Brigham Young was born to John and Nabby Young at Whitingham, Vermont, in 1801. At about age 16, Brigham was told by his father that he was old enough to go out on his own and provide for himself. His mother had just passed away.

His father, John Young, later moved to the area of Mendon, New York. Eventually, Brigham and his ailing wife, Miriam, also moved to Mendon on the back part of his father’s property. They were all practicing members of the Reformed Methodist Church.

In 1832, Brigham, Miriam, John and all of Brigham’s immediate family joined the Church of Christ, later The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All stayed active in the LDS Church throughout their lives.

According to Larry C. Porter, Brigham built a house for his father on his father’s property in Mendon. For some reason, that structure was subsequently divided in two. Half was moved across the street with each part facing the other from opposite sides of Cheese Factory Road. Over time, both portions were added on to, essentially creating two new homes. Both of those altered structures still stand. (See Larry C. Porter, “Brigham Young: The Man for the Hour Will Be Ready Whenever the Hour Strikes,” BYU Speeches, Jan. 27, 1998.)

They are owned by the LDS Church, but they are used as private residences.

Kenneth Mays is a board member of the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation and a retired instructor in the LDS Church’s Department of Seminaries and Institutes.

Ashley Morales

Frequently whimsical and overly optimistic about how much time it will take to do things, Ashley Morales is deeply passionate about the gospel and all kinds of creativity. Her hobbies include philosophically analyzing nearly every book, play, video game, and movie that she consumes, writing music and short stories, promising herself that she will finish writing her novels, going to sleep too late, eating foods she’s never tried, putting off cleaning her house, browsing Zillow, spending as much quality time as possible with her wonderful husband, trying to be a good mother to her fantastic children, and never finding the balance between saying too much and too little. One day, she hopes to leave a positive mark on the world and visit every continent (except Antarctica) with her family.

The Erie Canal, which celebrates its 200^th birthday this year, provided many miracles—not the least of which included a means of travel and communication that allowed The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to spread and thrive better than it would have otherwise.

How so, you ask?

For one thing, the rise of wealth in the area may have contributed to the Second Great Awakening, when interest in religion throughout the existing United States was revived with notable ardency, resulting in many denominations frequently butting heads over doctrine and wrestling to retain and increase their memberships. After all, as Nephi so eloquently related, opposition is necessary for progress, and in this case, finding earthly satisfaction in material goods urged the desire to find spiritual satisfaction in one’s relationship with God as well. Although it was not the only factor that ignited the religious fire of this time period, the Erie Canal was certainly an important spark.

The Erie Canal. Courtesy of Pexels.

Furthermore, the canal’s sheer reach across the continental United States let all kinds of people carry their ideas and causes to faraway places in record time. In fact, one of its many nicknames was the “psychic highway.” Of course, among the groups that took advantage of the canal’s accessibility were the Mormons, who were able to use it to travel around the country to build cities for themselves, transport the materials necessary for such cities, and even serve missions. On its waters were brought all the paper and equipment needed to publish the Book of Mormon as well. Even the likes of Charles Dickens himself was floating on it when he was first impressed by the Mormons he met there. Never before had the Lord’s commandment to baptize the world seemed more realistic.

Before the Erie Canal was built, getting around the country was difficult and exhausting. While it was undergoing construction, however, it brought many jobs; its completion ensured more wealth in nearby areas, promoted other sectors of economic growth by providing transportation for all kinds of goods, greatly helped U.S. citizens get wherever they needed to go, and served as a symbol of America’s engineering innovations. However, equally important is its role in the rise of the kingdom of God in the latter days, for God does work through the hands of man to accomplish His ends.

Ashley Morales

Frequently whimsical and overly optimistic about how much time it will take to do things, Ashley Morales is deeply passionate about the gospel and all kinds of creativity. Her hobbies include philosophically analyzing nearly every book, play, video game, and movie that she consumes, writing music and short stories, promising herself that she will finish writing her novels, going to sleep too late, eating foods she’s never tried, putting off cleaning her house, browsing Zillow, spending as much quality time as possible with her wonderful husband, trying to be a good mother to her fantastic children, and never finding the balance between saying too much and too little. One day, she hopes to leave a positive mark on the world and visit every continent (except Antarctica) with her family.

This article was originally published by Meridian Magazine on 9 August 2016.

After nearly 12 years of restoration construction, the historical Joseph Knight Sr. Ancestral Farmhouse in Nineveh, NY is open for visitors. Originally built in 1815, the Joseph Knight Sr. home has been beautifully restored with authentic artifacts and furnishings complementary to the time period and historical authenticity of rural New York State. Volunteer docents live in accommodations annexed to the home and conduct tours for individuals, families, and tour groups. They are available at 607-693-1266.

Also completed is the Josiah Stowell home in Afton, NY, less than a mile east of the Knight home. Stowell figured prominently in early Church history. In Afton, Joseph Smith and Emma Hale courted, married and honeymooned. Both homes are finished in museum-quality condition. They represent historical centerpieces to the early period of the Restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a history which has largely been neglected to date.

The Joseph Knight Sr. family is remembered as being close friends of the Prophet who furnished support to his translation of the Book of Mormon. They formed the Colesville Branch of approximately 82 members, which was centered at the Knight home, with Hyrum Smith as the first branch president. As millers, Newel Knight and Joseph Knight Jr. constructed as many as eight gristmills to provide flour to starving Saints over six Mormon migrations. The Knight family remained true and loyal to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young when other leaders and members failed to support them.

The “Cradle of the Restoration” represents five early sites of the Church starting in Palmyra with the First Vision of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith Jr. and the eventual publication of the Book of Mormon. A short distance south is the Peter Witmer Jr. farm at Fayette, NY. Here the Church was officially organized among other events. Approximately two hours further south is the Knight home in the hamlet of Nineveh, formerly called Colesville Township, and the Stowell home in Afton, NY.

The Joseph Knight, Sr. Farm – Location of the Colesville branch the first branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Driving south 25 miles down Windsor Road along the picturesque Susquehanna River, where the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored, is the Church’s newly finished historic Priesthood Restoration Site, dedicated September 19, 2015, at Harmony, PA. There are inspirational historical presentations to see in the new visitors’ center, the Isaac and Elizabeth Hale home, the cabin home of Joseph and Emma Smith, where over 70% of the Book of Mormon translation took place with scribe Oliver Cowdery, the sites of the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood by John the Baptist, and the baptisms of Joseph and Oliver.

With the openings of the Knight and Stowell homes and the Priesthood Restoration Site, combined with the history of Palmyra and Fayette, NY, visitors now have a more complete picture and expanded appreciation of the early events of the Restoration of the Church, its first members, and the consecration of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Three families privately own the Knight and Stowell homes: Raphael and Shari Mecham, Steve and Pat Glenn, and Paul and Ann Painter have guided the restoration of the two homes using their own and Knight family organization resources and volunteer help. For information, contact Raphael Mecham at 480-323-5947 or through email: craphaelm@msn.com .

The address of the Joseph Knight home is 1963 East Windsor Road, Nineveh, NY 13813. Visit colesville-restoration.com and josephknightfamily.org. A tour for descendants of Joseph Knight Sr. and the Colesville Branch, is now offered through Mormon Heritage Association for September 12-15, 2016. Contact Patty Steadman, 801-272-5601 or email: info@mormonheritage.com . The tour features all five Restoration sites.

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In 1795, Knight married Polly Peck. Five years later they were living in Vermont, and in 1808, they moved to Colesville, New York. Along with his second wife, and thirteen children, he established a sawmill in Colesville.

