deeply wound the feelings of relations—therefore, for the purpose of ascertaining the truth of such reports, I, with some of my neighbors, this morning repaired to the grave, and removing the earth, found the body which had not been disturbed.
This method is taken for the purpose of satisfying the minds of those who may have heard the report, and of informing those who have put it in circulation, that it is earnestly requested they would desist therefrom; and that it is believed by some, that they have been stimulated more by a desire to injure thh [the] reputation of certain persons than a philanthropy for the peace and welfare of myself and friends.
As Alvin lay dying, one of his final pleas was directed to Hyrum. He stated: “I have done all I could to make our dear parents comfortable. I want you to go on and finish the house, and take care of them in their old age, and do not any more let them work hard, as they are now in old age.”112
Joseph Smith, Jr., had first visited with Moroni, at the Hill Cumorah, on September 22, 1823. Alvin’s death had occurred on November 19, 1823, and just prior to his death he had admonished Hyrum to “finish the house.” The home was obviously not completed at the time. The writer, therefore, believes that the new home was not sufficiently raised to accommodate habitation by the members at this time. If this is a valid assumption, then the appearance of Moroni on the night of September 21, 1823, must have been in the old log cabin.113
Similarly, the new home, begun in 1822, was still not completed by October, 1825. Lucy Smith said that “a short time before the house was completed, a man by the name of Josiah Stoal [Stowell], came from Chenango County, New York, with the view of getting Joseph to assist [76] him in digging for a silver mine.”114 Joseph Smith, Jr., stated that he then went with Josiah Stowell, in the month of October, 1825.115 The home was not finished at that time, but apparently was completed by the end of that year, 1825.
Joseph Smith Acquires the “Golden Plates”
Subject to his original agreement with Moroni, Mother Smith reports that Joseph met the angel at the Hill Cumorah on the first of four annual meetings, September 22, 1824. Joseph apparently attempted to remove the plates at this time but was curtailed by the angel.116
As indicated above, Joseph was offered employment by Josiah Stowell. Stowell was a farmer living two miles below the community of South Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York. He hired both Joseph Smith, Jr., and his father to aid in searching for a Spanish silver mine purportedly located in the hills near the village of Harmony, Pennsylvania. After a fruitless search lasting into November, Joseph says that he persuaded Mr. Stowell to cease his digging efforts.117
While he was in Harmony, Joseph boarded at the home of Isaac Hale. There he met a daughter of Isaac Hale, Emma. Joseph Smith returned to [77] Manchester briefly, and then went to Bainbridge Township, where he continued in the employment of Mr. Stowell. Periodically Joseph traveled to Harmony to see Emma. Because their relationship was frowned upon by the Hale family, Joseph and Emma eventually eloped and were married by squire Zechariah Tarble (probably Thomas Tarbell) in South Bainbridge, New York, January 18, 1827.118 The newlyweds returned to Manchester immediately afterwards in order to farm with Joseph Smith, Sr., that season, and took up their residence with the Smith family at their Manchester, New York, home. Joseph and Emma were still residing with the Smiths in September, 1827, when the time for acquiring the “Golden Plates” arrived. It is interesting to note that on September 20, 1827, Joseph Knight, Sr., and Josiah Stowell came on a visit to the Smith home.119It is probable that their presence was more than coincidence. Joseph must have conveyed word to these friends, from the Chenango-Broome county area, that the time to receive the plates was at hand. These men had manifest more than a passing interest in his activities and were aware of his previous experiences with heavenly beings.120
On the night of September 21, 1827, Lucy Smith said that she sat up late. She recorded the following sequence of events:
I sat up very late, as my work rather pressed upon my hands. I did not retire until after twelve o clock, Joseph came in to me, and asked me if I had a chest with a lock and key. I knew in an instant what he wanted it for, and not having [78] one, I was greatly alarmed, as I thought it might be a matter of considerable moment. But Joseph discovering my anxiety, said, “Never mind, I can do very well for the present without it—be calm—all is right.”
Shortly after this, Joseph’s wife passed through the room with her bonnet and riding dress; and in a few minutes they left together, taking Mr. Knight’s horse and waggon. I spent the night in prayer and supplication to God, for the anxiety of my mind would not permit me to sleep.121
Martin Harris stated that “before day, Joseph took the horse and wagon of old Mr. Stowell, and taking his wife, he went to the place where the plates were concealed, and while he was obtaining them, she kneeled down and prayed.” Martin added: “He then took the plates and hid them in an old black oak tree top which was hollow.”122
Joseph indicated that he went to the Hill Cumorah and to the spot where the plates were deposited. He then stated:
The same heavenly messenger delivered them to me with this charge: that I should be responsible for them; that if I should let them go carelessly, or through any neglect of mine, I should be cut off; but that if I would use all my endeavours to preserve them, until he the messenger, should call for them, they should be protected.123
Joseph took the plates and concealed them in what Lucy Smith stated was an old birch log. Describing the care with which Joseph secreted the plates, Lucy reported:
The plates were secreted about three miles from home, in the following manner. Finding an old birch log much decayed, excepting the bark, which was in a measure sound, he took his pocket knife and cut the bark with some care, then turned it back and made a hole of sufficient size to receive the plates, and laying them in the cavity thus formed, he replaced the bark; [79] after which he laid across the log, in several places, some old stuff that happened to lay near, in order to conceal, as much as possible, the place in which they were deposited.124
Joseph said that “no sooner was it known that I had them [the plates], than the most strenuous exertions were used to get them from me.”125
Because of a plan devised by Willard Chase and others to find the hiding place, Joseph was forced to make a hasty return from Macedon where he was digging a well for a Mrs. Wells. Martin Harris described what happened as Joseph was returning from retrieving the plates:
While on his way home with the plates, he was met by what appeared to be a man, who demanded the plates, and struck him with a club on his side, which was all black and blue. Joseph knocked the man down, and then ran for home, and was much out of breath. When he arrived at home, he handed the plates in at the window, and they were received from him by his mother.126
Willard Chase affirmed that he had been approached by Joseph Smith to make him a container for the plates prior to their removal from the Hill. However, he declined.127 Hyrum supplied the needed [80] chest in the absence of one ready-made.128 Martin Harris informed us of many places employed to hide the plates from the mob following their removal from the woods. He reported:
They were then hidden under the hearth in his father’s house. But the wall being partly down, it was feared that certain ones, who were trying to get possession of the plates, would get under the house and dig them out. Joseph then took them out, and hid them under the old cooper’s shop, by taking up a board and digging in the ground and burying them. When they were taken from there, they were put into an old Ontario glass-box: Old Mr. Beman sawed off the ends, making the box the right length to put them in, and when they went in he said he heard them jink, but he was not permitted to see them. He told me so.129
Lucy said that the tearing up of the cooper’s shop was prompted by the sister of Willard Chase, who had found a green glass through which she “could see many very wonderful things.” Under her direction the mob visited the shop.130 Dr. John Stafford spoke of her activities and explained:
The neighbors used to claim Sally Chase could look at a stone she had, and see money. Willard Chase used to dig when she found where the money was. Don’t know as anybody ever found any money.131
A possible explanation for the many overt actions taken by persons in the Manchester-Palmyra area to wrest the plates from Joseph Smith may have its foundation in the fact that some of the local “money- [81] diggers,” as well as Joseph had worked for Josiah Stowell and might have had an agreement that they would share in any possible discoveries. Martin Harris stated:
The money-diggers claimed that they had as much right to the plates as Joseph had, as they were in company together. They claimed that Joseph had been traitor, and had appropriated to himself that which belonged to them. For this reason Joseph was afraid of them, and continued concealing the plates. After they had been concealed under the floor of the cooper’s shop for a short time, Joseph was warned to remove them. He said he was warned by an angel. He took them out and hid them up in the chamber of the copper’s shop among the flags [sic]. That night some one came, took up the floor, and dug up the earth, and would have found the plates had they not been removed.132
Martin Harris had been informed by Joseph Smith, Sr., two or three days before Joseph secured the plates, that the time for their removal had come. Having the ancient records in his possession, Joseph was anxious to start the work of translation. With this view in mind, he requested that his mother call on Martin and “inform him that he had got the plates, and that he desired to see Mr. Harris concerning the matter.”133 Martin took the opportunity of interviewing the Smith family separately relative to the recent occurrences. Being satisfied, he de [82] termined to assist Joseph. Lucy Smith stated that Mr. Harris gave Joseph fifty dollars “to do the Lord’s work.”134 Martin Harris told of his advancing the money and also spoke of the sentiment which forced Joseph to leave Manchester for a more hospitable location with his in-laws at Harmony, Pennsylvania. He reported:
The excitement in the village upon the subject had become such that some had threatened to mob Joseph, and also to tar and feather him. They said he should never leave until he had shown the plates. It was unsafe for him to remain. . . . He wrote to his brother-in-law Alvah [also spelled Alva], requesting him to come for him. I advised Joseph that he must pay all his debts before starting. I paid them for him, and furnished him money for the journey. I advised him to take time enough to get ready so that he might start a day or two in advance: for he would be mobbed if it was known when he started. We put the box of plates in a barrel about one-third full of beans and headed it up. I informed Mr. Hale of the matter, and advised them to cut each a good cudgel and put into the wagon with them, which they did. It was understood that they were to start on Monday; but they started on Saturday night and got through safe. This was the last of October, 1827. It might have been the first of November.”135
Joseph Smith said that he arrived in Harmony during the month of December, 1827, and that Martin Harris followed him to that location in February, 1828. From there Mr. Harris made his interesting journey to New York City where he conferred with Professors Anthon and Mitchill.136
After settling affairs in Palmyra, Martin joined Joseph in [83] Harmony, Pennsylvania, about April 12, 1828. There he acted as scribe for Joseph until June 14, 1828. At this time Mr. Harris requested the privilege of taking the manuscript, which they had been preparing from the translation of the plates, to show his family in Palmyra, New York. After three successive inquiries, Joseph reported that the Lord consented to his carrying the one hundred and sixteen pages of manuscript to that quarter. Conditions for their display were set, and Martin removed to his home one and one-half miles north of the village of Palmyra. The restrictions set for their safe maintainance were not adhered to. Joseph stated that “he did show them to others, and by stratagem they got them away from him.”137 There was no doubt in Lucy Smith’s mind that Lucy Harris had taken the manuscript to suit her own purposes. She declared:
For a short time previous to Joseph’s arrival, Mr. Harris had been otherwise engaged, and thought but little about the manuscript. When Joseph sent for him, he went immediately to the drawer where he had left it, but, behold it was gone! He asked his wife where it was. She solemnly averred that she did not know anything respecting it. He then made a faithful search throughout the house, as before related.
