his Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns by a good and sufficient Deed containing a General Warranty all that certain piece or parcel of land with its appurtenances situate lying and being in the Township of Harmony He did not add any value (and hence no tax) to the Morse land but increased the Smith land value by $150.00. I am grateful to Betty Smith, Director of the Susquehanna County Historical Society, for her generous help throughout this research; Jean Green, Head of Special Collections, at University Binghamton University Libraries and Nicolette Dobrowolski, Head of Public Services, Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries, and numerous other staff members of their institutions for providing access to significant collections. These roads would open trade to the Genesee Valley where men like Joseph Knight Sr. and Josiah Stowell could purchase large supplies of grain inexpensively and take their loads down to the river destined for the higher priced urban markets in Pennsylvania. Records, Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson County, Missouri, 25 June Timothy Pickering Jr., Drawings and Instructions for a House in the Country, The Timothy Pickering Papers, 17451820, 45:4955, Massachusetts Historical Society. While activities of the Rodsmen climaxed in 1801, the use of rods began in the late 1780s as Nathaniel Jr. approached adulthood and started courting. 56. In 1860, Emma affiliated with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (later renamed Community of Christ). Shortly before the Hale family moved from Harmony, provisions were also enacted to tax pleasure carriages and watches, of which they had none. Franklin Bowditch Dexter, ed.,The Literary Diary of Ezra Stiles(New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1901), 3:264, 266, 368, 488. These may be the bodies of other family members or neighbors moved at the same time or earlier forgotten burials. Joseph SmithIII, Last Testimony of Sister Emma, Saints Herald, vol.26, no.19 (Oct.1, 1879),289. Silas Comfort, a boy who grew up with Emma and who attended church with his parents in her familys home, preached in the late 1820s and early 1830s. Stowell, Joseph and the other hired men boarded, Vogel, Michael Morse Interview with William W. Blair, 8 May 1879,Early Mormon Documents,4:342. As Joseph courted Emma during the winter of 18251826, much of this was apparently done through customary letters. John Comfort, letter to Silas Comfort, December 24, 1836, punctuation added for clarity. 74. Food remains found on the Hale property include bones from turkey, mammals (such as squirrels), and small birds (such as passenger pigeons).129 A local historian recalled how in some years there were millions of wild pigeons available for food in the valley.130 The Hale family also made money by working leather into products and processing meat for other families in the valley.131 They left behind remains of antlers and animal bones made into handles and other implements to sell in the area.132 The Hale family did well enough relying on hunting that by the opening of the nineteenth century they began to assemble many comforts. Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1929. 296. 290. Isaacs grandmother may not have lived long afterward, however, or others agreed to take over responsibility for her care, since in 1784 Hale deeded the property earmarked for her care to his uncle David Ward, and he left for Connecticut.26 Hale may have returned to his birthplace to reconnect with the rest of his Ward relatives, particularly his uncles and aunts Jesse and Eunice Ward Cady and Daniel and Tryal Ward Curtis, since he later named two of his children Jesse and Tryal. [18] She saw upholding morality as the primary purpose of the Relief Society. 293. 126. Thomas and Mary Buck Tarble became part of the same Presbyterian community near Ouaquaga village where Josiah Stowell served as a deacon.After her husband Thomas was killed in an accident and buried on Abel Stowells farm, Mary moved to father-in-law John S. Tarbeles home a little south of the Hale family. And Elizabeth Hale expected a child again. But he may have also selected the site because of its sacred nature. [21] According to the minutes of the founding meeting, the organization was formed to "provoke the brethren to good works in looking to the wants of the poor, [search] after objects of charity [and] to assist by correcting the virtues of the female community". Chaffee,History of the Wyoming Conference, 49. (Rutland: Tuttle & Co., 1869), 33; see also, Almon Chandler Hopson, Wells,Vermont Historical