He first met Joseph Smith while Joseph was working for Josiah Stowell in 1825. Joseph was 20 years of age at the time. In late 1826, he hired Joseph to do farm work and to work at the sawmill. Joseph told the Knight family about seeing God the Father and the Son six years earlier near Palmyra, New York, and also about the Gold Plates he was preparing to receive. The Knights were impressed with his story.

Joseph Knight Sr. was also instrumental in Joseph Smith’s courtship with Emma Hale. “I paid him the money and furnished him with a horse and cutter [sled] to go and see his girl.” The Prophet even used Knight’s wagon to retrieve the gold plates from the Hill Cumorah.

Joseph Knight Sr. was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 28 June 1830. All his children, their spouses, his sister, and three of his wife’s siblings along with their spouses joined the church. The Knight family constituted the Colesville Branch, the first branch of the church. Hyrum Smith served as the first Branch President, followed by Newel Knight, one of Knight’s sons. They met in the Knight family home.

The Knight farm was the location of the Prophet Joseph Smith being arrested for the first time on 28 June 1830 following the organization of the church. Charged with “being a disorderly person by preaching the Book of Mormon, and setting the country in an uproar,” he was put on trial, but acquitted of the charges against him.

Knight died at the age of 74 in Mt. Pisgah, Iowa on 3 February 1847, after the Saints’ expulsion from Nauvoo, and before reaching Utah.

The Joseph Knight Sr. home in Nineveh, New York (formerly Colesville) located 23 miles north of the Priesthood Restoration Site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in what was once Harmony, Pennsylvania, underwent a 12-year restoration process. The home, owned by Raphael Mecham, one of the directors of the restoration project, and his brother-in-law, Steve Glenn, located at 1963 E. Windsor Road, Nineveh, New York 13813, and is now open for public tours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 2-6 p.m. on Sundays.

They purchased the home in 2004 after it had fallen into severe disarray, however, due to foreclosure laws, they did not take ownership of the home until August 2005. Once they had ownership, they invited the Painters family to help with the restoration project.

According to Mecham, the original plan was to renovate the home, but in 2006, they received a spiritual prompting that the house should be restored and preserved. Approximately 75 to 100 people assisted in restoring the home – people including an electrician, a blacksmith, and missionaries on their preparation days.

According to a 3 June 2016 Deseret News article, Mecham stressed the importance of knowing church history to “appreciate the depth and breadth of the Restoration.” He further stated that understanding the history “magnifies the faith and it strengthens testimony.”

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

of-common-sense.site123.me/

History records that during the winter of 1857-1858, approximately one-fourth of the United States Army (2,500 soldiers) camped near Fort Bridger, Wyoming, and waited for spring when they planned to fight their way through Echo Canyon — not barring the Utah militia and the fortifications that were already in place there. From Echo Canyon, they were to travel over Big Mountain and eventually arrive in the Salt Lake Valley.

Why was the U.S. Army sent to Utah? What was the response of the Mormons when they learned that the Army was on its way to Utah? What fortifications did the Army make in Echo Canyon? Why didn’t any fighting take place? Historians have long pondered such questions. The answer to those questions can be found on four (36”x 46”) plaques of high pressure Laminate placed in Echo Canyon on I-80 at the mouth of Echo Canyon, across from the Visitor Information Center at rest area #170.

Wikipedia gives a little more clarification on the events that took place in 1857-1858 in its article on the Utah War.

President James Buchanan sent U.S. forces to the Utah Territory in 1857-1858. This became known as the Utah Expedition. The Mormons, learning of the impending arrival of the U.S. military forces, feared that they were sent to annihilate them, and made preparations to defend themselves. Though the objective was to avoid bloodshed and loss of life, both sides prepared for war. Firearms were manufactured or repaired by the Mormons, scythes were turned into bayonets, and long-unused sabres were burnished and sharpened.