The manuscript has never been found; and there is no doubt but Mrs. Harris took it from the drawer, with the view of retaining it, until another translation should be given then, to alter the original translation, for the purpose of showing a discrepancy between them, and thus make the whole appear to be a deception.138
Following Martin’s lengthy delay in returning Joseph Smith went to his father’s home in Manchester, New York, and requested Martin to come there. Lucy Smith gave a detailed description of Martin’s reluctant appearance at the home. She stated: [84]
We waited till nine [in the morning], and he came not—till ten, and he was not there—till eleven, still he did not make his appearance. But at half-past twelve we saw him walking with a slow and measured tread towards the house, his eyes fixed thoughtfully upon the ground. On coming to the gate, he stopped instead of passing through, and got upon the fence, and sat there some time with his hat drawn over his eyes. At length he entered the house. Soon after which we sat down to the table, Mr. Harris with the rest. He took up his knife and fork as if he was going to use them, but immediately dropped them. Hyrum, observing this, said “Martin, why do you not eat; are you sick? Upon which, Mr. Harris pressed his hands upon his temples and cried out, in a tone of deep anguish, “Oh, I have lost my soul! I have lost my soul!”139
Because of the lost manuscript, Martin was no longer utilized as scribe, and Joseph had the plates taken from his care for a season.140Joseph returned to Harmony, Pennsylvania and though he eventually had the plates restored to his possession for translation, he was under the necessity of working to provide for his family. Oliver Cowdery, a school teacher who boarded with the Joseph Smith family in Manchester, learned of the work from the Smiths and traveling to Harmony, began to assist Joseph in the work of translation, April 7, 1829.141
About June 1, 1829, David Whitmer, a friend of Oliver Cowdery’s from Fayette, Seneca County, New York, conveyed Joseph and Oliver to the home of David’s father, Peter Whitmer, Sr., in Seneca County. There the translation was completed, the work being attested to by three witnesses, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, who reported seeing the plates and seeing an angelic visitor. Subsequently, eight additional witnesses saw the plates in a secluded place near the Smith [85] home in Manchester, New York.142
Publication of The Book of Mormon
For the sake of convenience in getting the translation published, Joseph Smith sought the services of Egbert B. Grandin who operated a printing establishment in the village of Palmyra, New York. However, Grandin initially declined to undertake the project on religious grounds. The family tradition, according to Henry M. Allen, a great-grandson of Mr. Grandin, informs us: “My grandfather at first refused; after consulting friends who felt that it was merely a business matter and that he would be in no way related to the religion, he consented.”143Because of Grandin’s initial refusal, Joseph Smith sought the services of Thurlow Weed, a shrewd politician and publisher of the Rochester Telegraph. Weed’s reactions to that inquiry are recorded in the following affirmation. He said:
About 1829 a stout, round, smooth-faced young man, between twenty-five and thirty, with the air and manners of a person without occupation, came into the “Rochester Telegraph” office and said he wanted a book printed, and added that he had been directed in a vision to a place in the woods near Palmyra, where he resided, and that he found a “golden Bible,” from which he was directed to copy the book which he wanted published. He then placed what he called a “tablet” in his hat, from which he read a chapter of the “Book of Mormon,” a chapter which seemed so senseless that I thought the man either craved or a very shallow imposter, and therefore declined to become a publisher, thus depriving myself of whatever notoriety might have been achieved by having my name imprinted upon the title-page of the first Mormon Bible. [86]
It is scarcely necessary to add that this individual was Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon creed. On the day but one following he came again, accompanied by Martin Harris, a substantial farmer residing near Palmyra, who had adopted the Mormon faith, and who offered to become security for the expense of printing. But I again declined, and he subsequently found a publisher in E. B. Grandin, of Palmyra, in 1830.144
Pomeroy Tucker reported that the refusal of Mr. Weed led Joseph to the office of Elihu F. Marshall. Tucker stated:
Mr. Elihu F. Marshall, a book publisher, also at Rochester, was applied to, and he gave his terms for the printing and binding of the book, with his acceptance of the proffered mode of security for the payment.
Whereupon, the “saints” returned to Palmyra and renewed their request to Mr. Grandin, reassuring him that the work was to be done at any rate, and pleading that they would be saved much inconvenience and cost of travel to have the printing done at Palmyra, where they lived, especially as the manuscripts were to be delivered and the proof-sheets examined daily by them at the printing-office.
It was upon this statement of the facts, and in this view of the case, that Mr. Grandin, on taking the advice of several discreet, fair-minded neighbors, finally reconsidered his course of policy, and entered into contract for the printing and binding of five thousand copies of the Book of Mormon at the price of $3,000, taking Harris’s bond and mortgage as offered in security payment. The contract was faithfully and satisfactorily fulfilled by both parties.145[87]
In a mortgage dated August 25, 1829, Martin Harris agreed to pay the sum of three thousand dollars to Egbert B. Grandin within an eighteen month period. If he failed to comply then his land was to be sold at public auction to satisfy the demand.146 Because of a local boycott of the sale of the book, proposed by various citizens, Grandin refused to release the volume until he received additional assurances that he would receive his money. Joseph was able to satisfy Grandin that the necessary funds would be forthcoming, and the volumes were released to the public on March 26, 1830. Later, Martin Harris apparently sold his farm in order to pay his obligation to Mr. Grandin. This particular deed is dated April 7, 1831. Martin conveyed 151 acres of land to Thomas Lakey, of Palmyra, for the sum of $3,000.147
A letter to James J. Cobb, a newspaper man in Salt Lake City, from John H. Gilbert, a type-setter for Mr. E. B. Grandin, has given us some very significant detail concerning the publication of The Book of Mormon. He stated:
Palmyra, Wayne Co., N.Y. Feb. 10, 1879 Mr. Cobb,
Dear Sir—I received your letter through Mr. Tyler [88] P.M. [post master] two days ago, and now answer your interrogations to the best of my recollections. But one copy of the manuscript was furnished the printer. I never heard of but one. As quick as Mr. Grandin got his type and got things all ready to commence the work, Hyrum Smith brought to the office 24 pages of manuscript on foolscap paper, closely written and legible, but not a punctuation mark from beginning to end. This was about the middle of August, 1829, and the printing was completed in March, 1830. It was some weeks after this before the binder [Luther Howard] was able to deliver any copies.
I cannot say whether the entire work of “translation” was completed at the time the printing was commenced or not, but think it was. Oliver Cowdery was not engaged as compositor on the work or was not a printer. He was a frequent visitor to the office, and did several times take up a “stick” and set a part of a page—he may have set 10 or 12 pages, all told—he also a few times looked over the manuscript when proof was being read. In one instance he was looking over the manuscript, when the word “travail” occurred twice in the form but spelled in the manuscript, travel. Mr. Grandin when reading the proof pronounced the word correctly, but Cowdery did not seem to know the difference. . . .
Late in 1827 or early in ‘28 was the first I heard Harris speak of Jo’s finding the plates, and with the plates a pair of large spectacles, by looking through which Jo could translate the hieroglyphics on the plates into English. . . .
Figure 2. Exchange Row The Book of Mormon was printed and sold in the E. B. Grandin Printing Office and Palmyra Bookstore on Thayer and Grandin’s Row (later Exchange Row, 1831). E.B. Grandin occupied the first bay on the left. This photograph was taken in 1865 and is located in the “Crookston Scrap Book,” King’s Daughters’ Library, Palmyra, New York. [91]
John H. Gilbert also reported that Mr. E. B. Grandin, publisher of the Wayne Sentinel, came to see him, and asked him to assist in estimating the cost of printing the 5,000 copies. Mr. Gilbert stated: “It was the second application of Harris to Grandin to do the job.—Harris assuring Grandin that the book would be printed in Rochester if he declined the job again.”149
The E. B. Grandin printing establishment was located on “Ex- [89] change Row.” The printing office was on the third floor, binding was done in partnership with Luther Howard on the second floor, and on the ground level was the “Palmyra Bookstore,” operated by E. B. Grandin.150Today, the old bookstore and printing office where Grandin had his operation is occupied by the Ben Franklin Store (where Grandin had his operation), Hickey’s Market and the Pearsall Style Shop.
Prior to its issuing from the press, there was an attempt to publish some pages from The Book of Mormon in advance of the regular volume. Under the name of Obadiah Dogberry, Jun., a pseudonym, Esquire Abner Cole, an ex-justice of the peace, ran a series of articles devoted to the new publication and containing actual excerpts from The Book of Mormon. However, he was curtailed in his activities by Joseph Smith who came from Harmony, Pennsylvania, to assert his rights and to inform Cole of the copyright law. In the face of threatened legal action, Cole changed his designs.151 Lucy Smith remembered the title of Cole’s newspaper as being “Dogberry Paper on Winter Hill.” However, Cole’s paper merely contained a statement that it was published at the “Bower on Wintergreen Hill,” but was actually known as The Reflector.152[90]
Under a reprint of the inscription on the title page of The Book of Mormon, this caption appeared in the Wayne Sentinel (Palmyra, New York) for March 26, 1830: “The above work, containing about 600 pages, large Duodecimo, is now for sale, wholesale and retail, at the Palmyra Bookstore, By E. B. Grandin.”
