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My Great-Great-Grandmother, Emma Hale Smith By Gracia N. Jones Ensign, Aug 1992, 30 Ever since the Prophet Joseph died as a martyr in Carthage, Illinois, some Latter-day Saints have felt disappointment that Joseph's wife Emma did not go with the Church in the westward exodus of the Saints in 1846-47. Four of Isaacs children were named after his Ward relatives, an additional three were named after Elizabeths Lewis family, and the youngest child, their son Reuben, was more likely named after Elizabeths brother Reuben Lewis than Isaacs brother Reuben Hale. Peck,Life and Times,68; George Peck, Memorandums of Circuit Travels, 18161818; Peck,Early Methodism,256. The creek was named Lewis Creek and ran down from Turkey Hill through Jameson Hollow (now Bedbug Hollow) until it emptied into the Susquehanna River. Dr. Robert H. Rose letter, August 2, 1814 as cited in Emily Blackman,History of Susquehanna County,502. Blackman,History of Susquehanna County,53. Emma Hale, the youngest daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis, was born July 10th, 1804 in Harmony, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. During the short time of his employ, Joseph and other workers boarded at the homestead of Isaac and Elizabeth Hale of Harmony. Hales sons and a son-in-law, also caught dozens of eel in the nearby river and smoked them for later consumption.145 Most settlers were trying to provide basic needs for their families and built little more than the necessities eventwo decades after the window tax. Nathaniel and Esther Lewis became Wells Townships first converts to Methodism. Wells Town Clerk, Land Records, F:9. As Joseph courted Emma during the winter of 18251826, much of this was apparently done through customary letters. : Sharp D. Lewis, 1830), 173. Some thought it might not have been buried on Block Island but on the nearby Thimble Islands just off the coast from Nathaniel Lewiss childhood home and a few hundred feet from the much smaller Lewis Island. Photograph by Mark L. Staker, Knife and two forks, found on Hale Farm. Had this individual been Joseph Smith Jr., or his father, the Hale family would have known of it and noted it to family members that later recorded affidavits. Peck notes that the woman who taught at the school attended the services but lived in Windsor and commuted to work. The tune existed in American folklife earlier than the comic opera and may have made its way to Shuckburgh through another source, but the connection of the two would have been apparent to many Pennsylvanians. When most of the Saints left for the Great Basin in 1846, Emma remained in Nauvoo, claiming the Mansion House and whatever she could for the support of her children. The age of Nathaniel Lewis Jr.s interest in preaching seems very specific, which suggests that it may be accurate. Blackman,History of Susquehanna County,101, 103. Blackman,History of Susquehanna County, 429, 469. Sherman Day outlined Roses management of Carmalts lands and suggests he acted as an agent for Carmalt when the latter left the region. at whose house the apostles, and traveling evangelists, frequently preached, and were entertained. Adam Clarke,The New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, The Text Carefully Printed from the Most Correct Copies of the Present Authorised Version, Including the Marginal Readings and Parallel Texts with a Commentary and Critical Notes(New York: Methodist Episcopal Church, 1831), 2:890. John D. Monroe,Chapters in the History of Delaware County, New York(Delaware County Historical Association, 1949), 67. He did not have time to put his boots on before leaving his home. Mudge,American Camp-Meeting Hymn Book, iv. He concluded on February 29, 1836, Religion at a very Low ebb with us little or no spirit in the members and of course a great indifference among the congregation. John Comfort, letter to Dear Children, Harmony, February 29, 1836. Emily Blackman cites Isaacs affidavit verbatim in her preliminary draft of herHistory of Susquehanna County,but makes some minor changes and introduces errors in dating in her published version, Blackman,History of Susquehanna County,581. Hartgen, Report, and Hartgen Archeological Field Investigations. While the site did not yield wine glasses or other drinking paraphernalia common to tavern sites, it did yield an abundance of white clay pipe stems and bowl fragments often found at tavern sites. The early involvement of Elizabeth in Methodism is discussed below. 1810s & 1820s Member of Methodist church at Harmony. Photographs of these headstones are in the authors collection. Although a large, level valley in the center of the township became Wells village, the Lewis family settled away from the village on inexpensive land on a rocky mountain top near the northeastern township line. Colbert,Journal of the Travels of William Colbert,January 15, 1793. When Isaac and Elizabeth Hale settled the valley, they had only nominal religious involvement. Emma Hale Smith greeted her parents and family again in December 1827. John Comfort, a fellow Methodist and Isaacs close companion in community leadership, regularly wrote to his son Silas, after he left their valley to study for the ministry, and described the changes in their community as they occurred. 150. 100. After this, I became dissatisfied, and informed him that if there was any thing in my house of that description, which I could not be allowed to see, he must take it away; if he did not, I was determined to see it. Others worked up or down river.One of these mill operators left an account of the rafting that played a role in his mill operation, noting, I stayed in that country about eight years and labored very hard rafting on the Susquehanna River, and many times my life was much exposed. Zera Pulsipher, History of Zera Pulsipher, typescript, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society,Rolls of Connecticut Men in the French and Indian War, 17551762, 344345. Porter, Larry C. 