The Mormons’ strategy was to hinder and weaken the forces rather than engaging them directly. It is recorded that Daniel H. Wells, Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion, instructed Major Joseph Taylor:

On ascertaining the locality or route of the troops, proceed at once to annoy them in every possible way. Use every exertion to stampede their animals and set fire to their trains. Burn the whole country before them and on their flanks. Keep them from sleeping, by night surprises; blockade the road by felling trees or destroying the river fords where you can. Watch for opportunities to set fire to the grass on their windward, so as, if possible, to envelop their trains. Leave no grass before them that can be burned. Keep your men concealed as much as possible, and guard against surprise.

The Mormons were able to block the entrance of the U.S. Army into the Salt Lake Valley, and weakened them by cutting them off from receiving provisions. The confrontation between the Nauvoo Legion and the U.S. Army involved some destruction of property and a few brief skirmishes in what is today southwestern Wyoming, but no battles occurred between the contending military forces.

The rest of the story is that the United States Army (comprised of 3,000 men by the time they reached the Salt Lake Valley), under the command of Colonel Johnston, passed down South Temple and did not stop until they reached the west side of the Jordan River. A few days later, they moved 40 miles south and established Camp Floyd, and by mid-1861, the soldiers of the U.S. Army had left Utah to participate in the Civil War.

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

of-common-sense.site123.me/

On April 6, 1841, the Mormon temple was begun at the same time as Joseph Smith began preaching the doctrine of baptism for the dead, which he had received by revelation. He taught that those who had died without an opportunity to hear the true gospel of Jesus Christ would be taught it in the Spirit World and have the chance to accept it. Those who were still living upon the earth could be baptized on their behalf.  This doctrine, unique to Mormonism, even though the Bible refers to it (see 1 Corinthians 15:29), also taught that such ordinances were to be done in temples along with other sacred temple ceremonies.  Just as with Solomon’s Temple, the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith the plan and layout of the temple, which included a baptistery, a large meeting hall, offices for some Mormon Church leaders, and special ordinance rooms.  In the spring of 1842, Joseph Smith introduced other Mormon temple ordinances, known as the Endowment, to the Twelve Apostles.  He also taught about Celestial or Eternal Marriage, which was to be performed in temples and through which a husband and wife could be “sealed” together for time and eternity along with their children, and thus could receive all the blessings of Abraham.  No one else besides the Twelve Apostles and their wives received these ordinances until after the temple was finished.  Joseph Smith, knowing that he probably would die before the temple was completed, introduced them in the upper room of his general store called the Red Brick Store.

On June 27, 1844, with the temple only partially completed, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered in Carthage Jail. Despite this tragedy, it gave the Mormons a period of calm, since their enemies believed that Mormonism was a cult centered on Joseph Smith and would collapse without him. However, the Mormons thrived and even grew in numbers, and, in early 1846, they completed their temple even while under constant threats from mobs and militias. Even after the Mormons had decided to leave for the Rocky Mountains, they remained behind just long enough to finish their temple. By December 1845, the temple was complete enough to begin performing Endowment work and marriage sealings for the Mormons of Nauvoo. The Nauvoo temple was privately dedicated for this work and later rededicated publicly in May 1846, even as the Mormons were packing their wagons to leave. In all, around 5,500 Mormons went through the Nauvoo temple before abandoning it, as they had done in Kirtland. As the last Mormons were being driven from their homes by a mob in the Battle of Nauvoo in 1848, the temple was ransacked by the mob. In 1848, an arsonist set the building on fire and some of the walls collapsed. Finally, in 1850, a tornado destroyed the last remaining wall.

Anita Stansfield

Anita Stansfield began writing at the age of sixteen, and her first novel was published sixteen years later. For more than fifteen years she has been the number-one best-selling author of women’s fiction in the LDS market. Her novels range from historical to contemporary and cover a wide gamut of social and emotional issues that explore the human experience through memorable characters and unpredictable plots. She has received many awards, including a special award for pioneering new ground in LDS fiction, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy for LDS Literature, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award from her publisher, Covenant Communications. She has fifty-six published books. Anita is the mother of five, and has three grandchildren.