LDS Missionary Movement and The Book of Mormon
Even before the copies of The Book of Mormon were bound and available to the general public, interested parties were taking extracts of the volume hundreds of miles from its place of origin and sharing its contents with others. Among the earliest contributors was Solomon Chamberlin. The LDS Church had not yet been organized when he performed one of the earliest missionary labors of the restoration period. Solomon Chamberlin lived approximately sixteen miles east of Palmyra, in the vicinity of Lyons, on the Erie Canal. While traveling into Upper Canada, he lodged for the night in a home just one-half mile from the Smith residence in Manchester. The woman of the house told him of a” gold Bible” which Joseph Smith had found. Desirous of learning more, Solomon made his way to the Smith home and introduced himself in the following manner:
As I entered the door, I said, peace be to this house. He [Hyrum] looked at me as one astonished, and said, I hope it will be peace. I then said, is there any one here that believes in visions or revelations he said, Yes, we are a visionary house. I said, Then I will give you one of my pamphlets, which was visionary, and of my own experience. They then called the people together, which consisted of five or six men who were out at the door. Father Smith was one and [92] some of the Whitmer’s. They then sat down and read my pamphlet. Hyrum read first, but was so affected he could not read it, He then gave it to a man, which I learned was Christian Whitmer, He finished reading it. I then opened my mouth and began to preach to them, in the words that the angel had made known to me in the vision, that all the Churches and Denominations on the earth had become corrupt, and no Church of God on the earth but that he would shortly raise up a Church, that would never be confounded nor brought down and be like unto the Apostolic Church. They wondered greatly who had been telling me these things, for said they we have the same things wrote down in our house taken from the Gold record, that you are preaching to us. I said, the Lord told me these things a number of years ago, I then said, If you are a visionary house I wish you would make known some of your discoveries, for I think I can bear them. They then made Known to me that they had obtained a gold record, and just finished translating it here. Now the Lord revealed to me by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost that this was the work I had been looking for. Here I stayed 2 days and they instructed me, in the manuscripts of the Book of Mormon after I had been here two days, I went with Hyrum and some others to Palmyra printing office where they began to print the Book of Mormon, and as soon as they had printed 64 pages, I took them with their leave, and pursued my journey to Canada, and I preached all that I knew concerning Mormonism, to all both high and low, rich and poor, and thus you see this was the first that ever printed Mormonism was preached to this generation. I did not see any one in traveling for 800 miles, that had ever heard of the Gold Bible (so called) I exhorted all people to prepare for the great work of God that was now about to come forth, and it would never be brought down nor confounded.153
Following the publication of The Book of Mormon, Solomon Chamberlin was again on hand to obtain copies of the printed work, and begin their distribution. He stated:
As soon as the book was printed, I took 8 or 10 of them and traveled for eight days, and sold one in that time. About this time I thot if I could see the reformed Methodist I could convince them of the truth of the Book of Mormon. I accordingly went to one of their conferences, where I met about 40 of their preachers and labored with them for two days to convince them [93] of the truth of the Book of Mormon, and they utterly rejected me, and the Book of Mormon. One of their greatest preachers so called, by the name of Buckly, (if I mistake not) abused me very bad, and ordered me off from their premises. He was soon taken crazy, and died a miserable death. At this conference was Brigham and his brother Phineahas [sic] Young, they did not oppose me but used me well. On my way home I stopped at their camp meeting, where I found one of their greatest preachers, whom I contended with concerning the Book of Mormon, by the name of Wm Lake, who utterly condemned it and rejected it, who spurned at me and the Book, and said, if it was of God, Do you think He would send such a little upstart as you are round with it but he soon after died a poor drunken sot. While on my way home I stopped at a free will Baptist Church, and preached to a large congregation, and they received the work, but there was no one to baptize them, the Church was not yet organized, but was soon after April 6th, 1830.154
The manner in which Thomas B. Marsh was attracted to the Church was similar to that of Solomon Chamberlin. Having stayed for a short time with a family in “Lyonstown,” New York, the lady of the house inquired whether he had heard of the “Golden Book” found by a youth named Joseph Smith. Marsh stated that he knew nothing of it, and was then informed by the lady that Martin Harris in Palmyra could answer his questions. He later said:
I returned back westward and found Martin Harris at the printing office, in Palmyra, where the first sixteen pages of the Book of Mormon had just been struck off, the proof sheet of which I obtained from the printer and took with me. As soon as Martin Harris found out my intentions he took me to the house of Joseph Smith, sen., where Joseph Smith, jun., resided who could give me any information I might wish. Here I found Oliver Cowdery who gave me all the information concerning the book I desired. After staying there two days I started for Charleston, Mass., highly pleased with the information I had obtained concerning the new found book.155
In Charleston, Marsh showed the sixteen pages from The Book of [94] Mormon to his family, and the conversion process was started in that home.156
On June 30, 1830, Samuel H. Smith started on the mission to which he had been set apart by his brother Joseph. He traveled as far as West Bloomfield, New York, attempting to sell copies of The Book of Mormon, but with little success. He did place a copy in the home of Rev. John P. Greene, a Methodist minister, who promised to sell it if he could. Samuel then returned home to Manchester.157
On a second mission, Samuel was accompanied by his parent’s, Joseph and Lucy Smith. They went to Esquire Beaman’s in Livonia, New York, and then Samuel proceeded to Rev. Greene’s home where he found that the minister had been unable to dispose of the copy of The Book of Mormon which he had left. However, on a third missionary effort, Samuel found that the copy which he had placed with Rev. Greene had been the means of converting the Greene family and subsequently others.158
In August, 1830, Joseph Smith, Sr., accompanied by his son Don Carlos, traveled to St. Lawrence County, New York to call on the members of his father’s family residing in that vicinity. Their efforts resulted in the eventual conversion of a number of the Asael Smith, Sr., family.159 George A. Smith remembered the missionary work of his uncle [95] and cousin among his family. He stated:
Some time in August 1830, my uncle Joseph Smith and Don Carlos Smith came some two hundred and fifty miles from where the Prophet was residing in Ontario County, New York, and they brought a Book of Mormon with them. I had never seen them before, and I felt astonished at their sayings. Uncle Joseph and Don Carlos were anxious to get to Stockholm to see grandfather. Accordingly they started, and my father went to carry them I and my mother spent the whole of Saturday, all day Sunday, and Sunday night in reading the Book of Mormon; and I believe I read and studied it more then than I have ever since. I studied it attentively and penned down what I considered to be serious objections. Although I was but thirteen years of age, yet, I considered the objections I had discovered to be sufficient to over throw it.
About five o’clock in the evening the neighbours came in and wanted to see the book. They took hold of the book, and some of them were professors of religion, and they began to raise their objections, to find fault with and ridicule the book, and there was no one to defend it; so I thought I would try. I commenced to argue in favor of the book and answered one objection after another, until I came off victoriously and got the compliment of being a very smart boy.160
Baptisms in Wayne and Ontario Counties
Although the writer has attempted to find the baptismal dates for Sophronia and Lucy Smith, the daughters of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith, these dates remain unidentified. It is unusual that they would not have been closely associated in this ordinance with the remainder of the family whose baptismal dates are more readily obtained.161Similarly the baptismal dates for Calvin Stoddard, husband of Sophronia [96] Smith, and Jenkins Salisbury, who married Lucy Smith in Ohio, have not been determined. Pomeroy Tucker gave what he termed a listing of the “pioneer Mormon disciples, so far as their names can now be recollected.” Those named were:
Oliver Cowdery, Samuel Lawrence, Martin Harris, Preserved Harris, Peter Ingersoll, Charles Ford, George Proper and his wife Dolly, of Palmyra; Ziba Peterson, and Calvin Stoddard and his wife Sophronia, of Macedon; Ezra Thayer, of Brighton; Luman Walters, of Pultneyville; Hiram Page of Fayette; David Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Christian Whitmer, John Whitmer, and Peter Whitmer, Jr., of Phelps, [Fayette] Simeon Nichols, of Farmington; William Stafford, Joshua Stafford, Gad Stafford, David Fish, Abram Fish, Robert Orr, King H. Quance, John Morgan, Orrin Rockwell and his wife Caroline [Caroline was Orrin’s sister, not his wife], Widow Sally Risley [of Manchester], and all the remainder of the Smith family, of Manchester.162
However, it should be noted that Tucker qualified his identification of the above named persons when he related:
It is believed that this list embraces all the persons residing at or near the prime seat of the Mormon advent, who from first to last made a profession of belief either in the money-digging or golden bible finding pretensions of Joseph Smith, Jr.; and probably, indeed, not more than one-half of these can be said to have been genuine converts under the one head or the other.163
It is known that many of those listed were members of the Church, others, however, were merely acquainted with the movement and should not be classified as converts.
In addition to Luman Walters, of Pultneyville, named by Pomeroy Tucker, Willard Bean lists a Lee Walters of Pultneyville. Whether [97] this is the same man or not, the writer has not yet determined.164John Stacy and his wife were apparently members of the early New York Church. An unsigned account in the King’s Daughters’ Library, Palmyra, New York, stated:
I knew personally many older people who remembered Joseph Smith as a boy working among the farmers and also later when he went among them trying to obtain subscriptions to his book. I have this on the authority of the late Capt. Hiram Scutt who remembered the circumstances perfectly. The Mormon society was formed in Palmyra and the late John Stacy and his wife joined them and on their removal to Kirtland, Ohio they accompanied them and remained until the Mormons were forced to move further west, when they returned to their old home where they ended their days. I received this information from Mr. Stacy himself.165
Preserved Harris, brother of Martin Harris, also joined the Church during this period, but the circumstances of his conversion and baptismal date are lacking. When Joseph Smith went to Ohio in January, 1831, he stopped and preached at the home of Preserved Harris. The account indicates that there were some who were then baptized, but who they were is conjectural.166 Orson Pratt also named Joseph Coe as a convert of the period. Orson stated:
On the 2nd of January, 1831, I attended a conference at the house of Father Whitmer; and soon after Elder Samuel [98] H. Smith and myself commenced laboring for one of the Saints, by the name of Joseph Coe, to assist him in making preparations to remove to Ohio according to the revelation given at the conference on the 2nd of January. And in a few weeks Elder Samuel H. Smith and myself started on foot for Kirtland, Ohio, a distance of several hundred miles, to which place Joseph, the Prophet, had just previously moved.167
A Mr. E. S. Gilbert of Canaseraga, New York, stated that his aunt, Mrs. Orill Fuller, was “converted to the Mormon faith in the first days, and emigrated from this State [New York] to join the Mormon congregation, located, I think, at Kirtland, Ohio.”168
Ezra Thayre recounted his conversion in these words:
My half brother said that Hyrum [Smith] said that Joseph had seen an angel. My nephew said that there was something in it, and that I had better go and hear him. About this time I had another brother about 40 miles off. He came down and wanted me to go for he wanted to go himself.—The next Sunday I went and there was a large concourse of people around his [Hyrum’s] father’s house, so that they extended to the road, filling up the large lot. I rushed in and got close to the stand, so as to be particular to hear what was said.
