Familypedia
Don't have an account?
Register
Familypedia
Advertisement
Register
in: Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints), 1830 establishments in New York (state), History of the Latter Day Saint movement,
and 3 more

New Religion (LDS 1830)

Edit

In the early 1830's much of upstate New York witnessed the fast rise of a new sect of Christianity, first called the "Church of Christ" and after 1838, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Best known for its curious doctrines regarding a new scripture known as the Book of Mormon, modern day apostles with the gift of prophecy and restoration of the lost priesthood. For better or worse this New Religion generated a lot of attention in this region.

Overview[]

The Church of Christ was the original name of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter=day Saints church founded by Joseph Smith (1805-1844) Organized informally in 1829 in 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 represents the formal beginning of the Latter Day Saint movement. Later names for this organization included the Church of the Latter Day Saints (by 1834 resolution), the Church of God, the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Smith and his associates asserted that the Church of Christ was a Restoration of the 1st-century Christian church, which Smith claimed had fallen from God's favor and authority because of what he called a "Great Apostasy". After Smith's death in 1844, there was a Succession crisis, with the majority of the members following Brigham Young (1801-1877) to the Salt Lake Valley, but with several smaller denominations remaining in Illinois or settling in Missouri and in other states. Each of the churches that resulted from this schism considers itself to be the rightful continuation of Smith's original "Church of Christ".

This church is unrelated to other bodies bearing the same name, including the United Church of Christ, a Reformed church body, and the Churches of Christ, an offshoot of the Campbellite movement. Today, there are several Latter Day Saint churches called "Church of Christ", largely within the Hedrickite branch of the movement.

1830 New York Church Branches[]

By 1830 early branches of the church were found in three New York towns: Fayette, New York, Manchester, New York, and Colesville, New York and missionaries of the church were visiting much of the surrounding region.

The first official missionary of the church in spring 1830 was Samuel Harrison Smith (1808-1844) who visited the homes of Brigham Young (1801-1877), Heber Chase Kimball (1801-1868). On his first day out (01 July 1830), Samuel traveled twenty miles to the southwest of Palmyra to the farm villages of Bloomington, New York and Mendon, New York in attempt to distribute copies of the Book of Mormon and to share his message.

1830 Fayette Branch[]

This branch first met in the Peter Whitmer Farmhouse and was the site of the official organization of the church on 06-Apr-1830.


1830 Manchester Branch[]

Manchester, New York, Wayne County, New York - Organized in May or early June 1830. In Aug 1830, the Smith Family, who had been living near Manchester, moved to Waterloo, New York. 2-Jan-1831, the branch was commanded by the Lord "to go to the Ohio", and was disorganized. (HC1:119, HSP.75)

1830 Colesville Branch[]

Colesville, New York, is a township located in Broome County, in the south central part of the state, where one of the earliest branches of the Church was organized in 1830. The central part of the township lies approximately ten miles northeast of the present city of Binghamton. In October 1825 Joseph Smith went to the area to work intermittently for Josiah Stowell for a little over a year. Stowell lived just south of the village of South Bainbridge in adjoining Bainbridge Township, Chenango County (since 1857 the village of Afton, Afton Township). Sometime during 1826 Joseph Smith also worked for Joseph Knight, Sr., who with his family resided on a farm located on Pickerel Pond, immediately east of Nineveh, a village in Colesville Township on the Susquehanna River. [1]

Joseph Smith maintained a friendly relationship with the Knight family and others in the Colesville area. In 1829, when Joseph and Oliver Cowdery were translating the Book of Mormon in harmony, pennsylvania, Joseph Knight, Sr., came from Colesville to visit and to give them food and writing materials. At other times, Joseph traveled the thirty miles from Harmony to Colesville for supplies. Joseph Smith related that the Melchizedek Priesthood was bestowed upon him and Oliver Cowdery by Peter, James, and John along the banks of the Susquehanna River between Colesville and Harmony (D&C 128:20; see Melchizedek Priesthood: Restoration of Melchizedek Priesthood).

After the Church was organized on April 6, 1830, in Fayette, New York, Joseph made several visits to the Knight family in Colesville to preach the gospel. On one of these visits, he cast an evil spirit out of Newel Knight, a son of Joseph Knight, Sr. This was the first miracle performed in the Church after its organization (HC 1:82-83). Numerous converts were baptized in the area, despite strong opposition from enemies of the Church. Joseph was brought to trial during July 1830 in both Chenango and Broome counties on charges related to his religious activities, but was acquitted in both instances. The Colesville Branch, often spoken of as the first branch of the Church, was organized in October 1830, with Hyrum Smith as branch president. He was followed in this office by Newel Knight. The membership of the branch was approximately sixty-five members.

The Saints in the Colesville area, following instruction of the Prophet (D&C 38), migrated to Kirtland, Ohio and then Thompson, Ohio, in April-May 1831, and subsequently on to Kaw Township, Jackson County, Missouri, during June-July 1831. Through all their moves they stayed together and were known as the Colesville Branch.


See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Encyclopedia of Mormonism Lamar E. Garrard]
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
Advertisement