Magazine,in Abby Maria Hemenway, ed.,The History of Rutland County, Vermont: Civil, Ecclesiastical, Biographical and Military(White River Junction, Vt.: White River Paper Co., 1882), 1191. isaac hale father of emma smith . The letter has one thousand eight hundred andthirteenfourteen written which is likely a correction because of a wrong year added just after the change on January 1. Jesse Hale served in various elected positions including superintendent of the local schools for District 3 while John Comfort served for District 1. It was said, that Harris wrote down one hundred and sixteen pages, and lost them. [11], On March 17, 1842, the Ladies' Relief Society of Nauvoo was formally organized as the women's auxiliary to the church. ; The Isaac Hale Beach Park on the island of Hawaii was named for a descendant who lived in the . Major Bucks father had placed him with the Onondaga people when only eleven years old to learn their language. George Peck(New York: Nelson and Phillips, 1873), 68; Trial Notes of Scribe A. Peck also referred to Isaac as old Brother Hale, George Peck,Early Methodism within the Bounds of the Old Genesee Conference from 1788 to 1828(New York: Carlton and Porter, 1860), 256. The tax valuations of log homes in the valley tended to fall into specific ranges that suggest they had common elements. 144. Hilborn eventually purchased his freedom, but his experience gave him more familiarity with Native Americans than was typical for the period. Andrew Tracys 17991801 diary, as cited in Blackman,History of Susquehanna County,11516; Blackman,History of Susquehanna County,431. Map by Brandon S. Plewe. Court of appeal held at Isaac Hales in Harmony, February 28, 1816, see Tax Assessment Records, Harmony Township, 1815, Susquehanna County Courthouse. Husband of Elizabeth (Lewis) Hale married 20 Sep 1790 in Wells, VT. Descendants. His eventual father-in-law, Nathaniel Lewis, also lived in the area and was drawn into one of these searches. See 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, 18161831 (PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1971), 118. Trial Notes Scribe A. The high assessed value for his sugar house and high subsequent value for his sugar suggests the Hale family were major sugar producers in the valley, Tax Records 1819, 1820, and 1821. 246. Smith, by the aid of his magic stone, ascertained that many years before a band of robbers had buried a box of treasure in certain flat lands on the deacons farm. Joe Smiths Youthful Days. Susquehanna County Deeds, History, 18381856, volume F-1 [1 May 18448 August 1844], History, circa June 1839circa If my children should ever read this I hope it may be a warning to them never to trust a mans word for if he is honest he is not a frad to be bound & if he is not he aught to be, May 25, 1813, Isaac Post Diary May 1812-December 1814, Susquehanna County Historical Society. Thou shalt be blessed with understanding, and have power to instruct thy sex, teach thy family righteousness, and thy little ones the way of life, and the holy angels shall watch over thee and thou shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, even so, Amen., Copyright 2023 The Joseph Smith Jr and Emma Hale Smith Historical Society, Joseph Smith Jr and Emma Hale Smith Historical Society 2023, Short Biographies of Joseph, Emma, and their family. On October 2, 1812, the men in the valley gathered in Lanesville at the home of John Comfortthe home Isaac Hale had built for Pickeringand they elected Comfort as Harmony Townships Tax Assessor with Hale as his assistant.237 The two men quickly visited the farms and workshops in Harmony, Pennsylvania, relying on detailed standardized instructions to determine a value for each familys property.238 Isaac Hale taxed himself in this first assessment for two homes, the original log home and a new frame home. [c] In July 1830, Joseph received a revelation, now known as Doctrine and Covenants section 25, that highlighted Emma Smith as "an elect lady". McCune, George Moody, ed. Adding to the Quary speculation, Morgan Miles, a sailor arrested and taken to London to be tried for piracy, announced his captain, a man named Stratton, had buried a cache of silver at the mouth of the Susquehanna River before returning to England.66 These stories spread and were embellished with each new telling until there was a general perception that most pirates buried treasure, a perception that worked its way into fictional narratives largely unchallenged for centuries despite the lack of evidence. 