When Hyrum began to speak, every word touched me to the inmost soul. I thought every word was pointed to me. God punished me and riveted me to the spot. I could not help myself. The tears rolled down my cheeks, I was very proud and stubborn. There were many who knew me. I dare not look up. I sat until I recovered myself before I dare look up. They sung some hymns and that filled me with the Spirit. When Hyrum got through, he picked up a book and said, “here is the Book of Mormon.” I said, let me see it. I then opened the book, and I received a shock with such exquisite joy that no pen can write and no tongue can express. I shut the book and said, what is the price of it?” “Fourteen shillings” was the reply. I said, I’ll take the book. I opened it again, and I felt a double portion of the Spirit, that I did not know whether I was in the world or not. I felt as though I was truly in heaven.169
Ezra Thayre was baptized at the same time as the stepmother of [99] Oliver Cowdery, Keziah Pearce Cowdery, and Northrop Sweet. Ezra stated:
Joseph was then in Harmony, Pa., and the next Sunday [possibly October, 1830] he came to his father’s house, and we assembled to see him. I had not conversed with him before concerning the book. Then I told him what had happened and how I knew the book was true. He then asked me what hindered me from going into the water, as Oliver Cowdery’s mother was going to be baptized. I said, I am ready and willing at any time. We then started to the water, which was four or five miles off. . . . We were baptized just below the mill. . . . Parley P. Pratt baptized us, and I had seen him in vision. I saw him pull two fish out of the water and another which was a small fish.—I saw that I and Oliver’s mother were the two persons referred to in the vision. The small fish meant Northrop Sweet. He was baptized at the same time, but soon left the Church.170
It is entirely possible that the event referred to by Ezra Thayre took place in the early part of October, 1830. Parley P. Pratt refers to circumstances closely paralleling those described by Thayre. Pratt had recently returned from Canaan, New York, just missing the conference of September 26, 1830. He recorded:
On our arrival [he was with his wife Thankful], we found that brother Joseph Smith, the translator of the Book of Mormon, had returned from Pennsylvania to his father’s residence in Manchester, near Palmyra, and here I had the pleasure of seeing him for the first time.
He received me with a hearty welcome, and with that frank and kind manner so universal with him in after years.
On Sunday we held meeting at his house; the two large rooms were filled with attentive listeners, and he invited me to preach. I did so, and afterwards listened with interest to a discourse from his own mouth, filled with intelligence and wisdom. We repaired from the meeting to the water’s edge, and, at his request, I baptized several persons.171
Shadrach Roundy, his brother Uriah, and John Gould were converted at the beginning of the New York period of the Church. Their [100] attraction to the LDS Church is recorded as follows:
At the time of the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Shadrach and Uriah were prominent members in the Free Will Baptist Church in the town of Spafford [New York], which was presided over by Elder John Gould. This society erected a church building on the hill east of Spafford Corners, on the premises conveyed by Captain Asahel Roundy in 1828. The Board of Trustees consisted of Shadrach Roundy and three other members. This was the only church in that portion of town, and it had a large membership. In the year 1831 it was struck by the proselyting wave of the newly established Mormon religion, and a large share of its members, led by their pastor, Elder Gould, was carried from the fold of the church into the embraces of the new faith. Among those who accepted the teachings of Joseph Smith were Shadrach and Uriah Roundy and their wives and children. It was not possible for the church to recover from such an exodus of membership. The church building was deserted. . . .
Shadrach, in the winter of 1830–31, after hearing of Mormonism, left his home and traveled on horseback to see the Prophet Joseph Smith, who then resided at Fayette, New York. Shortly thereafter he was baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Soon after this he moved his family to Pennsylvania and later followed the Mormon leader to Ohio, where his wife and children became members of the Church. Uriah did likewise but was never as active in the Church as Shadrach.172
Removing from Trumansburg, New York, to Canandaigua, New York, William W. Phelps established a newspaper in that community called the Ontario Phoenix, April 30, 1828.173 He obtained a copy of The Book of Mormon on April 9, 1830.174 Convinced of its truth, Phelps visited Joseph Smith on December 24, 1830. Commenting on this early experience [101] with The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, Phelps stated:
Now, not withstanding my body was not baptized into this church till Thursday the 10th of June, 1831, yet my heart was there from the time I became acquainted with the Book of Mormon; and my hope, steadfast like an anchor, and my faith increased like the grass after a refreshing shower, when I for the first time, held a conversation with our beloved brother’ Joseph, (December 24th 1830) who I was willing to acknowledge as a prophet of the lord, and to whom, and to whose godly account of himself and the work he was engaged in, I owe my first determination to quit the folly of my way.175
Under date of May 11, 1831, W. W. Phelps gives his “farewell” to the readers of the Ontario Phoenix and although unspoken, he reflects the general movement of the New York Saints to Ohio when he wrote:
Friends and Fellow Citizen.—Circumstance beyond my control, have rendered it necessary for me to relinquish my labors in this paper, —and, in so doing, permit me to say, I do it with great reluctance. . . .
However, in the next issue, May 18, 1831, Phelps commented: “It is my province to hold over, until I have a successor appointed equal in power and glory!”177 An editorial by W. W. Phelps similarly appears on May 25, 1831, marking the approximate time of his removal.178As indicated above, W. W. Phelps was baptized on June 10, 1831, in Kirtland, Ohio. His arrival was noted by Joseph Smith, who affirmed that “about the middle of June, while we were preparing for our journey [102] to Missouri, William W. Phelps and his family arrived among us—’ to do the will of the Lord’.”179
Joseph Smith, Sr., was incarcerated in the jail at Canandaigua, some time during September– November, 1830, for failure to pay a $14.00 debt. It is interesting to note that while detained for a thirty day period he carried on the work of conversion. Lucy Smith stated: “He preached during his confinement here every Sunday, and when he was released he baptized two persons whom he had thus converted.”180
In the fall of 1831, elders Eleazer Miller, Elial Strong, Alpheus Gifford, Enos Curtis and Daniel Bowen came from Columbia, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, to the home of Phinehas H. Young in Victor, Ontario County, New York. There they preached the “fulness of the everlasting gospel” to the Youngs, Kimballs and other families in the Victor-Mendon area. The visit of these elders was reciprocated by Phinehas Young, Brigham Young, and Heber C. Kimball, who travelled to Columbia, Pennsylvania in January, 1832. Later in that same year (April 1832), these men were baptized into the new faith along with various family members and friends.181[103]
Loss of the Manchester Property
When the Smiths first settled in Farmington (later Manchester), title to the land upon which they settled was apparently vested in non-resident minor heirs under the direction of a local agent or attorney. Ownership of the property is traced in this statement:
Originally, Township No. 11, Lot 1, the land on which the Smith family located, had been given by Phelps and Gorham to their wives, Rebecca Gorham and Mary Phelps, and from these women had been conveyed in 1790 to Israel Chapman. Four years after Chapman secured the land, he sold about 5700 acres to William Bacon for L616, or two shillings an acre. In the same year that Bacon obtained the property, he sold this lot and 7,600 additional acres for eleven shillings an acre to Thomas Morris and James Wadsworth. These men in turn sold this 300-acre lot and nine other lots of similar size to Nicholas Evertson of New York City in 1795 for L2,400, or sixteen shillings per acre. It was during this thirty years in which the Evertson family retained the land that the Smiths initiated payments on the farm.182
Lucy Smith said of their acquisition of the farm: “My husband and his sons, Alvin and Hyrum, set themselves to work to pay for one hundred acres of land, which Mr. Smith contracted for with a land agent.”183 William Smith said that the “farm had been articled for, to be paid in yearly installments of $100 each.” He added: “We had cleared up sixty acres of it and got it under a good fence and cultivation; besides building a good frame house, out-buildings, etc.”184[104]
Apparently the Smiths were able to meet the yearly requirements until the year 1825, when they experienced considerable difficulties. William said:
Owing to the many improvements we had made and the hard times, we had missed making the last payment on our land, and father had gone to Pennsylvania to borrow money to pay up, and to liquidate some other claims against us. But while he was gone, the agent with whom we had agreed for the land being removed from office, and a new one coming in who was unacquainted with our circumstances, our neighbors contrived to undermine us by furnishing a man with money, and sending him to the new agent; who, seeing the last payment not settled and the bond thereby forfeited, sold it immediately to this man right from under us. He came with a “writ of ejectment” and turned us all out of doors.”185
Between November 17, 1825, and December 20, 1825, Joseph Knight, Sr., and Josiah Stowell came to the Smith home in Manchester and made a contract with Joseph Smith, Sr., for a quantity of flour to be delivered to them the following fall (1826). There was an apparent arrangement for a loan or payment in advance made by the contracting parties. Being assured that the necessary finance would be available, Joseph Smith, Sr., sent Hyrum Smith to Canandaigua to convey to the agent who supervised their land the fact that the annual payment would be made by “December 25, 1825.” The agent agreed to this proposal. Father Smith then went to collect the promised money from Stowell and Knight.186[105]
While Joseph Smith, Sr., was away, three men, among whom was Mr. Stoddard the principal carpenter in building the house, came to the Smith home and asserted that they had bought the place, paid for it and now forbid the family from touching anything on the farm. They then warned the Smiths to leave and allow the lawful owners to take possession.187
Hyrum Smith immediately called on Dr. Robinson (Dr. Gain C. Robinson), an old friend, to assist them. Dr. Robinson made out a statement relative to the character of the family. Lucy related:
The old gentleman sat down, and wrote at some considerable length the character of the family—our industry and faithful exertions to secure a home, with many commendations calculated to beget confidence in us with respect to business transactions. And keeping this writing in his own hands, he went through the village, and in an hour procured sixty subscribers. He then sent the same, by the hand of Hyrum, to the land agent, who lived in Canandaigua.