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. 20. Jesse moved his fifteen-year-old bride immediately into her new frame home. 90. 213. 147. George Peck, Memorandums of Circuit Travels, 18161818., 248. Rude, irregular, uncultivated is the ground; wild, ignorant, and wicked are the people.194 William Colbert was even harsher in his evaluation of the settlers in the area when he came through in 1793, writing, It appears to me from what I have heard that Susquehanna woods abound with whores, whoremongers, and drunkards, and for all I know murderers.195. . This early 19th century home house the Isaac and Elizabeth Hale family. Blackman,History of Susquehanna County,485, emphasis in original. By referring or linking you to these resources, we do not endorse or guarantee the content or the views of the author. Wilkinson,Annals of Binghamton,106. They made nose pendants, ear plugs, gorgets, and crucifixes from European silver to adorn themselves and learned to work other metals. 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. This suggests the rear addition to the Hale frame home must have been added during that 18191822 period when there was fluctuation in the value of the Hale homes on their property. He also did not agree with his daughter's decision to join the church and move with Joseph to Ohio. The following year, when Isaac Hale and John Hilborn were assessors, the Hale sugar house was dropped from the assessment and Isaac was taxed for 300 pounds of sugarsignificantly more than any other individual in the township. Deacon Stowells Long Hunt for GodHis Belief that Smith Could See Fifty Feet into the Earth,Bainbridge Republican,August 23, 1877, 2; reprinted inMontrose Democrat,September 19, 1877. . After her death in 1879, her sons published a transcript of an interview in which she purportedly denied Joseph had ever sanctioned plural marriage.6 Notwithstanding the religious and emotional turmoil over this practice, Emma maintained a deep love for Joseph. After cutting the meat into strips, he layered it and put it in long, narrow troughs of birch or maple, much like those used by his Native American neighbors, and an item he probably learned to make from them. 263. A later reminiscence ties the name Harmony to Henry Drinker Jr.s land agent John Hilborn. Marjorie Catlin Roehm,The Letters of George Catlin and His Family: A Chronicle of the American West(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966), 810. Joseph Lewis recalled his childhood home where he lived with his father, Nathaniel Lewis, as our home and residence,Joseph and Hiel Lewis, Mormon History. having long smooth black hair, large clear brown eyes, nose rendered slightly roman by some accident in youth, mouth denoting firmness and decision of character. Josiah Stowell may have paid the rent for the land listed in David Hales name. 224. Shortly after the couple rode away from the hiding place, a small mob came over and searched the wagon for the golden plates. In July 1798 Congress ordered a direct tax on the real property of Americans, known popularly as the window tax, this required that every family in the country have their home appraised. George Edward Anderson, 1909, Courtesy LDS Church History Library. : Frank Allaben Genealogical, 1911), 79. John Comfort, letter to Silas Comfort, July 11, 1839, punctuation added for clarity. After the Hale family built their own mansion during the time of the Comfort conversions, the two families had a great deal in common. Frisbie,History of Middletown,58. Isaac also served his country in the Revolutionary war. This conclusion is supported by a shift in the tax record on December 31, 1823, when David was taxed for one house and his fathers assessment dropped from two houses to one.254 Davids financial ledger from the period also indicates his store was on or near his fathers property by 1824, and the log home is the only candidate for both a residence and store.255, George Peck wrote notes on each sermon he delivered at Isaac Hales, he recalled he preached at . King notes, drawing on her own work and that of other archaeologist, that while rural taverns show more evidence of food preparation in the archaeological record than do urban taverns, there is still an abundance of ceramic fragments for drinking paraphernalia along with those for other socializing activities, such as group smoking, at both types of taverns (18). A Study of the Origins of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, 18161831. Department. They sometimes buried brass kettles and other valuable metal not for later use in cooking but to protect their treasure from theft until it could be dug up and cut into decorative pieces for adornment.102 But there is no evidence they made any of their silver jewelry from locally mined ore. One Sabbath morning, in the year 1812 when provisions were scarce, he sat reading his Bible preparatory to preaching, when he discovered a deer near his house. Elizabeth Hale in a kind comfortable & proper manner during her life, find her meat, Drink Washing & lodging suitable & convenient for a person who so richly deserves kind treatment.128Hale was an attentive husband to the end. The valley was essentially a hunting preserve, but there was a small settlement on the east end near where three apple trees stood that formed the rallying point and headquarters of all the Indians in the neighborhood. Year-round running water in the home would have been a comfort