179. The remains of the homes foundation suggest Isaac and Elizabeth Hales frame home was 14 x 34 feet with a rear addition 12 x 24 feet. 244. John and Rhoda married and joined the Methodists in 1789, then moved to Wells village where John became a Methodist preacher.86 Levi Lewis, a younger brother, also moved to the village where he operated a tannery and served as the Sunday School superintendent.87 As John moved from Middletown, Nathaniel Jr. continued to live there until he married Sarah at the Justice of the Peace in February 1790.88 Since his family noted Nathaniel Jr. continuously preached from the time he was eleven, it is likely Nathaniel preached Methodism in Middletown, but it did not go well as most families remained involved with the Rodsmen and Lewis saw few if any converts. Approx. The Value of what Joseph Smith's Disapproving Father-in-Law Said About I inquired of Joseph Smith Jr., who was to be the first who would be allowed to see the Book of Plates? John Comfort, one of the wealthiest men in the valley, a close friend of Isaac Hale and a member of the same Methodist congregation, regularly reported his success to a son in letters. Some of Emma's friends, as well as many members of the Smith family, alienated themselves from Young's followers. As the play begins Isaac has agreed to house several treasure hunters for an old neighbor, Josiah Stowell, who is digging for a Spanish silver mine. Norris Galpin Osborn,Men of Mark in Connecticut(Hartford: William R. Goodspeed, 1906), 340. While the early treasure lore Stiles collected may have been more accurate than much of the gossip about treasure typically shared during the period, his own search for and failure to find any gold was unremarkably average. Isaac bitterly opposed their courtship, but Joseph proposed to Emma, and she, preferring him to all others she had met, accepted. The Smiths lived in the homestead until 1843, when a much larger house, known as the "Mansion House" was built across the street. 85. Credit: Kenneth Mays The rebuilt home of Isaac and Elizabeth Hale, the parents of Emma Hale Smith, at the Priesthood Restoration Site, in Oakland Township (previously Harmony), Pennsylvania. Emily Blackman notes William Smith sold the property in 1800 to James Westfall, and there is nothing in the sources that contradicts her conclusion as to the chain of title. The turnpike crossed the river at the bridge into Lanesville where it continued south past what locals called the Vermont settlement on Tyler Road. Written byMark L. Staker Published: 08 June 2015. to designate an old town of the Tuscaroras.267 She was likely incorrect about the tribal affiliation of the ruins, since others have argued the Onondaga lived on the west side of the Susquehanna River and the Tuscarora lived on the east side. Archaeologists, personal communications to author, July and August 2014. 168. J. (Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle & Co., 1869), 33; and, Lewis Family files, Susquehanna County Historical Society Archives, Montrose, Pennsylvania. Spots not far from the back doors of kitchens were considered prime dumping grounds back then, George Washingtons Incredible Garbage Dump,Popular Archaeology,11 (June 2013): 1,http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/june-2013/article/george-washington-s-incredible-garbage-dump. Thomas Smith died 2 April 1885 aged 64 years. The play takes place in the Hale home in Harmony, Pennsylvania, where Isaac Hale lives with his wife, Elizabeth, and his strong- willed daughter, Emma. B. Wilkinson dated the initial settlement of that valley to 1788, (Wilkinson,Annals of Binghamton,110112). Some of the survivors of this massacre fled north to Canada and fought for the British in Vermont. This database contains family trees submitted to Ancestry by users who have indicated that their tree can be viewed by all Ancestry subscribers. Tax Assessement, December 31, 1823 for 1824 Season, Susquehanna County Courthouse, Montrose, Pennsylvania. Emma and her family remained rich in real estate but poor in capital. http://clegg-webb.com/Histories/Nelson%20Wheeler%20Whipple%20History.html. Wilkinson,Annals of Binghamton,34, called it valley of the Susquehanna. And, Chaffee noted of Nathaniel Lewis that the place where he lived was called Susquehanna, Amasa Franklin Chaffee,History of the Wyoming Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church(New York: Eaton & Mains, 1904), 720. This second home gave the Hale family more living space; it provided a place for David Hale to live with his new bride after his marriage; it served as the Methodist church for a period; and it may have been the residence of some of the money-diggers that stayed in the area.