On receiving this, the agent was highly enraged. He said the men had told him that Mr. Smith and his son Joseph had run away, and that Hyrum was cutting down the sugar orchard, hauling off the rails, burning them, and doing all manner of mischief to the farm. That, believing this statement, he was induced to sell the place, for which he had given a deed, and received the money.188
The agent was unable to persuade Mr. Stoddard and his associates from their course of action. However, they did stipulate that if Hyrum could raise $1,000 by Saturday at ten o’clock in the evening they would give back the deed. Joseph Smith, Sr., returned and made every exertion to secure the required amount. An old Quaker friend was called [106] on as well as a Mr. Durfee (Lemuel Durfee, Sr.). Lemuel Durfee, Sr., had Father Smith contact his son who Lucy Smith described as being the “high sheriff.”189 The Messrs. Durfee and Joseph Smith Sr., then went to the farm for an inspection and then on to Canandaigua. Lucy stated:
The agent sent immediately for Mr. Stoddard and his friends, and they came without delay; but in order to make difficulty, they contended that it was after ten o’clock; however, not being able to sustain themselves upon this ground, they handed over the deed to Mr. Durfee, the high sheriff, who now became the possessor of the farm.190
The “high sheriff,” then transferred the deed to Lemuel Durfee, Sr., who made the purchase of the Smith farm.191
Gurdon T. Smith, who lived as a foster son in the home of Lemuel Durfee, Sr., from 1812 to 1833, said that “Joseph Smith, Sen., was unable to pay for the farm he had taken up,” adding: “At his request Lemuel Durfee [Sr.,] paid for the property and the Smiths continued to occupy it, paying rent considerably in labor.”192
One commentator stated that “Mr. Durfee then gave the Smiths a [107] lease on the property until December 20, 1828, at which time Father and Mother Smith moved to a home southward, but still in the township of Manchester.”193 However, their occupancy of the farm may have lasted somewhat longer. In February, 1829, Joseph Smith, Sr., and Lucy Smith went to visit their son, Joseph, in Harmony Pennsylvania. The Prophet reported that a revelation, dated February, 1829, was given to Father Smith during his visit.194 Mother Smith then indicated that “when Mr. Smith, and myself arrived at home, we found Samuel, and Sophronia very sick, indeed, they were so low that Hyrum had left his own house, and quitted business, in order to take care of them during our absence.”195This recital suggests that the Smith’s were then [February, 1829] living apart from Hyrum’s home. Yet, William Smith said that when they were ejected from their home, they “went to my brother Hyrum’s house; a small log-house on a farm of eighty acres which he had purchased, adjoining our old farm.”196 If Hyrum had to leave his own home to assist in the care of Samuel and Sophronia, it appears that his parents were still living at the frame house. This is further attested to by Lucy Smith as she stated, following their February, 1829, trip to Harmony:
As the time for which we had agreed for the place was now drawing to a close, we began to make preparations to remove our family and effects to the house in which Hyrum resided. We [108] now felt more keenly than ever the injustice of the measure which had placed a landlord over us on our own premises, and who was about to eject us from them.197
Oliver Cowdery was then living in the Joseph Smith, Sr., home and apparently still residing there when he made his departure for Harmony, Pennsylvania, in the forepart of April, 1829.198 Evidently, the Smith’s moved to Hyrum’s home shortly thereafter.
The Joseph Smith, Sr., Family Moves to Seneca County
Immediately following the second conference of the LDS Church, held September 27–28, 1830, Hyrum Smith and his family moved to Colesville, New York as directed by Joseph Smith, Jr. He was in Colesville by Thursday, October 14, 1830, attending a meeting held at the home of Hezekiah Peck.199 Lucy Smith stated that Hyrum left for Colesville on a Wednesday.200 This would mean that he departed on either Wednesday, September 29, 1830, or on Wednesday, October 6, 1830, in order to arrive on or before Thursday, October 14, 1830, in Colesville.
The day following Hyrum’s departure, a Thursday, Joseph Smith, Sr., was arrested by an officer. His seizure resulted from his inability to pay a $14.00 debt to a Quaker who had purchased a note which was outstanding against him.201 The arrest must have been on Thursday, [109] September 30, 1830, or on Thursday, October 7, 1830, if the chronology of Hyrum’s leaving is correct. Father Smith was placed in jail in Canandaigua, New York for a period of thirty days. Following the pattern established above, this would mean that his term of confinement extended from either Thursday, September 30, to Friday, October 29, 1830 or from Thursday, October 7, 1830 to Friday, November 5, 1830. Lucy Smith said that it was during the internment of her husband that the primary responsibility of moving the family from Hyrum’s home in Manchester to their new residence in “Waterloo,” Seneca County fell to Samuel H. Smith.202[110]
Notes
1. Prof. James F. W. Johnston, “Joe Smith and the Mormons,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, III (June, 1851), 64.
2. Personal correspondence of Elder and Sister George Scott, Bureau of Information, Hill Cumorah, with the writer, January 14, 1971. The Hill Cumorah Pageant is sponsored annually by the LDS Church, usually in the month of August, at the Hill Cumorah. Performers depict scenes from The Book of Mormon.
3. Lionel D. Wyld, (ed.), 40’ x 28’ x 4’ The Erie Canal—150 Years (Rome: Oneida County Erie Canal Commemoration Commission, 1967), pp. 3, 10, 14.
4. Horace Eaton, The Early History of Palmyra: A Thanksgiving Sermon (Rochester: A. Strong & Company, 1858), p. 17, located in the King’s Daughters’ Free Library, Inc., Palmyra, New York, hereafter cited as Eaton, The Early History of Palmyra.
5. Horatio Gates Spafford, A Gazetteer of the State of New York (Albany: B. D. Packard, 1824), pp. 400–401, hereafter cited as Spafford, A Gazetteer of the State of New York, 1824.
6. John W. Barber and Henry Howe, Historical Collections of the State of New York (New York: S. Tuttle, 1841), pp. 578, 580.
7. Personal interview with Samuel J. Ferguson, Palmyra, New York, April 21, 1970.
10. Pomeroy Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1867), p. 4, hereafter cited as Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism.
16. O. [Orsamus] Turner, History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham’s Purchase, and Morris’ Reserve (Rochester: William Aling, 1851), pp. 212–213, located in the Wayne County Historical Society, Lyons, New York; hereafter cited as Turner, History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham’s Purchase, and Morris’ Reserve .
18. Thomas L. Cook, Palmyra and Vicinity (Palmyra: Palmyra Courier Journal, 1930), p. 219, located in the King’s Daughters’ Free Library, Inc., Palmyra, New York, hereafter cited as Cook, Palmyra and Vicinity. Thomas L. Cook came to Palmyra from New Hampshire in November 1844, at the age of six. He knew people who were contemporary with the Smith family and it is also probable that the original Smith cabin was still standing during a portion of his life.
19. “Old Town Record, 1793–1870,” [Town of Palmyra, N.Y.], p. 221, a microfilm copy is located in the J. Reuben Clark Library [now Harold B. Lee Library], Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. [Because of the historical implications of locating the site of the Smith log home in the Town of Palmyra at the place specified in the above June 13, 1820 survey, the writer took Dale L. Berge of the BYU Department of Anthropology to the site in 1969 and together we looked for surface evidence. LaMar C. Berrett, Director of Church History in the BYU Religious Studies Center, later became interested in the prospects of such a find and arranged financing for a joint project in which Dr. Berge and an archaeological crew dug the site in 1982. The datum point reads June 25, 1982. Their excavation confirmed the exact site of the Smith Log House at the point defined by the 1820 survey, (see “Archaeological Work at the Smith Log House,” Ensign 15 (August 1985):24–26; Dale L. Berge, “The Boyhood Home of Joseph Smith, Palmyra, New York: Historical and Archaeological Aspects of Life in a Frontier Log House,” Department of Anthropology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, unpublished manuscript in possession of Dale L. Berge; Donald L. Enders, “A Snug Log House,” Ensign 15 (August 1985): 14–23; “President Hinckley dedicates historic sites: Log structure is replica of young Joseph’s home,” Church News, April 4, 1998, 3, 12. A second excavation of the site was carried out under the auspices of the LDS Church Historical Department in 1997. T. Michael Smith was project director. Both he and Donald L. Enders participated in the 1982 excavation and again in 1997, personal interview with T. Michael Smith, August 26, 1998.]
20. Elder Parley LeRoi Nelson, a missionary at the Joseph Smith, Sr., Farm, Manchester, New York, informed the writer that he had been told by three different local citizens that an old tenant house had once stood in the approximate location for the above cabin. This tenant home was about five rods west of the Stafford Road and six to eight rods form the north fence line of the old Smith farm. However, this was not considered by those interviewed to be the site of the cabin. Elder Nelson also stated that when he first visited the Smith farm on May, 29, 1929, Elder Willard W. Bean occupied the existing home, on the east side of the road. At that time, Willard Bean showed him a spot some 100 feet directly east of the present home “where he had found a stone foundation, which he assumed to be where the log home of Joseph Smith, Sr., had stood.—Personal interview with Elder Parley LeRoi Nelson, Joseph Smith Farm, Manchester, New York, April 16, 1970.
The writer carefully examined this site but could determine no remaining evidence of a foundation. Similarly, the approximate area of the purported cabin on the west, and the area of the tenant farm house were searched. There are some traces of the foundation of the old tenant farmer’s home still there. Samuel J. Ferguson informed the writer that this particular foundation is on the additional ground which was bought some time ago by the Church to take in more of the Sacred Grove. It was not part of the original Smith farm, but bordered their land to the north. The foundation is on the west side of the Stafford Road and about 60 feet in. It is about 100 yards north of the north fence line of the Smith property, in the town of Palmyra. Samuel J. Ferguson also pointed out to the writer the foundation of a second tenant farm home, directly south of the existing Joseph Smith, Sr., home and just south of the boundary line. It is situated on the east side of Stafford road and about 30 feet in from the highway. The foundation is easily discerned and portions of the framework are still visible. Mr. Ferguson had been in the home when it was still standing. He stated.
