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Summarized by Kent Larsen
LDS Church Finishes Renovation of Manchester NY Joseph Smith Home
MANCHESTER, NEW YORK -- The 18-month-long renovation of the home
where Joseph Smith saw the Angel Moroni has been completed, according
to a report in the Albany Times Union. The renovation, which used
early 19th-century materials and methods, has attempted, as far as
possible, to restore the farmhouse and a nearby log cabin to their
original state.
The house is located between the New York towns of Manchester and
Palmyra in Wayne County, on the land that Joseph Smith, Sr. purchased
in 1816 when the family arrived from Vermont. The log cabin was built
in 1818, and the home was started in 1822 by Joseph Smith Jr.'s older
brother, Alvin. The family lost the home and land to foreclosure in
1829, but were able to remain as tenants for a time, living in the
log cabin.
The LDS Church purchased the property in 1907 and first turned it
into a historic site in 1975. The current renovation used
early-19th-century tools and techniques and was done by experts in
historical construction methods. The Church didn't disclose the cost
of the renovation.
Local members are excited over the completion, "The members are
really tickled to death with this because it's our history," William
Proctor, a Vancouver, British Columbia LDS missionary who directs
tours of the home with his wife, Lana. "When they see how the Smiths
lived they're empathetic and are in awe of what they had to do."
The home is near the sacred grove, where Joseph Smith had his 1820
vision, and the Church's new Palmyra Temple.
Source:
Home of Mormon founder restored
Albany NY Times Union pgD12 15Oct00 N1
Associated Press
Farmhouse is where Joseph Smith is said to have had religious vision
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