worthy of notice. Michael Morses property consisted of 27 acres of unimproved land and a log home on the Oquago mountain foothills at the north end of the Hale farm. It was the effectual, fervent prayer which prevails. That fall, Joseph obtained the gold plates and continued his mission of being an instrument in the hands of God in restoring the gospel. Emma apparently had an education equal to the other prominent members of the community. They were evidently painted by Indians; but when, or by whom, is not known. Based on her thirty years of experience doing archeology at Woodlands Native American sites, including one in the Susquehanna Valley at Great Bend, Nina M. Versaggi, Director, Public Archeology Facility, Binghamton University, has suggested the location may have been a local burial site or a sacred ritual site but was not likely the location of an early village or settlement, personal communication to author, September 13, 2013. Blackman noted Elizabeth Hale was for fifty years a consistent member of the Methodist church (Blackman,History of Susquehanna County,103). Dot marks Hale cabin location north of road. The information presented in this article is an outgrowth of my research for the Historic Sites Division of the LDS Church Historical Department in conjunction with the reconstruction of the Isaac and Elizabeth Hale farm (17871841) and the Jesse and Mary Hale/Joseph and Emma Smith farm (18131830) in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. Grave of Alvin Smith is seen at the far left. 146. 77. Upham,Life of Timothy Pickering,119. . Quaker John Hilborn was the best educated man in the valley. She would eventually bear nine children and adopt two others, four of whom died at birth or shortly after, and two who died as toddlers. Commonwealth vs. Jason Treadwell. This suggests that Emma was in the room at breakfast while the other women in the household were not, and she may have provided board for guests in the homeincluding the Josiah Stowell work party. Against the wishes of Emma's father, Emma and Joseph married on January 18, 1827. 98. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. While Lewis maintained the operation of the local congregation, circuit riders continued to come through the valley. In every flowr, and shrub, and tree, Gods goodness you may plainly see.187 Hymn writing became a popular pastime in the Susquehanna Valley and Justin Clark, editor of the local newspaper The Centinel,regularly published to an interested audience information in his newspaper about religious music, including locally written hymns under various pseudonyms.188, It took several more years before Methodism made its way to the Susquehanna Valley. See Emily Blackman, Susquehanna County, 1090. A grandson recalled the family gathering around Isaacs bed on January 11, 1839, as he charged them, You must not believe in Jo Smith or any false doctrines, but believe in the Holy Bible. 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. He lamented the state of religion in letter after letter for more than a decade. Stowell, Joseph and the other hired men boarded, Vogel, Michael Morse Interview with William W. Blair, 8 May 1879,Early Mormon Documents,4:342. . William Drinker and Others Exects of Henry Drinker Deced to Nathaniel Lewis, August 6, 1810, Deeds, Wilkes-Barre, Luzern County, Pennsylvania, 12: 22327. He had been hired by Josiah Stowell, of South Bainbridge, New York, to dig for Spanish treasure. Joseph Smith first arrived in the area of Harmony, Pennsylvania, in 1825. Comfort wrote, Nathaniel Lewis Jr. [Nathaniel C. Lewis] had his leg broke last spring by the kick of an ox & has had it amputated above the knee. Emma first met Joseph Smith Jr. in 1825, while he boarded with her family. 181. The younger Pickering, a Harvard graduate like his father, resigned his navy commission on May 2, 1801, left Massachusetts on the stagecoach one week later, and eventually walked from the end of the turnpike, through Pennsylvanias mountains into the Susquehanna Valley and to his fathers land. Thy soul has been afflicted because of the wickedness of men in seeking the destruction of thy companion, and thy whole soul has been drawn out in prayer for his deliverance; rejoice, for the Lord thy God has heard thy supplication. Blackman,History of Susquehanna County,102; Wells Town Clerk, Land Records, Wells, Vermont, E: 9; Wells Town Clerk, Land Records, Book A: 23; William C. Sharpe,History of Oxford: Church Records, Births, Marriages, Deaths, etc. George Peck covered the sermon book he used in the Hale home with gold and blue wallpaper left over from someones recent construction. The younger Pickering, a man wont to speak little and to write less, grew lonesome in the valley, and he began courting Lurena Cole, a sister of Nathaniel Lewiss wife, Sarah Cole Lewis.153 The well-educated Tim Pickering must have felt out of place within the frontier family of Nathaniel Lewis. Even though he was farming rented land nearby, David was still tied to his father, and his father paid taxes on both homes as residences on his property.252 Twenty-nine-year-old David married his neighbor Rhoda Jane Skinner in 1822. . Emily C. Blackman,History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, from a Period Preceding its Settlement to Recent Times(Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen, and Haffelfinger, 1873), 103. Soon lumbering became a major activity along the river from as far north as Cooperstown, New York, and south beyond the Susquehanna Valley to the German settlements in Lancaster County. Land speculators there aggressively promoted property along the Susquehanna River, advertising as far away as Germany seeking young, ambitious settlers to buy their land.