I remember that it was a small home, not too large. It had an upstairs in it, two bedrooms upstairs and, if I remember correctly there was one bedroom downstairs and a kitchen and living room. It was a very old home. I don’t know how long it had been in existence. There is no way for me to prove or to verify the dates when it stood here. But, I have had it mentioned to me that this is where—I did not quite go along with the idea—that this is where, the Smiths moved after they were dispossessed from their home. I did not quite go along with the idea that this was Hyrum’s home. I thought that it was further south on Stafford Road.—Personal interview with Samuel J. Ferguson, Manchester, New York, April 20, 1970.
When Mr. Ferguson was asked by the writer if Andrew Jenson, John D. Giles or anyone had ever mentioned to him exactly where Hyrum Smith’s home might have been, he replied, “No one has ever been able to point it out to me.”
The writer is of the opinion that an archaeological “dig” such as was accomplished at the Peter Whitmer, Sr., farm, Fayette, Seneca County, New York, in 1969, would be of considerable worth in determining the probable location of the old cabin of Joseph Smith, Sr. In September, 1969, Dr. Dale L. Berge, of the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Brigham Young University, systematically excavated the site of the old Whitmer log cabin, and was able to develop some valuable information relative to the location of that dwelling. A similar project at the Joseph Smith, Sr., farm would be invaluable in tracing the probable site of the Smith cabin. The results of Dr. Berge’s findings in Seneca County were reported at the “Nineteenth Annual Symposium on the Archaeology of the Scriptures,” conducted at Brigham Young University on Saturday, October 18, 1969. Dr. Berge has recently prepared for publication a further treatise entitled, “Archaeological Excavations at the Peter Whitmer Farm, Seneca County, New York.”
21. Lewis D. Stilwell, Migration from Vermont (Montpelier: Vermont Historical Society, 1948), p. 136.
22. Milton V. Backman, Jr., Joseph Smith’s First Vision (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft Inc., 1971), p. 67, hereafter cited as Backman, Joseph Smith’s First Vision.
24.HC, I, 3. The Smiths were members of the Western Presbyterian Church in Palmyra. Although the record book containing their initial membership in the society has been misplaced or destroyed, a second volume, “Records of the Session of the Presbyterian Church in Palmyra, Volume 2,” records the names of Lucy, “Hiram” and Samual Harrison Smith. A microfilm copy of this record is located in the Brigham Young University Library, Provo, Utah.
26. Ibid., I, 4–5. Today, the approximate place where Joseph retired for supplication to the Lord is designated as the “Sacred Grove.” The Grove lies about 1/4 mile directly west of the Joseph Smith, Sr., home, Manchester, New York. Although the exact spot where he offered his prayer is not known, careful measures have been taken to preserve the general location in its natural state.
27. Dean C. Jessee, “The Early Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” BYU Studies, IX (Spring, 1969), 277, hereafter cited as Jessee, BYU Studies, IX (Spring, 1969).
28. Joseph Smith, “Kirtland Letter Book,” 1829–1835, pp. 1–6, located in the LDS Church Historian’s Office, cited in Jessee, BYU Studies, IX (Spring, 1969), p. 280. It has not been the purpose of the writer to give an “in depth” treatise of the “First Vision” as there have been, and are pending, a number of significant and up-to-date studies on the subject. The reader is referred to the following pertinent materials: Paul R. Chessman, “An Analysis of the Accounts Relating Joseph Smith’s Early Vision,” unpublished Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, 1965; James B. Allen, “The Significance of Joseph Smith’s First Vision in Mormon Thought,” Dialogue, I (Autumn, 1966), pp. 40–41; Wesley P. Walters, “New Light on Mormon Origins from Palmyra (N.Y.) Revival,” Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society, X (Fall, 1967), 227–244; Hyrum L. Andrus, God, Man, and the Universe (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1968), pp. 37–45; Richard Lloyd Anderson, “Circumstantial Confirmation of the First Vision Through Reminiscences,” BYU Studies, IX (Spring 1969): pp. 373–404; James B. Allen, “Eight Contemporary Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision—What Do we Learn from them?” The Improvement Era, LXXIII (April, 1970), pp. 4–13; Milton V. Backman, Jr., Joseph Smith’s First Vision (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1971).
34. Minutes Taken at the Several Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the Year 1860 (New York: Methodist Episcopal Church, 1860), p. 40, located in the Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, hereafter cited as Minutes of the Annual Conference.
35. “Journal of the Genesee Conference, 1810–1828,” I, 1, 5, located in the Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, hereafter cited as “Journal of the Genesee Conference, 1810–1828.” This is a transcribed copy of the original journal, prepared at the instigation of the Wyoming Conference in 1860. It contains volumes I and II under a single cover.
36. Minutes of the Annual Conference, 1860, pp. 40–41.
37. “Stewards’ Book for the Wyoming Surket [sic]. 1804–1810,” located in the Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania.
38. Oscar Jewell Harvey, The Harvey Book (Wilkesbarre: 1899), pp. 129–130, located in the Osterhout Free Library, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, hereafter cited as Harvey, The Harvey Book.
39. George Peck, The Life and Times of Rev. George Peck (New York: Nelson & Phillips, 1874), p. 97.
41. “Journal of the Genesee Conference, 1810–1828,” I, 77.
42. Abel Stevens, The Centenary of American Methodism (New York: Carlton & Porter, 1865), p. 112, located in the Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania.
43. Minutes of the Annual Conferences, 1819, pp. 50–52.
48. Rev. Albert Clarke, Methodist Episcopal Church, Lanesboro, Pennsylvania, (Lanesboro: 1912), p. 11, located in the Susquehanna County Historical Society and Free Library, Montrose, Pennsylvania, hereafter cited as Clark, Methodist Episcopal Church, Lanesboro, Pennsylvania.
49. Peck, Life and Times of Rev. George Peck, p. 68. The parents of George Lane, Nathan and Dorcus Lane, lived at Lanesboro, Pennsylvania, perhaps giving some impetus to Rev. George Lane’s visits in that area.
52. Ibid., p. 12. See Peck, Early Methodism, pp. 332–333.
53. Peck, The Life and Times of Rev. George Peck, pp. 108–109.
54. “Journal of the Genesee Conference, 1810–1828,” pp. 85, 92. The reference deals with the annual examination of the each itinerant to approve him for continued service.
55. “Journal of the Genesee Conference, 1810–1828,” p. 85.
57. Oscar Jewell Harvey, A History of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M. (Wilkesbarre: 1897), p. 63, located in the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, hereafter cited as Harvey, A History of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M.
58. Letter of George Lane “To the Members of the Free Mason Lodge in Wilkesbarre,” n.d., located at the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
59. Times and Season, III (March 15, 1842), p. 727.
60. “Journal of the Genesee Conference, 1810–1828,” pp. 76–84.
74. Warren Foote, “Autobiography of Warren Foote, 1817–1879,” located in possession of Miss Kathy Foote, Provo, Utah.
75.Minutes of the Annual Conferences, 1860, p. 41.
76.The Christian Advocate and Journal [New York City], June 23, 1859, p. 1.
77. Minutes of the Annual Conference, 1860, p. 41; For additional information on Lane’s book concern activities see, H. C. Jennings, The Methodist Book Concern, A Romance of History (New York: Methodist Book Concern, 1924), pp. 82–83.
79. James Hill Fitts, Lane Genealogies (Exeter, N.H.: The News-Letter Press, 1897), II, 69, located in the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
82. [Earnest L. Welch] “Grip’s” Historical Souvenir of Seneca Falls (Syracuse: [Earnest L. Welch], 1904, p. 26.
83. Joel H. Monroe, A Century and A Quarter of History—Geneva (Geneva: W. F. Humphrey, 1912), p. 40, located in the Geneva Historical Society and Museum, Geneva, New York. There is no time specified for the performance of this labor. It may or may not be a valid account. There are numerous “stories” of Joseph being employed in one locality or another.
84. See “Alvin Smith and the New Frame Home,” this chapter.
86. Ibid., 11–12. This dictation of the early visions was begun by Joseph Smith in 1838. The first publication of the above account was in the Times and Seasons [Nauvoo] April 15, 1842, p. 753. A Condensed account of Moroni’s visit to Joseph also appeared in the Times and Seasons contained in a reprint of a letter sent by Joseph to Mr. John Wentworth, Editor of the Chicago Democrat. See Times and Seasons [Nauvoo], March 1, 1842, pp. 706–707. Oliver Cowdery published a series of letters dealing with the visits of Moroni in the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate beginning with “Letter IV,” February, 1835 and running through “Letter VIII,” October, 1835. For a more detailed discussion of these and other references pertaining to the visit of Moroni, see Richard Lloyd Anderson, “Confirming Records of Moroni’s Coming,” The Improvement Era, LXXIII (September, 1970), 4–8.
92. Statement of David Whitmer to Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith. See “Report of Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith,” Deseret Evening News [Salt Lake City], November 16, 1878.
93. Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate [Kirtland], October, 1835, pp. 195–196.
94. “Mormonism,” Christian Register [Boston], September 24, 1831, cited in, “Dale Morgan Papers,” Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah.
95. “Edward Partridge Journals, 1818–1886 [1836?],” #365, p. 12, located in the LDS Church Historian’s Office.
96. Deed Book 327, p. 471; Deed Book 347, pp. 491, 493, located in the Ontario County Courthouse, Canandaigua, New York. There have also been other purchases in addition to these. See also “How We Got the Hill Cumorah,” Deseret News, Church News [Salt Lake City], January 23, 1943.
97.Program of Dedicatory Exercises for the Angel Moroni Monument and Palmyra Conference, July 21, 22, 23, 1935, Palmyra, New York ([Palmyra: n.n., 1935]). See also “Heroic Monument to Angel Moroni Unveiled at Palmyra Mormon Rites,” Rochester Times-Union, July 22, 1935, located in the King’s Daughters’ Free Library, Inc., Palmyra, New York.
