General information | |
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Town or city | Fayette, New York |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 42°51′57.5″N76°52′11.2″W / 42.865972°N 76.869778°W |
The Peter Whitmer log home is a historic site located in Fayette, New York, United States, owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The current house is a replica of the original log cabin and at its original site, and was built in 1980 to mark the sesquicentennial of the founding of the church. In the early 19th century, it was the home of Peter Whitmer Sr., his wife Mary Musselman Whitmer, and their eight children: Christian, Jacob, John, David, Catherine, Peter Jr., Nancy, and Elizabeth Ann, who lived on the property from 1809 to 1830. The house is prominent in the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement as the traditional location of the formal organization of the Church of Christ, the original name of the church founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830. The home is also near the site where the Three Witnesses were shown the golden plates by the Angel Moroni in 1829. [1] Joseph Smith and his wife Emma lived in the home with the Whitmers for six months in 1829, with a large part of the Book of Mormon being translated during that time. [2] The house and adjacent visitor center are open year-round for public tours.
The site is located in rural Seneca County in the Finger Lakes region of New York. It is in the town of Fayette, south of the village of Waterloo and southeast of the city of Geneva. The property was purchased by the LDS Church in 1926, [3] and the location of the original home was determined in 1947. The current structure is a replica dedicated on April 6, 1980, in a special general conference broadcast, which also saw the dedication of the adjacent LDS Church meetinghouse and visitor center. [4]
Fayette is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 3,617 at the 2020 census. The town is in the north-central part of the county and is southeast of Geneva, New York.
The Church of Christ was the original name of the Latter Day Saint church founded by Joseph Smith. Organized informally in 1829 in upstate New York and then formally on April 6, 1830, it was the first organization to implement the principles found in Smith's newly published Book of Mormon, and thus its establishment represents the formal beginning of the Latter Day Saint movement. Later names for this organization included the Church of the Latter Day Saints, the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church of God, the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
David Whitmer was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint Movement and one of the Three Witnesses to the gold plates of the Book of Mormon. Whitmer later distanced himself from Joseph Smith and was excommunicated from the church in 1838, but continued to affirm his testimony of the Book of Mormon. He was the most interviewed Book of Mormon witness.
Mary Elsa Musselman Whitmer was a Book of Mormon witness and the wife of Peter Whitmer Sr.
Far West was a settlement of the Latter Day Saint movement in Caldwell County, Missouri, United States, during the late 1830s. It is recognized as a historic site by the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, added to the register in 1970. It is owned and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Eight Witnesses were one of the two groups of witnesses who made statements stating that they had seen the golden plates which Joseph Smith said was his source material for the Book of Mormon. An earlier group of witnesses who said they had seen the plates were called the Three Witnesses.
John Whitmer was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's golden plates. Whitmer was also the first official Church Historian and a member of the presidency of the church in Missouri from 1834 to 1838.
Peter Whitmer Sr. was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement, and father of the movement's second founding family.
Hiram Page was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement and one of the Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon's golden plates.
Christian Whitmer was the eldest son of Peter Whitmer, Sr. and Mary Musselman. He is primarily remembered as one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's golden plates.
Peter Whitmer Jr. was the sixth child and fifth son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. He is primarily remembered as one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's golden plates.
The life of Joseph Smith from 1827 to 1830, when he was 22–25 years old, begins in late 1827, after Smith announced he had obtained a book of golden Plates buried in a hill near his home in Manchester, New York. Because of opposition by former treasure-seeking colleagues who believed they owned a share of the golden plates, Smith prepared to leave the Palmyra area for his wife's home town of Harmony, Pennsylvania. From late 1827 to the end of 1830, Smith would translate the golden plates, publish the Book of Mormon, and establish the Church of Christ.
The Palmyra New York Temple is the 77th operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Sacred Grove is a forested area of western New York near the home of Joseph Smith where the foundational event of the Latter Day Saint movement took place. It is the location where Smith said he had his First Vision, a theophany, occurring in the spring of 1820.
The Book of Mormon witnesses were a group of contemporaries of Joseph Smith who claimed to have seen the golden plates from which Smith translated the Book of Mormon. The most significant witnesses were the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses, all of whom allowed their names to be used on two separate statements included with the Book of Mormon. Critics have challenged the nature and reliability of the accounts, but church leaders contend that none of the witnesses ever denied what they saw.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New York refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in the state of New York. New York was the boyhood home of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Much of the early history of the now-worldwide LDS Church is centered in upstate New York. The LDS Church was organized on April 6, 1830, in Fayette, New York under the name of the Church of Christ.
The Priesthood Restoration Site, formally known as the Aaronic Priesthood Restoration Site, is a historic site located in Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. Due to its historical significance to Mormonism, the site is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The site comprises property once owned, and lived on, by Joseph Smith and is the spot where Latter Day Saints believe the resurrected John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic priesthood upon Smith and Oliver Cowdery in 1829. In September 2015, the church dedicated the site, which includes a visitors' center and meetinghouse, monuments, and the reconstructed homes of Smith and the Hale family.
The Smith Family Farm was the boyhood home of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Early participants in the Latter Day Saint movement consist of those individuals who were involved in Joseph Smith's Latter Day Saint movement prior to Smith's departure for Ohio in January 1831. Early participants also included the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon and members of the extended Whitmer and Smith families. Other early members included friends and acquaintances of the Smith and Whitmer families, such as Orrin Porter Rockwell.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the life and influence of Joseph Smith: