JOSEPH SMITH'S BIRTHPLACE: Vermont

On Thursday, July 21, we visited the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith in Vermont.

We knew he was born in Sharon, Vermont, but it turns out the home he lived in was on the dividing line of Sharon and South Royalton, Vermont.  Later he said he was born in Sharon, so that is what history now says.

                                                                                                                     

We really enjoyed going through the visitors' center in Vermont.  We allowed plenty of time, so we weren't rushed and enjoyed everything our missionary guide shared with us.  He and his wife are the directors of the site.  They arrived in January 2011 and interestingly enough we met them as they were on their way to the site because they stopped in Palmyra for some tours of our sites.

These two portraits are of Joseph Smith's parents.  The top one is his mother Lucy.  She was living when it was painted and was the model.  The bottom one, of Joseph Smith, Sr., his father, was painted using sketches of him and pictures of other family members that resembled him.

                                                                                                                      

The hearth on the fireplace below was one of my favorite artifacts.  When the property was purchased by the Mormon Church, this hearthstone and a front step were the only parts remaining of the home where Joseph was born.

                                                                 

Below is the head of a bronze statue of Joseph.  The statue is about 8 feet tall because the artist said Joseph seemed larger than life to him. 

                                                                                                             

Here Steven stands in front of the monument erected to honor Joseph Smith.  Junius Wells came on assignment from the First Presidency of the Mormon Church to Vermont in the spring of 1905 to purchase the land, design the monument, arrange the construction of it, and oversee the dedicatory ceremony.

                                                                               

A special highlight for us was a ride in a golf cart with the directors' wife to the Solomon Mack home site.  Solomon was Joseph's grandfather; his mother's father.  This home was about 1/2 mile from where Joseph lived with his family.  He would have spent considerable time here with his siblings, visiting grandparents.

                                                                               

Here is another view of the monument, which stands 38 1/2 feet tall, one foot for each year Joseph lived.  The monument is solid granite and is one of the largest single pieces of flawless granite in the world.  It weighs 40 tons and the base, which is made up of four pieces of granite, weighs 60 tons.  Moving that much granite 35 miles in 1905 with horses and a wagon was a huge task.  The specially constructed wagon had wheels that were 22 inches wide.  To read more about the amazing story of moving this monument, go to the following link and scroll down almost to the end. Placing the monument.

                                                    

This original stone step is located where the home once stood.  As mentioned earlier, this front step and the hearth stone are the only remains of the original home.

                                                                                           

Near the end of our visit we climbed Patriarch Hill for a panoramic view of the monument and the Visitors' Center.  We mentioned to our Senior Missionary Guide how peaceful it was in the area, and that we felt that peace even before we saw the monument, as we were eating our picnic lunch.  He told us that in a blessing President Joseph F. Smith left as he closed the dedicatory service he said, "Peace be with you, and unto this place, unto this monument and unto all who come to visit it..."

ON THE WAY HOME!

Friends kept asking if I planned to continue posting on Mission Musings after our mission was finished and I said I wasn't sure.  Here is what I now know:
1.  I have at least three posts from our mission that I didn't get time to finish.  I will finish them sooner or later and post them.
2.  I want to post our trip home. 
3.  I will probably continue to post mission experiences when we get home.

Sooo, here is the first post of our trip home.  On Monday, July 18 we left our beloved home in the north end of the Hill Cumorah Visitors' Center about 1:30 PM and headed for Watkins Glen State Park.

                                                                                                   

That afternoon we spent some time hiking in the park.  This park is the most famous of the Finger Lake State Parks.  The glen's stream descents 400 feet past 200 -foot cliffs, generating 19 waterfalls along its course.

                                                                     

 Later in the afternoon we drove on to Corning and that evening we had dinner with some friends that used to live in Oregon, Mark Beck and his family and his brother, Andy Beck and his family.  They both work at Corning and have now lived in New York for several years.

                                                                              

 The next morning, Tuesday, July 19,  we went to the Corning Museum of Glass.  We enjoyed visiting the museum and viewing beautiful glass artwork.

                                                                                    

Steven even tried his hand (or breath) at glass blowing.  It was fun to watch him at work.

