Brief Timeline of Events in Palmyra-Manchester, New York

Fall 1816
Fall 1816

Joseph Smith Sr. Family Arrives in Palmyra

Joseph Smith Sr. arrives in Palmyra looking for employment and farmland. After a short time he sends word for his family to come.

January 1817
January 1817

Lucy Brings Children to Palmyra

Lucy takes the family from Vermont to Palmyra where they join Joseph Sr. The family will live downtown until they save enough money to purchase a farm (see Account).

1818
1818

Smith Home Built

The Smith family builds and moves into a log house on the 100-acre farm they have recently purchased.

Spring 1820
Spring 1820

Joseph's First Vision

Joseph Smith Jr. sees God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in a grove behind his Palmyra home (see Accounts).

1822
1822

Alvin Smith begins construction of the Smith frame home

21-22 September 1823
21-22 September 1823

Moroni's First Visits

The angel Moroni visits Joseph several times (see Accounts; see also D&C 2). Joseph goes to the hill Cumorah and views the plates for the first time (see Accounts).

19 November 1823
19 November 1823

Alvin Smith dies from infection

22 September 1824
22 September 1824

Second Visit with Moroni

Joseph makes his second visit to Cumorah and has another interview with the angel Moroni.

22 September 1825
22 September 1825

Third Visit with Moroni

Joseph makes his third visit to Cumorah and has another interview with the angel Moroni.

Fall 1825
Fall 1825

Framehome Complete

The Smith's frame home is completed and occupied by the family from 1825-1829.

22 September 1826
22 September 1826

Fourth Visit with Moroni

Joseph makes his fourth visit to Cumorah and has another interview with the angel Moroni.

18 January 1827
18 January 1827

Joseph & Emma Marry in South Bainbridge, New York

22 September 1827
22 September 1827

Final Visit with Moroni

Joseph makes his final visit to Cumorah and obtains the plates from the angel Moroni (see JS-H 1:53-54, 59).

October-November 1827
October-November 1827

Protecting the Plates

Several attempts are made to get the plates from Joseph. The Smiths must guard their house. Joseph obtains $50 from Martin Harris and hires a man to move him and Emma to her parents' house in Harmony, Pennsylvania. They move to Harmony while transporting the plates hidden in a barrel of beans (see Account).

11 June 1829
11 June 1829

Book of Mormon Copyright Secured

The copyright for the Book of Mormon is secured at the office of the Federal Distric Court Clerk, Richard R. Lansing. The application contains the title page of the Book of Mormon.

26 June 1829
26 June 1829

Book of Mormon Publisher Search

The Wayne Sentinel publishes the Book of Mormon title page. Probably around this time Martin Harris approaches E. B. Grandin about publishing the book. Grandin declines due to its high potential for unfavorable financial loss.

July 1829
July 1829

Book of Mormon Publisher Search Cont'd

Thurlow Weed, owner-editor of the Rochester Telegraph, is approached twice but likewise declines to print the book. The printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon is begun by Oliver Cowdery.

June-August
June-August

D&C 19 Received

Doctrine and Covenants 19 is likely received around this time (see Background to D&C 19).

25 August 1829
25 August 1829

Martin Harris Mortgages Farm

Martin Harris mortgages his farm. Around this time the contract with E. B. Grandin is likely signed. It is agreed that five thousand copies would be printed (a very unusually high amount in that day). Harris promises to deliver $3,000 to Grandin within eighteen months. If Harris defaults, his land is to be "sold at public auction to satisfy the demand" (Larry C. Porter, "A Study of the Origins of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, 1816-1831" (Ph.D. diss., BYU, 1971; BYU Studies, 2000), p.88). Hyrum Smith delivers the first manuscript installment and typesetting commences. The original typesetter is John H. Gilbert and proofs are printed by J. H. Bortles until December when Grandin hires Thomas McAuley. McAuley and Bortles do the remaining press work until March 1830.

January 1830
January 1830

Obediah Dogberry Debacle

Abner Cole (alias Obediah Dogberry), in his Palmyra Reflector, January 2, 13, 22, prints several extracts of the Book of Mormon from sheets he stole at Grandin's printing office (where his own newspaper was printed). Because of this Joseph returns to Palmyra from Harmony to assert his copyright privileges in order to stop this unauthorized publishing of sections of the Book of Mormon.

16 January 1830
16 January 1830

Joseph's Agreement with Martin

Joseph Smith enters into an agreement with Martin Harris which reads, "I hereby agree that Martin Harris shall have an equal privilege with me & my friends of selling the Book of Mormon of the Edition now printing by Egbert B Grandin until enough of them shall be sold to pay for the printing of the same of until such times as the said Grandin shall be paid for the printing the aforesaid Books or copies[.]" ("Note on the sale of the Book of Mormon, now printed," January 16, 1830, Simon Gratz Collection, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia)

26 March 1830
26 March 1830

Book of Mormon Printing Finished

The printing and binding are finished and the book is offered for sale to the public. Prices at Grandin's Bookstore seem to range from $1.25 to $1.75 per book.

April 1830
April 1830

D&C 23 Received

A revelation is given to Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, Samuel H. Smith, Joseph Smith Sr., and Joseph Knight Sr. as a result of their earnest desires to know of their respective duties (see Background to D&C 23).

16 April 1830
16 April 1830

D&C 22 Received

Joseph inquires of the Lord to know if those who had been baptized into other churches needed to be rebaptized into this Church (see Background to D&C 22).

6 April 2000
6 April 2000

The Palmyra New York Temple is dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley