Around 1818 the
Joseph Smith Sr. family built and moved into a log house
in the woods several miles south of the village of Palmyra,
New York. On the 100-acre property that became the
family farm, young Joseph and his brothers and sisters
learned to work hard, love each other, and do as they
were commanded of God. The Smith family read together from
the Bible and "always had family prayers" in this home.
Fourteen-year-old
Joseph was living here at the time of his First Vision
in the spring of 1820. Three-and-a-half years later, in the
upstairs bedroom where he and his brothers slept,
Joseph prayed to know his standing before God. The
angel Moroni appeared and taught the young prophet
about a restoration of divine truth and authority in which
he would participate.
Most of the
family moved into a new frame home on the farm in 1825. Five
years later, they all moved away from Manchester. When the
Church purchased this property in 1930, the log home
was no longer standing. A replica was rebuilt on the
original site and dedicated by President Gordon B.
Hinckley in 1998.