                                                             

 He made this beautiful Christmas ornament.

                                                                                         

Cooperstown was our next stop on Wednesday, July 20.  There we visited the Baseball Hall of Fame.

                                                                           

It was quite an experience to be in Cooperstown and to spend time in the wonderful museum.  I found it very interesting, even though I'm not really a baseball fan and Steven loved it!

                                                                                                       

Steven stands next to a life size picture of Babe Ruth.

                                                                                                           

That same day went to the Farmers' Museum, also in Cooperstown.  It is an open-air museum that opened in 1942, mostly because of the efforts of Stephen C. Clark, Sr.  He owned the large barn and property which now houses many original homes built in the late 1700s to the mid 1800s.  The carousel is called the Empire State Carousel and the animals and paintings represent the history of New York.  It took 20 years to complete.  I couldn't resist having a ride.

                                                                                           

This picturesque building is a blacksmith shop.  We got to watch the blacksmith and his assistant hard at work.



                                                                                          

A large barn was the beginning of the museum.  It was inherited by Stephen Clark and he donated it along with the property to the state of New York for the open-air museum.  Other buildings include a pharmacy, a store, a school house, barns, a hotel, etc.

We are having a great time so far, exploring the Eastern United States!



A FACELIFT FOR OUR MURAL

As a teenager, one of my favorite books was The Agony and the Ecstacy, by Irving Stone. 

The Agony and the Ecstasy (1961) is a biographical novel of Michelangelo Buonarroti written by American author Irving Stone. My favorite part of the book tells of Michelangelo painting his famous mural in the Sistine Chapel.

Recently we had our own "Michael" painting a mural here in Palmyra.

Missionaries serving here at the Church Historic Sites love our "Christus" statue.  It is especially fitting that the background for the Chritus statue in our visitors' center is a mural of the Sacred Grove. 

Unfortunately, after 9 years of afternoon sun shining into the Christus Room, the mural had become faded.  It was decided that it needed a facelift. 

 Beginning in April, Michael set up his scaffolding, mixed his paints and began his work.

 It took many hours to bring the mural to life and it was fun to watch the process.  Michael worked as we gave our tours. He estimated that he heard the Christus room tour over 300 times!

We all enjoyed watching his progress as he worked patiently on the trees, leaves, grass, sky and ground.

Finally, 4 weeks later, Michael was finished with his mural masterpiece.  Below is the final result; this picture of the mural and Michael was taken on the day he returned home to Utah.  He stayed up all night to finish in time to catch his plane home.

                                                                   

Our Site Directors (below) were a great help to Michael, setting the building alarm after hours so he could work late and helping him clean up when he finished.

                                                            

Michael said the caretaker of the Sacred Grove was a great inspiration to

him.

The caretaker took him onto the Hill Cumorah and showed him various types of trees and how they grow.

Michael added details we all love about the Sacred Grove, like leaves,

grass and rocks,

young saplings

and of course, majestic, towering trees.

These two sister missionaries were teaching Michael in the Christus room one day as he was painting. They needed to practice teaching and asked to teach him.  He agreed and said his favorite Gospel topic was "Faith" so they taught from 

Alma 32 comparing the "word" (Gospel) unto a seed.  It inspired him to paint this seedling, so the sister missionaries could always remember they taught the lesson:  ". . . but behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good." 

We love our Christus and we love our new mural.  Thank you Michael. To learn more about the Christus statue, originally crafted by Danish sculptor Bertel Torvaldsen, click here:

Bertel Torvaldsen's Christus Video

HISTORIC HARMONY: Susquehanna River LDS Church History Tour

Six days ago 8 Senior Missionaries, including Elder Watts and myself, were privileged to go to Afton, New York and Oakland (Harmony), Pennsylvania to visit some Church historic sites.  Unlike Palmyra, where we serve, these sites are undeveloped.  However, many important and sacred events took place at these sites, many of which we testify as we give tours at the Palmrya sites.  These sites and ours are connected by time and events.  So, we were very excited and grateful to spend a day visiting the area.  J. Taylor Hollist, a church member and longtime resident of the area, graciously met us and showed us the sites. 

