New York, Early LDS Sites in

From The Encyclopedia of Mormonism

See this page in the original 1992 publication.

[Many events in early Latter-day Saint history occurred in the Finger Lakes region of western New York and nearby northern Pennsylvania from 1820 to 1831. Western New York became known as the Burnt-over District because of the intense religious revivals that swept the area from the 1790s to the 1840s, affecting the families of many early LDS converts. See, generally, Historical Sitesand History of the Church: c 1820-1831, Background, Founding, New York Period.

The Palmyra-Manchester neighborhood was the home of the Joseph Smith family and the location of Joseph's First Vision; see Sacred Grove. In this area he obtained the Gold Plates; see Cumorahand Moroni, Visitations of. In 1830 the Book of Mormon was published in Palmyra with the financial assistance of a local resident, Harris, Martin.

Joseph Smith was employed near Harmony, Pennsylvania, in 1825. There he met his future wife, Emma Hale Smith; they were married at nearby South Bainbridge (Afton), New York, in 1827. Joseph and Emma lived until 1830 in Harmony, where Joseph translated most of the Book of Mormon. The restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood occurred in this vicinity in May 1829, and the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored between Harmony and Colesville. Some of the earliest converts to the Church belonged to its Colesville branch.

In Fayette, New York, Joseph Smith completed the Book of Mormon Translation in June 1829, at the home of Peter Whitmer, Sr., where the Organization of the Church also took place, April 6, 1830. ]

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