98. Personal Interview with Elder Edward Angle, April 16, 1970. Unable to find the measurements of the monument, Elder Edward Angle, Director of the Hill Cumorah Bureau of Information, and Mr. Lester Ganoe of Canandaigua utilized Mr. Ganoe’s tree trimming equipment to make an exact measurement.
103. Lucy Smith mistakenly specified that his death occurred in 1824. See Lucy Smith, op. cit., pp. 87–89; Joseph Smith, “MS History of the Church,” Book A-1, p. 7. See also HC, I, 16–17.
104. The cemetery is named in honor of General John Swift, founder of Palmyra. Swift gave the land where the cemetery is located for the erection of the first church in Palmyra (the Presbyterian Church), in 1811. General Swift was killed during the war of 1812, on July 12, 1814. It is interesting that Dr. Alexander McIntyre, the Smith doctor, was with the General when he fell. General Swift is buried in the cemetery that bears his name. See In Commemoration of Dedication of General John Swift Memorial Cemetery, August 18, 1923, James R. Hickey Post No. 120, American Legion, located in the King’s Daughters’ Free Library, Inc., Palmyra, New York.
105. “Gain C. Robinson Day Book,” July 21, 1823 to June 2, 1826, located in the King’s Daughters’ Free Library, Palmyra, New York. Other entries in the “Gain C. Robinson Day Books” indicate that Dr. Robinson apparently treated other members of the Smith family or provided medicines for them in his drug store. The respective daybooks are on microfilm in the Brigham Young University Library. Dr. Robinson died in 1830.
106. “Palmyra of the Past, No. V,” Wayne County Journal [Palmyra, New York], May 20, 1915.
107.An Historical Sketch of the Wayne County Medical Society (n. p., n.n., 1900), p. 8, located in the Wayne County Historical Society, Lyons, New York.
108. Lucy Smith, op. cit., p. 95. Dr. Robinson attempted to aid the Smiths in preserving their Manchester home and property.
110.HC, V, 126–127. See also Ibid., II, 380, for an account of Joseph Smith’s vision of Alvin in the Celestial Kingdom.
111. Wayne Sentinel [Palmyra], September 30, 1824, located in the King’s Daughters’ Library. The ad was placed with the Wayne Sentinel office on September 25, 1824.
112. Lucy Smith, op. cit., p. 88. [Lucy Smith, p. 91, specified that the family acquired the services of a “Mr. Stoddard, the principle workman,” to complete the building of the house. “Mr. Stoddard” has been identified as Russell Stoddard. On June 7, 1907, Elder George Albert Smith talked to Russell T. Stoddard, the son of Russell Stoddard in Manchester, NY. Mr. Stoddard stated that “he heard his father say that he built the Smith house for Jos Smith Senior assisted by others. They lived about a 1/2 Mile from the Smith farm.” See George Albert Smith Diaries 1890–1891 and 1903–1949, LDS Church Archives. The writer is grateful to Donald L. Enders for sharing this insight.]
113. Andrew Jenson, Assistant LDS Church Historian, did not feel that Moroni came to the new home. See Deseret News [Salt Lake City], October 5, 1935. Also, Joseph Fielding Smith records: “Alvin did not live to realize the blessing thus contemplated. . . . The frame of the new house was raised and the necessary material procured to complete the structure in the fall of 1823; but in November of that year Alvin was stricken.” See Joseph Fielding Smith, Essentials in Church History (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1922), p. 40. For a thorough analysis of the construction of the home, see Carter E. Grant, “The Joseph Smith Home,” The Improvement Era, LXII (December, 1959), 898–899, 976. In this article, Mr. Grant takes the position that the appearances of Moroni were in the cabin.
117. For a detailed account of Joseph Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania, see Chapter IV herein.
118. For additional information on Joseph Smith’s marriage and subsequent associations in Chenango and Broome Counties, see Chapter V herein. [The writer has been able to verify that the justice of the peace who performed the marriage of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale was Esq. Zechariah Tarble of South Bainbridge, see Chapter V herein.]
124. Lucy Smith, op. cit., p. 104. Martin Harris lends credibility to the comparative ease with which Joseph was able to move the plates about. He stated: “I hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds.” See Tiffany’s Monthly, p. 166.
126.Tiffany’s Monthly, p. 166. Lucy Smith stated that Joseph was attacked by three ruffians before reaching the house. In the process, Joseph’s thumb was dislocated. Josiah Stowell, Joseph Knight and Joseph Smith, Sr., were requested to search for the attackers, which they did. See Lucy Smith, op. cit., pp. 104–105.
127. Statement of Willard Chase, cited in E. D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville: E. D. Howe, 1834), p. 245.
129. Tiffany’s Monthly, pp. 166–167. In addition to the “Ontario glass-box,” Martin also mentions that the plates were kept in a “cherry box made for that purpose.” He does not say exactly when this was prepared. Ibid., p. 166.
131. Statement of Dr. John Stafford to William H. Kelley. See “The Hill Cumorah, and The Book of Mormon,” The Saints’ Herald [Plano], June 1, 1881, p 167.
132. “Mormonism—No. II, Tiffany’s Monthly (1859), 167, hereafter cited as Tiffany’s Monthly. David Whitmer corroborated Martin’s statement. He declared that he quizzed some young men in the Smith neighborhood and was informed:
Smith had certainly golden plates, and that before he had attained them he had promised to share with them, and had not done so, and they were very much incensed with him. . . . These parties were so positive in their statements that I began to believe there must be some foundation for the stories then in circulation all over that part of the country.— Kansas City Daily Journal, June 5, 1881.
See also, Hyrum L. Andrus, God, Man, and the Universe (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1968), 73–78; Richard L. Anderson, “Joseph Smith’s New York Reputation Reappraised,” BYU Studies, X (Spring, 1970), 283–314.
135.Tiffany’s Monthly, pp. 170. Lucy Smith stated that a mob of about fifty men attempted to enlist the aid of Dr. Alexander McIntyre to lead them in wresting the plates from Joseph, but he rejected their offers of “captaincy” and this broke up the expedition. See Lucy Smith, op. cit., p. 113. For details of this journey, and their reception in Harmony, see Chapter IV herein.
142. HC, I, 48–59. For details of these events, see Chapter IV and VI herein.
143. Letter of Henry M. Allen to “the Librarian of the Palmyra Library,” March, 1964, located in the “E. B. Grandin” file, King’s Daughters’ Library, Palmyra, New York. Henry M. Allen of Auburn, New York, died in 1968.
144. Thurlow Weed, Autobiography of Thurlow Weed, ed. Harriet A. Weed (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1884), I, pp. 358–359. [At the time Joseph Smith contacted Thurlow Weed in Rochester, Weed was the editor of the Rochester Anti-Masonic Enquirer (1828–1830). He was printing his paper out of the office of the Rochester Daily Telegraph, see Weed, 1:358–59; Milton W. Hamilton, The Country Printer: New York State, 1785–1830 (Port Washington, L.I., New York: Ira J. Friedman, Inc., 1964), 306–307.]
145. Tucker, op. cit., pp. 52–53. It should also be noted that while The Book of Mormon printing was in process, during the winter of 1829–30, there was apparently some discussion as to whether the necessary security for its publication would be forthcoming from Martin Harris. Consequently, Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery were reportedly despatched to Toronto, Canada, to see if someone would not be willing to buy the copyright. However, this venture was not successful, and references to this episode are sketchy. See David Whitmer, An Address to all Believers in Christ, (Richmond, Missouri: 1887), pp. 30–21. At the time of this publication, David Whitmer had left the Church and was attempting to establish a thesis of how the Church had “drifted into error.” A second publication which is often quoted in conjunction with the Canadian episode is Oliver Cowdery’s Defence of a Rehersal of My Grounds for Separating Myself From the Latter-day Saints (Norton, Ohio: Pressley’s Job Office, 1839). However, Dr. Richard L. Anderson, Brigham Young University, informed the writer that this latter publication can be shown quite conclusively to be a fraud. His evidence for this statement will shortly be published in a documented treatise. [Since the completion of this dissertation in 1971, Richard L. Anderson has reiterated his declaration that the purported 1839 pamphlet mentioned above is a fraud, see Richard Lloyd Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1981), 170–173.]
146. Book 3 of Mortgages, p 325, located in the Wayne County Courthouse, Lyons, New York.
147. Deed Book 10, p. 515, located in the Wayne County Courthouse, Lyons, New York. It is interesting to note that one of the witnesses of this transaction was Solomon Chamberlin, an early convert to the Church from the vicinity of Lyons, New York. Thomas Lakey was to reimburse Martin Harris in a series of payments extending to October 1832. A third party accelerated the process, however. John Graves had come to the Palmyra area from England in 1831, accompanied by his wife Jane and daughter, Mrs. Christina Graves Grainger, a widow. Mrs. Grainger had brought with her $3,000 in gold coins. On January 28, 1832 John Graves purchased the Harris farm from Thomas Lakey, paying $3,300. Thomas Lakey pocketed the additional $300 markup and paid Martin Harris the requisite $3,000 in gold, which was passed on to E. B. Grandin to retire the debt owed for the printing of the Book of Mormon, see Minor T. Patton, “How it was that my great-grandmother’s gold paid for the printing of the first edition of the Book of Mormon,” typescript, LDS Church Archives.]
148. Letter of John H. Gilbert to James T. Cobb, Palmyra, Wayne County, New York, February 10, 1879, located in the New York Public Library, New York City, New York.
149. “Memorandum, made by John H. Gilbert, Esq., Sept 8th, 1892, Palmyra, N.Y.,” located in the King’s Daughters’ Library, Palmyra, New York.
150. See Figure 2, p. 91. This is the earliest picture of Exchange Row the author has encountered, dated 1865. [The building complex of four bays was originally called “Thayer and Grandin’s Row” (Levi and Joel Thayer and Philip Grandin, brother of E. G. Grandin, were the builders) when first constructed, see The Wayne Sentinel [Palmyra], May 22, 1829. In 1831 it became commonly known as “Exchange Row.” see publisher’s address, “No. 5, Exchange Row,” in The Wayne Sentinel [Palmyra], July 1, 1831.]