We started at the Afton Historical Museum.  There we saw the fireplace mantel that came from the home where Joseph Smith and Emma Hale were married.

                                                                   

They were married at the home of Squire Zacharia Tarble,  in Afton, then called South Bainbridge.  The house was sold at auction and torn down in July 1948 and all that remains is a New York State historic sign. (Emma's name is spelled incorrectly on the sign.)

                                                                        

Next we drove a short distance to the Josiah Stowell home and farm site, about 3 miles south of Afton, New York.

This is the original home of Josiah Stowell (below) and now sits vacant.  Josiah Stowell took Joseph as one of his hired hands to his farm where he was employed as a wool carder, farmer, and worker looking for a silver mine.

Joseph said that he was married to Emma Hale on January 1827  "while I was yet employed in the service of Mr. Stoal."  (There are two know spellings of Josiah's last name, Stowell and Stoal.) After Joseph and Emma were married, the newlyweds were taken by Josiah to Joseph's parents home in Manchester, New York, (the Smith Family Farm) where they stayed from January to December 1827. 

                                                            

 

We enjoyed visiting the Joseph Knight home next.  Many early converts were baptized at the Knight farm, including  Emma Smith, on June 28, 1830.  The Colesville Branch, the first branch of the Church, was formed by the individuals who were baptized on this date. 

Although this home has been added onto since that time, this portion below is the original home of the Knight family.  This house is also vacant.  Eventually some 68 members of the Colesville Branch emigrated to Kirtland, Ohio and finally to Salt Lake City.  Joseph Knight was of great assistance to Joseph Smith as he worked on the translation of the Book of Mormon, bringing him paper and much needed food.

We drove by the Colesville Town offices and saw this sign located near Harpursville, in Broome County, New York.

                                                                     

 

Our next stop was in Pennsylvania.  The restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood occurred in the wilderness between Harmony, Pennsylvania and Colesville, New York on the Susquehanna River.  Joseph Smith told Addison Everett, "We had 16 or 17 miles to go to reach our place of residence."

Last of all we arrived in Harmony, Pennsylvania (now called Oakland), which was the site of many significant events.  The Aaronic Priesthood was restored here and Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery baptized each other in the Susquehanna River near this site.

Though we had often seen pictures of the monument for the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood, it was wonderful to see it in person.

                                                       

 

This is where Joseph and Emma moved in December 1827 so that Joseph could translate the Gold Plates without interruption from detractors. 

They lived in a small three room farm house on a 13 1/2 acre farm that they purchased from Emma's brother.  The house burned down in 1918, but this sketch (below) was made from a photograph of the original home before it burned.

Their home originally stood on the mound of grass below.  The stones mark where their home was located.  While living on this small farm Joseph translated most of the Book of Mormon, with Oliver Cowdery acting a scribe.  Also, while they were living here Emma was asked to make a selection of sacred hymns which became the first hymn book for the Church.

                                                                          

 

Emma's parents, Isaac and Elizabeth Hale, lived on a farm next to where Joseph and Emma settled.  The sketch below is an artist's rendition of their home, the home where Emma grew up.

And below is the foundation of the Hale family home, that has recently been the site of some archaeological research. 

                                                                          

The McKune Cemetery is adjacent to the property that was Emma and Joseph's farm.  In this cemetery we saw the headstones of the first child of Joseph and Emma, a son, born on June 15, 1829.  This child died shortly after his birth.  We also saw the headstones of Isaac and Elizabeth Hale, Emma's parents.

Finally we walked down the slope to the Susquehanna River. This river is where Joseph and Oliver were baptized.  We were impressed with the peace we felt as we approached the river near Joseph and Emma's farm.

Just the very next day we were excited to learn that the Church announced  they will restore these sites in Harmony.  To see this article go to the following link: Mormon Church Announces Historical Harmony Site.

A letter from the First Presidency, dated April 15, 2011 states, "We are pleased to announce plans to restore the site know in Church history as Harmony (now Susquehanna), Pennsylvania." Later in the letter is says, "The planned reconstruction of the historic buildings and farm setting at Harmony will include construction of monuments commemorating the restoration of the priesthood."