Palmyra and Manchester

Beginning in the late 1700s, New Englanders moved to western New York in droves, attracted by the fertile soil and cheap acreage. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 added to the boom, and the small village of Palmyra quickly transformed into a trading center. With the growing population came increased religious diversity as Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Quakers all converged on the area and began vying for converts.¹ Residents throughout the region participated in religious gatherings, including revival meetings.

exterior of Smith cabin

Reconstructed log home on the Smith farm near Palmyra, New York

The Smiths in Palmyra and Manchester

The Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith family migrated to western New York in 1816 and 1817 after a bad harvest and financial troubles upset their livelihood. They first settled in Palmyra village and rented a house for two years, living on wages earned from day labor and running a small shop. In 1820 the family purchased a 100-acre farm a few miles south of Palmyra in Manchester Township.

Several key events of the early Restoration took place in this area. Joseph Smith Jr. recounted that around the time of his family’s move to western New York, his “mind became seriously impressed” with religious questions.² These spiritual concerns led to his First Vision, which occurred in a wooded area on the family’s farm. In a log home on the farm is where the angel Moroni first visited him. Four years later, Joseph retrieved the golden plates from a hill closer to the village of Manchester, and in 1830 the Book of Mormon was printed in Palmyra.

In her history, Lucy Mack Smith said Joseph received a revelation in the fall of 1830 directing the Joseph Sr. family to move to Waterloo, New York. In October the family left Manchester for Waterloo, where they remained until the Saints gathered to Ohio early the next year. In 1907 the Church acquired the Manchester farm from the son of a boyhood friend of Joseph Smith.³

Debate about Revivals in Palmyra

engraving of view of street with buildings

Main Street, Palmyra, New York

Some researchers have questioned whether Palmyra was indeed the scene of unusual religious excitement and contention between churches in 1820, as described in Joseph Smith’s history.⁴ Joseph’s account, however, does not single out Palmyra but rather indicates the excitement arose in “the whole district of Country.”⁵ Historians broadly agree that heightened religious fervor, including competition between churches for converts, was common in western New York during the time the Smiths lived in Palmyra.⁶ In June 1818, for example, a Methodist camp meeting took place in Palmyra. The following summer, Methodists assembled again just 15 miles from the Smith family farm, in Vienna (now Phelps), New York. One itinerant Methodist preacher documented in his journal revivals near Palmyra and Manchester in 1819 and 1820.⁷ For young Joseph Smith, who even witnessed religious differences within his own family, it was certainly a time of religious excitement, just as he claimed in his history.

Church Resources

Don Enders, “The Sacred Grove,” May 19, 2014, history.lds.org.

“First Vision Accounts,” Gospel Topics, topics.lds.org.

“Early Sites of the Restoration: New York and Pennsylvania,” history.lds.org.

“Palmyra Township, New York,” josephsmithpapers.org.

“Manchester Township, New York,” josephsmithpapers.org.

Bibliography

The following publications provide further information about this topic. By referring or linking you to these resources, we do not endorse or guarantee the content or the views of the authors.

Steven C. Harper, Joseph Smith’s First Vision: A Guide to the Historical Accounts (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012).

Larry C. Porter, “Palmyra/Manchester, New York,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow, 5 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 3:105.

Related Topics: Sacred Grove and Smith Family Farm, Printing and Publishing the Book of Mormon, Awakenings and Revivals, Founding Meeting of the Church of Christ

Notes

1. Donald Enders, “Palmyra and Manchester, 1816–1830,” in Brandon S. Plewe, ed., Mapping Mormonism: An Atlas of Latter-day Saint History (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2012), 16–17.

2. Joseph Smith, “History, circa Summer 1832,” 1, josephsmithpapers.org, spelling modernized.

3. Lucy Mack Smith, “Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845,” 178, 186–89, josephsmithpapers.org; Don Enders, “The Sacred Grove,” May 19, 2014, history.lds.org.

4. See Milton V. Backman, Joseph Smith’s First Vision: Confirming Evidences and Contemporary Accounts (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1971), 195–210.

5. Joseph Smith, “History, circa June 1839–circa 1841 [Draft 2],” 1, josephsmithpapers.org.

6. Whitney R. Cross, The Burned-over District: The Social and Intellectual History of Enthusiastic Religion in Western New York, 1800–1850 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1950); Paul E. Johnson, A Shopkeeper’s Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815–1837 (New York: Hill and Wang, 1983); Nathan O. Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989).

7. Benajah Williams diary, July 15, 1820, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.