151. Lucy Smith, op. cit., 148–150. Joseph Smith secured a copyright on The Book of Mormon from R. R. Lansing, Clerk of the Northern District Court of New York, on June 11, 1829. See 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon. For a more detailed treatise of the difficulty with Esq. Cole, see Russell R. Rich, “The Dogberry Papers and the Book of Mormon,” BYU Studies, X (Spring), 315–320. [Richard Ray Lansing, Clerk of the Northern District Court of New York, was a long-term resident of Utica, New York where he had his home and office. The Book of Mormon copyright was undoubtedly filed there. See M. M. Bagg, The Pioneers of Utica: Being Sketches of Its Inhabitants and Its Institutions, with the Civil History of the Place, from Earliest Settlement (Utica, N.Y.: Curtiss & Childs, 1877), 332–334; and Horatio Gates Spafford, comp., A Gazetteer of the State of New–York (Albany: B. D. Packard and Author, 1824), copyright page and “Utica,” 534–535.]
152. The hill directly north of Palmyra, New York, on the left side of Maple Avenue, as one drives north toward the Martin Harris Farm, is called Wintergreen Hill (also known as Walton Hill). Samuel J. Ferguson told the writer that the hill derives its name from “a small plant which grows on the east side of the hill—used in Wintergreen Gum and Wintergreen Oil to give it a characteristic flavor.”—Personal interview with Samuel J. Ferguson, Palmyra, New York, April 21, 1970.
153. “A Short Sketch of the Life of Solomon Chamberlin,” Solomon Chamberlin to Albert Carrington, July 11, 1858, Beaver City, Utah, located in possession of Mrs. Albert D. Swensen, Provo, Utah. Mrs. Swensen (Jennie Romney) is the great-granddaughter of Solomon Chamberlin. Solomon Chamberlin died on March 26, 1862 in Washington Co., Utah. See Appendix D for complete life sketch. [Since the completion of this dissertation in 1971, Mrs. Swensen has placed this document in the LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah. For information on Solomon’s “visionary pamphlet” mentioned herein, see Larry C. Porter, “Solomon Chamberlin’s Missing Pamphlet: Dreams, Visions, and Angelic Ministrants,” BYU Studies 37:2 (1997–98): 113–40; for a further expansion of the LDS missionary movement and the Book of Mormon see also Larry C. Porter, “The Field Is White Already to Harvest”: Earliest Missionary Labors and the Book of Mormon,” in Larry C. Porter and Susan Easton Black, eds., The Prophet Joseph Smith: Essays on the Life and Mission of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1988), pp. 73–89.]
157. Lucy Smith, op. cit., pp. 152–153. Lucy mistakenly calls it Bloomington.[Since the completion of this dissertation in 1971, some additional factors in the conversion of the Young family might be noted, see Larry C. Porter, “Brigham Young: ‘The Man of the Hour Will Be Ready Whenever the Hour Strikes.’” Brigham Young University 1997–98 Speeches (Provo: Brigham Young University Publications and Graphics, 1998), 143–144.]
159. Ibid., pp. 154–157. C. Kent Dunford, “The Contributions of George A. Smith to the Establishment of the Mormon Society in the Territory of Utah” (unpublished Doctor’s dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1970), pp. 37–39.
160. Journal of Discourses, G.D. Watt and others (reporters), (London: LDS Book Depot, 1854–1886, 26 vols.) V, p. 103. hereafter cited as JD.
161. See Chapter VI herein for the Smith family baptisms in Seneca County.
162. Tucker, op. cit., pp. 38–39. As many of those named in this list were baptized in Seneca County, see Chapter VI for additional information. [Among the “pioneer Mormon disciples” in the Manchester Branch it would be important to add the name of Almira Mack, daughter of Stephen Mack, and niece of Lucy Mack Smith. Soon after the organization of the Church on April 6, 1830 Almira came from Michigan Territory and visited her Aunt Lucy at Palmyra and was baptized in May 1830. See John & Audrey Cumming, The Pilgrimage of Temperance Mack (Mount Pleasant, MI: Published by the Authors, 1967), 9.]
163. Ibid. Hiram Page and the members of the Whitmer family should be thought of as being from Seneca County rather than from the Wayne and Ontario counties.
164. Willard Bean, A.B.C. History of Palmyra (Palmyra: Palmyra Courier Company, Inc., 1938), p. 69.
165. “Concerning Joseph Smith,” n.p., n.d., located in the file on “Mormonism”, King’s Daughters’ Library. This is a typescript copy.
166. Lucy Smith, op. cit., p. 171. Lucy also stated that Joseph preached at the home of Calvin Stoddard, at this same time, and that additional baptisms also resulted from that stop.
167. Orson Pratt, “History of Orson Pratt,” Deseret News [Fillmore City, Utah], June 2, 1858.
168. Ellen E. Dickinson, New Light on Mormonism (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1885), p. 261.
169. “Testimony of Brother E. Thayre,” Saints’ Herald [Plano], October, 1862, pp. 79–80.
170.[Since the completion of this dissertation in 1971 much more is known about the Saints in Columbia, Pennsylvania and vicinity. See V. Alan Curtis, “Missionary Activities and Church Organizations in Pennsylvania, 1830–1840,” (Masters thesis, Brigham Young University, April 1976), 67–102; see also Paul Zilch Rosenbaum, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Pennsylvania (1830–1854),” (Masters thesis, East Stoudsbury State College, 1982), 32–51.]
171. Parley P. Pratt, The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt (New York: Russell Brothers, 1874), pp. 46–47.
172. Everett Ellsworth Roundy, The Roundy Family in America (Dedham, Mass.: Everett Ellsworth Roundy, 1942), pp. 215–216. Shadrach married Betsy Quimby. The wife of Uriah was Polly Lyon.
173. Walter Dean Bowen, “The Versatile W. W. Phelps — Mormon Writer, Educator, and Pioneer” (unpublished Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1958), p. 18.
174. Speech of W. W. Phelps, Deseret News [Salt Lake City], April 11, 1860, pp. 45, 48.
175.Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate [Kirtland], April, 1835, p. 97.
176.Ontario Pheonix [Canandaigua], May 11, 1831, located in the Ontario County Historical Society, Canandaigua, New York.
180. Lucy Smith, op. cit., 160–161, 165. The names of the two persons brought into the Church through the efforts of Joseph Smith, Sr., were apparently not recorded. The writer is interested in a number of individuals as possible members of the Church in the Wayne-Ontario County area, in 1830–1831. Among those who may yet be identified as converts from this era are Darwin Chase, Isaac Chase and Alfred Stafford.
181. Statement of Heber C. Kimball, “Synopsis of the History of Heber Chase Kimball,” Deseret News [Salt Lake City], March 31, 1858; Statement of Brigham Young, “History of Brigham Young,” Deseret News [Salt Lake City], February 10, 1858. Unfortunately, little is presently known about the origin or development of the branch of Saints in Columbia, Pennsylvania. Brigham Young said that they were the first branch to experience the gift of tongues. Ibid.
182. Milton, V. Backman, Jr., Joseph Smith’s First Vision (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1971), pp. 41–43.
184. William Smith, William Smith on Mormonism (Lamoni: Herald Steam Book and Job Office, 1883), pp. 12–13, hereafter cited as Smith, William Smith on Mormonism.
186. Lucy Smith, op. cit., pp. 92–93. Issac Hale stated that Joseph and the other “money-diggers” had left Harmony about November 17, 1825, and by December 20, 1825, Lemuel Durfee, Sr., is given title to the Smith property. The visit of Stowell and Knight must have occurred some time between these two dates. See The Susquehanna Register [Montrose], May 1, 1834; Deed Book 44, p. 232, Ontario County Courthouse, Canandaigua, New York. Lucy Smith is incorrect in her stated date of “December 25, 1825.” Lemuel Durfee, Sr., was in possession of the property by then.
187. Ibid., p. 94. Mr. Stoddard had previously offered $1,500 for the home, but had been rejected. See Lucy Smith, op. cit., p. 91.
191. Lemuel Durfee, Sr., made the actual purchase, December 20, 1825, for the consideration of $1,135. See Deed Book 44, p. 232, Ontario County Courthouse, Canandaigua, New York. Lemuel Durfee, Sr., died on August 8, 1829. His sons Oliver Durfee and Lemuel Durfee, Jr., acted as their father’s executors in selling the property to Mary Nichols, daughter of Lemuel Durfee, Sr., April 9, 1834. See Deed Book 55, p. 558. See also Appendix C herein.
192. “About Days of Long Ago,” Palmyra Courier, n.d., located in the “Wilcox Scrapbook,” (Plain cover), King’s Daughters’ Free Library, Palmyra, New York. See also “Death of Gurdon T. Smith,” unidentified newspaper clipping, Palmyra, September 23, 1898, “Wilcox Scrapbook,” (plain cover), King’s Daughters’ Free Library.
193. Carter E. Grant, “The Joseph Smith Home,” The Improvement Era, LXII (December, 1959), p. 978. [Since the completion of this dissertation in 1971 it has become very clear that the move of Joseph occured in 1829 and was not to the South but to to the North and to their former log house. In Lucy Smith’s Preliminary Manuscript, p. 99, she stated, “We now began to make preparations to remove the family and effects back to the log house which was now occupied by Hyrum.”]
199. “Newel Knight’s Journal,” Scraps of Biography, Tenth Book of the Faith-Promoting Stories (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883), p. 66.
202. Lucy Smith, op. cit., p. 167. The writer visited the modern day jailhouse at Canandaigua in an attempt to find any early records which would show either the incarceration of Joseph Smith, Sr., or his release. Officer Raymond Schoville, the “turn-key,” stated that there were no records stored in the old jail, (the jailhouse standing adjacent to the present facility), and that “all records were brought over to the new jailhouse from the old, and none of them predated 1937.” Personal interview with Officer Raymond Schoville, Canandaigua, New York, August 7, 1969. The writer did find one old bail book for the period, “Bail Book, 1818–1841,” located in the Ontario County Courthouse, Canandaigua, New York. Mr. Byron C. Blazey, Ontario County Clerk, said that he knew of no other jailhouse records dating from that time.—Personal interview, August 7, 1969.
